NTF

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1) What is No Trading Fees?

No Trading Fees does exactly as it suggests regarding the stock market. It allows you to trade without stockbrokers' spreads, stamp duty, or trading fees. You visit the site and deposit funds into your account. These funds are then automatically converted into NTF credits which can be used to purchase virtual shares (initially in the FTSE100 companies). A feed is linked into the site from Digitalook who supply the prices. You can then set prices at which you wish to buy and sell and thus trade with other users who have an opposing view of which way that share price will go. This price can only be traded within 5% of the actual mid-price of the real share price it represents.

Because you trade at the mid-price (i.e. there is no bid-offer spread), whether you are a buyer or a seller, you will always get a better price than you would in the real market.

There is 100:1 ratio with the NTF credit system as follows. For example, user A deposits £1 (or 100p). This will buy them 10000 NTF credits which will buy them the equivalent of 10000p worth of virtual stock. The overall value is still the same should they cash out as the percentage gain or loss will be equivalent to the real market but it allows users to diversify and spread their risk as they can invest in several stocks for a mere £1.

Initially, all users will buy their virtual shares from notradingfees.com in the initial virtual public offering. Once this offering is closed, users can only trade with other users hence they profit or loss from other users trading with them. If at any point you wish to fully realize your profit, you can withdraw at any time.

You will have your own individual account area where you can track your investments and profit and loss as well as set up trades you wish to make in the future if the price you want is not yet available. The site will automatically log the trades you wish to make a match them once / if the price becomes available.

2) What bonus will I get for signing up early?

Early bird bonuses include free virtual shares in companies within the FTSE100 index. These will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. D epending on the number of pre-registered users, this may be many or it may be few. But everyone will get something. The earlier you register however, rest-as sured, the more something that will be. Size of bonus will be directly related to the amount you deposit when you first get involved but more importantly on the date you pre-registered. Hence someone who registers a month before and deposit £10 after launch could just as easily receive the same number of fr ee shares as someone who registers an hour before launch and deposits £10000.

3) How do I sign up?

Just click on the "Sign me up!" button and fill out the required fields. We'll keep you updated with more developments closer to launch in March . After launch, you will have 5 working days to deposit funds in order to qualify for your individual bonus.

4) When will the website launch

In order for us to ensure everything is working properly, the site is as user-friendly as possible and the security is paramount, we are still doi ng rigorous tests on the user-interface. As such we foresee early March as launch but stay tuned and keep watching the site for a more accurate time and date .

5) Who is behind it?

No Trading Fees is the trading name of Chocolate Investments Limited. The registered company number is SC332969.

6) Why should I join NTF rather than buy real shares?

There are several benefits to trading with NTF rather than the real market. Most importantly, and as the name suggests, there are no trading fees. For example, if you had £200 to invest in a company, you might pay £10 to buy the shares and £10 to sell so you'd have spent £20 on trading fees before you even look at the share price movement. You would have to make 10% profit (i.e. £20/£200) just to break even. On top of th at you have government stamp duty tax to pay on your share purchase. And finally, you have stockbrokers bid/offer spread to pay with real share trades. If yo u were to buy and sell at the exact same time, you would lose money from this spread as the buying price is usually if not always higher than the selling pri ce. This can be negligible with larger companies whose shares trade in higher volumes but can still make an impact. For example, a share whose mid price is & pound;1 might have a bid (or selling) price of 99p and an offer (or buying) price of £1.01. The 2p difference is called the spread which is where the s tockbroker's profit comes from. NTF on the other hand counteracts these measures by trading virtual shares. As these are not real and it is just like trading the prices, there are no middle men (or stockbrokers) so there is no spread to cover. NTF always allows users to trade at the mid price, or within 5% each way of the mid-price as users can set the price at which they trade. Also, as the shares are virtual, there is no government tax to pay. And fundamentally, there are no trading fees. All your invested capital goes straight into the virtual share market. You can sell when you like (assuming someone is willing to buy) and there is no loss of capita l to trading fees.

