Another dismal piece of news regarding the consequences of “Black Thursday” events has just become known. Liquid Markets, a retail Forex broker which obtained its license with the UK Financial Conduct Authority in May of 2014, is halting its operations due to the fallout from the decision of the SNB to remove the effective 1.20 floor on EUR/CHF trading on January 15, 2015.
The website of the Forex broker today reappeared with a message that informed the public that the company has ceased providing all services regulated by the FCA and that it is terminating all existing derivatives contracts to which it is a party.
The measures have been discussed with the UK regulator.
All open positions of Liquid Markets’ clients are closed with immediate effect, with clients able to gain information about the status of transactions by logging into their accounts.
You can read the official announcement on the Liquid Markets website.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT:
Following the decision by the Swiss National Bank to remove the informal peg between the Swiss franc and the euro, which prompted volatility across the foreign exchange markets, LQD Markets (UK) Limited (“LQD”) has experience trading difficulties and has been in close liaison with the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) about this.
Following consultation with the FCA and professional advisers, on 27 January 2015 LQD applied to the FCA for a number of requirements to be imposed on LQD and its business. Following this application, the FCA places these requirements on LQD’s permission (which is available for inspection on the Financial Services Register). These requirements include that LQD:
(1) cease carrying on any business that involves the carrying on of any regulated activities.
(2) terminate any existing derivatives contracts to which it is a party (whether as agent or principal).
In compliance with these requirements, LQD is no longer able to enter into any transactions or carry on any other business with clients and the open positions of any existing clients in derivative transactions are being closed immediately. Clients can obtain further information about these transactions by logging into their client account.
Any further material developments will be notified by further notice on this website and messages accessible through client accounts.
The website of Liquid Markets has gone barer over the past several quarters, with the list of platforms becoming less crowded, as cTrader ceased to be offered. Moreover, the company blog had not seen a new post or update for over a month. One can only speculate the condition of the firm before the Swiss spike drove it into closure.
In an interview with World Finance back in 2013 (see below), LQD shareholder appointed CEO of Liquid Markets Nick Bang, a successful FX executive prior to assuming leadership at LQD said there are too many competitors in the forex market and that it is one of most stressful industries to be engaged in. He discussed how Liquid Markets gained their market share with quality execution, the potential dangers of high leverage for investors if not used carefully, and business developments from emerging markets in Eastern Europe, South America and Asia.
Liquid Markets began life as Tadawul FX, and as its name implied focused mainly on the Arabic forex sector. It was founded by Swiss/Lebanese entrepreneur Ramzi Chamat, who ran the company until 2013 when the name change to Liquid Markets occurred and the company expanded beyond the Arabic sector. The company also moved its headquarters to London and sought FCA regulation, after being previously licensed by CySEC.