HYCM (DIFC) has a Category 4 licence with the DFSA and is not authorised to hold client assets or money. The client asset rules do not therefore apply to the business currently undertaken by HYCM (DIFC).
All HYCM (DIFC) clients are also clients of HY Investment under the tripartite customer agreement. HY Investment is the trading name of HYCM (UK), authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom. All client monies are held by HY Investment in a segregated account in accordance with FCA regulations.
The FCA “Client Assets Rules” require HY Investment to segregate all money due to customers on a daily basis and hold these funds in a separate client money account held at a bank in accordance with the rules laid down by the FCA. HY Investment will hold these funds as trustee. As a result the approved bank or any other creditor of HY Investment will not be in a position to claim these funds in case of liquidation of HY Investment.
This also means that your funds will be segregated from HY Investment's own money and will not be available to HY Investment for use in the course of our business. HY Investment may hold your money and the money of other clients in a pooled bank account. Hence in the event of a default by the bank any unreconciled shortfall in the money held in the pooled account will be shared proportionally across all clients.
In addition, client deposits with HY Investment are also protected by UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
FSCS is the UK's compensation fund of last resort for customers of financial services firms authorised by the FCA. This means that FSCS can pay compensation under the protected investment business scheme to consumers if an authorised financial services firm is unable or likely to be unable; to pay claims against it and so is in “default”.
Payments under the protected investment business scheme are limited to a maximum of £50,000 per customer. The scheme is set up mainly to assist retail individuals, although smaller businesses are also covered.
Customers of HYCM (DIFC) are afforded this protection as a result of clients also being clients of HY Investment under the tripartite agreement.
Full details of FSCS and its services are available at http://www.fscs.org.uk
We have appointed Moore Stephens as our independent external auditors who conduct a full annual audit of our books and records. Moore Stephens not only report to the DFSA that our books and records are true and fair, but also that we have maintained at all times, financial resources above the required capital and that our financial resources are adequate in relation to the nature, size and complexity of our business.