Not upheld: Investment mis-selling complaint against OANDA Europe Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained that OANDA Europe Limited failed to warn him about trading risks, provide adequate education, protect his capital, and that the firm manipulated markets and defrauded him, resulting in losses of approximately £30,000 across two trading accounts opened in 2015-2017. The firm disputed the complaint, noting both accounts were execution only with no advisory services, Mr C had prior trading experience (2,500+ forex trades), and he agreed to comprehensive risk warnings and had access to educational materials. The ombudsman found the firm did not act wrongly in accepting Mr C's applications given his experience, provided adequate risk warnings including a statement that 77% of retail accounts lose money, made sufficient educational material available, and found no evidence of fraud or market manipulation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr C had sufficient prior trading experience to make the accounts appropriate, he was adequately warned about high trading risks through multiple standardised warnings at account opening, and comprehensive educational material was accessible to him. The firm properly exercised its discretion in accepting his applications given his experience and agreement to warnings. The execution only nature of the accounts meant the firm had no obligation to monitor or manage his trades. No evidence supported allegations of fraud or market manipulation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website