FX week in review: Blueberry Markets cuts MT4/MT5 prop firms, trading volumes fall, Skilling CEO out

Gerald Segal 0 Comments March 10, 2024

Wow!

Before we get to this week’s top FX and CFDs industry news stories, we’re pleased to report record visitor stats here at FNG for the month of February.

While in the past we’ve shared with our audience data on FNG’s dominance of social media in the FX news space, this month it is just raw visitor data. Our traffic growth is certainly being helped by the tumult in the retail prop trading arena, and the resulting fallout among trading platform companies and brokers – with all the top stories being reported first or exclusively here at FNG.

But there was lots more, with important industry news items such as the sale of HYCM, the departures of Skilling’s and Capital Index’s CEOs, and virtually every other senior executive move in the business appearing exclusively at FNG (before being copied later on other sites, of course).

So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, our dear readers, for visiting FNG day after day for all the news that matters in the FX and CFDs sector. We’ll keep working hard to keep earning your trust.

And now on to this past week’s top stories…

What did Blueberry Markets’ CEO Dean Hyde have to say about his company’s decision to terminate all business on MT4 and MT5 from prop trading firms?

Which Retail FX and CFDs brokers saw a drop-off in client trading volumes in February – with one broker seeing its lowest FX trading volumes in 8+ years?

Which European financial regulator has come out with a scathing warning against the prop trading firms – possibly the first step in a regulatory crackdown on the sector?

Which executive moves were seen this week at Skilling, CFI, CPT Markets, VT Markets, and Monaxa?

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

Blueberry Markets terminates all MT4/MT5 prop firm business. Reported First at FNG… Australia based Retail FX and CFDs broker Blueberry Markets is terminating its Data and Platform Service Offering, which was designed to service the prop industry by leveraging its infrastructure. Blueberry Markets provided Data and Platform Services to prop trading businesses providing access to its demo MetaQuotes servers and pricing data.

Saxo Bank FX trading volumes fall to lowest level in 8+ years in February 2024. After recently posting one of its worst financial periods in years with a net loss in 2H-2023, Copenhagen based Retail FX and CFDs broker Saxo Bank is not exactly enjoying a strong start to 2024. Following a fairly quiet January, trading volumes at Saxo Bank dropped by 5% MoM in February 2024, coming in at $358.3 billion, versus $375.5 billion the previous month. So far in 2024 Saxo client trading volumes are averaging $367 billion monthly, down by 8% from 2023’s average of $399 billion.

Belgium’s FSMA warns consumers against prop trading firms. Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) today issued a warning regarding the risks associated with the activities of so-called prop trading firms. The FSMA said it is receiving ever more questions about such firms. Many studies have shown that the gaming element in prop trading can lead to overconfidence and recklessness among users, both in shadow investment and in actual transactions in which they use their own money.

Robinhood inks deal with Rich Paul’s KLUTCH Sports for partnerships. US neobroker Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) has announced that it has signed a new strategic partnership with KLUTCH Sports Group, that will see KLUTCH Sports and its Property Sales division serve as Robinhood’s agency of record for partnerships in the sports and entertainment sectors. In addition, Rich Paul, the Founder and CEO of KLUTCH Sports, was named a strategic brand advisor at Robinhood.

FCA sends Dear CEO letter warning of AML failings. UK financial regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today warned certain financial firms about common failings it has found in firms’ financial crime controls. The FCA said that it has written to CEOs of “Annex 1” firms setting out our findings from its recent assessments of how firms are complying with money laundering regulations. There are approximately 1,000 Annex 1 registered firms, which are not authorised or subject to wider FCA regulation.