US stock-market dominance is an emergency for Europe

New listings are in the doldrums as other corners of European finance, such as the debt markets, shine

- Chelsey Dulaney & Joe Wallace

The London Stock Exchange overhauled the ceremony for welcoming new companies to its ranks last year, adding confetti cannons, slick videos and cinematic music. It has mostly been used for such events as product launches and anniversaries.

So far this year, according to Dealogic, six companies have gone public in the U.K., raising $208 million, the lowest level in three decades of data. It isn't much better across the English Channel, despite surging stock markets. Initial public offerings in continental Europe have nearly halved in value compared with last year.

Fundraising in the U.S., meanwhile, has jumped 38% to around $40 billion, while IPOs more than doubled in value in Hong Kong after a fallow patch.

Tech stars such as the Swedish "buy now, pay later" company Klarna and the British chip designer Arm are eschewing local markets to list in New York. And stock-market heavyweights are disappearing, either bought out by American companies or moving their listings stateside, where business is growing faster.

Examples are Wise, the British payments company, and the sports-betting company Flutter Entertainment.

"For the Europeans who are responsible for the future, this is a material wake-up call," said Stéphane Boujnah, chief executive officer of Euronext, which owns seven stock exchanges in the region.

Europe doesn't want to "be just a zone between America and Asia," he added.

Amsterdam and London pioneered the creation of public stock trading centuries ago, raising money for voyages to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean that forged Europe's colonial empires. Now, Europe's stock markets face a crisis of inactivity.