In the case of Robert Day v Forex Capital Markets Limited, Mr Day had signed up as a customer with FXCM effectively to place spread bets on US oil futures. Over a short period he lost significant sums and argued that his losses were caused by FXCM wrongly assessed its service as “appropriate” for him, failed to provide confirmation of a contract or honour its expiry date and failed to give prior notice of closure of contracts. The judge was not sympathetic to Mr Day. It found that FXCM’s assessment was compliant, albeit it did not always follow its own processes. Moreover, even if it had issued Mr Day with the warnings he said it should have provided, the judge had little doubt Mr Day would have traded anyway. Mr Day clearly presented himself as knowledgeable and understanding of the risks, with no characteristics of vulnerability. It went on to find no failing in the provision of information or clarity of expiry dates, and that its webpage was clear and should not have caused Mr Day the confusion he claimed.
CFD customer loses “appropriateness” case against broker
