Halifax Share Dealing is a British

online broker In finance, an electronic trading platform, also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products ...

, allowing customers to buy and sell

shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...

in UK and international companies across a range of markets. It is a subsidiary of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

which itself is part of the

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...

History

The firm was set up to manage the 7.5 million Halifax bank customers who were eligible for shares when the company went public in 1997. It dealt solely in Halifax shares before expanding in 1998 to offer a comprehensive service for retail customers to buy and sell shares in real time. Halifax Share Dealing was the first in the UK to offer a regular investment plan where customers can buy shares, known as ShareBuilder. Halifax Share Dealing has continued to expand, and now offers a Self Select Funds ISA ( Individual Savings Account), a Self Select Stocks and Shares ISA, and a SIPP (

self-invested personal pension A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is the name given to the type of UK government-registered personal pension scheme which allows individuals to make their own investment decisions from a wide range of investments by HM Revenue and Customs ( ...

). Its online research centre, Halifax Marketwatch, enables investors to research companies using a wide range of market information. The company also operates the iWeb online share dealing brand, a legacy of

HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...

's 2003 acquisition of the IMIWeb online brokerage from

Sanpaolo IMI Sanpaolo IMI S.p.A. was an Italian banking and insurance conglomerate, based in Turin. It employed about 44,000 people and had about 7 million customers. On 24 August 2006, a merger with Banca Intesa was announced, which on 1 December 2006 was ap ...

. Halifax Share Dealing is based in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and, , had more than one million customers. It is part of the

, a British-based financial institution formed through the acquisition of

in 2009 which provides UK retail, wholesale and international banking facilities, as well as insurance and investment services.

Criticism

The share dealing service receives mixed reviews in the media. Consumer magazine

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering indepen ...

praises the low platform fees but is critical of the dated web interface and poor security. Financial review site Boring Money has described the platform as ‘minimalist’ and expresses concern at the lack of two-factor authentication.

Awards

Awards won by Halifax Share Dealing include: *City of London Wealth Management Awards 2013 – Best ISA Provider *Shares Awards 2012 – Best Self Select ISA Provider *What Investment Awards 2011 – Best Share Dealing Service *Shares Awards 2011 – Best Fund Provider *MoneyAM Awards 2011 – Best Online CFD Provider *Shares Magazine Awards 2010 – Best Fund Provider *What Investment Awards 2010 – Share Dealing Service of the Year *Personal Finance Awards 2010 – Best Online Stockbroker *Daily Telegraph Wealth Management Awards 2009 – Best Execution Only Service for Equities *What Investment Readership Awards 2009 – Best Share Dealing Service *Share Magazine Awards 2008 – Best Self-Select ISA Provider *Personal Finance Awards 2008 – Best Online Stockbroker *What Investment Awards 2006 – Best Stockbroker *What Investment Awards 2005 – Best Stockbroker *Personal Finance & Savings Readership Awards 2005 – Best Online Stockbroker *Personal Finance & Savings Readership Awards 2004 – Best Online Stockbroker *What Investment Readership Awards 2004 – Best Stockbroker

References

External links

* {{Online brokerages Lloyds Banking Group Online brokerages