After months of confusion on costs, only one investment trust is now blocked from taking on new investments on leading platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL).

Investors have been unable to buy new shares in Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI ) since November. HL took the decision to suspend new trading after Sequoia put zero ongoing charges on its European Mifid template (EMT), which platforms use to provide information to their customers.

Sequoia’s decision to zero its charges followed the Treasury’s forbearance statement back in September. This exempted London-listed investment companies from the historic EU regulations that had required them to disclosure ongoing charges in a way that many within the sector felt was misleading and inaccurate. 

The investment trust industry had long argued this requirement should not apply to them as these expenses are already implicitly reflected in their shares’ value.

However, unwittingly, forbearance has created confusion and havoc for investment trusts and platforms alike.

If a fund or investment trust puts zero on the EMT, a platform’s system might be programmed to stop new investments being made, as they view the zero charge as potentially misleading for customers.

A spokesperson for Hargreaves confirmed that Starwood European Real Estate Finance (SWEF ) will now be able to take on new investments, having been suspended for two weeks.

This means Sequoia is the last trust on the platform that customers cannot buy shares in. 

Over the past six months, Hargreaves blocked trading in HICL Infrastructure (HICL ), The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG ) and HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE ). All three appeared on the platform’s most-sold list of trust in February as a result.

Similarly, Oakley Capital (OCI ), Pershing Square (PSH ), GCP Infrastructure Investments (GCP ) and GCP Asset Backed Income (GABI ) are also among the list of trusts have at points seen customers unable to make fresh buys.

All have responded to the suspension by supplying a cost figure to Hargreaves, although different approaches have been taken.

Oakley Capital, for example, has reverted to its previous high ongoing charge figure of 2.7%. Others like HICL and Pershing Square appear to have done the same.

However, GCP Infrastructure, managed by Gravis Capital, has taken a different approach. It has decided to put in an average bid-offer spread over a five-year period as a cost on its EMT, amounting to 0.08%.

Back in November, Bill MacLeod, Gravis Capital’s chief executive, told Citywire that it was ‘genuinely the only way you could say there’s a cost to the shareholder of buying and selling these shares’. 

Fidelity International, another investment platform, currently has trading restrictions on one real estate investment trust: Urban Logistics (SHED ).

A spokesperson explained: ‘We believe that direct costs and other relevant information should be disclosed to retail investors. As such, we review information relating to cost disclosures for each investment trust offered through our platform and will make the decision to restrict new investments if the level of information provided is not sufficient.’

Urban Logistics Reit is understood to have supplied fresh charges documentation to Fidelity. 

It is curious to note that customers can make fresh buys of Urban Logistics shares on HL, where it has a low ongoing charge of 0.12%.

Meanwhile, AJ Bell has not barred any trusts on its platform.