Kohle Capital Markets (KCM), a forex and contracts for differences (CFDs broker, has strengthened its team in the Australia office with these two latest hirings: Tim Waterer as the Chief Market Analyst and Jason Lau as the Country Manager for Australia.

The appointments came when Kohle Capital Markets is planning to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian markets. The broker launched its services in 2019 and currently offers retail trading services with a Mauritius license. It also holds an Australia Financial Services license. Last year, the broker onboarded Ryan Tsui as the Chief executive.

Kohle Capital Markets Hires Two Industry Experts

Waterer and Lau bring years of work experience from the brokerage industry to their new roles at Kohle Capital and have previously worked together. They have already joined the brokerage.

Waterer joined Kohle from the Australian offices of CLSA Premium, a troubled FX/CFDs brokerage headquartered in Hong Kong. He spent the last couple of years with that brokerage as the Head of Operations.

He started his career as a Client Service Executive at Sydney-based CommSec, but his most prominent tenure remains with CMC Markets ANZ, where he spent almost a decade. He joined the broker as a CFDs and Equities Dealer in 2004 and then climbed the ranks to become the Head of Sales Trading, Dealing, and Client Services in 2013. Moreover, he worked as a freelancer analyst in the industry for about five years.

Additionally, Lau came to Kohle from CLSA Premium where he was a Compliance Officer for ten months. Previously, he worked at the Australian offices of IG and Pepperstone, two major FX/CFDs trading brands. In his 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, he also worked at Poly Australia, Societe Generale, Citi, Bank of East Asia, and BOCI.

Regulations Are Tight In Australia

The financial services companies operating in Australia, including FX/CFDs brokers, are regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), known to be a top financial market regulator. Companies need to obtain an Australia Financial Services (AFS) license from ASIC to offer services in the country.

In recent years, ASIC has been restricting several risky areas and instruments of the retail trading markets. It has limited the leverage to 30:1 for margin trading to minimize the risks to retail traders. Furthermore, it temporarily banned the offering and selling of retail binary options until 1 October 2031.

The Aussie regulator recently brought new rules that will mandate foreign brokers dealing with Australian retail clients to report their local transactions in Australia. These reporting rules will come into effect in October 2024.