Not too surprising.
Distancing itself from its recent troubles including being banned from its home US forex market, retail forex broker FXCM Inc (NASDAQ:FXCM) has announced some major changes including:
- the resignation of co-founder Drew Niv (pictured above), who has been the CEO of FXCM and its public face since the company’s inception in the late 1990s.
- Brendan Callan named as Interim CEO in place of Drew Niv. Mr. Callan has been CEO of FXCM Europe through most of FXCM’s history. Following the recent sale of FXCM’s US client base to rival Gain Capital Holdings Inc (NYSE:GCAP) and its Forex.com unit, Mr. Callan already directly oversees about half of FXCM’s operations.
- Leucadia’s Jimmy Hallac to serve as Chairman of the Board. (Mr.Niv also served as FXCM Chairman).
- the company will be renamed Global Brokerage, Inc., and will also be changing its NASDAQ ticker symbol to GLBR.
Apparently the name change will apply to the parent, publicly traded company, but not to the ‘operating’ company and websites, which will still carry the FXCM brand.
The company issued two press releases on the matter, which read as follows:
FXCM Inc. Changes Publicly Traded Company Name and Ticker Symbol; FXCM Inc. Renamed Global Brokerage, Inc.; Ticker Symbol Change to “GLBR” from “FXCM”; Changes to Board of Directors
NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FXCM Inc. (NASDAQ:FXCM) (“FXCM” or the “Company”), today announced that it will change the Company’s name to Global Brokerage, Inc. and the trading ticker symbol will change to “GLBR” expected to be effective at the opening of trading on February 27, 2017. The Company’s Common Stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market and the new CUSIP will be 37891B109.
Mr. William Ahdout submitted his resignation to FXCM from his position serving as a Director on the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), effective immediately.
Mr. Drew Niv submitted his resignation to FXCM from his positions serving as a Director and Chairman of the Board effective immediately. Mr. Niv will also resign as Chief Executive Officer, effective upon the selection and appointment of a successor. The Company feels it is important for Mr. Niv to stay in his position during this transition period and to serve as an advisor to the newly appointed successor to assure an orderly transition.
The Company’s Board, with the recommendation of the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, appointed Mr. Bryan I. Reyhani to serve as Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors.
At this time all parties have decided that it is in the best interests of the Company for Mr. Niv and Mr. Ahdout to resign from The Board of Directors.
FXCM Group, LLC Announces Promotion of Brendan Callan as Interim CEO, Appointment of Leucadia’s Jimmy Hallac as Chairman of the Board, And Changes to Board of Directors
NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FXCM Group, LLC (“FXCM Group”), a leading international provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading, spread betting and related services, today announced that Brendan Callan has been promoted to interim Chief Executive Officer of FXCM Group. Mr. Callan, who joined in 2001, has been the Chief Executive Officer and President of European Operations since 2010, a period during which Mr. Callan developed Forex Capital Markets Limited (“FXCM UK”) into FXCM Group’s largest operating subsidiary. Mr. Callan will be replacing Drew Niv, who has resigned as Chief Executive Officer and a Director of FXCM Group, and will serve in an advisory role. In addition, William Adhout will be resigning as a Director of the Board of FXCM Group.
FXCM Group also announced that Jimmy Hallac has been appointed Chairman of FXCM Group. Mr. Hallac is a Managing Director of Leucadia National Corporation (“Leucadia”), which came to the aid of FXCM following the unpegging of the Swiss Franc by the Swiss National Bank in January 2015, and holds a significant interest in FXCM Group. The six-member Board of Directors of FXCM Group will now consist of Mr. Hallac, Rich Handler, CEO of Leucadia, Brian Friedman, President of Leucadia, David Sakhai, Chief Operating Officer of Global Brokerage, Inc., Robert Lande, Chief Financial Officer of Global Brokerage, Inc., and Kenneth Grossman, Managing Director of Global Brokerage, Inc.
Global Brokerage, Inc. will become the new name of the former FXCM Inc., which will be changing its name expected to be effective February 27, 2017, to avoid any possible confusion among customers or others. Global Brokerage, Inc. owns an equity interest in FXCM Group.
Commenting on the appointments, Leucadia’s Messrs. Handler and Friedman stated:
We are very excited to have Brendan and Jimmy in their new roles. We believe that, under their leadership, FXCM Group will be able to continue to enhance and grow its global platform and customer offering. Brendan and Jimmy share our deep commitment to always putting clients first, maintaining and building a culture of transparency, communication and support among employees, and responding to the needs and goals of all relevant constituencies, including FXCM’s customers, employees, regulators, business partners and equity owners.