Corporate and Social Responsibility

IG Group is committed to ensuring that its interactions with employees, clients, suppliers, shareholders, society and the wider environment are managed responsibly.

This commitment has been a key feature of the Group’s values since its inception in 1974. A sense of responsibility underlies all our businesses and is manifested in everything from our dealings with clients to conscientiousness about the environmental impact we make.

Business standards

We support the high standards of corporate governance contained in the Combined Code on Corporate Governance issued by the Financial Reporting Council in June 2008 (Combined Code).

Recognising that clients choose IG Group for its reputation and high-quality service, the Group applies high standards across its businesses, and these standards frequently exceed local regulatory requirements of the jurisdictions in which we operate. For instance, all client funds are automatically directed to segregated accounts and IG Group only offers title transfer arrangements to a small number of clients. This can be contrasted with some of our competitors, who use title transfer arrangements by default in order to use client’s money for their own purposes. Furthermore, margin deposited with IG Group is treated as client money and is segregated from our own money on a default basis.

The Group believes that quality of order execution is key to ensuring that clients are treated fairly. We offer near instantaneous online execution, with 99% of client orders being accepted. Where possible we source prices from multiple execution venues to ensure that we offer our clients the most advantageous price. The Group offers some of the lowest re-quote rates in the industry.

We are the only spread betting and CFD firm in the industry to offer 'Price Improvement'. This feature of our online trading platform, PureDeal, ensures that if a price moves significantly in the client’s favour in the fraction of a second between them clicking a trade and it being executed, we will give them the improved price and will not reject the deal.

Tailored account types

IG Group utilises a Close-Out-Monitor system which aims to limit potential losses at no extra cost to the client. We offer Guaranteed Stops on all positions so that the maximum possible loss is known at the outset.

A reputation for honesty and transparency is vital in the financial derivatives industry, and the Group’s commitment to these values is a cornerstone of our success, explaining why we have been the market leader in spread betting since IG Index was founded in 1974.

Client Services

Impeccable client service is at the heart of our commitment to the responsible treatment of all our clients. Our large team of highly-trained, dedicated client service staff delivers a professional and responsive value-based approach to client service. Almost 10% of the Group’s total global staff is engaged in client services.

Clients of all our FSA-regulated products have the option to exclude themselves upon request for a minimum period of six months. This is not a regulatory requirement.

We also prioritise the security of our clients’ information and funds and we have recently achieved the ISO 27001 certificate for Information Security.

Education

IG Group is at the forefront of client education in the industry through its TradeSense training programme; this six-week course is available to all clients free of charge. If we feel a client may not initially have an appropriate level of knowledge and experience with which to understand the risks associated with our products, we require (or recommend depending on experience) that they complete the TradeSense programme.

In 2008, we introduced online seminars which have enabled greater numbers of clients to view educational seminars they might not have been able to attend in person.

Operations

The Group's observance of ethical and responsible standards extends to our people and our premises. To find out more, please visit our Environment and Workplace pages.