LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that AT Global Markets (UK) Limited, the UK arm of global retail FX brokerage group ATFX, has upgraded its license from the FCA to a full-scope IFPRU €730,000 license, expanding the services it can provide to clients.
ATFX’s original license from the FCA was for a Limited License – matched principal broker.
We had exclusively reported last month that ATFX’s shareholders had injected more capital into the UK company, so the license upgrade and expansion of services doesn’t really come as a surprise.
ATFX is a co-brand shared by a number of different entities globally including the aforementioned FCA regulated AT Global Markets (UK) Limited in the United Kingdom, ATFX Global Markets (CY) Limited in Cyprus (formerly PositivaFX which ATFX acquired earlier this year), AT Capital Markets Limited in the United Arab Emirates and AT Global Markets Malaysia. AT Global Markets (UK) Limited is controlled by international businessman Hiu Keung (Joe) Li, who has been rapidly expanding his FX empire in the past few months since the initial setup in 2015. The UK company was set up in 2015 and received its original matched-principal broker license from the FCA in July 2017, which as noted has now been upgraded to that of a principal broker.
To run the AT Global Markets (UK) Limited operation, Richard Craddock was hired as CEO. Mr. Craddock had previously been Chief Trader with MF Global, COO of institutional FX broker Fixi plc, and an executive and board member of the Naga Group and its SwipeStox (now Naga Markets) retail trading arm. Kicking off the company’s new UK presence, ATFX recently engaged in a high-profile London Taxi ad campaign (see picture above).
Richard Craddock, ATFX UK
Richard Craddock, CEO of ATFX UK said to LeapRate:
This is another milestone in the ATFX story as we push to become a major force in the brokerage industry. Our industry has become global and the logical step for us was to raise our regulation level to give comfort to our clients, our partners and everyone we work with. I’m extremely proud of the hard work and diligence the London team has put into getting this over the line in good time for the ESMA changes. We look forward to continuing to build our team and our brand.