During the passing week the most interesting stories from the online trading industry included details on new services and partnerships as well as additional regulatory demands. We bring here some of the most important ones.
AETOS UK adds ZuluTrade
On Monday ZuluTrade announced its collaboration with AETOS Group UK. As part of the synergy, AETOS Group UK will be able to offer its clients the ZuluTrade platform which enables traders to follow algorithmically ranked experts.
The deal with AETOS UK and ZuluTrade was carried out by EU regulated investment firm Triple A Experts, which provides the ZuluTrade auto-trading service across Europe as explained to Finance Magnates by people familiar with the agreement.
No More High-Pressure Sales
On Tuesday CySEC made a major announcement which will affect some forex and binary options brokerages. The proposed circular outlines that major changes are needed when it comes to the practices of some companies.
Brokerages which are regulated by CySEC will not have the right to conduct what is known in the telemarketing industry as ‘high-pressure sales tactics’. Employees of CIFs are going to be forbidden to make frequent or repeated telephone calls to clients and use aggressive language. Brokers will also have to make sure that their client support staff must give clients their real names.
Great Event in the Shadow of Brexit
On Wednesday the Finance Magnates TLV Conference took place in Israel where participants engaged in networking, learned about ways to improve their business and one lucky company won the Most Outstanding Fintech Product award.
The final panel of the event was an exciting, candid and provocative discussion about the state of the Israeli forex industry in light of recent regulations. The ISA was compared to the North Korean regulator and a former Israeli regulator estimated that the volatility around Brexit will make the ISA even more restrictive on online brokers.
Speaking about Brexit, Michael Greenberg published a special analysis on why the UK leaving the EU will have a deeper impact on the FX industry than the SNB crisis had.
Markets.com Consolidation
On the same day of the TLV Conference, we exclusively revealed that Markets.com, an online brokerage for forex and CFDs trading owned by Playtech, has let dozens of its employees go.
Playtech shared with Finance Magnates that the firm is currently undergoing a consultation process with staff members and is working closely with them to ensure that they find alternative employment.
Choose Your LP Wisely
On Thursday CySEC turned its sights towards liquidity providers and more specifically towards the ways which brokers use to conduct their due diligence.
Brokers should be less reliant on a single Liquidity provider and should exercise “due skill, care and diligence” when selecting every counterparty, according to the Cypriot regulator. The consultation paper points out that while the over-reliance on a single LP is not forbidden, brokers should not be over-reliant.
Saxo NewsEdge
On Friday Saxo Bank rolled out NewsEdge, replacing its Dow Jones news service which was discontinued. NewsEdge is a free service that aggregates content from numerous providers.
The service aims to provide a more tailored approach with news relevant for traders, compared to the company’s prior solutions, as NewsEdge provides various segments that traders can subscribe to as part of the offering.
