First Direct Stocks &Shares ISA forced share sale after takeover

OscarShine

A UK share I held in my First Direct (FD) stocks & shares ISA was subject to a takeover by a USA company that floats on the NYSE.  FD sent me two letters both advised I could sell prior the takeover date or if I took no action the shares in the new company would be added to my account plus additional monies from the takeover paid to my account.  I decided to keep the new shares so took no action.  Following the takeover I was unable to access my share portfolio and greeted by a message indicating 'page could not load, try again later'.  After approx. 4 days of receiving this msg I phoned FD and eventually was advised the error was caused by the share sale.  I was also advised a 'forced sale' of my new shares would take place very soon as the FD system did not support companies on the NYSE.
I bought to the attention of the FD staff the statements in their letters advising the new shares would be added to my account and she agreed 'the marketing depts letter were misleading'.  I have raised a complaint with First Direct and await their response. 
I spent a day researching the new company before deciding to keep the new shares post takeover.
Has anyone else experienced the same issue ? Any comment on my rights in this situation ?  How could I proceed with my grievance as I am not expecting First Direct to be very helpful.  Any constructive comments welcome.  Thank you for giving my issue consideration. ..... 

masonic

Bizarre that they didn't check the shares could be held on their platform. Though another provider has recently been pulled up for not being clear about another delisting - not to this degree.

What has happened to the value of the holding since the change? If you could have sold for a higher consideration if they'd correctly advised that you'd need to do this, then that would be a good way of calculating compensation. Though if they have gone up in value, they've done you a favour.

DRS1

Are the new company's shares capable of being held in an ISA? 

If so can you tell FD not to sell but to transfer the ISA to an outfit which will allow you to keep the shares?  OK you'll have to open a new ISA elsewhere and get them to instigate the transfer but if you want to keep the shares make sure FD know not to sell them.  Make the fact that you have to go elsewhere part of your complaint.

If the new shares are not eligible for an ISA FD are probably doing what any other outfit would do.  So all you would be complaining about is some dodgy communication.  What would you have done if they said at the outset "we cannot hold these shares in our ISA"?

Make sure you have put your complaint in writing.  Don't just say to someone over the phone that you want to complain.  You may find they answer some completely different complaint if you do that.

OscarShine

Thank you for your replies.  First Direct have now written to me advising me they will sell my shares on 20/12/2024.  
The letter includes statements that 'If I sell me shares any growth ... may be subject to CGT' ... another nonsense as they are held in my Stocks & Share ISA.  My complaint was made in writing. The new shares current value has not changed significantly at the moment, the USD to GBP exchange rate has dropped slightly to my disadvantage.  I'm trying to ascertain if the new shares can be held in an ISA with another organisation.  The new shares trade on the NASDAQ but .Gov site has various exceptions to this market with regard to ISA inclusion, .... it's all work I didn't anticipate having to do as First Direct originally advised the new shares would be added to my account after the takeover.  If First Direct had advised I could not keep the shares in my ISA after the takeover I would have sold before the deadline date.   

masonic

It isn't a nonsense if the investment isn't ISA eligible. But if they haven't changed in value significantly, then it is unlikely you'd make the >£3k capital gain required for any tax to become due.

If you named the company, then someone might check for you.

First Direct should be willing to accept that had you been given the correct information you'd have sold, so the number that will need to be calculated is the difference in what you would have got for the original shares if sold just prior to the deadline, vs what you actually get when you sell. However, the work you are now doing investigating whether or not these shares are available to trade on another platform only needs to be done if you are interested in owning the new shares, and this would have to be done whether or not First Direct gave you the correct information at the outset.

OscarShine

Masonic - Thank you for the points raised and guidance.  To date FD have apologised, deposited £100 in my current account and advised I would need to progress this further via the Financial Ombudsman.  The shares of AngloGold Ashante (AA) who bought out Centamin have dropped since the takeover.  The £100 payment is inadequate as I am approx. £500 down on todays price.  FD have revised their sale date from 20/12/2024 to 06/01/2025. As I only intended to keep the shares if held within my FD S&S ISA I agree with your recommendation I should focus on the difference between the original shares if sold just before the deadline.   Thanks again.

OscarShine

It's now almost 15 months since I posted this issue.

On 19/02/2026 I received the Ombudsman's Final Decision Notice. The Ombudsman protects the bank is my experience. The first two investigators declined my claim. The third investigator eventually checked First Direct's documentation and confirmed they knew in Sep2024, before writing to me the first time, that Anglogold Ashante shares would float on the NYSE and not the FTSE. First Direct failed in a Duty of Care to advise me of this key factor. I have been treated as though I am in the wrong. The final decision penalises me by paying a share differential compensation outside my ISA. I will have to pay tax and lose the ISA tax free status ongoing. The amount of time to research, reply / challenge this issue has been considerable and impacted my health. The ombudsman awards me £200 less tax for this, an incredible amount of time I assure you, to research and argue my case when investigators accept FD lies but reject my statements. In theory you can get help from Citizens advice, HRMC, MoneyHelper but reality is that you spend hours hanging on the phone and not get thro. No Win, No fee lawyers want to charge you to consider the case before committing to take it on, then they want to sell insurance cover in case you lose. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong place but that's my experience. To top it all the Anglogold Ashante shares that FD sold against my request would have given me a gain within the ISA currently £21.7k on a £4.2k book cost in 12/11/2021. This lost opportunity is not considered by the Ombudsman.

Please avoid Stocks & Shares ISA's with First Direct and save yourself a whole heap of potential trouble.

Any late advice very welcome.

OscarShine

Just to clarify … Anglogold Ashante's qualification for a Stocks & Shares ISA has never been raised as an issue by First Direct or the Financial Ombudsman and various searches Google, AI all returned the answer that they qualify.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81906783#Comment_81906783

The issue is that FD's sharedealing service only allows London listed securities.

If you want to buy them in an Isa Trading212 offers them:

https://www.trading212.com/trading-instruments/isa

jimjames

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81906783#Comment_81906783

Probably too late now but could be useful for someone else in future. You could have transferred your ISA to a provider that did allow them in their ISA