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Investing isn't right for everyone: the price and value of investments and the income from them fluctuates so you may not get back the amount you originally invested. How an investment has performed in the past is not a reliable indicator as to how it will perform in the future. So, if you are in doubt about investing in any particular investment we recommend you consult a financial adviser.

Before trading through Selftrade, you should note the following warnings, as well as reading our

Terms of Business and other important information

• 1.
  Our service enables you to trade in securities via the Internet and telephone and is provided on an execution-only basis, which means we will not give you any form of investment advice or tax advice, or advise you about the merits of a particular transaction. In the provision of this service we are not required to assess the suitability for you of the securities or services provided or offered and therefore you will not benefit from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules on assessing suitability. (An assessment of suitability takes into account an investor's knowledge and experience, financial situation and investment objectives and applies only when a firm makes a personal recommendation or manages investments.)
• 2.
  We may enter into transactions on your behalf in non-readily realisable investments. Please note that these are investments in which there is a restricted market and it may therefore be difficult to deal in or obtain reliable information about their value.
• 3.
  We may deal for you in investments that have been the subject of stabilisation. Stabilisation enables the market price of a security to be maintained artificially during the period when a new issue of securities is sold to the public. Stabilisation may affect not only the price of the new issue but also the price of other securities relating to it. The FSA allows stabilisation in order to help counter the fact that, when a new issue comes onto the market for the first time, the price can sometimes drop for a time before buyers are found. Stabilisation is carried out by a 'stabilisation manager' (normally the firm chiefly responsible for bringing a new issue to market). As long as the stabilising manager follows a strict set of rules, he is entitled to buy back securities that were previously sold to investors or allotted to institutions which have decided not to keep them. The effect of this may be to keep the price at a higher level than it would otherwise be during the period of stabilisation.

  The Stabilisation Rules:

  • (a) limit the period when a stabilising manager may stabilise a new issue;
  • (b) fix the price at which he may stabilise (in the case of shares and warrants but not bonds); and
  • (c) require him to disclose that he may be stabilising but not that he is actually doing so.

  The fact that a new issue or a related security is being stabilised should not be taken as any indication of the level of interest from investors, nor of the price at which they are prepared to buy the securities.

• 4.
  The investments and services offered by us may not be suitable for all investors. If you have any doubts as to the merits of an investment, you should seek advice from an independent financial adviser who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority to advise on such investments.
• 5.
  

  We will only execute orders in sizes which are at or below the maximum quote size offered by the retail service provider at the point of execution. If your limit order or stop order is above this size, it will not be executed automatically (even partially), even if the price is matched by the market price. Where possible, we will attempt to manually execute such orders on a best endeavors basis. You are therefore advised to ensure that your order can be matched in terms of size.  For further information on the monitoring times of limit and stop orders, please refer to the 'What's Traded when' and 'Limit and Stop orders' pages.

• 6.
  There is an extra risk of losing money when purchasing shares in some smaller companies, including penny shares. There may be a significant difference between the bid and offer price of these shares and they may not be readily realisable. If you have to sell these shares immediately, you may get back less than you paid for them. The price may change quickly and may go down as well as up.
• 7.
  Unit trusts, like shares, are subject to a spread between the bid and offer prices, whereas OEICs are single-priced. In most cases, unit trusts and OEICs can be dealt once each business day, though some may be dealt less frequently, as dealing times may vary from one provider to another and from one unit trust or OEIC to another. Further details are available on our website or can be provided on request. Unit trusts and OEICs are dealt on a forward pricing basis and, as a result, neither you nor we will know in advance the price at which an order will be executed. They are also subject to initial and annual management charges and in certain circumstances may be subject to a dilution levy. You should read a fund's simplified prospectus before investing.
• 8.
  It is possible that any orders you give us to sell or purchase securities will be effected at or around the same time as similar orders by other customers of Selftrade. As all securities purchased for you using the service or transferred to us by you will be purchased in the name of, and/or held by, the Nominee, this raises the possibility that orders made by you could be aggregated with orders made by another Selftrade customer. With the exception of our Regular Investment service, we will not aggregate an order from you with any other order unless it is likely that such aggregation will not work to the disadvantage of you and any other customer concerned. However, you should note that the aggregation of orders may work on some occasions to your disadvantage and may result in a slightly less favourable price.
• 9.
  As a consequence of using our service, you may alter your personal tax position. The levels of and bases of taxation can change. In particular, as your securities will be held in the name of, and/or held by, the Nominee in an unallocated pool, they are not distinguishable by client/beneficial owner, the type of account within which they were purchased or to which they were transferred, the country of residence of the beneficial owner, or any other factors that might have a bearing on the rate at which dividends or other distributions in relation to those securities might be taxed. As a consequence, and because dividends and other distributions may be taxed at source, you may receive dividends or other distributions net of tax which has been paid or withheld at rates that are less beneficial than those that might otherwise be applicable were the securities held in your own name or in allocated accounts. You should consult your own tax adviser in order to understand any applicable tax consequence that might arise through the use of our service.

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Covered warrants and other complex instruments are derivative products for which special risks apply. Investors are required to provide information regarding their knowledge and experience in these products so as to enable an assessment to be made as to whether the product is appropriate for them. If you are interested in trading covered warrants or other complex instruments, please visit the following link:

Warrants and Other Complex Instruments Risk Warning Notice and Appropriateness Assessment >

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If you decide to place a limit order or a stop order with us you should accept that:

• 1.
  Special risks apply to Limit, Stop Loss and Stop Buy orders. Limit orders enable to you specify a minimum price for sales and a maximum price for purchases on UK shares. Stop orders are designed to trigger a sale when the price of a security falls below or a purchase when the price rises above a specified level. You should be aware that certain factors may cause the bid-offer spread of a security to increase, even momentarily, to an abnormally wide level, thereby causing your limit or stop orders to execute. However, these abnormal prices are the prevailing best prices for that security at that time.
• 2.
  The placing of stop and limit orders is entirely at your own risk and, to the extent that disputes arise which are caused by matters beyond Selftrade control, you accept sole responsibility and that Selftrade bears no responsibility for such matters;
• 3.
  You are advised to review these orders on a regular basis in order that you are aware of your outstanding commitments and that they remain in line with your current investment objectives; we do not guarantee that limit orders or stop orders will be executed even if the limit price is met. This could be as a consequence of:
  • (i) market conditions at the time (such as a 'fast market' i.e. where the market is so volatile that prices quoted by market makers are only indicative rather than guaranteed),
  • (ii) other clients having placed similar orders, but then having an earlier time priority than your order and being executed in priority to your order, or
  • (iii) other factors which are outside of our control.
• 4.
  Limit orders and stop orders will only be executed if there are:
  • (i) in the case of purchases, sufficient funds in your Selftrade account to meet the potential cost of execution (including dealing costs) or you are due to receive proceeds from a sale in which case these funds will be applied to this purchase, and
  • (ii) in the case of sales, these securities are held in your Selftrade account
• 5.
  We will only execute orders in sizes which are at or below the maximum quote size offered by the retail service provider at the point of execution. If your limit order or stop order is above this size, it will not be executed automatically (even partially), even if the price is matched by the market price. Where possible, we will attempt to manually execute such orders on a best endeavors basis. You are therefore advised to ensure that your order can be matched in terms of size.  Please note that we do not start to monitor limit and stop orders until 8.10 a.m.
• 6.
  In the event of a corporate action which affects the stock price, we will endeavour to delete any open limit orders in the security. However, the responsibility for ensuring limit orders and stop orders remain valid in prevailing market conditions is yours.

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