Retail FX firm Admiral Markets has shown a modicum of zeal to in its expansion recently, with the latest change concerning its business registered in the British Virgin Islands. Admiral Markets (BVI) has split its business in order to form two business units, one of which is MTrading, a new FX trading firm, licensed by the Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC). MTrading will focus on accruing and supporting clients in the Asia Pacific region, as well as the emerging markets in South America and Africa.
A spokesperson from the company today confirmed to LeapRate that most of the European countries will still operate under Admiral Markets brand, while emerging markets such as Asia and Africa will operate under the new brand.
The newly licensed firm makes its market debut with a new website: www.mtrading.com. The services of Admiral Markets (BVI) have been gradually migrated to the new website – for instance, trading accounts can now be accessed via the new website only. The addresses of the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 demo servers which the broker supports, have also been changed. The company, however, assures traders that they will not have to open new accounts and that the changes will be automatic and will cause minimal disruptions to trading.
As part of the rebranding and choice of new jurisdiction from which to operate, the company has taken a somewhat controversial step in raising the maximum leverage to 1:1000, whereas Admiral Markets under its previous designation provided a maximum leverage of 1:500 on Pro accounts.
Certainly with more peripheral licensing authorities within the FX industry, this is possible, however such exposure to risk would certainly raise the eyebrows of the highly respected financial markets regulators within North America, Europe and Australia.
As the restrictions on maximum leverage continue to be enforced by major regulators, most brokerages have adapted their services accordingly and have become accustomed to offering between 1:50 and 1:25 in most jurisdictions, however MTrading is poised to carve out the non-risk averse among the Asian market, as exemplified by EXNESS, a brokerage which has offered 1:2000 leverage on certain accounts, having recently eschewed New Zealand regulation in favor of Belize, and has also carved out a significant trading volume from clients in mainland China.
In terms of corporate structure, MTrading will remain an endorsed partner of Admiral Markets AS, a broker with its headquarters in Estonia which is licensed to operate in the European Union.
This is the largest structural reshuffle at Admiral Markets since June 2013 when the company announced that it had obtained authorization in the UK through the Financial Conduct Authority. This move demonstrates that the firm is not afraid of change and growth, as well as adaptation to attract retail clients with different attitudes to risk.
Concurrently, Admiral Markets is seeking to enlarge its portfolio of products and services. Whilst its development of WebTrader, the web-based version of MT4, have been postponed, the company has stated publicly that some exciting tech innovations are in the pipeline.