FX week in review: Plus500 in Asia, Finalto sale, NAGAX CEO, Skilling COO, Spotware COO out
FX industry news which topped the headlines this week…
Leading CFDs broker Plus500, which has been very UK and EU-centric to date, is planning a major initiative in Asia. The company has made some organizational changes around these plans, including naming a new Head of Marketing Asia & Emerging Markets. Who is Plus500’s Head of Marketing Asia & Emerging Markets? In which markets will Plus500 initially focus in Asia?
The sale of Finalto (and Markets.com), after a more than year-long process, finally closes. However, there may be some adjustments to the final sale price of $250 million. We explain, read on below…
Who is the new CEO hired by NAGA Group for its NAGAX and NAGA Pay units?
Who is Skilling’s new COO?
Why did Spotware’s COO leave?
Why did BUX rebrand its CFDs offering and trading app?
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:
Exclusive: Plus500 promotes Nadav Shilo to head Asia marketing. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that leading CFDs broker Plus500 (LON:PLUS) has made some organizational changes, as the company is now looking to expand its footprint internationally, and in particular in the Far East. Primarily, Plus500 has tagged Nadav Shilo as Head of Marketing Asia & Emerging Markets and Sponsorship Strategies. Nadav spent the last nine years building and leading Plus500’s Affiliates program, as the company became one of the world’s leading CFD brokers. His new challenge will be to lead Plus500’s growth in Asia, with a particular focus initially on Japan and Singapore.
Finalto’s $250 million sale to Gopher Investment closes. Online gaming and financial services company Playtech plc (LON:PTEC) is now just online gaming services company Playtech, with the company announcing (see full text below) that it had closed the $250 million sale of its financial trading division, Finalto, to Hong Kong’s Gopher Investments. The company said that the final consideration is subject to a “completion accounts adjustment” of up to $25 million in either direction, determined by the financial performance of Finalto from 1 January 2021 to completion.
Exclusive: USGFX bankruptcy admin makes “significant progress”, Public Examination coming. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that the administrator and liquidator for USGFX, BRI Ferrier, has sent out an update letter (see full text below) to former clients and creditors of the bankrupt Australian Retail FX and CFDs broker, stating that it has made “significant progress” since its last report about six months ago. Specifically, BRI said that it has been busy investigating the company’s affairs, and filing an application for the court’s approval to use trust funds to publicly examine various parties.
BUX rebrands its CFDs trading app to Stryk. Amsterdam based neobroker BUX has taken its latest aggressive step to break into the CFDs brokerage business, announcing today the rebranding of its derivatives (i.e., CFDs) trading app from BUX X to Stryk. The company said that this rebrand reflects a commitment to enhancing the experience of clients who focus on leveraged trading with CFDs on indices, stocks, gold, forex and more. BUX decided to go this route as the rebrand clearly differentiates Stryk and BUX Zero, as well as the customer groups they cater to.
Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:
❑ Exclusive: Stelios Eleftheriou to head NAGA Pay and NAGAX.
❑ Exclusive: Spotware COO Christina Theodorou leaves for Skyground.
❑ Exclusive: Andrew Saks joins The People’s SCE as Head of Marketing.
❑ Skilling promotes Daniela Egli to COO.
❑ Exclusive: HonorFX CEO Andrew Ishchuk jumps to BelleoFX.
❑ Exclusive: GMI hires Khaled Sadek as Business Development Director.
❑ Exclusive: MultiBank hires easyMarkets / FXTM alum Ahmed Badr as Egypt director.