CMC Markets has started selling UK clients options tied to Anthropic's expected share price before the company lists. The premium paid is the most a client can lose, and CMC sets the grey market price itself.
CMC Markets began selling UK clients options tied to Anthropic's expected share price before the artificial intelligence company lists, it said on Saturday. CMC described itself as the first UK-regulated broker to offer options on pre-IPO grey markets.
Clients can buy calls and puts, and the premium paid is the most they can lose, according to CMC. Other brokers took a different route in recent weeks, and their Anthropic contracts are leveraged contracts for difference.
How the options settle
The options are European-style and cash-settled. If Anthropic lists before an option expires, the contract settles against the official closing price of the listed shares, CMC said. If it has not listed, settlement uses the grey market price.
CMC's website now says it sets that price from its own view of the expected listing price, using the indicative price range where one exists, valuations of comparable listed companies and market sentiment. The price is not based on trades in private shares, and the product cannot be hedged in the open market, according to the same page.
At least four kinds of exposure to the same listing
Anthropic filed for a Nasdaq listing on October 26. Since then, brokers, a crypto exchange and the company's own share offer have competed to sell UK retail investors some form of exposure.
ThinkMarkets quotes Anthropic's value at the end of its first trading day, while Pepperstone tracks the expected opening share price. Both are leveraged CFDs. Kraken lets eligible clients request share-backed ANTx tokens, The Defiant reported this week, with no allocation guaranteed. For the shares themselves, Anthropic has named six UK platforms for a retail offer coordinated by RetailBook.
Of the four, the share offer and the tokens give the client a claim on stock. CMC's options are the only one of the derivatives where the maximum loss is known when the trade opens.
CMC said the options are available to UK clients from Saturday, with a broader global rollout planned. Clients must pass an appropriateness assessment for both OTC options and grey market products, according to its website.
Source: Finance Magnates
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