This past week the forex world witnessed a market shocking event when the PBOC devalued the value of the yuan. While not new the shock was in the record reference rate cut, which is an attempt to jump start their export market. While not the Swiss Franc fireworks of January (as CNH pairs have low volume) the massive move pip wise was enough for GAIN Capital to come out with a statement, reiterating financial results were not effected by the renminbi devaluation. Are we entering a new and exciting era of renminbi trading, should a true free float be introduced in the coming years? This is something we continue to keep an eye on.
Within the brokerage landscape, LeapRate learned that UK sports and financial spread betting company Spreadex Limited, which has a May 31 financial year end, saw fiscal 2015 Revenues rise 14% to £40.4 million (or $63 million), up from £35.4 million in 2014. Moreover, Estonian based Admiral Markets AS revealed improved financial results of it’s newer UK regulated entity as reporting requirements demand. With the firm now solely focused on placing clients within this branch to streamline regulatory headaches, this is a company to watch.
– Orbex unveils Tradeworks platform partnership for algorithmic trading
– (Mis)understanding FXCM’s $500 million 1H loss and valuation
– Renminbi drops 1,000+ pips as China cuts reference rate by record 1.9%
– Spreadex sees 14% rise in 2015 Revenue to £40.4 million, profit hits £17.7 million – LeapRate Exclusive
– Is the Prime of Prime space oversaturated for forex brokers? – Guest Post
– Asia’s first Trading-Atrium announces prime FX liquidity partnership
– ACM Gold has its South Africa FSB license withdrawn – LeapRate Exclusive
– Admiral Markets UK sees 2014 Revenue of £464,000 operating near breakeven
Forex Industry Rundown for the Week of August 10th, 2015
Features
– Hantec Markets on how to deal with emotions in forex trading
Broker Updates
– Myfxbook teams with GDMFX for $10,000 prize pool trading competition
– Alpari Japan publishes Q&A regarding acquisition by Dukascopy
– Forex Club streamlines currency pairs offering for MT4 accounts
– Lightspeed Trading to acquire certain assets of Livevol Securities
– Japanese broker FXTF adds new Tradency automated strategies used by hedge funds
– Monex releases upgraded tradable platform with integrated appstore, flat UI
– TradeStation’s iOS app now streams order notifications on Apple Watch
– eToro to introduce currency trading with x1 leverage
– Admiral Markets adds indicative risk and profit feature to MT4 Supreme Edition
– RoboForex (CY) to offer MT5, cTrader platforms to its clients
– FXCM goes downmarket, offering $50 minimum accounts and 400x leverage
– Turkish broker Integral Menkul signs 2-year deal with FC Fenerbahçe
– Launch of reborn Forex Trend gets rescheduled for October
Service Provider Offerings
– Hybrid Solutions’ VertexFX platform adds physical gold bullion trading
Institutional Offerings/Services
– Markit introduces centralised FX trade confirmation service
– Redline connects InRush ticker plant technology to Bloomberg’s B-PIPE real-time market data feed
– ACER approves ICE Trade Vault Europe as Registered Reporting Mechanism
– ICAP rolls out BrokerTec European Government Bonds data product
– Thomson Reuters increases Matching venue market data frequency for selected currency pairs
– SIX Swiss Exchange opens FinTech Incubator “F10”
Financial
– MultiCharts’ CEO seeks to dismiss speculation about company sale
– Optimal Payments completes acquisition of Skrill
– Invast Securities registers 12% MoM drop in revenues in July 2015
– Corsair Capital, Palamon Capital Partners to acquire Currencies Direct for £200M
– GMO Click sees revenues shrink further in July 2015
– Online payments pioneer Payoneer raises $50 million from VC
Volumes
– GAIN Capital sees retail Forex volumes drop 6% MoM in July 2015
– Taiwan Futures Exchange sees trading volumes grow 20% MoM in Jul 2015
– Thomson Reuters FXall sees fourth consecutive monthly spot volume decline in July down to $101B ADV
– EXNESS posts Forex volumes of $203.3B for July 2015, down 12% MoM
– Saxo Bank registers Forex volumes of $181B in July 2015, down 25% MoM
– SGX sets USD/CNH futures trading record after yuan devaluation
– Japanese retail Forex volumes register 9.5% MoM drop in July 2015
– KCG sees market making volumes increase 7.9% MoM in July 2015
Warnings/Fines/Fraud Watch
– Japanese regulator warns against BinaryFX
– MahiFX warns of clone company Great Trade
– FINMA warns against Swiss Financial Holding Group
– SEC uncovers press release hacking ring which generated $100 million in trading profits
– Japan’s FSA warns against New Zealand broker Titan FX
– New Zealand’s FMA warns of unauthorized Forex broker AIOFX
– Hong Kong’s SFC warns of three Forex clones of Capstone Financial
Legal
– US SEC grants approval to BATS for EDGX Options market
– ASIC suspends AFS licence after reported forex company acquisition
– FSCS says clients of LQD Markets are entitled to compensation
– Court appoints receivers from PwC at currency trading firm PTT
– KPMG has charged more than $10 million in fees to Alpari UK bankruptcy administration
– Bank of Russia works on project to protect clients of Forex brokers
Executive Moves
– IG Group’s CFO Christopher Hill set to leave
– Portware hires Christopher Matsko as head of forex trading services
– John Stevens joins GPS Capital Markets in London as Director of Sales&Trading
– Mark P. Wetjen to step down as CFTC Commissioner
– Gain Capital’s GTX adds Sal Provenzano, Alberto Mellone to global sales team
Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency
– Coinsetter submits BitLicense application to legally accept clients in New York State