The global online trading platform IG Group has issued a trading update regarding Brexit for its European Economic Area (EEA) clients asking them to transfer their accounts to IG Europe.
The broker recently announced its UK arm will not service EEA clients after 31 December 2020 and the Britain’s exit from the European Union. The company warned its European clients that IG UK companies will be set to closings only.
IG Group set up a European entity, IG Europe, to continue servicing its clients from the EEA region with the offer to transfer their accounts there by 8 January 2021.
In order to transfer their accounts, IG instructed its clients to verify their identity by logging into their accounts and following the verification process. The company advised that the verification could be done any day of the week between 8 am and midnight and that it takes only a few minutes.
The company stated:
Verification can take up to 24 hours to be processed, so please get started before 8 January 2021. If you don’t verify your identity in time, we won’t be able to transfer your account(s) to IG Europe and we may need to close them.
When the transfer process is complete, the company will transfer existing accounts to IG Europe preserving login details and watchlists.
IG noted:
The transfer may result in a taxable profit or loss for Spread betting accounts. This shouldn’t apply if you’re a resident of the UK or Ireland, but will depend on your personal circumstances
The money in your current accounts will be transferred to your IG Europe account(s)
As part of the transfer process, we’ll need to close your open positions and then re-open them with IG Europe at the original opening levels. This will ensure that your running P&L won’t be affected.
With Brexit now in effect, a lot of brokers have set up European entities to continue servicing their European clients. In this case, IG Europe is based in Germany and is authorised and regulated by BaFin and Bundesbank.
Interactive Brokers expanded with a new entity based in Ireland. ActivTrades UK Plc secured licence for Luxemburg office to keep its office as an European focal point
