LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that FCA regulated Retail FX broker Destek Markets UK Ltd has posted a loss of £2.1 million (USD $2.9 million) in its first full year of operation – which, clearly did not go exactly according to plan.
Destek Markets UK is the EU operating arm of Turkish based FX brokerage group Destek, controlled by Turkish entrepreneur Altunc Kumova. The company received its FCA license in early 2017 (Limited Licence – matched principal broker), and brought in a few seasoned London-based executives to build out the operation.
However, two of the most senior people brought in by Destek left after less than a year at the company.
Destek hired the former COO of the UK arm of Gain Capital Holdings Inc (NYSE:GCAP), Matthew Wright, as CEO of the new operation. However Mr. Wright lasted less than a year, departing in late 2017 to become CEO of Capital Index, as was exclusively reported by LeapRate.
Also hired to Destek was LCG veteran Rowena Harris-Doughty, brought in as the company’s Marketing Director. However she lasted less time at Destek than her boss Matthew Wright, leaving in early 2018 to become Marketing Manager at deliverable spot FX dealer Monex Europe, also exclusively reported here at LeapRate.
Back to the 2017 Destek UK results…
Not much was released by Destek, but they did indicate that the company brought in less than £1 million in Revenues in 2017 (£908,586 to be precise), while racking up expenses which led to the £2.1 million loss for the year. The Turkish shareholders had put in £4.1 million of capital, so that Destek UK still had a relatively healthy £2.0 million capital balance at year-end.