Alpari Financial Services Limited, the Cyprus based arm of the Alpari group of companies has announced that it will move its client list from Cyprus to its FSA regulated London operation. Individuals who already have accounts with Alpari Financial Services limited will have until the 8th of February 2012 to either close their account or open a new account at Alpari (UK) with the funds being transferred over from their existing account. 

Chief executive of Alpari (UK), Daniel Skowronski has commented upon a number of benefits that the proposed move offers for clients, noting the significant difference between Britain’s and Cyprus’s Financial Services Compensation scheme. With Britain’s compensation scheme protecting clients fund up to the amount of £50,000, with CySec only providing compensation of up to 20,000 Euros. Which I believe is the mandated minimum set out by MiFID.  

There is speculation that the move was motivated by the fact that Alpari’s major shareholder Andrey Dashin has announced his intention of setting up a new CySec regulated broker, under the name ForexTime. With Alpari’s Nigerian website itself being either sold or rebranded as ForexTime. It is speculated that some or all of Alpari’s Cypriot employee’s may make the move to the ForexTime operation. If this is the case Alpari’s consolidation appears to make perfect sense.

There seem to a number of reasons such a move makes strategic sense. Operating two separate MiFID regulated brokerships under the same brand seems totally redundant. Due to the fact that brokers regulated in a member state of the European Union are free to operate and accept clients from all other European Union member states. Such a consolidation seems to make clear financial sense and will most likely lower Alpari’s European operational costs.