Looking back at the most intriguing and popular industry news from the past week between 22nd and 26th March on LeapRate.
Israeli trading company eToro Group Ltd announced hiring Dan Moczulski as UK Regional Manager and Head of Business Development. Moczulski is an experienced growth hacker who has held various leadership positions in the online investment field. He joins eToro from Star Financial Systems, where worked since 2014. Moczulski served at Star Financial Systems as CEO and oversaw the sale of the business to Australia’s AxiCorp.
Online CFD broker Plus500 proposed Professor Jacob A. Frenkel to be appointed as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Frenkel could succeed Penny Judd as Chairman after the 2021 Annual General Meeting which will be held on 4 May 2021. Penny Judd has served as Chairman of Plus500’s board since April 2017. The announcement said that she notified the Board that she will not seek re-election so he can focus on other business interests and directorships.
Global provider of online trading CMC Markets issued a trading update for the period from 1 January 2021 to 24 March 2021 ahead of its full-year results. The London-listed broker revealed that its financial year 2021 net operating income expectations have risen to £390.9 million, ranging from £387.5 million to £399.6 million. CMC Markets also reported that it expects profit before tax of £210.6 million, ranging from £206.3 million to £217.7 million.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. announced its definitive agreement to acquire Chi-X Asia Pacific Holdings, Ltd., an alternative market operator and provider of market solutions, from J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC. Through the acquisition, Cboe will gain a point of entry into two key capital markets – Australia and Japan. It will help the market provider expand its global equities business into Asia Pacific, bring other products and services to the region, and further expand access to its product suite.
Market operator and global trading solutions provider Cboe Global Markets, Inc. promoted Catherine Clay to Executive Vice President. She was previously Senior Vice President, Information Solutions at the company. Cboe also announced that Clay will lead a newly created Data and Access Solutions division. She was also appointed to Cboe’s Executive leadership team. The new Data and Access Solutions unit integrates Cboe’s suite of data solutions, analytics and indices, with its market data services offerings, to build an optimized global offering.
LiquidityBook appointed Sumit Kumar as Senior FIX Specialist. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which provides buy and sell-side trading solutions, will see Kumar join the business team, which is based in its London office. Kumar will play a key role in improving clients’ experience for LiquidityBook clients. Established in 2005, LiquidityBook powers the workflows of several buy-and-sell firms on a global basis. The firm has seen significant growth over the past year, welcoming 30 additional broker-dealer partners to its managed global FIX network, LBX connect. This was an increase of 38% compared to 2019, while revenues were reported to have increased by 34% on a year-over-year basis.
London-based broker TP ICAP has announced the completion of its acquisition of Liquidnet Holdings, Inc. This deal makes TP ICAP a diversified global markets infrastructure and data solutions provider. The company can benefit from the market structure. Liquidnet’s acquisition propels TP CAP’s goals for trade process efficiency and best execution, which are driving the rapid electronification of financial market trading across multiple asset classes and especially, in the dealer-to-client segments of the credit and rates markets.
Robinhood is going forward despite recent public-relations troubles. The online brokerage filed confidentially for initial public offering (IPO) on Monday. Robinhood showed confidence in its future with a short statement on Tuesday afternoon it has submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission for IPO. The Silicon Valley startup did not disclose when it expects to go through with its plans or how many shares it is planning to sell.
Cloud-based electronic forex trading provider BidFX reported an operating profit of £1.8 million before tax for the first half of 2020. The profits announced in these half-yearly financials are particularly significant when considering that BidFX ended 2019 on a loss of £0.4 million. Revenue reported for the first half of 2020 alone came in at £9.6 million, showing its growth compared to 2019’s overall revenue of £10.9 million. An increase in BidFX’s net asset can also be seen in the report, rising to £20.4 million compared to 2019’s £18.2 million.
BTON Financial revealed that electronic trading expert, Ray Tierney, has been appointed as Non-Executive Director. In the official announcement, the company noted that Tierney will play a significant role in shaping and expanding BTON Financial’s US footprint and plans to bring its technology and data-driven dealing desk solution to the global investment management community.
UK-based global multi-regulated financial service provider, ICM.com announced the appointment of Andy Ring as the General Manager of the Greater China region. Ring brings to the company more than 15 years of experience in sales and management positions in the financial service industry and 10 years focused on the Chinese markets in particular. Rings has worked with companies such as Oanda, Gain Capital, Saxo Bank and Maersk.
Spotware announced releasing its cTrader Desktop 4.0 version. The new release comes equipped with advanced chart features, along with added technical and fundamental analysis tools for the ultimate trading experience. Spotware has also introduced a few convenience features including the ability to deposit and withdraw funds to/from Demo accounts, the option to duplicate charts, expand/collapse symbol tiles, and copy/paste chart drawings, saving users time and leaving their hands free for what is important to them – their analysis and trading.
