LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that London based FX and CFDs broker ETX Capital has stayed internal to replace its recently departed longtime CEO Andrew Edwards, promoting COO Arman Tahmassebi to the CEO position at the company.
Andrew Edwards
As was exclusively reported at LeapRate at the beginning of November, Andrew Edwards surprised a lot of people in the London FX scene by leaving ETX – where he had been CEO since 2009 – to take up the role as CEO of Saxo Bank’s London based operation, Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd.
After a fairly quick search which we understand included discussions with executives outside ETX, the board decided to stay with its existing team and chose Mr. Tahmassebi as CEO.
ETX hired Arman Tahmassebi about a year and a half ago as COO and second-in-command to Mr. Edwards. Before joining ETX in April 2016 he had been COO of London Capital Group Holdings plc (LON:LCG) from January 2015 to January 2016 which followed a 14-year career at IG Group Holdings plc (LON:IGG), working up the ranks at IG to become Global Head of Operations from April 2012 to December 2014.
Mr. Tahmassebi will certainly be facing some challenges running ETX. The broker, which is the operating name for FCA regulated Monecor (London) Limited, enjoyed a long period of growth under Mr. Edwards’ leadership becoming one of the leading UK CFD providers, but hit something of a speed bump last year following a shift in strategy. As we exclusively reported in October, ETX saw Revenues drop by 17% in 2016 to £34.3 million (USD $45 million), down from £41.2 million the previous year. The company reported a loss of £2.7 million for the year. The results came after ETX went live at the beginning of 2016 with a new website, logo and branding.
At a time when several of its rivals were expanding operations with IBs and other third party channels, especially in the Far East, ETX stated that its change in strategy in the other direction led to a decrease in trading volumes and a 32% drop in web-base spread revenue – with 83% of the drop coming from ETX’s Chinese and introducer business.