End of the road for JP Markets as court orders final liquidation

JOHANNESBURG – JP Markets, the platform and technology for clients to trade forex in the international financial markets, is now under final liquidation as per the order of the Gauteng High Court.

The global forex powerhouse, as JP Markets describes itself on its website, was accused of not paying out client withdrawals, not posting client’s deposits to their trading accounts and even manipulating data feeds.

The liquidation application was granted on September 7, after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) had filed an urgent application with the High Court to liquidate JP Markets and its bank accounts frozen.

In a statement on Tuesday, the FSCA said this was the first time that the statutory power in section 38B of the FAIS Act had been used by the FSCA. The section allows the Authority to launch liquidation proceedings if it considers that the interests of the clients of a financial services provider or of members of the public so require.

The FSCA said it would work with the liquidators to do everything in its power to ensure that clients of JP Markets recovered as much as possible of their funds. It said due to its intervention more than R2.58 billion was preserved in the numerous bank accounts held by JP Markets.