18 December 2017
Plus500 Ltd.
("Plus500" or "the Company")
ESMA Update
Plus500, a leading online service provider for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally, today provides an update regarding the recent statement by ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority.
ESMA provided an updated statement on the preparatory work in relation to CFDs and other products offered to retail clients on Friday 15 December. It also commented that it will conclude its consultation in January 2018 with official trading restrictions to be announced then.
Plus500 welcomes this statement and the strong regulatory framework that this will bring to the industry. On the main points highlighted by this statement, Plus500 reiterates that the Company has never offered binary options and has always provided balance protection to its customers across all its product offerings in all its markets, as a core principle of its business model. The Company also has a maintenance margin level which enables its customers to have additional protection. As at January 2017, Plus500 removed its bonus schemes for the vast majority of its operations.
At this stage, Plus500 will wait for the conclusion of the consultation expected in January 2018 to understand where it will need to implement necessary adjustments to its business model.
Asaf Elimelech, CEO of Plus500 commented: "It is positive to have an update from ESMA, as this provides us with more transparency as to the regulatory changes that may be implemented in January 2018.
We look forward to working with our regulators through the consultation period and establishing detailed procedures to ensure the proposed measures operate effectively. Until those details are finalised, it is difficult to assess the impact upon our business, however, as we have previously stated, we have a flexible business model, already provide many of the protections suggested by ESMA, and are well diversified globally, now with seven licenses in different jurisdictions following the recent licence approval in Singapore earlier this month."
For further information please contact:
Plus500 Ltd +972 4 8189503
Elad Even-Chen, Chief Financial Officer
Liberum - Nomad and Broker +44 20 3100 2222
Clayton Bush, Neil Elliot, Josh Hughes
Berenberg (Joint Broker) +44 20 3207 7800
Chris Bowman, Mark Whitmore
MHP Communications +44 20 3128 8100
Reg Hoare, Tim Rowntree, Kelsey Traynor
About Plus500
Plus500 operates an online trading platform for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally over more than 2,200 different underlying global financial instruments comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, crypto currencies and foreign exchange. Retail customers of Plus500 can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 32 languages. The trading platform is also accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, smartphones (iOS, Android and Windows Phone), tablets (iOS, Android and Surface), Apple Watch and web browsers).
Plus500 retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, New Zealand, Israel, South Africa and Singapore. Customer care is integral to Plus500: customers cannot be subject to negative balances, there are no commissions on trades. Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leverage and stop losses to help customers protect profits and limit capital losses.
www.plus500.com
