The UK-based Fintech Group Mode Global Holdings plc engaged Alfred Henry in 2019 to help Mode become one of the first financial services companies with a consumer focused-digital asset offering to be listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Mode’s share capital was admitted to the standard listing segment of the FCA’s Official List in 2020 and at the same time Mode successfully raised £7.5 million (before expenses) by way of a private placing with institutional and other investors.
The Mode listing involved several subsidiaries operating within a highly regulated environment. Mode subsidiary JGOO, for instance, is a payment processing, marketing and advertising company. It aims to bring the next generation of social media and mobile payments platforms to Europe, enabling consumers, merchants and brands to make and receive payments without the need for card platforms, using their mobile phones to pay and accept money. At the time of listing, another of Mode’s subsidiaries was simultaneously applying for an Electronic Money Institution (“EMI”) licence and AMLD5 registration from the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”)—a registration that Mode successfully obtained the following year. Yet another of Mode subsidiaries, Fibermode Limited, subsequently became a Registered Cryptoasset firm pursuant to the amended Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“MLRs”).
As Mode’s Corporate Advisor, Alfred Henry helped Mode prepare a “regulatory-heavy” prospectus and advocated on Mode’s behalf with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Transactions Department. These efforts culminated in a successful listing and private placing in 2021.