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Plus500
Plus500 is an Israeli-founded, London-based financial betting firm that provides online trading services in contracts for difference (CFDs), share dealing, futures trading, Prediction markets and options on futures. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index and the STOXX Europe 600.
The company was founded in 2008 by six alumni of the Technion: Alon Gonen, Gal Haber, Elad Ben Yitzhak, Omer Elazari, Shlomi Weizman, and Shimon Sofer, with an initial investment of $400,000.
The platform was originally a software application for Windows, but a web-based version launched in 2010. Mobile versions for iOS and Android launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively. By January 2013, 40% of transactions were conducted via mobile devices.
In 2013, Plus500 became a publicly traded company on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Its market capitalisation was $202 million. By mid-2013, Plus500 operated in 51 countries across 30 languages, offering over 1,800 assets. The company launched its Windows Store app in 2014.
In October 2012, Plus500UK Ltd. was fined £205,128 by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for inaccurate transaction reporting between June 2010 and November 2011. The inaccuracies impacted 1,332,000 transactions, of which 189,000 went unreported. Operating with a high-automation, low-staff model (40 employees in 2013, growing to 80 by 2015 in Tel Aviv), Plus500 lacked adequate systems, documented procedures, and staff training to ensure compliance.
In 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a review into how the organisation signed up new customers. The investigation came about due to concerns raised by its rivals. Allegedly, Plus500 only verified client identities when they withdrew funds rather than during account registration.
In 2014, co-founder Shimon Sofer sold 1.5 million shares for an estimated £4.1 million, causing an 8.7% drop in the share price.
In May 2015, the organisation's UK division faced a major crisis when the FCA ordered a freeze on all UK accounts as part of an anti-money-laundering review. Unlike traditional brokers, Plus500 allowed customers to start trading with minimal verification and required complete documentation only upon withdrawal, even enabling account creation through Facebook. The account freeze roughly halved Plus500's market capitalisation, from £860 million to £459.6 million. During this crisis, Plus500's management agreed to sell the company to Playtech, an online gambling company that was expanding into trading, for $703 million, roughly half its pre-freeze valuation. However, in November 2015, Playtech withdrew after failing to secure regulatory approval. Following the FCA issues, 72% of affected UK clients resumed trading, though Q2 2015 revenue still declined by 47.5% to $43 million. The short seller Simon Cawkwell targeted the company amid its rising post-IPO profits.
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Plus500
Plus500 is an Israeli-founded, London-based financial betting firm that provides online trading services in contracts for difference (CFDs), share dealing, futures trading, Prediction markets and options on futures. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index and the STOXX Europe 600.
The company was founded in 2008 by six alumni of the Technion: Alon Gonen, Gal Haber, Elad Ben Yitzhak, Omer Elazari, Shlomi Weizman, and Shimon Sofer, with an initial investment of $400,000.
The platform was originally a software application for Windows, but a web-based version launched in 2010. Mobile versions for iOS and Android launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively. By January 2013, 40% of transactions were conducted via mobile devices.
In 2013, Plus500 became a publicly traded company on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Its market capitalisation was $202 million. By mid-2013, Plus500 operated in 51 countries across 30 languages, offering over 1,800 assets. The company launched its Windows Store app in 2014.
In October 2012, Plus500UK Ltd. was fined £205,128 by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for inaccurate transaction reporting between June 2010 and November 2011. The inaccuracies impacted 1,332,000 transactions, of which 189,000 went unreported. Operating with a high-automation, low-staff model (40 employees in 2013, growing to 80 by 2015 in Tel Aviv), Plus500 lacked adequate systems, documented procedures, and staff training to ensure compliance.
In 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a review into how the organisation signed up new customers. The investigation came about due to concerns raised by its rivals. Allegedly, Plus500 only verified client identities when they withdrew funds rather than during account registration.
In 2014, co-founder Shimon Sofer sold 1.5 million shares for an estimated £4.1 million, causing an 8.7% drop in the share price.
In May 2015, the organisation's UK division faced a major crisis when the FCA ordered a freeze on all UK accounts as part of an anti-money-laundering review. Unlike traditional brokers, Plus500 allowed customers to start trading with minimal verification and required complete documentation only upon withdrawal, even enabling account creation through Facebook. The account freeze roughly halved Plus500's market capitalisation, from £860 million to £459.6 million. During this crisis, Plus500's management agreed to sell the company to Playtech, an online gambling company that was expanding into trading, for $703 million, roughly half its pre-freeze valuation. However, in November 2015, Playtech withdrew after failing to secure regulatory approval. Following the FCA issues, 72% of affected UK clients resumed trading, though Q2 2015 revenue still declined by 47.5% to $43 million. The short seller Simon Cawkwell targeted the company amid its rising post-IPO profits.
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