FX week in review: Spain CFD broker ban, TradeTech/Markets.com for sale
What a week it was in the Retail FX sector! Regulator action, M&A, FX broker results, more sports sponsorships – this week had it all!
And, as has been the case for a number of weeks running, ALL the key FX sector stories appeared exclusively (or first, before being copied elsewhere!) on FNG.
We would also like to thank you, our readers, at this stage for helping make FNG the leading FX industry news site. As we continue to bring our readers news and analysis you won’t find anywhere else our traffic and social media following continues to skyrocket – here at right is a peek at how our Google Analytics stats look. We’ll continue to work hard and bring you all the FX stories that matter.
Why is Spain all up in arms about UK and Cyprus FX/CFD brokers, to the point where many might be banned?
What is Playtech expecting to get in putting TradeTech Group – which includes CFH, Alpha CM, and Markets.com – up for sale?
Which are the latest sports sponsorships for FX brokers eToro and Samtrade FX?
Who was the latest CFH Group executive to leave – and where did he go?
How did the latest financial reports look from Dukascopy and ADSS?
Answers to these questions and a whole lot more appeared first or exclusively this week at FNG. Some of the top forex industry news items to appear on the pages of FNG this past week included:
Exclusive: Spain looking to ban Cyprus and UK CFD brokers. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that Spanish financial regulator CNMV is looking at taking fairly drastic action against foreign Forex and CFD brokers, which might include the outright banning of many brokers from providing service to Spanish traders. The (potential) action would not be against the websites of offshore brokers, whom the regulator already often tries to warn against and in some instances block, but rather against licensed brokers from other EU countries which have been using the MiFID EU cross-country license passport. What has the CNMV all up in a snit?
Exclusive: Playtech hires investment bankers to sell TradeTech. FNG Exclusive… Well we thought that our top story of the morning was going to be on Tickmill’s first half 2020 results, which (like those of a number of other Retail FX brokers) were fairly impressive. What were Tickmill’s monthly volumes so far in 2020? Read on below, but first…. FNG has learned that online gaming and financial services company Playtech is engaged in a series of negotiations with regards to selling its financial unit TradeTech. TradeTech includes the CFH Group, Alpha Capital Markets, and of course retail FX broker Markets.com. Which investment bank has Playtech hired to run the sale? What valuation is being discussed for TradeTech? Why sell now? We’ve got all the details and more, exclusively at FNG.
Exclusive: eToro to become sleeve sponsor for AS Monaco. FNG Exclusive… European soccer sponsorships certainly seem to be the flavor-of-the-month in the Retail FX sector. Following in the footsteps of a number of its global rivals, FNG has learned that social trading focused Retail FX and CFDs broker eToro has inked an agreement to become the sleeve sponsor of AS Monaco, which plays in France’s Ligue 1. As part of the agreement eToro’s logo will be displayed on the left sleeve of the AS Monaco Esports jersey. The eToro-AS Monaco deal is a two year agreement, running through the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. We expect eToro to make a formal announcement about the new sponsorship in the coming days.
Exclusive: Samtrade FX becomes back-of-shirt sponsor for Cardiff City. FNG Exclusive… Let’s call this the month of Forex sports sponsorships. And in particular, European football. FNG has learned that yet another Retail FX broker will be shelling out (reasonably) big bucks to have its logo displayed across the jersey of a known football club. Singapore based Samtrade FX has inked a deal to become the “Official Global FX Trading Partner” of Welsh football club Cardiff City. Cardiff City plays in the UK’s second-tier Championship league. The deal is a two season sponsorship covering the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. As a part of the agreement the Samtrade FX logo will feature on the back of the Bluebirds’ First Team shirts. It will also get time on stadium big screens and pitch side LEDs during Cardiff City matches.
Exclusive: Dukascopy Q2 2020 Revenues down 47% to CHF 8.8 million. FNG Exclusive… Following a pattern we are seeing repeat itself across a number of leading Retail FX and CFD brokers worldwide, FNG has learned that Geneva, Switzerland based Dukascopy has had a fantastic first half of 2020 – although most of the “fantastic” took place in the first quarter of the year. Dukascopy’s Q1 results were indeed so positive that the company took the unusual step of publishing its Q1 results – privately held Dukascopy had traditionally only released semi annual figures. Q1-2020 Revenues at Dukascopy came in at CHF 16.6 million (USD $17.1 million), more than triple the CHF 5.5 million Dukascopy brought in during Q1-2019.
Exclusive: ADSS UK sees 44% drop in Revenue in 2019. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned via regulatory filings that ADS Securities London Limited, the FCA regulated arm of UAE based Retail FX brokerage group ADSS, saw a 44% decline in activity in 2019. The company, which operates website adss.com, said that the decrease in activity and resulting revenue was a direct impact of the ESMA/FCA product intervention rules that came into force at the end of Q3 2018. Those rules, of course, included the limitation of the leverage which brokers such as ADSS could provide retail traders to 30x and below.
In FX industry executives moves and news this week:
❑ Exclusive: Søren Bjerregaard joins ex CFH boss Lars Holst at GCEX.
❑ Exclusive: TeraFX adds Turkish businesswoman Nurcan Tasdelenler to its board.
❑ Exclusive: FXCM MD Michael Kamerman resigns.
❑ Equiti Capital COO Michael Ayres becomes board advisor to lead-gen co Interlink.
❑ Robinhood adds compliance officers from Fidelity and Wells Fargo.