Haifa-based online contract for difference provider Plus500 (LSE:PLUS) saw its share price plunge 36% yesterday and an additional 11% today after it was forced to suspend the trading accounts of a large proportion of its UK customers its main markets. The authorities are concerned that the accounts are being used for money laundering.
The UK authorities are demanding that account holders must prove their identity, an essential component of anti-money laundering regulations.
Plus500 said about 55% of customers had not passed an electronic verification process which allows them to trade and added “as usual, under anti money laundering regulations, existing customers, whether electronically verified or not, are unable to make withdrawals from their accounts until they have provided Plus500UK with fully compliant AML documents.”
Plus500 held its London IPO in July 2013 at £1.15 per share and at its peak the company was trading at £7.70 per share. The share has now fallen back to £4.24 per share, giving a market cap of £486 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 19, 2015
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