7) Between what times can I make trades?

Another beauty of NTF is the ability to trade 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. When the markets are closed, the price will remain a t the last closing price and users will still be able to trade within 5% of this price throughout times when the real markets are closed.

8) How much does it cost to make a trade?

As the name suggest, there are NO TRADING FEES. Zero, zip, nothing.

9) How often can I trade?

You can trade as frequently or as infrequently as you wish. Some investors like to trade many times during the day whereas other prefer to hold th eir investments for a longer period of time. It is completely up to you. As there are no fees, it won't affect your account balance either way. Trading more often comes with more risk but potentially more reward. Share investments in the long-term however, have proven over time to beat most other types of investm ent product based on the stock market growth since the London Stock Exchange's inception.

10) What is a virtual share?

A virtual share is unlike real shares in many ways. We do however, try to give you as many benefits as possible with your holdings to make the dif fering products as similar as can be. Firstly a real share assumes partial ownership in the real company. Virtual shares do not so they don't give you any vo ting rights as to the future of the company or its activities. Having said that, many individuals choose not to participate in such votes. If you do wish to acquire ownership, you should choose real shares instead of our virtual shares. The other main difference is dividends. Our shares do not entitle you to div idends unlike real shares. Real share prices often drop once a share goes ex-div. However, those shareholders who held the shares before the ex div date will be compensated for the drop in price by the resulting dividend they will receive. However, we do offer an alternative. Any dividends due relative to the rea l company dividends will be paid out by way of free shares in that particular company so you will never lose out.

11) Where do the virtual shares come from?

The virtual shares are provided initially from NTF. We allow users to buy them for a set period of time during the virtual initial public offering (VIPO) at a discounted rate. Hence pre-registered users and early users will be at a distinct advantage over later users as they will get their shares for c heaper for a set time period.

12) How much do the virtual shares cost?

The ratio of real shares to virtual shares is 100:1 but the percentage gains and losses in real terms are still the same. This works as follows. A user puts £100 into their NTF account. This is equal to 10,000p which buys 1,000,000 NTF credits. These credits can be used to buy virtual shares at 100th of the real cost. Hence a share which is trading at £4 or 400p on the real market can be purchased for 400 NTF credits. The reason for this ratio is to allow you to spread your investments and hence risk by diversifying your portfolio. Find out more about diversification in our learning centre after launch. The f act you have bought a £4 share for the real equivalent of 4p does not mean your money has multiplied in value however; it just means you can build a po rtfolio for cheaper. For example, if the £4 share went up to £5 in the real market, you could then sell your share to another user for 500 NTF cr edits. You would then have made a profit of 100 NTF credits equal to 1p. Hence you have still made a 25% gain (100/400) just as you would have on the real ma rket but the value in real terms should you choose to cash out is 1p rather than £1. Thus the ratio converts the virtual money back to real money. Perc entage gains are equal to the real market. This also works in reverse for losses. In actual fact, your gains will be higher due to the fundamental concept of having no trading fees or bid / offer spread as explained in Question 6 above.

13) What are NTF credits?

NTF credits are what your money is converted into as soon as you deposit funds into your account. These allow you to trade at a ratio of 100:1 rel ative to real share prices. The reason for having this mechanism is to allow you to diversify your portfolio with a lower deposit. Please see Question 12 for more details.

14) How do I go about buying and selling virtual shares?

In your account area, you can set the number of shares you wish to buy or sell and the price at which you wish to trade. If you are buying, your a ccount balance will be deducted by the relevant number of credits until someone sells them at that price you have requested. You may even get a cheaper price than the one you specified. If no-one wishes to sell the shares at that price, you can either cancel the trade and your credits will be returned to your bal ance or you can reset the price at which you wish to buy. A similar process is in place for sales. If you wish to sell some or all of a stock, you can specify the number of shares you wish to sell and the lowest pri ce at which you are willing to sell them. As soon as someone buys them, your account will be credited with the relevant number of credits. These set buy and sell orders will appear on the trading floor hence you can also trade directly on the trading floor by clicking on the buy or sell buttons with the relevant price you wish to take or give. A match will be made instantly with both users' accounts being updated either with shares or credits.

