Company Announcements

20 April 2020

Plus500 Ltd.

("Plus500", "the Company" or together with its subsidiaries, "the Group")

Directorate Change

Resignation of CEO

Plus500, a leading online service provider for trading Contracts for Difference ("CFDs") internationally, today announces that Asaf Elimelech, the Company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has decided to step down from his role and accordingly he has tendered his resignation from the Board and the Company with immediate effect.  Mr. Elimelech has a notice period of 12 months and will continue with the Company in a transitional role alongside an Interim CEO until a permanent replacement is appointed, including retaining his role as a director of certain Group's subsidiaries.  

The Board would like to express its gratitude to Mr. Elimelech for his significant contribution to the Company, having led it through periods of extreme market turbulence and major regulatory changes.  Having joined Plus500 in 2012, and been Chief Executive since 2016, he leaves the Company in an extremely strong position as we reported on 7 April 2020 and the Board wishes him well with his future endeavours.

The Nomination Committee of the Board has initiated a process to appoint a new CEO and will consider candidates from inside and outside the Company, with an appointment to be made as soon as is practical subject to the constraints of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Appointment of Interim CEO

David Zruia, the Group's Chief Operating Officer (COO), will assume the role of Interim CEO alongside his day to day to responsibilities and will join the Board with immediate effect, until a permanent CEO is appointed.  Mr. Zruia is a highly experienced and long standing member of the senior management team, having joined Plus500 in 2010 as a senior marketing manager and been appointed as Chief Operating Officer in 2013.

During his time with Plus500, he has played a crucial role in positioning the Company as an industry leader and pioneered the Group's technology-focused operations model, which has proved critical to the Company's success. Mr. Zruia has also been instrumental in leading the Group's activities including customer on-boarding, KYC/AML processes, payments, and customer service amongst other areas.

Mr Zruia graduated with a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from The Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. 

Penny Judd, Chairman of Plus500, commented:

"Asaf Elimelech has been a significant part of Plus500's success in recent years; we thank him for his contribution and wish him well for the future.

"The Board believes that David Zruia is well qualified to act as Interim CEO during the transition period; he is an experienced manager with a deep understanding of the business who has demonstrated sound leadership during his time with Plus500.

"We look forward to making a permanent CEO appointment as soon as possible and are confident that we will find a suitable candidate to lead the business and further its success."

There are no additional matters that would require disclosure under LR 9.6.13 R (1) to (6) in relation to this appointment.

For further details:

Market Abuse Regulation

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Forward looking statements

This announcement contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements.  All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the Company's future prospects, developments and strategies.

The Company does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information reported by the press or other media, nor the fairness or appropriateness of any forecasts, views or opinions express by the press or other media regarding the Company. The Company makes no representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any such information or publication.

Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe", "targets", "expects", "aim", "anticipate", "projects", "would", "could", "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan", "will" or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions.  The forward looking statements in this announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described in the risk factors.  These forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of such entity and the environment in which each will operate in the future.  All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributed to the Company or any persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement above.

Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this announcement.  Except as required by law, regulatory requirement, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, neither the Company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Plus500

Plus500 operates an online trading platform for individual customers to trade CFDs internationally. The Group offers more than 2,800 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of Plus500 can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 32 languages. The trading platform is accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, iOS, Android and Surface) and web browsers. Plus500 retains operating licences and is regulated in the  United Kingdom ,  Australia ,  Cyprus ,  Israel ,  New Zealand ,  South Africa ,  Singapore  and the  Seychelles. Customer care is and always been integral to Plus500, as such, customers cannot be subject to negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses. Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options.  Plus500 shares have a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. www.plus500.com