Application for closure of Alpari (UK) special administration to be heard on April 19, 2018

The Joint Special Administrators (JSAs) of KPMG, responsible for the administration of now-defunct retail Forex broker Alpari (UK), have just posted an update about their plans to close the administration.

In their latest notice, the special administrators say that they intend to apply to Court for an Order seeking the closure of the Special Administration on registration of their final progress report with the Registrar of Companies as well as their discharge from liability in respect of any actions taken by the Joint Special Administrators during the course of their appointment, to be effective 28 days from the filing of their final progress report.

The Joint Special Administrators are also seeking an Order that the balance of funds available for distribution to clients and/or unsecured creditors will be transferred to the Insolvency Service who will take over responsibility for processing any uncashed client and/or creditor dividend cheques.

The application will be heard at 12.30pm on April 19, 2018 in the High Court, 7 Rolls Building, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL. The hearing is open to attendance by creditors and clients of the Special Administration.

The Joint Special Administrators are set to circulate their next, and likely final, progress report to clients and creditors within one month of April 19, 2018. This report will include an update on the Order obtained and provide details on how to contact the Insolvency Service regarding any uncashed dividend payments.

In late February, the JSAs said they would be making a payment of 23.54 pence in the £ (GBP) to unsecured creditors who received the previous 20 pence in the £ (GBP) distributions. The JSAs said they would also be making a payment of 43.54 pence in the £ (GBP) to unsecured creditors who were not included in previous distributions and whose claim has been agreed by the JSAs, providing they have passed the necessary Know Your Client checks.

The 6th progress report, covering the period from July 19, 2017 to January 18, 2018, has shown some positive development with regard to taxes. During the period, HMRC’s enquiry into the corporation tax return for the period ended December 31, 2015 was closed and the broker’s position on the timing of the cessation of trade was accepted, such that no adjustments to the tax return were required. As a result, a cash reserve is no longer required to cover any potential corporation tax liability that might have arisen if the outcome of the enquiry had been different.

The provision of GBP 1,393,000 has been released and that reserve will now increase distributable funds. HMRC have not raised any further enquiries into the returns.

To date FSCS has taken assignment of 12,759 client claims and has paid compensation of USD 55.3 million in respect of their CMP claim. FSCS has also paid compensation totalling GBP 0.06 million in respect of the client claims agreed after October 30, 2016 which are classified as an unsecured claim.

FSCS have confirmed that they will continue to compensate, up to a maximum of GBP 50,000, all eligible clients of Alpari (UK) who agreed their claim after the closure of the Client Money Pool.