The Article that says it all by FT

WorldSpreads to be closed over alleged fraud

By Simon Mundy

WorldSpreads, one of the UK’s largest spread betting operators, is to be wound up after the discovery of an alleged accounting fraud that left up to £12m missing from its clients’ accounts.

Shares in the company were suspended on Friday after WorldSpreads informed regulators of accounting irregularities. People with knowledge of the matter said that money from client accounts, which should be segregated, had been mixed with the company’s own funds.
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The board of WorldSpreads was set to make an application to the High Court for an administration order on Sunday, and the insolvency proceedings will be announced formally on Monday, sources close to the situation said. The shortfall in the client funds is estimated at between £10m and £12m.

Some people close to the process had suggested on Friday that a takeover of the company, through a so-called “pre-pack administration”, might be negotiated over the weekend. IG Group and London Capital Group were among the companies mooted as potential bidders. However, both companies decided not to pursue an acquisition.

WorldSpreads, founded in Ireland in 2000, listed on London’s Aim market in 2007. Its insolvency will be managed by KPMG under the Financial Services Authority’s new special administration regime, designed to ensure a faster insolvency process for financial groups.

However, it raises the prospect of a lengthy legal struggle as nearly 5,000 clients of WorldSpreads try to recover the funds they deposited with the company. The first £50,000 of each account is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, but clients owed larger sums – a group likely to include some other spread betting companies – may not receive the full value of their accounts.

The situation will draw comparisons with the insolvency of MF Global, the US brokerage which failed to segregate clients’ money as required by law. UK clients have criticised the handling of the insolvency by the FSA and KPMG, administrator to the brokerage’s UK arm, arguing that clients in other countries have had money returned more quickly.

It is also likely to prompt criticism of Ernst & Young, WorldSpreads’ auditor, for signing off on annual accounts at a time when the alleged fraud was being carried out. E&Y said it could not comment for confidentiality reasons.

The accounting irregularities were discovered on Friday morning, as the company’s new executive team inspected its accounts, according to Lindsay McNeile, chairman of WorldSpreads. Two days previously, Conor Foley, chief executive, and Niall O’Kelly, financial director, had left the company with immediate effect. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing.

Mr McNeile, who assumed an executive role on Wednesday, said that the discovery had “hit us with enormous force in a dark tunnel”. Among the company’s non-executive directors is Charlie McCreevy, a former Irish finance minister and European Commissioner, who joined the board in June last year. Mr McCreevy could not be reached for comment.