Crypto-friendly Robinhood inches to UK with local CEO appointment

Robinhood has been planning expansion into the United Kingdom since 2019 but the project has faced multiple delays.

Cryptocurrency-friendly trading platform Robinhood is moving forward with plans to launch services in the United Kingdom with a new major local appointment.

Robinhood has appointed former Barclays executive Jordan Sinclair as the new CEO to run its United Kingdom entity, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority.

According to FCA, Sinclair was approved by the authority to perform the CEO role at Robinhood’s U.K. arm on July 18.

Prior to joining Robinhood, Sinclair was a managing director at the European fintech Freetrade for 13 months, according to his LinkedIn profile. The new Robinhood’s executive also worked as director of group strategy at the financial firm Barclays and corporate banker at Wells Fargo.

The latest hiring comes in line with Robinhood’s long-running plans to launch a platform in the United Kingdom. Robinhood’s U.K. expansion has been rumored since at least early 2019 and has been delayed multiple times. In April 2022, Robinhood renewed the expansion plans by acquiring the British crypto firm Ziglu.

Local reports in mid-July suggested that Robinhood started the process of hiring key executives for its U.K. business. The firm reportedly expects to launch its service in the U.K. by the end of 2023.

Related: Ripple applies for crypto license in the United Kingdom

Robinhood’s entrance to the U.K. comes amid the United States’ regulators continuing to scrutinize major cryptocurrency firms. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently running multiple cases related to crypto firms in the country, including companies like Coinbase, Ripple, Binance.US and others.

As a major crypto platform in the United States, Robinhood also faced some action by the SEC this year. In February, Robinhood Markets received an investigative subpoena from the SEC over its digital asset business’ crypto listings, custody and platform operations. In June, Robinhood announced plans to cease support for coins like Cardano, Polygon and Solana after the SEC labeled them as unregistered securities.

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