FX week in review: Australia CFD rules, Exness record volumes, exec adds at BDSwiss, Hantec

Gerald Segal 0 Comments April 10, 2022

Which CFD trading rules did Australia regulator ASIC decide to extend for five years? And what was their justification for doing so?

What new standard did Exness set for monthly trading volumes at a Retail FX/CFD broker? And what is driving Exness’ phenomenal growth?

Who is BDSwiss’ new COO?

Answers to these questions, and a whole lot more, appeared first or exclusively this past week at FNG. Some of the most read and commented-on FX industry news stories to appear over the past seven days on FNG included:

ASIC extends CFD trading restrictions for five years as Retail losses reduced 91%. Australia financial regulator ASIC has announced that it has extended its product intervention order imposing conditions on the issue and distribution of contracts for difference (CFDs) for a further five years, to 23 May 2027. ASIC first announced the new CFD rules in late 2020, basically mimicking what regulators imposed in the EU and UK in mid 2018, and they went into effect just over a year ago, on 29 March 2021. The restrictions centered on limiting leverage that brokers could offer to Retail clients in trading CFDs, introducing negative balance protection (i.e. Retail clients can’t lose more money than they deposited to their accounts), and certain marketing restrictions like banning trading credits and rebates or free gifts to clients.

Exness March 2022 trading volumes: $2.48 trillion, +57% MoM. Leading multi-asset broker Exness has reported its client trading volume stats for March 2022, with the company having another monster month and setting all sorts of all-time records for a Retail FX/CFDs broker. Exness client trading volumes totaled $2.484 trillion in March 2022, up 57% (!!) from February 2022’s (previous record of) $1.587 trillion. Exness passed the trillion-dollar-monthly bar for the first time in November 2021, so pushing 2.5 times that so soon after is indeed quite an accomplishment. The company reported a record 301,575 active clients in March, up from 269,692 in February, as the confluence of war in Europe, soaring oil prices, volatile crypto prices and the specter of rising inflation made for a very active trading market in FX and CFD products throughout the month.

UK to make stablecoins valid form of payment in pursuit of a cryptoasset tech hub. The UK government has announced plans that will see stablecoins recognised as a valid form of payment, as part of wider plans to make Britain a global hub for cryptoasset technology and investment. This is part of a package of measures to ensure the UK financial services sector remains at the cutting edge of technology, attracting investment and jobs and widening consumer choice.

FX Back Office integrates Sumsub KYC/AML solution into its Forex CRM platform. Forex broker CRM software provider FX Back Office has announced that it is partnering with Sumsub, an AI-based solution for identity verification and anti-fraud automation, to integrate Sumsub’s KYC/AML solution into its custom forex CRM platform. FX Back Office is a world class Forex CRM developer. Sumsub is a leading identity verification platform providing an all-in-one technical and legal toolkit to cover KYC/AML needs.