A couple of recent and similar moves by two US regulators, the FDIC (or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and the OCC (or Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), went largely unnoticed in the Forex industry, and in our view were somewhat misinterpreted by those who did notice. However, these moves spoke volumes to us about future competition in the Forex business – in particular about the potential entry of several large US banks into the business.

FXCM’s share price soared on Friday by 11% following the release of information (as reported in Business Insider) that several large and influential hedge fund investors had accumulated significant positions in FXCM stock. The largest reported position was an approximate one million share holding in FXCM by Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, among the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world.