Will Smith-backed U.S. broker Public launches in the UK in first foray overseas

cnbc.com:

American stock brokerage startup Public launched its services in the U.K. Thursday, marking its first international expansion its launch in 2017.

The app, backed by celebrities including Will Smith and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, will offer U.K. users commission-free trading in over 5,000 U.S.-listed stocks during the country's regular trading hours.

Public hopes to broaden its U.K. offering over time to include other asset classes already available in the U.S., such as ETFs, U.S. government bonds, and cryptoassets. The company also plans to launch an «investment plans» tool in the future that lets users come up with customized recurring investments.

Public's U.K. debut will see it compete with a flurry of well-established digital brokerage firms like AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, which make money from commission charges and management fees, as well as upstarts such as Revolut, Freetrade and eToro, where revenue comes mainly from subscriptions and other fees.

It is a heavily congested market — but Leif Abraham, Public's co-CEO, touted the company's lower foreign exchange fees as one element separating it from the pack in the U.K. 

«Most of our competitors in the U.K. will charge currency conversion fees on every single trade,» Abraham told CNBC in an interview. «We only do it with the money deposited, and our fees are going to be dramatically lower than most of our competitors.»

Public will charge 30 basis points, or 0.3%, on each deposit to convert British pounds into U.S. dollars.

The firm has European roots, having been founded in September 2019 by Jannick Malling and Abraham, from Denmark and Germany, respectively, who now serve as co-CEOs.

The platform, which lets people build portfolios and invest in stocks