Money held in trading accounts counted as retail deposit?

Blah99

Does anyone have a categorical answer to this question please? Assume I have a share dealing account with iii.co.uk, who use Barclays trading service. Assume I also have a sum of money sitting in that account as cash - it's money I've moved there from a bank account and funds from the sale of shares. So I'm not talking about shares or a nominee account.

Is the cash covered by the FSCS scheme as a retail deposit, as it's cash stored in a Barclays account (albeit linked to their share dealing service)?

If the FSCS doesn't cover cash stored in an account in this way I think a lot of people will need to make a lot of withdrawals pretty damn quick...

noh

I wouldn't have thought it would be treated as a retail deposit as it would be held at Barclays in the name of the nominee company.
But why hold cash in your dealing account?. I never do apart from the odd tenner.

Nigel

Blah99

noh wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought it would be treated as a retail deposit as it would be held at Barclays in the name of the nominee company.
But why hold cash in your dealing account?. I never do apart from the odd tenner.

Nigel

Hmm, but iii just use a rebranded Barclays service, so my cash is actually held in my name in a Barclays account. It's a curious issue... If it was held in the way you say then even if Barclays did go under I should still be able to get my money back from iii, because I have the contract/account with them. Whether they could fund it would be a different issue though.

Main reason I have cash in my dealing account is because sometimes it takes a while for £thousands to transfer from my bank to my trading account. I've actually had the transaction declined for security check reasons before, which is understandable. When I'm waiting on a buy-in price I usually set an automatic trade up, so the account has to be funded in advance.

Same thing with my IG Index spread account - if I'm shorting something I want to make the trade, I don't want to be messing around with bank transfers.

noh

Just looked at the iii.co.uk site and the current offering seems to be a rebranded Halifax Sharedealing service.
http://www.iii.co.uk/help/help.epl?ext_page=/www/common/docs/sharedealing/termstext.epl#sd_terms-7
I suspect the cash is covered by the FSCS for investments which is refered to in the above link:-

11.13 We are a participant in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As you have been categorised as a retail client, you may be able to make a claim on this scheme if we default in our obligations to you. Compensation of upto 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000, to a maximum of £48,000, is available to eligible claimants. Further information can also be obtained from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Nigel

Blah99

Ah, I've got Barclays on the brain from that other post :rolleyes:

Thanks for finding that, I was looking but must have missed it...