Freetrade, the UK-based investment platform, is to allow its 1.2 million UK users to invest in German-listed stocks, including Deutsche Telekom, Adidas, Volkswagen and BMW.
Freetrade says it is the only “commission-free” investment platform to enable UK retail investors direct access to the European market, rather than having to invest via a CREST Depository Interest (CDI) — a UK investment that represents an investment listed on an exchange outside the UK.
Freetrade will now offer more than 6,000 UK, US and European stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for people to invest in.
The launch of German stocks on the platform closely follows the arrival of Finnish stocks.
Freetrade is onboarded on the Cboe Europe and Equiduct’s exchanges, alongside clearing house EuroCCP, as well as Clearstream's custody and settlement infrastructure.
Natan Tiefenbrun, head of equities at Cboe Europe, says: “We support Freetrade in their quest to offer customers a pan-European investing experience, and are delighted to welcome Freetrade as a participant of Cboe Europe, the largest pan-European stock exchange. Freetrade’s customers will enjoy cost-effective access to liquidity in thousands of stocks and ETFs, and their participation in our market will deepen and further diversify the liquidity available to all our participants.”
Cécile Nagel, president of EuroCCP, comments: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Freetrade as a clearing member and to help bring the benefits of risk mitigation and low-cost clearing to them and their retail investor community.”
Philip Brown, CEO of Clearstream Holding AG, says: “Clearstream’s pan-European settlement infrastructure is a cornerstone of our vision of seamless European post-trade market activities. Providing Freetrade’s customers with consolidated settlement capabilities increases liquidity and efficiency for their cross-border transactions. We are looking forward to further strengthening our relationship to support their client growth across new markets.”
