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IG Group has been trying to gain access to the potentially lucrative US market where IG Group's main products, contracts for difference and financial spread betting, are currently not legal. In 2007, it purchased [[HedgeStreet]], a small US based company that developed an electronic marketplace that allows online retail investors to trade financial derivatives. It renamed this the ''North American Derivatives Exchange'' or ('''[[Nadex|NADEX]]''') and has been attempting to use this to develop a product that looks like its binary option product but that meets the US financial regulations and can be offered to retail traders. In May 2010, it obtained permission from the US [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] to make various technical changes that move in that direction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://igmarketsblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/cfds-illegal-in-usa-not-for-much-longer.html |title=CFDS illegal in the USA not much longer| publisher=blogspot.com |date=14 May 2010 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref><ref>
IG Group has been trying to gain access to the potentially lucrative US market where IG Group's main products, contracts for difference and financial spread betting, are currently not legal. In 2007, it purchased [[HedgeStreet]], a small US based company that developed an electronic marketplace that allows online retail investors to trade financial derivatives. It renamed this the ''North American Derivatives Exchange'' or ('''[[Nadex|NADEX]]''') and has been attempting to use this to develop a product that looks like its binary option product but that meets the US financial regulations and can be offered to retail traders. In May 2010, it obtained permission from the US [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] to make various technical changes that move in that direction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://igmarketsblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/cfds-illegal-in-usa-not-for-much-longer.html |title=CFDS illegal in the USA not much longer| publisher=blogspot.com |date=14 May 2010 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article7147086.ece |title=Why IG Group is still worth a bet |author=Nick Hasell |publisher=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=10 June 2010 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref>
{{cite web |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article7147086.ece |title=Why IG Group is still worth a bet |author=Nick Hasell |publisher=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=10 June 2010 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref>

In August 2010, Australian press reported in an article title "when brokers are the enemy", that debt collectors for spreadbetting firms such as IG Markets were pushing investors towards bankruptcy and SUICIDE attempts. BusinessDay revealed that IG Markets has been racking up an average of one bankruptcy application per month against clients since 2007. IG markets in-house lawyer Peter Richards stated "We have to [issue these proceedings] in some cases. It isn't pleasant and we have systems in place now so these debts will never arise" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/business/when-brokers-are-the-enemy-20100827-13w40.html|title=When Brokers Are the Enemy|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 August 2010}}</ref>


In June 2011, IG Markets shut down its traditional fixed-odds sports service '''extrabet''', which had an emphasis on in-play betting. The fixed odds sport service was shut down to focus on financial wagers, after failing to find a buyer for the whole unit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-19/ig-group-logs-full-year-loss-after-taking-japanese-unit-charges.html |title=IG Logs Full-Year Loss After Taking Japan-Unit Charges |author=David Altaner |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |date=19 July 2011 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref>
In June 2011, IG Markets shut down its traditional fixed-odds sports service '''extrabet''', which had an emphasis on in-play betting. The fixed odds sport service was shut down to focus on financial wagers, after failing to find a buyer for the whole unit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-19/ig-group-logs-full-year-loss-after-taking-japanese-unit-charges.html |title=IG Logs Full-Year Loss After Taking Japan-Unit Charges |author=David Altaner |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |date=19 July 2011 |accessdate=31 July 2010}}</ref>


In September 2014, the company started its own online stockbroking platform offering prices on some 4,500 stocks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/11096390/IG-launches-online-stockbroking-platform.html|title=IG launches online stockbroking platform|publisher=The Telegraph|date=15 September 2014|accessdate=14 April 2015}}</ref>
In September 2014, the company started its own online stockbroking platform offering prices on some 4,500 stocks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/11096390/IG-launches-online-stockbroking-platform.html|title=IG launches online stockbroking platform|publisher=The Telegraph|date=15 September 2014|accessdate=14 April 2015}}</ref>

On January 15th 2015, IG Group lost £30mn due to its long exposure to EURCHF. IG assumed a loss of £12mn due to losses on trading whilst the remaining £18mn was a negative balance allocated to 327 clients.

The clients were surprised by IG's delays in selling EURCHF which led to one of the worst selling prices for any broker at 0.9250. The FCA have received multiple complaints and around half the clients are holding out from paying until IG take some responsibility for the losses. Clients argue that the platform did not live up to the marketing hype and it was IG's responsibility that its choice of liquidity providers failed to provide liquidity. In any case clients argue that since IG act as principal to their trades, IG should honour stop losses. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://jmp.io/5VMB|title=IG clients who got wiped out describe 10 minutes of hell as their trades went unsold during the Swiss currency explosion|publisher=Business Insider|date=30 April 2015}}</ref>

IG offers guaranteed stops but decided not to for eurchf as they believed the downside risks were large. Contrary to their removal of guaranteed stops due to risk controls, they continued to offer a leverage of 100.

