Forex broker statements continue to roll in regarding the impact of the Swiss Franc spike and it’s aftermath. It is not surprising many have come out to provide official statements as clients and stakeholders sit nervously by their screens. While some on the brokerage end of industry are still processing the ultimate business impact, many statements are being issued to reassure prospective traders and current clients their operations are A-OK.
Three more brokers you can add to the “not significantly impacted” list are OANDA (even declined firms looking for buyers), CMC Markets and TradeStation, division of Monex Group (Monex being the only publicly traded company out of the 3 here).
Bloomberg is reporting that OANDA, the innovative Toronto-based retail focused broker, was approached by competitors after the market rout.
“We actually had conversations with a number of firms that were looking for potential buyers during the course of the day,” Oanda CEO Ed Eger said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg today. “We ultimately decided not to do any of that.”
Oanda experienced its own losses yesterday, though Eger declined to give specific numbers. “We are still very well capitalized,” Mr. Eger said.
Meanwhile, Peter Cruddas, Chief Executive of CMC Markets, a global market leader in CFD, spread betting and FX trading established in the United Kingdom in 1989 with offices in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Canada issued the following statement:
“Like many of our competitors, CMC Markets sustained some losses, however, the overall impact including possible bad debts has not materially impacted the Group.
The Group’s balance sheet post these events remains strong, with a regulatory capital ratio of 24% (300% pre CRD IV) and own funds in excess of £130m. All retail client funds are fully segregated and protected.
Some of our competitors may suffer as a result of this market event but CMC Markets continues to have a strong balance sheet and business model; the Group remains on course to exceed last year’s financial performance. It’s business as usual.”
Lastly on this round of updates, TradeStation Group, Inc., a Monex Group company (Tokyo Stock Exchange, code: 8698), today announced that the Swiss central bank’s decision announced yesterday to abolish its three-year-old policy of capping the Swiss franc against the euro has had no material negative impact on the financial condition of its IBFX/TradeStation Forex or IBFX Australia Pty Ltd operating subsidiaries, or any of its other operating subsidiaries, including TradeStation Securities, Inc. or TradeStation Europe Limited. Given the major impact the Swiss central bank’s decision has had on certain forex dealer firms and other financial institutions, the company believed it important to convey this information to its customers and the financial community as soon as reasonably possible.
Make sure to stay tuned to LeapRate into the weekend regarding whats being now called the ‘Black Thursday’ for the currency market and in particular FX brokers.