Playtech acquisition target "confident" of regulatory clearance
CFD trading company Plus500, which was forced to suspend UK accounts due to AML concerns, says it has complied with FCA requests
Playtech’s deal to acquire CFD trading company Plus500 moved a step closer today after the firm said it had returned to “business as usual” following the unfreezing of thousands of accounts suspended due to anti-money laundering (AML) concerns.
The firm said most of its 13,499 UK accounts have now been re-opened after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told it to re-verify each customer’s identity after an earlier review found that Plus500’s AML checks weren’t up to the required standard.
Plus500, which was also forced to stop on-boarding new customers, was required to appoint a ‘skilled person’ to ensure the steps taken by the firm would address the issues raised and sent a report documenting their findings to the FCA last week.
“The skilled person sent a draft of its report to the FCA and Plus500UK on 26 June,” Plus500 said in a statement. “The Board is confident that Plus500UK’s revised procedures will meet regulatory approval,” it added.
The firm said it was now “business as usual” and expects to be signing up new clients within the next three weeks.
The FCA investigation appeared not to have hampered Plus500’s financial performance, with the firm reporting and 18% year-on-year increase in H1 revenue to $125m, although Q2 revenues fell 5.5% to $43m.
Playtech agreed a £459.6m deal to acquire Plus500 at the start of the month in a bid to bolster its position in the online financial trading sector, with Plus500 shareholders set to vote on the deal at a meeting on 16 July.
The news of acquisition came off the back of Playtech’s recent £333m deal for a majority stake in foreign exchange and currency brokerage firm TradeFX.
Playtech CEO Mor Weizer described the Plus500 acquisition as “transformational” and said he expected it to be immediately earnings enhancing.