January 03, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

ForexTime to be run by ex-Alpari execs

Andrey Dashin's new Cyprus FX firm onboards most of Alpari FS management. LeapRate Exclusive..... Well it seems as though Alpari's decision to shut down its Cyprus operation Alpari FS -- at around the same time that Andrey Dashin's new firm ForexTime Ltd received a CySEC CIF license to begin operation -- has provided ForexTime Ltd the opportunity to…

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December 28, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Alpari shuts down its Cyprus operation

All Alpari FS clients to be transferred to Alpari UK. In something of a surprise move, Alpari announced that as of February 8 it will transfer all client accounts legally situated with Alpari's Cyprus subsidiary Alpari FS, and move them to Alpari UK.  Following February 8 Alpari FS will cease providing services to clients. Alpari…

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December 27, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Japan FX volumes soaring during December

New Government's policy of currency devaluation bringing back traders. In our discussions with Japanese retail FX brokers over the past few weeks, it seems that they are seeing a healthy increase in domestic trading, mainly around the USDJPY pair. Japan's new government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has made strengthening Japan's economy by (in part)…

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December 24, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

German regulators shut down FXdirekt Bank

Germany's BaFin cites inadequate capital at FXdirekt. Germany's financial regulator BaFin announced Friday that it is shutting down leading German-based online FX broker FXdirekt Bank, due to inadequate capital following decreased client trading levels and losses suffered by the firm in the second half of 2012. FXdirekt had been the subject of some very negative…

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December 21, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

LeapRate Retail FX Volume Index up slightly (1%) in November

Increased volatility brought traders back in November, but just marginally. LeapRate's Retail FX Volume Index, sponsored by Leverate, was fairly flat in November, with global retail FX trading activity up 1% to $179 billion per day. However this marks the fifth consecutive month where volumes remained well below last year's levels, with the year-over-year declines in…

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December 19, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Leverate expands to Asia, opens Hong Kong office

Leverate hires ex Saxo Bank and FXCM exec to head Asia. Forex software platform provider Leverate announced today that it is opening a Hong Kong office next month, to be headed by ex Saxo Bank and FXCM exec Arthur Le. (Note that Saxo Bank is an investor in Leverate). Leverate's Sirix social platform has been…

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December 19, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Knight Capital to choose Getco bid

Getco likely to divest Knight's non-core assets, including Hotspot FX. Although it has not yet been formally announced, sources close to the situation (and as reported by CNBC) reported that Knight Capital's board will select Getco's offer to buy the company, after Getco raised the cash portion of its bid to $3.60 per Knight share.…

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December 19, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Yet another CySEC licensed FX firm – UBK Markets

CySEC licenses two new retail FX brokers this week. After we reported that Alpari founder Andrey Dashin was behind ForexTime, which just got a CySEC CIF license and which will soon launch a new retail FX brand (note that Dashin remains a shareholder in Alpari), comes word that CySEC has granted yet another license to a…

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December 18, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

Correction re Alpari volumes and growth

Figures reported were for Alpari Russia only, not entire Alpari Group. Our article Monday entitled Alpari volumes drop to $85 billion covering Alpari's press conference and press release regarding some of its 2012 figures reported that the numbers discussed -- specifically $85 billion in monthly trading volume -- were for the entire Alpari group. Alpari management…

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December 18, 2012 BY Gerald Segal

FXall management taking over at Thomson Reuters FX

Phil Weisberg to head Thomson Reuters FX; Jas Singh leaving. One of the themes we've covered recently has been that it is becoming clear why Thomson Reuters bought FXall -- as Thomson Reuters has seen its leading position in the Forex ECN business erode, FXall has remained the one ECN actually doing more volume this…

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