Exclusive: GKFX’s FairMarkets Trader taken down, moves to MT5
FNG Exclusive… There will be many dominos to fall in the wake of the new CFD trading rules which take effect today in Australia – lowering maximum leverage retail traders can use to 30x, negative balance protection. If what happened in the UK and EU after similar regulations were enacted in mid 2018 occurs in Australia, Aussie Retail FX and CFD brokers are going to have to deal with lower revenues, margins and profits.
And it seems as if the first of the dominos has already fallen, with ASIC-licensed broker FairMarkets letting clients know that it has decommissioned its proprietary FairMarkets Trader platform. FNG has received a copy of a note that FairMarkets sent out to clients (full text below), stating that due to the new regulations it was unsure if the parameters of its platform were able to handle the new rules. FairMarkets Trader users will instead be asked to use the company’s MT5 Desktop or MT5 mobile platforms.
One of the unseen outcomes of increasing and more complex regulation of Retail FX and CFD trading seems to be a blow to the proprietary platforms developed by some brokers. The investment and upkeep necessary to make those platforms compliant with different rules in different jurisdictions is too burdensome, when that investment is just for the one broker platform.
FairMarkets was acquired earlier this year by Turkey’s Global Kapital Group, which owns and runs the GKFX Retail FX brand.
The full text of the note sent out by FairMarkets on the matter follows:
FairMarkets Trader Decommission Notice
FAIRMARKETS
Dear **********,
At Fairmarkets ensuring the highest performance in financial
services is not an ambition, it is a promise.
This is why Fairmarkets has made the difficult decision to
decommission the FairMarkets Trader. Following regulatory
changes, Fairmarkets is unable to ensure that it is able to
implement the changes necessary to satisfy regulatory
requirements.
After extensive talks with the vendors’ developer, Fairmarkets
has decided that it will no longer be able to accept trades on
the FairMarkets Trader from 26 March 2021.
The good news is that, you are still able to enter into trades
from our MT5 Desktop Platform or MT5 mobile.
Fairmarket’s customer services team is available to handle
your queries in relation to the Instrument and the proposed
changes as set out in this email. You may contact
support@fair.markets
Yours sincerely,
James O’Neill
Executive Director