In a busy week for news, here are the stories that dominated the forex, fintech and crypto worlds in our picks of the week.
The Bitcoin Halving is Today: Here’s What You Need to Know
The week started with the highly-anticipated Bitcoin Halving. The Finance Magnates guide to the Bitcoin Halving event gave you all the information you needed to know.
Read more on the Bitcoin Halving here.
eToro Reaches 13 Million Global Users, Sees COVID-19 Surge
eToro announced this Thursday that it has reached 13 million registered users globally, with the investment platform seeing a surge in new users in the first four months of 2020.
Read more on the eToro user landmark here.
Morgan Stanley Hit With $5 Million SEC Penalty Over ‘Wrap Fees’
As Finance Magnates reported, Morgan Stanley’s wealth management business was handed a $5 million fine by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for providing misleading information to clients of its ‘retail wrap fee’ programs.
Read more on the Morgan Stanley fine here.
CySEC Slaps FXFINPRO CEO with €350K Fine, 10-Year Ban
The Cypriot watchdog hit executives of PFX Financial Professional with regulatory bans and fiscal penalties for violations of the local Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law.
The watchdog blamed the company’s CEO, Evgenios Martinides, and executive director Yaroslav Martynenko over their omission and negligence during their time in office. FXFINPRO CEO was ordered to pay €350,000 in fines and was also banned from acting in a management capacity relating to the financial sector for ten years.
Read more on the CySEC FXFINPRO CEO Fine here
FATF: How Will the Guidelines Affect Canada’s Crypto Industry?
In a Finance Magnates analysis, we looked at how the new FATF guidelines will affect the burgeoning crypto industry in Canada.
We sat down with Elsa Madrolle, General Manager of Blockchain security company CoolBitX’s International department, to speak about the effects of the possible effects of implementing the guidelines in Canada.
Read more on the FATF and Canada's Crypto here.
Interactive Brokers’ Loss From Oil Collapse Swelled to $104 Million
As Finance Magnates reported, Interactive Brokers LLC (NASDAQ:IBKR) said on Monday that it has been forced to cover $104 million worth of its customers’ losses on April 20, the day when oil prices plunged below zero for the first time ever.
Thomas Peterffy, the chairman and founder of Interactive Brokers, said that his firm was forced to revise its maximum loss estimate to over $100 million, having announced previously a loss of $88 million.
Read more on the Interactive Brokers loss here
Exclusive: Pepperstone Responds to Brazil’s CVM Stop Order
Speaking exclusively to Finance Magnates, the Pepperstone Group responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) of Brazil issuing a Stop Order against the Pepperstone Group on Wednesday.
The CVM issued the Stop Order against Pepperstone for allegedly operating in the country without the proper authorisation. However, Pepperstone claim all is not what it seems.
Read more on the Pepperstone CVM response here.
CME Group to Close European and Australian Repositories
This week CME revealed to Finance Magnates that it will be winding down its Abide Financial and NEX Regulatory Reporting businesses, as well as its European and Australian Trade Repositories by the 30th of November, 2020.
In a statement provided to Finance Magnates, CME Group said that having evaluated its business portfolio following the acquisition of NEX Group in November of 2018, it has decided to close down the operations of part of its regulatory services.
Read more on the CME Group Statement here
Moscow Exchange Has Well Over Five Million Retail Investors
As Finance Magnates reported, more than 1 million retail investors flocked to Russia’s largest institutional trading venue in the first four months of 2020, opening twice as many accounts as the monthly average in the previous year.
Moscow Exchange (MOEX) said in its monthly report that the number of retail investor accounts hit a five million milestone, up 25 percent from the year-ago levels. The exchange added an average of 258,000 individual accounts each month during the January-April period compared with a monthly average increase of 159,000 in the same interval of 2019.
Read more on the MOEX Boost in Retail Investors here.
Coronavirus Lifts FX Revenues 25pc at Top Global Banks
As Finance Magnates reported, frenzied FX trading around the coronavirus crisis has bolstered revenues at major US banks in the first quarter of 2020.
Top four global bank’s proceeds from fixed income, currencies, and commodities trading, collectively referred to as FICC, jumped to $29 billion in the three months through March 2020.
Read more on the FX Trading in Corona Jump here.
Telegram Cancels TON Blockchain Project, CEO Blasts Court and SEC
In a move that dominated the crypto news this week, Telegram has abandoned its TON blockchain project.
In a scathing statement, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, laid into the US Courts and the SEC.
Read the full Telegram statement on why TON was cancelled here.
Staying with Telegram, in a Finance Magnates analysis, we discussed what TON's demise would mean for the future of blockchain and crypto.
Read more on After TON’s Demise, US-Based Blockchain Projects “Need to Launch ASAP” here
More GAIN Capital Directors Vote Against INTL FCStone Acquisition
As Finance Magnates reported, GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc. announced via a regulatory filing on Thursday that two members of its Board of Directors, Peter Quick and Chris Sugden, no longer support the merger with INTL FCStone Inc.
Read more on the GAIN Capital Directors Vote here.
