atfx recap
January 02, 2025 BY Leaprate Staff

ATFX 2024 Recap: A Year of Expansion, Innovation, and Global Leadership

Expanding Global Presence and Regional Engagement In 2024, ATFX expanded its reach by opening new offices in Mexico and Sydney, Australia, and securing its Hong Kong SFC license. These moves bolster the company’s presence in LATAM and Asia, enabling better service for institutional clients and growing its market share. ATFX also made a strong impact…

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financial buildings
January 02, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Tern Makes Investment in Sure Ventures

The investment firm said the transaction represents approximately 2.7% of Sure Ventures' equity following the completion of a £275,000 fundraising by the venture capital fund. Sure Ventures focuses on early-stage software companies in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and IoT sectors. Listed on the London Stock Exchange's Specialist Fund Segment, it…

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January 02, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Alpha Group International Confirms Clive Kahn Takes Over CEO

Kahn's appointment follows the earlier announcement of a CEO succession plan in September 2024, where Morgan Tillbrook, Alpha's founding CEO, decided to step down after 15 years of leadership. Tillbrook formally resigned on 31 December 2024, though he will continue to provide strategic advice and retain a 10% shareholding for at least three years. Kahn…

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Trading on a mobile
January 02, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

GSTechnologies Completes Acquisition of CAKE and the Bake Cryptocurrency Platform

The fintech-focused firm said the deal accelerates its digital asset strategy and “positions the company for future growth in the rapidly evolving digital asset ecosystem.” Funded entirely through internal resources, the deal integrates Bake.io’s web application and mobile app into GST’s operations.  Bake, a retail-focused cryptocurrency investment platform, provides features such as staking, swaps, and…

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December 31, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

UBS Financial Services Fined $1.1m by FINRA for Rule Violations

The violations are said to have involved more than 330 million trade confirmations issued between February 2014 and November 2024, which contained misleading or incomplete disclosures regarding average trade prices. FINRA found that UBS either incorrectly indicated that a trade price "may" be an average price when it was not or failed to disclose that…

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Interactive Brokers
December 31, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

FINRA Fines Interactive Brokers $2.25m for Supervisory Failures

In its disciplinary action document, the regulator said the violations occurred over a seven-year period from October 2015 to December 2022 and involved more than 4.2 million transactions in options and issued options. Free-riding, a prohibited practice under U.S. securities regulations, involves customers buying and selling securities before paying for them in options and issued…

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CySEC fine
December 31, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

CySEC Proposes English-Language Expansion for Prospectuses

The regulator published a Consultation Paper on 27 December 2024. The proposal also requires that a Greek summary accompany all prospectuses to safeguard investor accessibility. Currently, CySEC mandates that prospectuses be prepared in Greek, with exceptions allowing English under certain conditions. However, the proposed amendment seeks to broaden these exceptions, enabling more issuers to use…

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December 30, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

BBVA Establishes Analytics Transformation Unit

The move aimed at enhancing the bank’s data-driven services by integrating advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and predictive analytics to provide greater value to customers and streamline internal processes. BBVA explained that the new unit combines generative and predictive AI to use historical data for future trend forecasting. This is with the aim of accelerating…

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December 30, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

Jefferies Receives Small Fine From FINRA

The regulator added that the fine is part of a larger $250,000 settlement which was resolved “simultaneously with similar matters.”  FINRA states: "Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in relevant part, makes it unlawful for underwriters, broker-dealers, and other distribution participants to directly or indirectly 'bid for, purchase, or attempt to induce…

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Hong Kong SFC
December 30, 2024 BY Sam Boughedda

Hong Kong Regulator Fines Ever-Long Securities Company Limited $3m

The SFC investigation is said to have found that Ever-Long fell short in conducting due diligence, disclosing material issues, and ensuring the accuracy of the Application Proof submitted for Coastal’s listing.  The regulator explained that key failures included neglecting to verify the rationale and legality of a leasing arrangement central to Coastal's business model, which…

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