A FTSE 100 retailer is making itself easier for Americans to buy — without leaving London.

What JD Sports did

JD Sports Fashion qualified for the OTCQX Best Market, the highest tier of the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) system, moving up from the lightly regulated Pink market, Footwear News reported. Its U.S. shares trade under the tickers JDSPY and JDDSF. The company keeps its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange; the OTCQX upgrade is a secondary U.S. arrangement that does not require a full American exchange listing or registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

What OTCQX is, and why it matters

The U.S. OTC market has three tiers. OTCQX sits at the top, open to established, financially sound firms that meet OTC Markets Group's disclosure and governance standards; below it are OTCQB, for developing companies, and the Pink market, with the lightest requirements, where JD previously traded. Moving up means meeting tougher transparency rules — which in turn lets U.S. institutional and retail investors research and hold the stock through ordinary American brokerage accounts, rather than dealing with a foreign exchange or currency conversion. An executive at OTC Markets Group said the listing "gives U.S. investors direct access to a FTSE 100 business."

Why now

The logic is where JD's business sits. North America accounts for roughly 38% of the company's enterprise value, per Footwear News — its largest region — after a decade of U.S. acquisitions including Finish Line, Shoe Palace, DTLR and, in 2024, Hibbett. The group runs roughly 2,500 stores across the U.S. and Canada and reported global revenue of about £12.7 billion ($16.7 billion) in its latest financial year. Chief executive Régis Schultz called the U.S. "one of our most important markets" and framed the move as a commitment to "the highest standards of transparency and governance."

The bigger picture

JD's step is a lighter-touch answer to a question dogging the London market: how to attract American capital without the cost and upheaval of shifting a primary listing to New York. Some UK-linked names have gone all the way — chip designer Arm chose Nasdaq for its 2023 IPO, and others have moved their main listing across the Atlantic. An OTCQX upgrade needs no SEC registration and no departure from London; it simply lowers the friction for U.S. investors who might otherwise skip a foreign-listed stock.

Whether it meaningfully widens JD's American shareholder base is unproven — the company didn't disclose how much of its stock U.S. investors currently hold — and it comes as JD manages its U.S. footprint, having closed dozens of Hibbett stores with more closures flagged. But the direction of travel is clear: a European retailer with an increasingly American business is meeting U.S. investors where they trade.