The LSE Directory / Retail brokers
Halifax Share Dealing is a British online brokerage, based in Leeds, that lets UK retail customers buy and sell shares, funds and exchange traded funds in real time across UK and international markets, including access to venues such as the NYSE, NASDAQ, Xetra and Euronext. Its core products are a Share Dealing Account, a Self Select Stocks and Shares ISA, a Self Select Funds ISA and a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), supported by a research tool called Marketwatch. Halifax Share Dealing Limited is registered in England and Wales (company number 03195646, incorporated 8 May 1996) with its registered office on Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The platform targets everyday retail investors rather than active traders: its interface is basic by design and it carries no derivatives, options or leveraged products. Its main differentiator against other UK bank owned brokers is that it combines a mobile app open to all customers with a SIPP option, whereas its sister brand Lloyds Share Dealing restricts app access and does not offer a SIPP. Dealing commission is charged per online trade, with regular monthly investing (a standing order style dealing plan, historically branded ShareBuilder) offered commission free, an approach aimed at long term, buy and hold savers rather than frequent traders. The business was set up in 1996 to administer the roughly 7.5 million Halifax Building Society members who received free shares when Halifax floated on the stock market in 1997, initially dealing only in Halifax's own shares before widening into a full retail share dealing service in 1998. It has been part of Bank of Scotland, and in turn Lloyds Banking Group, since Halifax's 2001 merger with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS and Lloyds' 2009 acquisition of HBOS. Since 2003, when HBOS bought the IMIWeb online brokerage from Sanpaolo IMI, Halifax Share Dealing has also operated the separate iWeb share dealing brand on shared platform infrastructure. Consumer group Which? has flagged the platform's dated web interface and, in past reviews, a lack of two factor authentication, while praising its comparatively low platform fees for passive investors. Halifax Share Dealing does not publish standalone customer numbers or assets under administration; these are reported only at the Lloyds Banking Group level. A 2014 figure cited more than one million customers on the platform. As of the most recent published fee schedule reviewed, the Share Dealing Account and ISA carry a combined annual account fee, the SIPP carries a quarterly fee tiered by account value, and online dealing commission is charged per UK trade, with a separate, comparatively high foreign exchange charge applied to international trades.
