GameStop and AMC: UK trading platform IG stops new trades

One of the UK's biggest financial trading platforms, IG, has stopped any new trades in GameStop and theatre chain AMC when markets open on Monday.

US video games retailer GameStop is the focus of a trading war between amateurs and Wall Street pros.

Both GameStop and AMC Entertainment have seen their share prices boom as amateur investors, fuelled by chat on social media, bought their shares.

In a statement IG said the restrictions will be reviewed regularly.

Other popular stock market trading apps also temporarily halted dealings in GameStop on Thursday, after its shares soared as much as 700% in the past week.

AMC Entertainment and Blackberry, which have also seen huge trading activity, were among the other companies hit by the trading restrictions.

But the move left investors outraged, accusing the trading platforms of working on behalf of traditional Wall Street investors who were losing out. Several platforms then rowed back on their stance.

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In a statement, IG said: "Due to the recent extreme volatility, and in order to prioritise the service we give our existing clients, we are not allowing any new positions to be opened on the US stocks GameStop and AMC Entertainment.

"These restrictions apply to all IG accounts, and will be reviewed regularly. You will still be able to close any open positions that you have in these stocks. Any orders that you have already placed on these two stocks will remain."

What is going on with GameStop shares?

GameStop is a struggling US High Street shop that sells games, consoles and other electronics.

Lots of big investment firms, such as hedge funds, had bet on GameStop to lose a lot of value, meaning they borrowed shares in the company and then sold them, with a promise to buy them back at a later date. This is called "short selling" or "shorting" and the idea is to make money as the share price falls.

GameStop - which saw heavy losses last year and was described as "failing" by one big investor - is the most shorted stock on Wall Street.

But huge numbers of independent amateur traders on social media, including Reddit, swapped tips and bought shares in GameStop. The demand raised its share price massively, leading to losses for the Wall Street traders.

And the idea has caught on globally, fuelling activity in stocks traded in other parts of the world, including the UK, Brazil and Malaysia.

The strategy has also been deployed on behalf of other firms, such as struggling theatre chain AMC Entertainment, owner of Odeon Cinemas. Publisher Pearson and cinema operator Cineworld have also been the focus of social media discussion, although the share price movements were minimal compared with the GameStop surge.

Earlier this week, watchdogs in the US and UK said they were monitoring activity and potential lawbreaking, and warned traders they risked facing huge losses.

In a statement on Friday, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority said: "The FCA is aware of the situation and continues to closely monitor trading in UK markets. UK investors should take care when trading shares in highly volatile market conditions that they fully understand the risks they are taking. This applies to UK investors trading both US and UK stocks.

"Firms and individuals should also ensure they are familiar with, and abiding by, all regulations including the market abuse and short selling regimes in the jurisdiction they are trading in."