Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS), which is now the focus of FX industry attention, has just issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange, commenting on the steep share price drop and speculation regarding dividend payments.
The broker confirmed the customers of its UK business are experiencing difficulties due to the implementation of anti-money laundering rules. Plus500 says it is in contact with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over the implementation process.
Below is the official announcement by Plus500:
Statement regarding recent speculation
“Plus500, a leading online service provider for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally, notes the recent fall in its share price and the market speculation that it has not paid its recent dividend. Plus500 can confirm that it paid its final and special dividend of $65 million in full on Friday 15 May as previously notified to the market. Plus500 currently has in excess of $88 million in cash reserves (excluding that held in client segregated accounts).
In addition, shareholders should note that Plus500’s UK subsidiary, Plus500UK Limited (“Plus500UK”), has in recent weeks been implementing certain enhanced client on boarding and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes which have resulted in additional documentation checks being required on existing and new Plus500UK customer accounts.
This has led to an increased volume of documentation being reviewed by our client onboarding team, and some Plus500UK customers are currently experiencing delays in receiving the necessary approval to open new accounts, and new trades on their existing accounts and / or withdraw monies.
Only the Plus500UK regulated business is impacted, and the Company will continue to offer its services to new and existing customers through its other regulated subsidiaries in Cyprus and Australia. Currently c.50% of Plus500’s revenue is derived from Plus500UK, and c.45% of Plus500UK’s customers have passed Plus500’s electronic verification process and are therefore allowed to trade.
Those customers who are impacted are not able to open new positions until they are approved by the client on boarding team, however they are still able to freely close out open positions and to service these existing positions with additional Margin. As usual, under AML regulations, existing customers (whether electronically verified or not) are unable to make withdrawals from their accounts until they have provided Plus500UK with fully compliant AML documents. All Plus500 customer funds are held within segregated client accounts, held with major financial institutions, until further withdrawals are permitted.
Plus500UK has notified and is in close dialogue with the FCA in respect of these changes to its AML processes.”
To view the official filing with the LSE, click here.