Russia's largest Forex broker Alpari posted a communique on its website that it closes its office in London.
Alpari comments that exceptional volatility and lack of liquidity on the foreign exchange market accounts for this step. The situation was triggered by the recent Swiss National Bank’s decision to scrap the ceiling of the franc exchange rate against the euro. Most of the London-based clients have incurred losses that have exceeded their funds on their accounts. The company shouldered these losses, which lead into its insolvency.
Alpari’s representative Andrey Loboda said in an interview to a Russian online news resource that currently the brokerage company is not facing financial difficulties and is back to the routine operation.
On 15 January, the National Bank of Switzerland abandoned the Swiss franc's exchange rate cap of 1.20 francs against the euro. The shock announcement was felt across the globe as the franc immediately strengthened against major world currencies. So, it surged 25% against the U.S. dollar and 30% against the euro. At the same time, the regulator dropped the three-month interest rate to below zero. Now, it is in the range from -0.25% to -1.25%.
Alpari dates back to 1998. Since then, the brokerage company has registered around 1 million trading accounts in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
