Forced closing of remaining crypto balances, and margin increases to 100%

[IanP]

I received an email this morning saying that all remaining crypto positions will be closed in one month, and margin requirements on cryptos will be increased to 100% (!) from Monday.  The excuse is, inter alia, that "We have now reached our internal product limit for exposure to cryptocurrencies, and as a result will be removing cryptocurrencies from our offering to UK retail clients".

What a disgrace.

If the margin is 100% there would be no funding exposure for IG.  I think what this all really means is that, in a product structured and sold as a bet, they are uncomfortable with losing the bet if cryptos continue to rise significantly.  In a market which is, for regulatory reasons, no longer available for new entrants it's not as if they are getting a flood of new money coming into it.  So they are going to close positions which have been in place for some time.

And increasing the margin with only a weekend's notice is pretty shabby too.

The email went on to say "We encourage you to review your exposure and to manage your position(s) accordingly."  I shall be reviewing, instead, my use of the platform.

[PaulBacky]

I totally agree with you IanP, I think it is a disgrace, I shall being doing the same.

[Guest Steve P]

I have asked IG to explain why I have to now close my positions when they had already confirmed back in Jan if I had bets already open then they can continue to be open. 

[Petrushka]

Received the same email - short notice for sure. This is a naive question - I assume that all margin funded by clients is reimbursed when positions are closed ? Many thanks 

[Caseynotes]

Hi, yes, margin is never taken from your account, it is simply the minimum amount you must hold free in your account to cover open trades.

[Ben1LIT]

I’ve seen a post on here stating that IG intend on removing around 1100 stocks from their platform. I’ve had a long position open for sometime which I suspect will be one of the stocks that is removed. I don’t understand if we make a contractual bet with the broker, how can they just close it when they lose. If we lose, we have to pay out. 
 

looking for advice and experience from people who’ve been doing this a while, whilst I do more research into how (if) I can keep my position open. Thanks..

[Joo]

Basically they reserve the right to close at the current price, if you are winning you can keep your gains but you can't gain any more. The only way to keep our positions is to go to another broker and buy the real stock, not a CFD.

[DarielRiera]

4 hours ago, Ben1LIT said:

I’ve seen a post on here stating that IG intend on removing around 1100 stocks from their platform. I’ve had a long position open for sometime which I suspect will be one of the stocks that is removed. I don’t understand if we make a contractual bet with the broker, how can they just close it when they lose. If we lose, we have to pay out. 
 

looking for advice and experience from people who’ve been doing this a while, whilst I do more research into how (if) I can keep my position open. Thanks..

 

Hopeless

We, retails losing money on a daily basis, being always in a disadvantaged position compaired with a broker... and for once, we manage to bet on the right direction, actually getting few bucks back from all our losses, and we are all forced to close down our poor wins. So typical ''of-course-you-will-die-poor'' behavior

Could somebody PLEASE at least help, write or link the list with the 1100 assets that we're not allowed to trade anymore?

Thanks in advance

[DarielRiera]

 hahahhhahaaa.. this is so funny.. Ive been trying to post about this issues since yesterday but seems like the moderators they dont like my opinion, so they wont approve my quotes.

Welcome to the the world of freedom

🥴

[CharlotteIG]

2 hours ago, DarielRiera said:

 

Hopeless

We, retails losing money on a daily basis, being always in a disadvantaged position compaired with a broker... and for once, we manage to bet on the right direction, actually getting few bucks back from all our losses, and we are all forced to close down our poor wins. So typical ''of-course-you-will-die-poor'' behavior

Could somebody PLEASE at least help, write or link the list with the 1100 assets that we're not allowed to trade anymore?

Thanks in advance

Hey, 

As soon as I get a full list I will post it in this forum. As mentioned I will be passing all the feedback you're giving to senior members of staff in hope that if does shape the decisions we're making. 

 

[Zippie]

Ianp 

I totally agree. Having just recently told us that we could keep open positions until "we are ready to close them" this is a pretty poor turnaround. Disgraceful!  I have been with IG for more than twenty years and will be looking elsewhere in future.

[Guest Spl183]

Thanks Guys.  Yes, I got the same e-mail.  Really frustrating, and out of the blue.  Poor, poor show.   Can I just asked a technical question please ?  Is it right that currently, for Crypto IG provide 50% so basically the new margin requirement will be double the existing ??  Thanks, Spl183 

[mmartin191]

Could someone confirm if this affects the spread betting platform also?

Thanks.

[drmoore]

just plain unethical, regardless of their T&Cs - if you have CFDs running at a loss you're forced to take the hit.  No different to buying a car and then 6 months down the road the seller wants the motor back.  No problem denying new entrants if IGs exposure gets too risky, but surely they should honour the existing positions.

I have very small positions but they mean a lot to me.  Will look at Saxo and IB as I don't see them do the same thing to their clients as regularly as IG.

[Guest Outraged]

I would encourage all who are dissatisfied with this issue regarding forced closure of cryptocurrency positions or similar increase in margin requirements / forced closure of certain shares to formalise complaints in writing to compliance@ig.com as clients are entitled to do, explaining what actions you propose to take if they do not reconsider E.g. switching to another company, referring to Financial Ombudsman if complaints are not satisfactorily dealt with, seeking compensation etc. 

You may wish to refer to any previous correspondence such as the email on cryptocurrency positions sent on 4th January stating that " You can continue to open cryptocurrency trades as a retail client until 5 January 2021. After this, you’ll be able to hold any existing positions until you’re ready to close them, but you won’t be able to place new crypto trades. "

 

Also worth quoting FCA guidance:

 

1. PS20/10: Prohibiting the sale to retail clients of investment products that reference cryptoassets

1.23 Retail consumers with existing holdings can remain invested following the prohibition, until they choose to disinvest. There is no time limit on this, and we do not require or expect firms to close out retail consumers’ positions unless consumers ask for this.