If some of you have wondered why the shares of Plus500 are still trading on the London Stock Exchange ’s (LSE) Alternative Investments Market (AIM), the company has issued an official statement to clarify the current status of its public listing.
According to the regulatory filing with the LSE, as previously stated when the companies announced that CySEC has approved the takeover deal between Playtech and Plus500 Ltd, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval is still missing.
The companies expect the agreement to be closed by the latest November, with some indications of an October move by the regulator remaining a possibility. The delisting of the shares of Plus500 from the LSE’s AIM market will occur only after the formal approval by the UK financial regulator.
At this juncture, the time that the FCA is taking to approve the deal is within its standard terms. The brokerage and its buyer have stated that they will keep the market updated on the progress of the regulatory approval.
Last May. the brokerage was forced to suspend its services after the FCA established that Plus500 wasn’t diligent enough in its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) ) procedures.
After the company took steps to comply with the regulatory requirements its regular service resumed. By the time the events unfolded, the shares of the brokerage had tanked about 70 percent. After a short period during which the market pondered the real value of the company in the aftermath of the FCA action, Playtech approached the broker with a takeover offer, valuing Plus500 at 400 pence per share.
