OTA Sued and Big Upheavals in Australia: Editor's Pick

In a relatively quiet week for the FX and crypto space, we take a look back at the news stories that dominated.

Online Trading Academy (OTA) Sued in the US

Dominating the headlines for Finance Magnates this week was news that investment training and education firm 'Online Trading Academy (OTA) is being sued in the US for fraudulently collecting more than $370 million from consumers over a six-year period.

The California-based entity has come under fire after the FTC accused its operatives of misrepresenting many facts about their business. The watchdog further alleges that OTA employees' earnings claims themselves were false or unsubstantiated.

You can read more about the FTC actions here.

iSignthis Invests in NSX to Create Australia's Version of Nasdaq

As Finance Magnates exclusively reported, iSignthis Ltd (ASX: ISX) made a 12.96 percent strategic investment in NSX Limited, an operator of an Australian exchange. The move now makes iSignthis is a direct competitor of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

With the strategic investment in NSX and its own technology platforms, iSignthis has the intention to develop an Australian version of Nasdaq and become a competitive alternative to the ASX. iSignthis and NSX revealed that they have entered into a Shareholders Agreement to form a joint venture vehicle – ClearPay Pty Ltd (ClearPay JV) to develop a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) multicurrency, real-time, same-day, Delivery versus Payment (DvP) platform, to be integrated with iSignthis' ISXPay and Paydentity.

Two Brazilian Crypto Exchanges Shut Down

As reported by Finance Magnates, Latoex and Acesso are both ceasing operations in the face of dwindling trading volumes and strict new tax laws.

The new regulations, which were implemented in the latter half of 2019, require crypto holders to report all transactions involving Cryptocurrencies . Now, the effects of those regulations are being felt, with two of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges shutting down.

Read more about the impact of the new regulations and what's next for the Brazilian crypto scene here.

The Confusion of Client Categorization Needs to Be Addressed

In a fascinating and widely read Finance Magnates Op-Ed Remonda Z. Kirketerp-Møller, Founder & CEO of RegTech muinmos and co-author of The REGTECH Book expertly tackled why the confusion of client categorization needs to be addressed.

The op-ed broke down the complexity of global onboarding while showing how miscategorization is a fast-track way for financial institutions to lose money.

Catch up on Remonda's must-read op-ed here.

FCA: Intervention Measures Save Consumers up to £451m

Finance Magnates covered the highly anticipated publication by the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) of its annual Sector Views.

The report highlighted how intervention measures reduced total losses for retail clients of UK firms by £77m between August and October 2018 alone. In total, an expected £451m is being saved due to the introduction of leverage limits and other investor protection measures.

Read more about the report and the key points to take away here.

Norwegian Air to Accept Payment in Crypto?

Norwegian Air, one of the largest European airlines, is considering accepting digital currencies for flight bookings from travelers.

The airline has close ties with local crypto exchange NBX through investment and marriage and is seen as key to normalizing crypto usage in Norway. Established in 2018, NBX launched its beta program last September and has now started registering general traders to its platform.

You can read more about the decision by Norwegian Air here.