Not upheld: Unfair fees and charges; unfair pricing/spreads; conflict of interest; account closure complaint against Plus500UK Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained to Plus500 about unfair and unjustified fees (overnight funding charges, currency conversion fees, and spreads), lack of transparency, and systemic conflict of interest in Plus500's business model as a market maker. He presented five Natural Gas CFD trades as examples, claiming he incurred over £70,000 in cumulative fees over five months. The Ombudsman dismissed the complaint about account closure and the £70,000 total charges as previously determined in an earlier complaint decision. For the remaining scope limited to the five specific trades, only trades 1 and 2 could be evidenced in account statements. The Ombudsman found the overnight funding charges, currency conversion fees, and spreads on these two trades were all properly applied, transparent, and fair, as they were clearly disclosed in the agreed terms, displayed on the platform, and the pricing reflected underlying market prices when allowances were made for disclosed spreads. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Ombudsman found that aspects of the complaint were dismissed under DISP 3.3.4A R because they had previously been considered in an earlier complaint decision (account closure and the £70,000 total charges claim). The remaining scope was limited to the specific five trades presented and allegations about overnight funding charges, currency conversion fees, and spreads. For trades 1 and 2 (the only two that could be evidenced), the Ombudsman found: (1) overnight funding charges were properly applied, transparent, and proportionate to the size and duration of the trades, which were entirely within Mr S's control; (2) currency conversion fees were properly applied as the trades were in USD while the account was GBP-based, and the fee rate was clearly disclosed; (3) pricing/spreads were fair as comparison with independent Bloomberg price data showed the opening and closing prices broadly reflected underlying market prices when allowance was made for Plus500's disclosed spreads. Trades 3, 4 and 5 could not be evidenced in the account statements and no additional evidence was provided to establish their existence.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website