Barclays tells clients it will not take new FX stop-loss orders

Barclays reportedly stopped accepting new so-called ‘stop-loss’ orders from its clients dealing in foreign exchange markets.

Observers believed the move was motivated both by a desire to limit its own exposure to the potential fall-out from the EU referendum as well as the need to limit the risk of potential litigation as occurred last year after the Swiss National Bank devalued its currency, taking markets by surprise and inflicting heavy losses on many players in the FX arena.

Some clients alleged that brokers could have obtained better prices when executing the stop-loss orders which they had placed.

Clients of Barclays, who asked not to be named, said the broker had notified them that it would stop taking new stop-loss orders -whether over the phone or through messaging or dealing systems – starting from 0700 BST, Reuters reported.

Earlier in the week, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and UBS warned institutional clients that gaps might arise in the currency services normally provided to them.