This past week in the FX and CFDs sector…

Why did Cyprus regulator CySEC decide to sanction Retail FX and CFDs broker RoboMarkets?

What led to a drastic drop in the valuation of eToro, just a year after it cancelled plans to go public at an $8 billion+ capitalization?

Who did FXSpotStream hire as its new CEO?

There were also a number of M&A deals to report (OANDA-Coinpass, Trading Technologies-Abel Noser, B2C2-Woorton), and several high profile executive moves – and it was all reported first or exclusively at FNG!

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

CySEC orders RoboMarkets to stop providing non-monetary rewards to retail clients. Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has ordered retail Forex and CFD broker RoboMarkets to stop providing non-monetary rewards to retail clients. At its meeting held in March 2023, the Board of CySEC decided that Robomarkets Ltd does not comply with Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 600/2014, as specified in paragraph 5 of DI 87-09, during the relevant time.  The order applies to rewards in the form of race tickets and branded merchandise.

eToro’s valuation continues to plummet (by 35-40%) in secondary sales. Israel business news website Globes is reporting that shares in local Retail FX and CFDs broker eToro are being offered for sale in “small deals,” at a significant discount to the valuation at which a secondary sale of eToro shares was completed just a month ago. The latest share sales are being offered at a valuation for eToro of about $1.7 billion – about 35-40% below the valuation of the secondary sales done last month, and less than half the valuation of the company earlier this year when as noted above existing investors injected about $250 million into eToro.

OANDA buys licensed UK crypto trading firm Coinpass. North American based Retail FX and CFDs broker OANDA is expanding its footprint in the crypto trading space, announcing that it has acquired a majority interest in Coinpass Limited, a crypto asset firm registered with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Through Coinpass, one of the few crypto exchanges registered with the FCA, OANDA will be able to invest in and grow a cryptocurrency trading offering in the UK market.

Equiti Group expands to Qatar via MoU with MK Enterprise. Leading multi-asset broker Equiti Group has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatari holding company, MK Enterprise, which will see Equiti expand to Qatar. Headquartered in Qatar, MK Enterprise Holding, is a holding company that manages a portfolio of diversified businesses.

Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:

❑ Exclusive: M4Markets marketing heads Marilena Iakovou and Mariliza Karrera leave for Doo Group.

❑ FXSpotStream hires CME’s EBS chief Jeff Ward as CEO.

❑ Exclusive: B2C2 hires Finalto exec Karolina Obalkowska to head Onboarding.

❑ VT Markets hires FXPrimus exec Heena Sharma as HR Manager MENA.

❑ Wahed hires ComplyAdvantage/OANDA alum Mohsin Siddiqui as COO.

❑ Scott Feagans joins Options Technology as SVP of Sales Engineering.