I appreciate the clear passage of communication, but date I ask why you do not use a secondary partner or switch altogether?
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Exactly this, but given that we have transferred the money to FT, why can’t they pay that increased deposit to the clearing house ?
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If only it was that simple ay
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Appeciate the transparancy FT has given over this. I’m aware that the situation is potentially quite unique and or historic.
I’m interested to know if the capital requirement changes from the DTC have much precedent? Have they have adjusted requirements overnight maybe on a much smaller scale or whatever before? Or is this a first?
edit: spolling
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It would probably be a good idea in future to have a contingency plan i.e. a second FX partner and a second US partner in the event of something going wrong. however it’s a bit late for that now, and there’s no guarantee in this case that another partner wouldn’t impose the same rules
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Today’s issue isn’t with the FX partner, that was the problem on Friday. The cause of today’s stop is the central clearing company which regardless of how many FX partners you have you cannot avoid dealing with.
So, different issues on different days, both leading to the same outcome, despite the FT team working all weekend on a solution for problem on Friday.
The real TL;DR - short ladder/SLV pushing didn’t work as planned yesterday, so new measures are required to slow or prevent buying. Not implying FT are at fault here, but it’s quite obvious the parties who stand to lose a fortune from this are using every trick in the book to soften the blow. Diamond hands! (Am not a financial expert and this is not advice, I ate crayons for breakfast)
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Not surprised, the meme market is having a liquidity crunch and the risks involved are huge. I did predict this would happen in my last thread I posted.
Will there be a February refund for plus too? Freetrade have so far been great with goodwill gestures, and I would love to see it continue.
But it is weird that only a few stocks are blocked. Are these blocks because those stocks have higher deposit requirements or did the overall requirement go up for all stocks and is FT (and other brokers) unable to deposit all the necessary money should the memestocks be available for buying. Great communication from FT but this will be have repercussions on future trading. On the analogy: indeed, the bank mortgage is more apt, but the principle stays the same: one player changes the rules mid-game. The clearing house should give a weeks notice so the brokers can find alternatives or funds to deposit. Dong this at a whim erodes trust in the whole system.
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Looks like the ivory towers are shook. 
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I think the FT gesture for January is fair 
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I agree, I don’t think Freetrade should be refunding everybody for February as well.
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It is definitely being done to hurt the retail trader/investor.
I am sure that the hedgefunds will be able to trade freely while everyone else has their hands tied for a day, so they can cover up their illegalities with more illegalities.
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Thanks for clear communication!
The main positive learning for from all this:
- I understand more how stuff works behind the scenes when you actually place your orders with FT (or other platforms).
- How FT is different to RH and HL. And what they do similar. I better understand now how
- The main gainer on reddit (DeepF****Value) is actually a value investor and was investing in GME since 2019. So if anyone jumping right now hoping for a quick buck - there is more chance for you to loose money instead of actually gaining anything. (No financial advice, I’m not that smart).
I do believe no valued customer of Plus accounts would leave because of this, only people who signed up recently for a ride. So don’t think these people leaving will have much affect on FT.
One question I still couldn’t answer for sure: Do you guys sell “Order Flow” the way RH does? Or is your revenue purely from Plus / ISA and FX Spot?
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UK rules forbid the selling of order flow, hence Robinhood pulling out of the UK.
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That’s great to see. I’m happy I’m in UK 
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The don’t sell order flow. See Alex’s reply here:
This should shock and appall all retail investors alike, whether you’re sat on the “I’m a proper trader not a meme stock investor” pedestal or not.
What we are seeing now is blatant market manipulation by the big boys as they attempt to limit their losses and cover up their crooked short selling.
The fact that these guys can have this much influence over our ability to trade freely, when they stand to lose, is deeply disturbing. Alright, it might not be you right now in GME but what’s to stop it being you at some point in the future. How can any of us have any confidence in this market, and the brokers, if the plug can be pulled so easily.
So my question to FT is: what can you do to be more resilient to this skulduggery? If I’m to continue to having an account with FT I would like to know that my strategy isn’t going to be blown out the water as soon as some powerful hedge fund is on the wrong side of the trades.
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Thank you for the extended explanation 
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