Compensation from broker for Russian CFD (contract for difference)

The UK Financial Ombudsman has ordered Interactive Brokers (IB) to compensate an investor that invested in a Russian CFD (contract for difference). In this case the CFD was for 10.000 Sberbank ordinary shares. Interactive Brokers refused to close the position because they could not trade the underlying Sberbank shares Interactive Brokers had bought to cover the CFD contract. From March 2022 onwards, IB raised the margin required for the position to 100%. By August 2024 the interest alone charged on the position had amounted to around USD $12,000.  The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) introduced a margin close-out rule in 2018 that states that CFD providers have to close positions once the net asset value in the investor's account drops to 50% of the required margin. The Financial Ombudsman ruled that Interactive Brokers was required to stop charging interest and other charges on the CFD position once they had to close the position on the basis of the ESMA 50% margin...

Video and presentation of Ozon webinar

 

EAHCISS and Irina Sibirina at Itlektis jointly hosted a webinar today on the topic of forced conversion of Ozon depositary shares into ordinary Russian shares. We have now uploaded the presentation and the video of the webinar on YouTube. The presentation can be downloaded here.

Webinar title: "I don't want no liquidation!" How to apply for forced conversion of Ozon depositary shares into ordinary shares as a shareholder in Ozon. In this webinar we inform investors in Ozon about the process of applying forced conversion of Ozon depositary shares into ordinary shares as a shareholder in Ozon. It is highly recommended to apply for forced conversion in order to prevent liquidation of your depositary shares in Ozon by BNY (the depositary bank). Topics that will be covert are the opening of an account to receive ordinary shares in Ozon, the legal framework and how to practically go through the process of forced conversion.

More information on forced conversion of Ozon depositary receipts can be found on the website of Ozon: https://ir.ozon.com/en/redomiciliation.