News Nuggets | 18 May: Stone Edge Capital Lost CySEC License; FCA Deputy Chair

CySEC Withdraws Stone Edge Capital License

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) withdraw the license of Stone Edge Capital Ltd, a forex broker, for multiple violations around its services. It came after the company voluntarily renounced its Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license.

The regulator highlighted that the broker was non-compliant with organizational requirements and also failed to implement adequate and appropriate systems and procedures to flag transactions linked to money laundering or terrorist financing offences. It also failed to implement systems and procedures regarding internal reporting.

Stone Edge Capital received its CIF license in 2016 and offered trading services with forex and stocks. Now, the broker should return clients' funds, including their profit.

KX Partners with Amazon Web Services

FD Technologies announced its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch kdb Insights, benefiting the existing KX customers. kdb Insights will be a fully managed cloud-native service on Amazon FinSpace, AWS's data management and analytics service for the financial services industry.

AWS logo

KX and AWS are now working on a go-to-market strategy. The announcement also specified that customers will require a KX license to access the platform.

"With Managed kdb Insights, customers can now set up full scale kdb applications for market data processing and analytics in just a few clicks," explained Saman Michael Far, the VP of Financial Services Technology at AWS. "We see this as a turning point for our capital markets customers."

KX's CEO, Ashok Reddy added: "With the launch of Amazon FinSpace with Managed kdb Insights, our customers can experience unparalleled levels of performance versus price thanks to the market-leading capabilities of our Data Timehouse technology and the powerhouse that is AWS."

Delta Capita Names New APAC Head

Delta Capita, the financial services unit of Prytek, announced the appointment of Julian Chesser as its new Regional Head of APAC.

Julian Chesser, Regional Head of APAC at Delta Capita

Based in Singapore, Chesser will be responsible for leading all aspects of the business across the APAC region and developing our regional strategy for future business expansion. He brings 25 years of industry experience to the new role.

"Julian's extensive experience of capital markets infrastructure and the Asia region will be critical as we grow existing business lines and deploy capital to acquire non-strategic client technology assets and targeted M&A opportunities," said Joe Channer, the CEO of Delta Capita.

FCA Gets New Deputy Chair

The Boards of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have two new deputy chairs, Margaret Obi and Edward Sparrow.

The new additions are part of the FCA's Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) and the PSR's Enforcement Decisions Committee (EDC). They will be responsible for making certain regulatory decisions. The appointments came ahead of the exit of two existing deputy chairs, Elizabeth France and John Hull.

"Margaret and Edward bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience, including their experience of chairing and decision-making, which will enhance the capability and effectiveness of the RDC and EDC," said Tim Parkes, the Chair of the RDC and EDC.

"By the time they stand down, Elizabeth and John together will have provided nearly 16 years’ outstanding service as Deputy Chairs and I would like to thank them both for their commitment to the work of the committees."

Hong Kong Fines China On $6 Million

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reprimanded and fined China On Securities Limited (China On) $6 million over failures as a share placement agent. The failures happened between 25 November and 6 December 2019.

"The SFC is of the view that China On's disregard of the Vendor's interests constituted gross negligence, if not recklessness, in breach of the Code of Conduct," the regulator stated.

"In deciding the sanction, the SFC has taken into account all relevant circumstances, including, there is insufficient evidence to support any finding of dishonesty against China On or the misconduct in question had been recurrent, the importance of sending a deterrent message to the industry that the SFC will not tolerate any grossly negligent or reckless conduct, and the otherwise clean disciplinary record of China On."