IG Index doubled their spreads on me mid-trade

[MrBrilliant]

Earlier I was closing out a pair of option trades.. I closed one leg without issue, but when I clicked to close the second leg, I had to wait for the "your deal is being handled by our dealing desk" message.. After about 20 seconds, I got a message "That price is no longer valid", and saw that they had DOUBLED the spreads on all of the options I had open, which cost me quite a bit.

My question is:
1. Are they allowed to cancel your trade in order to increase the spread?
2. Are they allowed to apply different spreads for different clients?
3. Is there anything I can do about this (other than cashing out and closing my account)?

 

[Stargunner]

I imagine there might be some information I'm missing, but you can open a complaint with them directly to dispute any particular trade. It is worth pointing out IG's spreads aren't fixed, and they do widen around news etc. Options often operate around volatility, so if it was really volatile they may widen.

 

[MrBrilliant]

I imagine there might be some information I'm missing, but you can open a complaint with them directly to dispute any particular trade. It is worth pointing out IG's spreads aren't fixed, and they do widen around news etc. Options often operate around volatility, so if it was really volatile they may widen.

No it's not because of news events, they widened the spread after I tried to close my positions. I have screen recordings that show it.

They widened the spreads on all options on the instrument I was trading. Even the minimum spread size, that they use for way farout options that will never ever be hit, has increased significantly.

The increased spread was there all day; it looks like it might be permanent.

 

[jkane]

IG is garbage

worst spreads in industry

 

[Stargunner]

You're the first person I've met who trades spread/cfd options.
I've had similar on IG though with wide spreads after market opens and things, narrowly avoiding being spiked out the market at times. This hasn't ever happened at CityIndex though, which surprises me since they're not the market leader.
Try opening a trade dispute and see what they say.

 

[MrBrilliant]

You're the first person I've met who trades spread/cfd options.
I've had similar on IG though with wide spreads after market opens and things, narrowly avoiding being spiked out the market at times. This hasn't ever happened at CityIndex though, which surprises me since they're not the market leader.
Try opening a trade dispute and see what they say.

Is there a better place to trade options?

How do I open a trade dispute? Do I just call them?

It's not the case that they widened the spread temporarily, the spreads are still twice as wide, even today. They did this once before several months ago and the spread change was permanent, it looks like they've done it again now.

It's a funny policy, basically they're saying that if you're not losing money we'll keep increasing spreads until you are.

 

[Stargunner]

I'm what they call in the industry 'mathematically retarded', and so I don't even pretend I know anything about options. If you want to trade them though, it's always seemed to be that the best idea is to trade the actual options, rather than a 'derivative of a derivative'.

Find the contact details for their customer services, either emailing or calling them.

It is a funny policy, but this is what you have to expect with market makers. If you don't like the way your market maker plays, go direct market access.

 

[MrBrilliant]

I just called them up; they flat out denied everything completely.

They wouldn't even acknowledge that they increased the spreads. I told them I have screenshots from every day last week and from Friday and today (Monday) showing that spreads have increased substantially, and their statement was "sometimes we increase spreads because of liquidity, and the desk says they generally increased spreads 1.5 weeks ago, but not on Friday."

Would anybody with an IG account be willing to check a price for me real quick? I just want to verify that what they're not quoting different prices for different clients. (They say "that's technically impossible for us to do" but it seems like it's technically quite easy to add a flag "double spreads for this guy")

 

[SpreadDoctor]

I just called them up; they flat out denied everything completely.

They wouldn't even acknowledge that they increased the spreads. I told them I have screenshots from every day last week and from Friday and today (Monday) showing that spreads have increased substantially, and their statement was "sometimes we increase spreads because of liquidity, and the desk says they generally increased spreads 1.5 weeks ago, but not on Friday."

Would anybody with an IG account be willing to check a price for me real quick? I just want to verify that what they're not quoting different prices for different clients. (They say "that's technically impossible for us to do" but it seems like it's technically quite easy to add a flag "double spreads for this guy")

I have been trading a LONG time with plenty of battle scars. I would recommend that you only trade the actual market. I don't trade options but would recommend Interactive Brokers for them. Always trade the direct market and if trading FX use as close to the market as you can get. i.e. an actual ECN. If you insist on trading against a dealer then keep your stops wide/targets big and dont trade around news. GLGT

 

[neil324]

I just called them up; they flat out denied everything completely.

They wouldn't even acknowledge that they increased the spreads. I told them I have screenshots from every day last week and from Friday and today (Monday) showing that spreads have increased substantially, and their statement was "sometimes we increase spreads because of liquidity, and the desk says they generally increased spreads 1.5 weeks ago, but not on Friday."

Would anybody with an IG account be willing to check a price for me real quick? I just want to verify that what they're not quoting different prices for different clients. (They say "that's technically impossible for us to do" but it seems like it's technically quite easy to add a flag "double spreads for this guy")

If you have proof then go to the regulator. Before you do inform IG what you are doing and they might have a change of mind.

 

[gle101]

If you have proof then go to the regulator. Before you do inform IG what you are doing and they might have a change of mind.

We are dealing with market makers, so they can do whatever they like, if this is allowed according regulation is a another matter altogether. Making a claim to the regulators might be a tired sum story, not many are up to it and the market makers knows it. I myself have never done it, if the claim is not approved by the broker I would not go any further, unless of course a huge sum of money are at stake.

 

[MrBrilliant]

I lost about £150 in 2 seconds from their little stunt last week.

It's not something I would spend a lot of time chasing down.. but it's more the insult that they changed the price right when I clicked, and also I want to know if they've singled me out or if they've increased spreads for everybody, as they claim.

If anybody has an IG account I'd really appreciate if you send me a PM so we can compare prices..

 

[MrBrilliant]

I have been trading a LONG time with plenty of battle scars. I would recommend that you only trade the actual market. I don't trade options but would recommend Interactive Brokers for them. Always trade the direct market and if trading FX use as close to the market as you can get. i.e. an actual ECN. If you insist on trading against a dealer then keep your stops wide/targets big and dont trade around news. GLGT

Thanks man but Interactive Brokers says you need $25,000 in order to daytrade, and I'm not quite sure if I want to put that much into an account just yet. If anyone knows any other company that has options and binary options I'd be really happy to hear about it!

 

[rjmahan]

I have an IG account give me the instrument and I will get the price...