FX week in review: Fake regulators outed, LCG becomes an IB, NAGA replaces CEO

Gerald Segal 0 Comments June 25, 2023

Before we get to this week’s top FX and CFD industry news stories, we’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank our readers (that’s you!) for making FNG the #1 most-read and most-visited news source in the sector. We just had a record month for visitors / email subscribers / LinkedIn followers in May – check us out on SimilarWeb! – and will easily surpass that all again in June.

Another good example of FNG’s dominance is social media. Here are LinkedIn’s own published Competitor stats (30 days data, to June 22 2023). Not only did FNG get a lot more new Followers than any other site, Total Engagements with FNG articles were almost double that of any other site.

We believe this is a good mirror of total real traffic. In short, FX industry leaders and traders get their news at FNG!

On to this week’s top stories – which all appeared first or exclusively on FNG!

Why did Canada’s CSA, alongside the Ontario Securities Commission, call out the Financial Commission and other “fake regulatory and dispute resolution organizations”?

Why did London Capital Group (LCG) change up its business model to now become an introducing broker? What does that mean for LCG clients?

Who is in, and who is out, in the management C-Suite at Retail FX and CFDs broker NAGA Group, which replaced its CEO and made some other changes this week?

Which two executives were brought in (ex Skilling, Orbex) to run the marketing department at ThinkMarkets?

Some of the most read and commented-on FX industry news stories to appear over the past seven days on FNG included:

Canada’s CSA labels Financial Commission (and others) as “fake regulatory / dispute resolution organization”. In a fairly strongly worded statement, Canada’s umbrella organization of provincial securities regulators The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has issued a warning about purported crypto trading service providers that are claiming to be authorized or affiliated with fictitious regulatory or dispute resolution organizations. The CSA added that any entity claiming to be approved by or a member of these organizations is likely fraudulent. Among the fake regulatory or dispute resolution organizations listed by the CSA is a name some in the FX and CFDs industry will recognize, called the Financial Commission, or Finacom PLC Ltd.

Exclusive: LCG moves to introducer-only model (to IG). FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that FCA licensed Retail FX and CFDs broker London Capital Group (LCG) is making a radical change to its business model. Starting July 1, LCG will effectively become an introducing broker to (former) rival and leading online broker IG Group (LON:IGG). The company will no longer directly hold client accounts or client funds, nor act as a principal in client trades. LCG has sent a message to all clients (see full text below) that, beginning July 1, they will no longer be able to deposit funds or open new positions directly with LCG.

NAGA names new CEO, hires Sam Chaney as CCO, raises $8.2M. Hamburg based, social trading focused online broker NAGA Group (ETR:N4G) has announced a changeup to its senior management team, including the naming of a new CEO. In a regulatory filing made today, NAGA indicated that co-Executive Director Michael Milonas will assume the role of Group CEO as well as Chief Strategy Officer, with current CEO Benjamin Bilski moving to focus on technology as Chief Information Officer. The company has also hired longtime INFINOX executive Sam Chaney (pictured above), who joins NAGA as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Exclusive: MetaQuotes updating Sponsored VPS service with trading volume boosting tool in MT5. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that leading trading technology provider MetaQuotes is getting set to release a new and updated Sponsored VPS service for its MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform, which can assist brokers in attracting potential clients, incentivizing existing traders, and driving higher trading volumes. With the new Sponsored VPS, in just a few minutes MT5 brokers can set up a loyalty program for social and algorithmic traders to reward their potential or existing customers. Brokers can offer free reliable virtual servers to separate clients or user groups for round-the-clock trading.