Dukascopy Launches Gold-Based Accounts and MT4 Tests a New Feature

Some of the best stories on Finance Magnates over the past week involved the increased Volatility in many markets around the world due to the various market shocks coming out of China. Other top stories include developments related to international brokers, Dukascopy and TradeNext, as well as a major new feature on MT4 that can change the supporting ecosystem.

TradeNext Troubles

On Monday, it was reported that London headquartered brokerage, TradeNext, launched an internal review after terminating several relationships with clients.

Some of TradeNext's customers recently received termination notices, after their relationship with the firm had been placed under a thorough review by the broker. Finance Magnates also learned that TradeNext's owners could be looking for a potential investor in the company.

Hot Summer

On Tuesday, Japanese Monex Group, which is behind brokerages Monex and TradeStation, reported its July revenue figures. The report marked a second consecutive monthly increase during the first month of the summer.

The period is typically characterized by slower activity and a reduced number of opportunities for clients. However, as this summer is proving, there are exceptions to the rule as volatility has sharply risen in the aftermath of previous policy moves by China.

On that same day, the Chinese central bank decided to cut reserve requirement ratios for banks and benchmark interest rates in a move that sent the U.S. dollar rallying.

Safe Haven

On Wednesday, Swiss brokerage Dukascopy Bank announced the introduction of a new base currency for all of its clients in Switzerland, gold (XAU).

With the new option for traders looking to hold on to what has been considered the ultimate safe haven asset, Dukascopy Bank provides its clients with an alternative to storing physical gold. The offering does come with a price however – traders who choose gold as their base currency will get charged a 1 percent interest rate per annum.

Playtech's Financials

On Thursday, Playtech reported its H1 2015 results showing that revenues at Markets Limited were $48.2 million during H1 2015, an increase of 60% compared to the same period in 2014.

During the H1 period, Playtech completed its acquisition of TradeFX (renamed Markets Limited), while transactions for Plus500 and AvaTrade are expected to be completed in September.

At the same time, Plus500 reported its H1 2015 results, showing a net profit of $40.6 million on revenues of $127 million. Overall, despite revenues growing 20% from the same period in 2014, net profit was lower by 25%.

Built-In Mt4 Web Trader

On Friday, we reported that MetaQuotes is testing web trading support in the latest build of the beta version of the MT4 platform. The current version of the web Trading Platform is somewhat limited in its functionality, but in an official forum posting the company pledges to expand its functionality.

A built-in solution for non-windows systems should please a number of brokers, but could also possibly lead to concerns for various developers of web-based alternatives services that allow running the MT4 platform from a browser.