LeapRate Exclusive... 2016 was not a good year for shareholders of publicly traded Forex and CFD brokers. LeapRate analysis (see table below) has calculated that more than $2.4 billion was erased from the market value of online trading brokerages during 2016. On average each brokerage lost more than one-third, or 37%, of its market cap…
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Hard to believe, but 2016 is just a couple of days from officially becoming history. And history was indeed made in the Forex sector during 2016. When looking at the top Forex Industry stories and themes of 2016, like in 2015, one storyline clearly stood above the rest in reshaping the sector for the months and…
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UK investment manager Odey Asset Management LLP has continued to buy shares of FCA regulated CFD broker Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS), building its stake as Plus500's largest shareholder to a more than 23% interest in the company. Odey began buying Plus500 shares early last week in the wake of Plus500's 28% share price drop, following revelations that…
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Stock market investors have continued to dump shares of publicly traded UK Forex and CFD brokers, following new rules proposed last week by UK financial regulator the FCA for CFD trading. We had earlier reported that the FCA's proposals - including a ban on deposit bonus payments to retail traders, and (more importantly) a 50x…
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In remarks fairly critical of the FCA's new rules banning bonus payments to retail traders and limiting trading leverage to 50x, IG Group Holdings plc (LON:IGG) CEO Peter Hetherington questioned the logic behind the FCA's moves, and what the likely fallout will be. While discussing what last week was like with UK newspaper The Telegraph in an…
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Forex Industry News at LeapRate was headlined by regulator moves which are clearly going to alter the online trading industry landscape, if not change it altogether. Following news that Cyprus regulator CySEC is proposing to ban bonus payments to retail traders and put a soft cap on leverage - news which was first reported exclusively at…
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Leading CFD brokers Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) and CMC Markets Plc (LON:CMCX) have each issued statements in response to yesterday’s new directives from German financial regulator BaFin on CFD trading. In summary, each of Plus500 and CMC Markets stated that they welcomed BaFin's moves. Both Plus500 and CMC Markets stated that they already provide negative balance…
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Taking advantage of the recent steep price drop in Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) shares, UK investment manager Odey Asset Management LLP has continued to build its stake in the CFD broker. LeapRate has learned via regulatory filings that Odey acquired another 1.29 million Plus500 shares on Wednesday, spending about £4.8 million (USD $6.1 million) and accounting for…
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UK online trading leader IG Group Holdings plc (LON:IGG) issued a brief response to yesterday's new directives from German financial regulator BaFin on CFD trading. The IG press release on the matter reads as follow: 08 December 2016 IG GROUP HOLDINGS PLC Response to BaFin Announcement regarding CFDs IG Group ("IG", "the Company"), a global leader…
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Germany's financial regulator Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (or just 'BaFin') has announced new regulations governing leveraged CFD trading. BaFin's actions come just two days after UK regulator the FCA dropped a bombshell by proposing new rules limiting leverage on Forex and CFDs to 50x, and banning bonus payment inducements to retail traders. The FCA's actions sent…
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