The administrators from KPMG, who have been in charge of Alpari UK after the FX broker filed for insolvency less than two weeks ago, today issued a rather disappointing update for the clients of troubled company.
In the announcement, dated January 30, 2015, the administrators say they are still in the process of analysing the trades closed on Thursday (January 15, 2015) and Friday (January 16, 2015), as they seek to verify and confirm balances, on all client accounts, including those that currently show negative balances. Once these client account balances are validated, the administrators will provide statements to clients.
And here is the painful part of the message:
“The Joint Special Administrators are aware that, following the validation process, there are likely to be a number of clients who will have negative balances in their Client Account, some of which may be significant, due to the volatility in the market following the SNB announcement on Thursday, 15 January 2015. Where there are negative balances, those clients will be required to make payment to the Company.”
It is important to bear in mind that the Joint Special Administrators are officers of the English High Court. This fact gives them certain powers and also means they are subject to the High Court’s supervision. They will pursue in a diligent and thorough manner the process of realizing the company’s assets.
On the brighter side, two KPMG representatives – Tony Rudkin ([email protected]) and Eoin Connaughton ([email protected]), are open to discuss matters with all clients of the broker who think that after the check their account balances will be negative.
In the meantime, talks for selling Alpari UK continue and you can get an insight into the business of the retail Forex broker thanks to LeapRate’s exclusive report. The Confidential Information Memorandum shows that the broker has GBP 24 million in negative client balances, with the bulk of it attributable to 9 customers only.
The full text of KPMG’s update can be found here.