15) What if I want to buy or sell at a price which is not available?

If your price is not available, you can either take a price which is available directly from the trading floor or set the price you want in your a ccount area. If this price is within 5% of the mid-price, it will be available from the trading floor to other users. If it is outside this range or the rang e on the trading floor, it will stay active until you choose to withdraw your price. If at any time, your price becomes favourable to other users, your price will be matched and the trade will execute automatically.

16) How do I make a profit?

When you place a price to sell your virtual shares in your account area or accept a buyer's price on the trading floor which is higher than the pr ice you paid for the virtual share, you can realise your profit by sending us a withdrawal request. Assuming you have a verified identity, you shall then be issued a cheque directly from Chocolate investments Limited. The maximum you can withdraw is the initial investment into the site (assuming this value has no t gone down) PLUS any profit made from other users, i.e. when you sell your virtual shares for a higher price than you paid.

17) What if the share price falls in value?

All users should be aware that the value of their investments can go up as well as down. They should be aware of the risks involved in investing i n virtual equities which closely mirror the prices in the real markets. Chocolate investments Limited and No Trading Fees will never give out financial advic e and as such, provides an execution-only service for users wishing to trade. Therefore, you may lose money if the value of your investments goes down and yo u sell at a price lower than you paid for the virtual shares when you bought them. If you are uncertain about investing with No Trading Fees or are unaware o f the risks, we strongly advise you to consult an independent financial advisor or other FSA authorised individual before investing with NTF.

18) How do I know my money is safe?

Chocolate Investments Limited is a limited company and a member of the FSB. As such the company is a separate legal entity from any of its employe es or shareholders. Any money deposited by users will be deemed working capital and Chocolate Investments Limited will always have enough working capital to pay out all of its users subject to the terms and conditions of use.

19) What anti-fraud measures do you have in place?

No Trading Fees has a variety of measures in place to protect ourselves and more importantly you from unscrupulous beings. We accept credit and de bit card deposits via our online merchants. We use several merchants so feel free to browse and find the right one for you: all have differing fees depending on the size of the transaction. These merchants have been selected because of their security and reputation in the online marketplace. And because you are u sing an external merchant no-one at No Trading Fees will ever have access to your debit or credit card details. No Trading Fees will have access to your bill ing address however, which enables us to issue your password through the mail, again protecting against anyone else using your details without your permissio n. Once you have made your first deposit, you will receive your username and password through the post and then you are free to trade as often as you like. Y ou will only have to go through this process once. If we are ever uncertain about your identity, we may ask for a scanned copy of your passport for further p rotection against fraudsters. Please do not be offended if this is the case as it is purely for users' safety and overall peace of mind.

20) How do I verify my identity in order to withdraw my money?

The verification process will primarily take place when you make your first deposit and your username and password are sent to your billing addres s as outlined in Question 19. If further ID checks are required, we will let you know immediately. This is purely for your protection to eliminate any chance of fraudulent activity on your account or with your debit or credit card details.

21) How do I know my personal details are safe?

Chocolate investments Limited and No Trading Fees are registered with the Information Commissioner's office under the Data Protection Act 1998. Ou r registration number is Z1143576. This means we cannot share your personal details with any external body without your consent. Only authorised persons dire ctly connected with Chocolate Investments Limited and NTF can access this data for administrative purposes only.

22) What if I want to cancel my membership?

If for any reason you are not happy with the service we provide, please drop us an email at unsubscribe@notradingfees.com and we will delete your account immediately. We would also welcome any feedback to allow us to improve our service in the future for other users. We will then issue you a cheque for any remaining balance in your account up to the value of your initial investments PLUS any profit you may have accumulated through trades with other users.