I’m just sticking my finger in the air with regards to how spread betting is classified - never using it myself. But, i’d be surprised to see no material changes taking place in that area also. I’d be keen to follow this and see what the outcome is.
No, its very definitely under the FCA.
Not exempt - it’s FCA-regulated (and generally well regulated, these days).
Times must have changed since I looked into it 7 years ago with IG Index - although there were suggestions at the time that regulation was changing to the FSA, now FCA from the Gambling Authority.
FCA regulate a spread bet because they define same as a CFD.
FCA voiced concerns back in early 2017 on the high number of losers, they decided to put a hold on any action in June to await the EU action.
The FCA thinking is broadly similar to the EU approach, membership of EU is irrelevant, the FCA can act on their own if the so choose, they indicated back in June that should there be delays to Esma’s action, the FCA will reconsider making final rules in the first half of 2018.
First report of the ‘FCA Crackdown’ was in Dec 2016 - headline on Dec6 2016:
FTSE 100 rises but spread betting firms plunge 40pc after City watchdog clamps down on CFD trading
1 Like
Thanks Peterma, so it appears my second guessing for spread betting providers was correct in the first instance, not a bad ‘finger in the air’ 
Ok it seems the deffinitions have changed for regulation then - Do HMRC still consider spreadbetting to be gambling, but not CFD’s ?
Personally I can see very little difference.
Not so clever after all
@RISKonFX I was going to post but did not want the Abuse you seem to keep giving out to people that aren’t in your “Little” click.
I’m not going to say anything about your website or how Sad i think it is you have to try and boast about how good a trader you are When you really don’t have a clue.
Please do not post Misleading information As you keep telling others not to…
Thanks…
I reckon Australia won’t be far behind… I have already read mumblings about limiting access to the markets for retail traders here.
Interestingly, it’s also been reported that Australian Accountants (CPA’s) are reporting a lot of the new wealthy are generating their wealth from financial markets…so maybe some are actually making serious money out of this game…
I’ll add a link to article if I can find it… was in the Australian Financial Review late 2017
That’s interesting - do you have a link for that ?
Haven’t heard anything new about the tax treatment of SB or CFD’s. It seems ESMA don’t see the difference but HMRC do.
Its ironic that the price we have paid for having a better regulated SB sector classed as a financial service rather than gambling (as it is in some countries), is that we now might face a financial regulator clamp-down on the very services we use. If we were treated as gamblers this wouldn’t be happening.
So I wonder if some of the larger firms in the conventional gambling sector might see an opportunity here to offer something novel to trawl in ex-financial SB traders?
1 Like
I don’t spread bet @A1lenTrader, as I mentioned in a previous post. I also clearly stated that I “thought” rather than fact. So keep up posting your crap.
I also started this thread for a discussion, which others all have managed to do. Your the exception here, as usual.
I think Its important to remember that the ESMA will be providing recommendations, and it will be up to each member state whether they accept these recommendations or not.
Don’t bet on it, FCA have told me when they phoned me back on this that they await the ESMA decision and will abide by it. I’m not accepting this 100% - I’ll bet individual states can vary the ESMA ruling if they really want to - but I don’t want to bet on the FCA making a special case for us guys either - they already told SB CEO’s they believe high leverage puts individuals at risk of losing more than they had invested. Hard to think they would clearly criticise this and then not use a way to deal with it handed to them by ESMA.
So how does one get around this? i dont open an individual trade that is above 1:20 leverage but i can have up to 8-10 positions open at any one time on different symbols… totalling up to 1:200 leverage (i currently have acces to 1:500 Leverage). This new law will stunt my trading… If i was to do this as a LTD company and open a business account with my broker can i still enjoy high leverage? How does one no longer be considered “Retail Trader”…(i was building up to do this looks like i may have to do this sooner)
Yes, you could enjoy upwards of 1:200 leverage if…
- You have a portfolio of greater than $500k (not including property or cash)
- You have verified history of placing significant sized positions (down to broker discretion)
- You have worked in the capacity of a professional position related to derivatives / speculation / trading
Match any two of those and you’re good to go.
Note: Negative balance protection is removed should you qualify for one of these accounts as you are then classified as a professional trader under ESMA regulation.
Well then I’m buggered then as i don’t qualify for any of those three points. looks like I will have to look at something like an offshore account then. But saying that I trade with Australian broker IC Markets and I’ve not had an email about this from them at all or can’t find any info about it on their website… Edit just did some research and the basically are only regulated in Australia so wont be reducing leverage any time soon…. Cool
Yep, they won’t facilitate the ESMA regulation - but on the flip side of the coin you have to be careful should you have any real issues as they are not regulated in UK / Europe. If you dispute anything then good luck with dealing with the Aussie rules…
What means more to you, protection if crap hits the fan from your own jurisdiction, or the use of higher leverage??
I admit I don’t understand the drive to get hold of higher leverage. The ESMA restrictions are working for me for me. I certainly don’t have a 6-figure account. Meantime, ESMA also introduced negative equity protection so that’s another nightmare scenario that should never happen.
1 Like
Well Australia is a pretty civilised country so I’m not worried about them doing anything bad… I’ve traded on and off with them for 3 years and never had a problem in that time. Withdrawals from them are also fine… I have also never found my account in negative equity at different black swan events in the past but i think that’s more to do with my trading method more than account protection…