The biggest Forex industry news story of the week, and probably of the year, was the drama surrounding leading FX sector software supplier MetaQuotes and its popular MetaTrader trading platforms, MT4 and MT5, which dominate retail CFD trading.

Last weekend FNG broke the story that MT4 and MT5 had been removed from the Apple App Store, which set the industry ablaze with speculation as to why Apple did what it did. The App Store news also began a cascading series of social media posts, emails, and other messages sent out by MetaQuotes competitors (and even by some of its long-time technology partners) along the lines of “hey, come try our alternative-to-MT4/MT5 app and solution”.

Late in the week FNG exclusively reported that MetaQuotes was informing brokers and its tech partners that the company would no longer be processing MT4/MT5 white labels. There is an entire sub-industry built up around MT4 and MT5 white labels, allowing brokers (and those who want to start a brokerage) to “white label” MT4 and MT5 as their own branded trading platform without having to purchase an MT4 or MT5 server license, and without running other aspects of  the business such as hosting, connection to liquidity providers, and CRM.

There was of course other news – results from Equiti Capital, Trading.com, and FxPro UK – and a new CEO installed at OvalX (formerly known as ETX Capital).

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

Exclusive: MetaQuotes White Label unavailable, tells brokers MT4/MT5 to be restored to App Store “as soon as possible”. FNG Exclusive… Following up on our article from the weekend that broke the story about how Apple had banned the popular MT4 and MT5 trading apps from its App Store, FNG has learned that MetaQuotes – which makes the MetaTrader family of apps including both MT4 and MT5 – has been in touch with several of its broker clients and technology partners on the matter. According to several senior sources in the Retail FX and CFDs brokerage sector, MetaQuotes has been quietly letting their clients know that the issue with Apple is indeed fixable, and that it is working on restoring both MT4 and MT5 on the Apple App Store “as soon as possible”.

Apple removes MetaQuotes’ MT4 and MT5 trading apps from its App Store. Social media has been abuzz this weekend, with reports that at some point late this past week Apple removed the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) trading apps from its App Store. The removal of MT4 and MT5 from the App Store does not seem to be affecting those in the Apple / iOS mobile environment (iPhone, iPad) who have already downloaded the apps to their devices. However it is unlikely that those users will be able to download future updates or upgrades or patches to their devices.

Luca Merolla replaces Phil Adler as CEO of Oval Money / OvalX. Fintech company Oval Money is continuing to reshape its management team, appointing Luca Merolla as CEO. Luca Merolla takes the helm for the brand’s two products. Oval is a clever app to save and invest money automatically, and OvalX (formerly ETX Capital) is a trading platform to access shares, currencies, stock indices, commodities and other financial markets. Former CEO Philip Adler is stepping down from the position to pursue the role of Chief Business Development Officer within the company.

IG partners with NFL on London games. The US National Football League (NFL) has announced that leading UK based online trading firm IG (LON:IGG) will be Presenting Partner for the league’s London 2022 Games series, as well as Lead Partner for NFL UK. The partnership will see IG become an official partner of the NFL. As part of the new partnership IG branding will be on display at the London Games this October, with IG fan experiences on gameday plus sponsorship of the gameday Player of the Match Award voted on by fans in attendance and by NFL One Pass app for gameday users.

Broker results:

• Exclusive: Equiti Capital sees Revenues increase 5% in 2021 to $32.5M, profits double.
• Exclusive: Trading.com parent Trading Point sees Revenues down 56% in 2021.
• Exclusive: FxPro UK sees Revenues down 48% in 2021, turns to loss.