As the holiday season and the short work week naturally limited the number of new developments in the international markets, the Online Trading industry nevertheless kept its pace. The majority of the passing week's news stories were related to technology. Unfortunately we also saw this week a couple of brokers in Israel becoming involved in legal disputes.
Webtrader Gaining Ground
On Monday we reported that London-based Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated broker One Financial Markets developed a new browser based offering called ONE | Web Trader, built on top of the MetaTrader 4 online platform. The adoption of the MetaQuotes web solution continued around the world as two Australian brokers, IC Markets and DMM FX Australia, launched their own versions also during the week.
Keeping up with the competing technology, Saxo Bank - which turned its back on the MT4 platform and committed to a proprietary solution- upgraded its SaxoTraderGO platform with new options and features. The platform now offers pop-out charts with multi-screen support, making it more similar to the MT4 desktop offering.
U(No)Trade
On Tuesday we reported that an Israeli court issued a temporary injunction banning UTrade Premium Ltd from all investment activity, including raising funds and acquiring new investors and clients. An audit allegedly revealed that the firm's bank capital was less than its financial report claimed: $77,000 compared with the $12 million reported.
A couple of days later the court also appointed a temporary liquidator for UTrade. Interestingly, the firm's lawyer said that he has had no direct contact with the missing CEO, Aviv Talmor, and that he is not UTrade's representative for the case.
See You in Court
On Wednesday we reported that a class action was filed against USG Capital – Israel for a total of 70 million NIS (approximately 18 million USD) at the Tel-Aviv District Court, on the basis of unlicensed investment activities.
In addition to the local firm, the class action suit targets International USG Capital Ltd., USG’s owner Atlantic Brokers, and Tomer Sinai, a major shareholder of all of these. The suit was filed on behalf of a USG client, who argued that it charged commissions and management fees unlawfully.
Holiday Marketing
On Thursday we took a look at how Forex and binary brokers are working to stay competitive over the usually very slow holiday season. Two marketing experts offered their take on the subject and shared their past experiences of holiday campaigns.
Providing current examples, Banc De Binary launched a Christmas Wish List online campaign accompanied by a holiday TV commercial. 24option focused on new traders, offering prizes from a MacBook Pro laptop for creating a $50,000 portfolio, down to Go Pro Hero 4 cameras for a $5,000 investment.
