UK listings reformer and peer Lord Hill joins fintech startup W1tty
Former EU Commissioner for Financial Services Lord Jonathan Hill, who called for deregulatory measures to attract more tech companies in the UK, has joined fintech startup W1tty as an adviser.
The Conservative peer will join the advisory board of smart finance app W1tty, which is launching in Lithuania and Poland in Autumn.
Lord Hill authored a controversial report in March on easing the City’s listing rules and led the UK government’s listings review, which aims to attract more fintechs and high-growth businesses to IPO on the London stock market.
Earlier this month, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a wide-ranging consultation to improve the effectiveness of Britain’s financial markets on the back of the report’s proposals.
Hill isn’t the only Conservative peer involved with W1tty’s launch: serial entrepreneur and adviser to former PMs Sir John Major and David Cameron Lord Chadlington chairs the advisory board.
They’re also joined by Gene Lockhart, the former Mastercard International CEO who has sat on the board of Metro Bank and more recently First Republic Bank in the US.
W1tty will launch in Europe after it was granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence in Lithuania and passporting rights across the European Economic Area (EEA).
The fintech also plans to launch in the UK, once it secures an EMI licence, and is predominantly aimed at young people and “Gen Z”.
“Jonathan is highly respected in the world of financial services regulation and his knowledge, expertise and relationships, along with those of Peter and Gene, will be invaluable to us as we grow W1tty across Europe,” said W1tty founder and CEO Ammar Kutait.
Lord Hill added: “Having watched fintech develop since my time as European Commissioner, I am excited by what W1TTY can bring to the market. W1tty has something different to offer and I look forward to working with Ammar and his team as they work to turn their vision of a financial services business built around the customer into reality.”