Due to the risks on the Eurchf currency pair during the Swiss Gold referendum, some of IG'S competitors decreased leverage to as low as 10.


==Operations==
==Operations==

Revision as of 08:02, 29 May 2015

IG Group plc
Company typePublic Limited Company
LSE: IGG
IndustryFinancial Services
Founded1974
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Key people
Jonathan Davie, (Chairman)
Tim Howkins, (CEO)
ServicesOnline Forex trading, CFDs, spread betting, shares trading
Revenue£370.4 million (2014)[1]
£195.3 million (2014)[1]
£147.0 million (2014)[1]
Websitewww.iggroup.com

IG Group is a UK-based company providing trading in financial derivatives such contracts for difference and financial spread betting to retail traders. While the majority of the company's activities are based in the UK, the company has expanded internationally. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[2]

History

The company was founded in 1974 by Stuart Wheeler as a spread betting business under the name IG Index (an abbreviation for Investors Gold Index) and in July 2000, shares in the newly named IG Group plc were first listed on the London Stock Exchange.[3]

In July 2002, IG Group commenced trading in Australia after a change in the country's financial services legislation made it possible to offer Contracts for Difference to Australian residents.[4]

IG Group took the opportunity to acquire its founder's shares, and those of certain other long-standing shareholders, in a management buy-out (backed by venture capitalists CVC Capital Partners Ltd) which valued the company at £143 million; IG Group plc's listing on the London Stock Exchange was subsequently cancelled on 7 November 2003.[5]

In May 2005, after two years of private ownership, IG Group and CVC Capital Partners re-floated the company on the main list of the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £393 million.[5]

In October 2008, IG acquired fxonline, a Japanese retail FX business.[6]

IG Group has been trying to gain access to the potentially lucrative US market where IG Group's main products, contracts for difference and financial spread betting, are currently not legal. In 2007, it purchased HedgeStreet, a small US based company that developed an electronic marketplace that allows online retail investors to trade financial derivatives. It renamed this the North American Derivatives Exchange or (NADEX) and has been attempting to use this to develop a product that looks like its binary option product but that meets the US financial regulations and can be offered to retail traders. In May 2010, it obtained permission from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to make various technical changes that move in that direction.[7][8]

In June 2011, IG Markets shut down its traditional fixed-odds sports service extrabet, which had an emphasis on in-play betting. The fixed odds sport service was shut down to focus on financial wagers, after failing to find a buyer for the whole unit.[9]

In September 2014, the company started its own online stockbroking platform offering prices on some 4,500 stocks.[10]

Operations

In 2012, IG Group consolidated its business in the UK under one brand, IG. IG is now, therefore, the sole trading name of the operating companies:[11]

  • IG Index, which offers spread betting on financial markets.
  • IG Markets, which offers CFDs on a similar range of financial markets.

Sponsorship

During its history, IG Group signed some notable sponsorship deals:

References

  1. ^ a b c Annual Report 2014
  2. ^ "FTSE 250 - Indicative Index Weight Data as at Closing on 31 December 2014" (PDF). FTSE. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Spread bets firm IG Index holds £110m market slip". The Telegraph. 10 June 2000. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. ^ "IG chief predicts end of market tranquillity". The Telegraph. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b "IG Group confirms LSE float". Financial Times. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. ^ "British spread-better buys FXOnline". China Post. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  7. ^ "CFDS illegal in the USA not much longer". blogspot.com. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  8. ^ Nick Hasell (10 June 2010). "Why IG Group is still worth a bet". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  9. ^ David Altaner (19 July 2011). "IG Logs Full-Year Loss After Taking Japan-Unit Charges". Bloomberg. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  10. ^ "IG launches online stockbroking platform". The Telegraph. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  11. ^ "IG Markets Review". Spread Betting Daily. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  12. ^ "IG Markets, patrocinador del Getafe CF SAD". Rankia.com (in Spanish). 23 August 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  13. ^ Kröner, Hedwig (18 November 2010). "Sky announces new co-sponsor". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  14. ^ Noble, Kelly (10 December 2010). "IG Markets Sponsors Two Stages of Santos Tour Down Under". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  15. ^ Dormio, Nunquam (16 October 2013). "Quins sign new sponsorship deal". RugbyNetwork.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  16. ^ "Harlequins announces IG as Principal Partner". Quins.co.uk. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  17. ^ Nikolova, Maria (5 May 2015). "IG partners with Melbourne Football Club". LeapRate. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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