Another foreign exchange (FX) brokerage firm has been driven out of business by losses caused when the Swiss National Bank (SNB) decided to remove the peg between the Swiss franc and the euro.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Tuesday that LQD Markets UK has entered into insolvency proceedings. According to a letter from the firm’s administrators, LQD ran into trouble when the SNB decision led to extreme volatility in FX markets. The letter says that the firm explored alternatives for recapitalizing the business, but that those efforts ultimately failed, and so it entered insolvency proceedings instead.
The administrators are currently working to reconcile client accounts, although the administrators indicate that there does appear to be a deficit in client assets. The exact size of that deficit is not yet known.
The FCA has ruled that a “primary pooling event” took place under its rules designed to protect client assets on Jan. 28. As a result, clients’ assets are pooled together and all eligible clients are entitled to share of the assets in the pool on a pro-rata basis. Clients that are missing money may be able to make a claim to Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the UK, which will pay up to £50,000 ($94,200) per person in compensation.