10th January 2018
LEI No: 2138003A5Q1M7ANOUD76
IG GROUP HOLDINGS PLC
Response to FCA findings of review of the CFD market
IG Group Holdings plc ("IG", "the Company"), a global leader in online trading, notes that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have today issued a letter to all providers and distributors of contracts for difference (CFD) products.
IG welcomes the FCA's review on the provision and distribution of CFD products to clients on an advisory or discretionary basis. IG does not offer advisory or discretionary services for CFD products and has terminated its very small number of relationships with distributors who offer our CFD product on a discretionary or advisory basis to retail clients within the UK and EU. IG believes that it complies with the applicable rules and FCA guidance and that this review has no new financial implications for IG's business.
The Company is always seeking to improve and we have taken steps to address the observations made by the FCA in their individual letter to IG on this aspect of the industry in October 2017. We believe that stricter supervision of those firms who do not comply will lead to improved client outcomes in the industry.
In line with RPPD and MiFID II product governance obligations, IG has carefully defined its target market. This is shared with the few partners with whom IG works, and who distribute its products in accordance with IG's own high standards.
The Company has delivered a sustainable business by placing good client outcomes at the heart of everything it does. Good conduct, from the way products are designed, to how they are marketed, to whom firms allow to use them, is essential in protecting clients.
The Company's long held view is that robust supervision around who the product is marketed to, and which applicants are accepted as clients, remains the most significant measure to drive improved client outcomes.
For further information, please contact:
IG Group
Liz Scorer 020 7573 0727
[email protected]
FTI Consulting
Neil Doyle / Ed Berry 020 3727 1141 / 1046
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
About IG
IG empowers informed, decisive, adventurous people to access opportunities in over 15,000 financial markets. With a strong focus on innovation and technology, the company puts client needs at the heart of everything it does.
IG's vision is to be a global leader in retail trading and investments. Established in 1974 as the world's first financial spread betting firm, it continued leading the way by launching the world's first online and iPhone trading services.
IG is now an award-winning, multi-platform trading company, the world's No.1 provider of CFDs* and a global leader in forex. It provides leveraged services with the option of limited-risk guarantees, and offers an execution-only share dealing service in the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands. IG has recently launched a range of affordable, fully managed investment portfolios, to provide a comprehensive offering to investors and active traders.
It is a member of the FTSE 250, with offices across Europe, including a Swiss bank, Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the US, where it offers on-exchange limited risk derivatives via the Nadex brand.
*Based on revenue excluding FX (from published financial statements, October 2016)
