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Nubank is currently facing its toughest governance test since it went public, with pomp, in December. In addition to the controversy of more than R$800 million in compensation for the management team, the lock-up period on the trading of shares sold in the IPO was set to end earlier than expected. The result is reflected in the fintech’s market capitalization, which was $24.6 billion on Wednesday, 40.7% lower than when it went public.
Earlier this week, the digital bank changed the date for the end of the lock-up period. The deadline was shortened by about a month, to May 17, the day after the release of first-quarter results.
As Nubank signaled that it did not intend to slow down in credit despite rising interest rates, the measure led some investors to wonder if this was not a sign of bad results to come. The suspicion was greater because it was compounded by the uneasiness with the compensation package planned for the management team this year, a whopping R$804 million. The number, which appears in official Nubank documents, caused a furor in social networks last week after it was reported by Valor.
Days later, Nubank released a statement to the market to explain itself to investors: 84% of this remuneration goes to David Vélez, cofounder and CEO of the fintech, who will only receive it if ambitious goals are met, and that the banker is committed to donating his fortune in life.
It wasn’t enough to calm things down. First, the total amount continues to differ from what other banks and companies pay. Second, the clarification took a long time – the statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was made five days after the news went viral, an eternity in times of social networks.
Stocks are a snapshot and do not always say much about the quality of a company, but they are the most important signal of the perception that investors have of it. Therefore, Nubank will have to learn how to deal with them. In this sense, transparency always goes down well – even more so at a time when the cost of money is rising and shortening the tolerance of technology investors.
Source: Valor International