ESMA Affects the German FX Industry, GKFX UK Rebrands: Editor’s Pick

It’s been a busy week in the foreign exchange (forex) and cryptocurrency industries - with developments and breaking news occurring across the globe. In case you missed any of the most interesting stories, here is a recap in our best of the week segment.

GKFX Rebrands UK Subsidiary as GKPRO

Another top story to make our best of the week segment concerns the Global Kapital Group, which announced a big change to its UK subsidiary - GKFX UK. As Finance Magnates reported, GKFX UK is refocusing its operations to target wholesale clients and has therefore been rebranded to GKPRO.

The restructuring comes after an internal review and a decision to migrate the retail clients of the broker to an affiliated company in Malta, AKFX, which is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).

The rebranding of GKFX UK to GKPRO will become effective from the 1st of June. Both retail and elected professional clients of the company are being asked to move to AKFX.

Analysis: Has ESMA Changed the FX Industry in Germany?

The short answer is yes. The product intervention measures implemented by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) sent shockwaves throughout the retail trading space in Europe.

Germany, which is home to one of the biggest FX markets in the industry, has felt the pinch with lower trading volumes and has hurt the performance of the country’s top brokers. For a more detailed analysis of just how ESMA has changed the industry in Germany, read this article here.

Bakkt Bitcoin Futures are on the Horizon

The first federally regulated cryptocurrency marketplace is scheduled to be launched in the coming months, according to the CEO of Bakkt, Kelly Loeffler.

On her official Medium Blog, Loeffler stated that it is moving ahead with its plans to create the marketplace and will start user acceptance testing (UAT) for futures and custody in July, as Finance Magnates reported.

This is a strong indication that the CEO of the ICE-backed startup is confident that it will settle the remaining issues with the US regulators and launch the marketplace and the highly-anticipated bitcoin futures.

Analysis: Will Crypto’s Corporate Movement Stop Another Winter?

Bitcoin is back. After a year of crashes, hacks, and general misery, Bitcoin has steadily risen to $8,000, and large companies such as Facebook, Starbucks, Nike, and Jaguar have all announced their involvement with crypto or Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term.

Does the blossoming of corporate interest in blockchain and crypto signal a change in the crypto ecosystem? Check out this analysis by crypto Editor Rachel McIntosh at Finance Magnates to find out.

Interview: Asset Segregation is Critical on Crypto Platforms

This week, Finance Magnates caught up with Nick Chong, head of North America at Quoine, to discuss the obstacles that cryptocurrency exchanges have faced over the past two years and what has allowed them to overcome the many battles that they have had to fight.

In the interview, Chong told us how his exchange had made its way through the ever-evolving crypto industry landscape and more. You can read the full interview here.

Trade.io to Officially Launches FX Brand TIOmarkets in May

This week, Trade.io provided updates regarding its forex trading brand TIOmarkets, namely, that it will be officially launched with its full capacity on the 28th of May. The product has been introduced to the market in two stages.

As highlighted by Finance Magnates, in December 2018, Trade.io introduced trading on 130 forex and CFDs instruments including ‎precious metals, oil, commodities, indices, global equities and more. Furthermore, it allowed clients to choose between the MT4, MT5, and PAMM terminals.

The second stage will bring an added option for clients to open their accounts with its FCA-regulated arm TIO Markets UK Ltd., depending on their geographic location. This phase will also see the launch of www.tiomarkets.com.

Your Bourse Launches Cloud-Based Broker Technology Stack

This week, Finance Magnates reported exclusively that Andrey Vedikhin, one of the initial founders of Alpari, has joined forces with the former CMO of Admiral Markets Fred Pedersen to create Your Bourse, a new company in the technology space.

The company is delivering a new cloud-centric platform as a service offering with aggressive pricing. Specifically, the firm’s main product is an order execution engine, Risk Management Risk Management One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, Read this Term, and data warehouse solutions for brokers using MetaTrader 4 or 5 platforms. You can read the full description of the new product here.

IFGM Refunds Overseas Clients Following ASIC Crackdown

Heading over to Australia, Finance Magnates broke the news that IFGM is the first broker in Australia to begin closing accounts of select clients it on-boarded from overseas.

This follows on from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) guiding brokers to be mindful of providing their services to clients outside of Australia.

This week, the Aussie broker started informing its customers from outside of Australia that it will be returning their client funds held with the brokerage.