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RNS Number : 0781O
Plus500 Limited
22 May 2015
22 May 2015
Plus500 Ltd.
("Plus500" or "the Company")
Further statement and clarification
Plus500, a leading online service provider for retail customers
to trade CFDs internationally, is today issuing the following
statement to respond to recent speculation regarding the current
status of Plus500UK's dialogue with the FCA, in particular in
relation to the fact that Plus500UK has "in recent weeks been
implementing certain enhanced client on boarding and Anti-Money
Laundering processes".
The Company can confirm that on 9 January 2015, its UK
subsidiary, Plus500UK Limited ("Plus500UK"), was required by the
FCA under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act
2000 ("Section 166") (see notes) to appoint a Skilled Person to
conduct a review of its Anti-Money Laundering ("AML") and financial
sanction systems and other related regulatory controls. The Skilled
Person's review is normally a confidential process but in light of
recent events the Board believes it is prudent to inform the market
of the review. In addition to the Skilled Person's review, on 30
October 2014 Plus500UK provided a Voluntary Requirement ("VREQ") to
the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") whereby Plus500UK was
prohibited from conducting all transactions for customers without
the appropriate AML documentation.
Following completion of the Skilled Person's Review, on 15 May
2015 Plus500UK provided a further VREQ to the FCA whereby Plus500UK
was required, amongst other things, to prohibit all transactions
for existing customers until additional AML documentation had been
provided and cease on-boarding any new clients until new AML
procedures had been implemented. Plus500UK's dialogue with the FCA
regarding the Section 166 and the VREQs is ongoing.
With regards to progress on onboarding clients, since the
announcement on Monday 18 May, Plus500UK has put in place a
comprehensive remediation plan to re-enable its currently suspended
customers, with approximately 40 staff expected to be working on
this process over the coming weeks. Plus500UK continues to
re-approve existing customers who have provided the appropriate AML
documentation. Regarding new Plus500UK customers, Plus500UK is in
dialogue with the Skilled Person about its onboarding process.
Whilst it is not currently able to on-board new customers until
this process has been agreed, it expects to be in a position to do
so within the next few days. In the meantime the Company is able to
onboard new customers (including new UK customers) through its
regulated Cypriot subsidiary, Plus500CY Limited and Australian
customers through its ASIC regulated subsidiary, Plus500AU
Limited.
We expect to provide a further update by the time of the
Company's AGM, due to be held on Wednesday 27 May.
The Company would like to re-iterate its disclosure from Monday
that it paid its final and special dividend of $65 million in full
on Friday 15 May and has in excess of $88 million in cash reserves
(excluding that held in client segregated accounts).
Gal Haber, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"Plus500UK customers can rest assured that we are doing
everything in our power to resolve the current issues. Customer
balances are protected in segregated accounts with major
international banks and we are mobilising significant resource to
complete the verification project.
Shareholders can also rest assured that we are doing everything
in our power to protect our UK market position and we are in close
dialogue with the FCA.
The current situation is regrettable, and we apologise to
customers whose accounts are frozen; we intend to resolve these
issues within as short a time as possible. We will update customers
and shareholders with the progress being made over the coming days
and weeks."
For further information please contact:
Plus500 Ltd +972 4 8189503
Elad Even-Chen, Finance Director, VP Business Development and
Head of Investor Relations
ir@Plus500.com
Liberum - Nomad and Broker +44 20 3100 2222
Clayton Bush, Christopher Britton, Josh Hughes
MHP Communications +44 20 3128 8100
Reg Hoare/Tim Rowntree/Adam Leviton
Plus500@mhpc.com
Notes
About Section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000
(the "FSMA") (Source: FCA)
Section 166 of the FSMA gives the FCA power to commission
reports by "Skilled Persons" in order to obtain an independent view
of any aspect of a regulated firms activities which for example
causes the FCA concern or where the FCA requires further
analysis.
The FCA uses Skilled Persons reports for a variety of purposes
including:
-- Diagnostic - to find out more about a particular concern,
perhaps as a result of a thematic visit, risk assessment or
notification and to determine whether further regulatory action is
required.
-- Monitoring - to review systems and controls.
-- Preventative - to gather and analyse information on an
identified risk, such as concerns about financial crime risk
management and to develop recommendations for a resolution.
-- Remedial - to help develop, oversee and report on the implementation of a remedial action.
In the case of Plus500UK, the remit of the Skilled Persons
report was a review of its AML and financial sanction systems and
and other related regulatory controls
The commissioning of a Skilled Persons report does not itself
constitute enforcement action by the FCA but may lead to
enforcement action.
About an Application for a Voluntary Requirement
Section 55 L of the FSMA provides that where a person has
applied to the FCA for a Part 4A permission or variation of such
permission, the FCA may impose on that person such requirements,
taking effect on or after the giving or variation of the
permission, as the FCA considers appropriate. This may include, as
with Plus500UK, the imposition of a new requirement.
About Plus500
Company website: www.plus500.com
Plus500 has developed and operates an online trading platform
for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally over more than
2000 different underlying global financial instruments comprising
equities, ETFs, foreign exchange, indices and commodities. The
Company enables retail customers to trade CFDs in more than 50
countries. The trading platform is accessible from multiple
operating systems (Window, smartphones (iOS and Android) and
tablets (iOS and Android)) and the internet. The Directors believe
that the success of the Company to date has been primarily due to
the proprietary technology it has developed and continues to
develop to support the trading platform. The trading platform has
been designed to be as intuitive and easy to use as possible. The
trading platform has been localised into over 31 languages. The
Directors believe that this emphasis on technology, together with
the Company's targeted online marketing strategy, has helped to
differentiate the Company from its competitors.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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