Macquarie ups stake in Argentex founder’s fintech after licence win

Macquarie has built up its stake in a London-based foreign exchange fintech after the firm clinched a new permit from the City watchdog.

The asset management giant has increased its holdings in Tenora to 33 per cent. It follows the fintech bagging Macquaire’s investment last summer in fundraise that valued the start-up at £15m. 

The increased stake comes as Tenora got the greenlight from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an e-money licence, which hands the fintech permission to issue e-money, provide regulated payment services and safeguard client funds.

Tenora uses its foreign exchange (FX) platform Truhedge to help finance teams automate and govern currency hedging by monitoring risk against board-approved policies in real time.  

Harry Adams, Tenora’s founder, told City AM following the new regulatory permissions, the firm is able to “set up different virtual accounts in different jurisdictions” allowing a “much more seamless end-to-end product to trade internationally”.

The FX boss credited the FCA for “understanding the market” throughout the application process. He added the same “can’t be said for a lot of other regulators across Europe who don’t appreciate why a business like ours requires an EMI licence”.

London IPO not off the table for Tenora’s future

Adams was the founder of currency management Argentex, which entered administration in July 2025 following a drastic liquidity crisis and a 93 per cent share price crash. 

He departed the firm in the Autumn of 2023 ahead of its financial troubles but made a play to return over a year ago as the firm fought for survival. 

“I put a consortium together to try and acquire it back,” Adams said.

“However, that was unsuccessful, and the board decided to go down different angles, which ultimately led to the business going into administration.”

Adams said his biggest takeaway from the 10 years spent at the firm was that “the market is absolutely enormous and there hasn’t been much tech advancement”. 

For Tenora, armed with its new licence, he foresees major potential with hopes to notch “over £100m worth of sales revenue within a 10-year period”.

“My expectations are to get there a lot sooner than we did the first time round,” he said.

Argentex made a £120m splash on the London Stock Exchange in its public debut in 2019, raising £14m. Adams founded the firm in 2012. 

Questioned on whether another IPO could be on the long-term horizon, Adams told City AM: “Everything is on the table. 

“I have a huge amount of experience in listed markets now. If there was an opportunity to list in London, there’s no reason why we wouldn’t do that again.”