Financial security

How 370 investors lost £18m - in minutes

Hundreds of investors with Britain’s biggest spread betting firm, IG, say the firm is to blame for losses totalling £18.4m which were racked up in minutes as a result of wild currency swings in January.

Spread betting is an increasingly popular, but highly risky, form of speculating where both gains and losses can vastly exceed the original stake.

The group of 370 IG customers, who wish not to be named, blame the broker’s systems for failing to allow them to “close” or settle their positions before losses grew too large. In the worst case one investor, who had staked less than £10,000, now faces losses of £250,000.