As the finance world gears up for FMLS 21 this week, let's take a look back at the news stories that dominated the Forex, Fintech and Crypto spheres in our best of the week segment.
Exclusive: Maxiflex Ltd Voluntarily Renounces Its CIF License
In a Finance Magnates exclusive, we revealed that Cypriot brokerage operator, Maxiflex LTD, the owner and operator of EuropeFX, has informed CySEC of its intention to voluntarily renounce its Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license and terminate all its activities.
The news follows the events of last month, in which the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) announced it has wholly suspended the CIF license due to possible violations of the investment laws.
Read more on the Maxiflex Ltd CIF Renouncement here.
Bitcoin and XRP Lead $100 Billion Crypto Market Rally
The crypto market started the second week of November with a bullish move of approximately $100 billion. While the market saw gains across all digital assets, Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP have performed exceptionally in the last few days.
Bitcoin’s market cap touched $1.25 trillion on Monday, which is its highest level in more than two weeks. In contrast, XRP has outperformed other digital currencies in the last 24 hours as the crypto asset reached a market capitalization of $60 billion.
Read more on the Bitcoin and XRP rally here.
Bitcoin Tops $68,500, Institutional Inflows Hit Record High
Significant retail demand, accumulation from large investors and strong network activity have pushed the price of Bitcoin to a record high this week. BTC topped the price level of $68,500 on Monday for the first time in its history.
Additionally, Bitcoin’s institutional inflows have smashed all previous records this year as BTC investment products attracted a record $6.4 billion worth of institutional investments during the mentioned period. Inflows into Bitcoin investment products during the last 8 weeks have reached $2.8 billion.
The total market cap of Bitcoin now stands at around $1.3 trillion.
Read more on Bitcoin at an all-time high here.
Crypto Wallet Moved $130 Million Worth in Bitcoin for a $14 Fee
If anyone ever doubts how important crypto is to the reform of the financial world, show them this article.
One dormant cryptocurrency wallet that had 2,207 Bitcoin (BTC) worth almost $150 million, became active for the first time in over eight years.
According to Whale Alert, the wallet moved 1,907.5997 BTC - approximately $130 million worth, and all for a fee of just $14!
Read more about the $130 million BTC wallet transfer here.
French AMF Slaps €300K Fine on Polish Broker XTB
The Sanctions Commission of the French financial markets regulator, the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), has issued a warning against X-Trade Brokers (XTB) and also imposed a penalty of EUR 300,000 on the broker for breaches of its professional obligations in France.
According to the regulator’s announcement, the breaches were made under the activity of XTB’s French branch between November 2013 and February 2020.
The Commission penalized the broker for three major breaches: shortcomings in service promotion, lapses in customer experience questionnaire and for not disclosing a technical incident on the Trading Platform .
Read more on the XTB French AMF Fine here.
Polish Regulator Adds Dublin-Based AvaTrade to Warning List
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority, locally known as Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF), has recently added a few financial services firms to its warning list that include a forex and CFDs broker, AvaTrade.
The Polish watchdog has added Dublin-based AVA Trade EU Limited, as well as the Polish branch of the broker, to the long list of locally red-flagged companies. To justify its decision, the regulator cited that the ‘entity is not registered in Poland’, thus it cannot offer services to Polish clients.
AvaTrade has acknowledged the addition of its name to the KNF warning list and will provide further details after an initial investigation.
Read more on the AvaTrade Polish warning here.
FXCM Pro and Integral Launch a Centrally Cleared CFDs Platform
FXCM’s institutional arm, FXCM Pro, and trading technology provider, Integral have joined hands to launch a centrally cleared platform for contracts for differences (CFDs), thus further expanding their services for institutional and professional clients.
Announced on Wednesday, the CFDs prime platform is offering services like consolidated margin, account opening and netting. The companies claim that the consolidated services will reduce transacting costs.
Read more on the FXCM Pro and Integral collaboration here.
GO Markets Operator Launches New FX Brokerage Brand Radex Markets
The group behind the forex and CFDs broker GO Markets has officially launched a new brokerage brand called Radex Markets.
Registered and licensed as a securities dealer in the Seychelles, the platform is aiming to offer services on a global scale, mostly to emerging countries where it can operate with an off-shore license. It has already commenced its operations.
Read more on the Radex Markest Launch here.
FXCM Reports Total Net Revenues of $24.40M during Q3 2021
FXCM, an online forex trading and CFD broker, released its third-quarter results for 2021 today. According to the consolidated report, as of September 30, 2021, its current total assets are around $383.95 million, while total liabilities are $567.46 million.
Moreover, total liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interest and stockholders’ deficit stand at $383.95 million for the period. In terms of revenues, its total net revenues figure for the three months was $24.40 million, while for a nine-month period, it was $78.66 million. In addition, FXCM reported a net loss over a nine-month period of $53.15 million, while the three-month segment was $18.47 million.
In addition, according to the report, the comprehensive loss attributable to Global Brokerage, Inc., the company behind FXCM, reported a figure of $28.10 million for a nine-month period. Furthermore, regarding cash flows from operating activities, the net losses were $52.25 million.
Read more on the FXCM Revenues here.
