Robinhood launches US IPO access for UK investors

Robinhood has launched its IPO Access service in the United Kingdom, allowing eligible retail customers to request shares in participating US initial public offerings at the offering price before public trading begins. Requests can be made through customers’ general investment accounts in the Robinhood app, the company said in its November 9 announcement.

The service provides access to prospectuses and filings submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for available offerings. Robinhood says customers can review those documents before deciding whether to request shares. The company is working with a UK Public Offer Platform provider, but has not named it.

A request does not guarantee that an investor will receive shares. Robinhood says customers may be allocated fewer shares than they requested or none at all, depending on the offering. The company says it charges no commission for IPO Access, though investors who receive shares must pay the offering price for them.

The announcement did not identify which upcoming US IPOs will be available to UK customers. Nor did Robinhood specify whether its UK service will use the random or proportional allocation methods described...