With the Brexit transition period coming to a close, IG Group today said its UK entity will no longer be able to service EEA clients. Europe’s largest spread betting and CFDs provider will set non-UK clients’ accounts to ‘closings only’ from 31 December 2020. Affected clients will have one month to close their trades manually, otherwise, IG Groupe will liquidate their positions on 31 January 2021.

With only two days to go until the end of the Brexit transition period, UK brokers are losing so-called ‘passporting’ rights which allow them to provide services and products across the continent. Instead, they will need country-specific approvals in order to provide their services, which has prompted some brokers to terminate offering to non-UK clients.

Part of their preparation for Britain’s exit from the Europe Union, the UK-listed broker has given clients of its UK entity the option to be moved to its European subsidiary, IG Europe. The latter is based in Germany and is authorised and regulated by BaFin and Bundesbank.

“If you have previously agreed to transfer your account to IG Europe but have not received confirmation that the transfer has taken place, please email the helpdesk / live chat us as soon as possible so we can look into this,” the company emphasized today.

IG Group further explained: “Please note that, after 31 December, you will still be placed on closings only until your account has been successfully transferred. Therefore, if you consent to the transfer, you won’t be able to open any new positions from 31 December until the transfer has taken place. We expect the transfer to happen in mid-January, and we will notify you of your transfer date in advance.”

The end of the post-Brexit transition period later this week will see UK-based financial services providers having to abide by different rules if they want to operate in mainland Europe.

IG Group and other brokerage platforms established or expanded their European bases ahead of the UK’s departure from the bloc. The Brexit is expected to cause substantial changes in Europe’s regulatory environment, particularly the restrictions that will be placed on FCA regulated firms to passport into Europe.