Alpari UK customers receive a refund after the bankruptcy of 2015.

It's been two years since Alpari UK, a broker under British FCA regulations, filed for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, it will be at least a few more months until some customers receive a refund (part of?) Of their funds. Traders who, at the time of bankruptcy, had deposits up to the guaranteed amount of GBP 50 in Great Britain found themselves in a comfortable situation.

The beginnings of problems

The problems of Alpari UK appeared directly after the memorable Black Thursday of 15 January 2015, when the Swiss Central Bank decided to release the CHF course. Traders who had large positions on their francs (and not only) on their accounts recorded massive debits. The ricochet was reflected in all the other broker's clients who held funds on their accounts that day, because the scale of debt to liquidity providers exceeded Alpari UK and threw them out of the market.

The content of the email sent by KPMG to Alpari UK customers

The KPMG Alpari UK administration released a progress report on refunds which contained both positive and not entirely good news. The good news is that all customers who have opted to receive compensation from the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) have been fully repaid. The maximum value of the refund was the guaranteed amount of 50 000 GBP. Until now, the FSCS has accepted 12 759 applications and paid compensation in the total amount of 50,8 million USD to benefit 12 305 customers. That's about half of the total value of deposits. And here the bad news begins.

Customers who had deposits larger than 50 000 GBP at the broker's bankruptcy and did not decide to return from the FSCS will have to wait a bit longer to recover the rest of the funds. KPMG in its report informs that up to this moment the traders were paid out of the customer funds 55 cents for each dollar claim. However, here there is a problem with further payouts due to the appeal of a key creditor whose application has been rejected. Until this case is closed, i.e. probably by July this year. KPMG must refrain from continuing payments to customers.

According to KPMG's estimates, the total return for customers who have not benefited from the guarantee fund will fluctuate within the range from 78,3 to 79,7 cents per dollar. This means that people with a deposit exceeding 50 000 GBP will never recover all their funds. Customers who had less than 50 000 GBP in their Alpari UK account and who received less than 100 cents for each dollar, can still apply to the FSCS for a refund of the rest of the funds.

Full KPMG report