The financial industry is seeing significant changes coming its way. Last week, regulatory authorities embraced new frameworks, but the changes were a hard blow to certain companies.
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ASIC Installs New Client Money Reporting Regulations
On Tuesday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released a new consultation paper for forex and CFD brokerages which focuses on client money guidelines. The new set of regulations, planned for April 2018, requires reporting, record keeping, and reconciliation. On Friday, Australian executives of the local financial industry commented on how things will change for brokerages operating in the country.
Anthony Griffin, the Managing Director of OANDA Australia, commented on the expected difficulties that smaller brokerages may encounter once client funds will not be available to cater to them: “There is a chance some of the smaller broker dealers operating in the margin FX and CFDs space will struggle to meet the minimum capital requirements laid out by ASIC.”
Polish Regulatory Bodies Plan to Restrict Leverage
On Thursday, Polish regulatory authorities revealed plans to confine forex trading leverage levels, setting the new maximum at 1:25. The Polish regulator was further strengthened with the ability to issue warnings regarding unauthorized activities. On Friday, the impact of the Polish regulators’ decision hit XTB Dom Maklerski hard, causing its value to drop below $200 million. Just a year ago, the retail broker had marked an industry high with a company value topping $350 million.
CySEC Suspends OptionRally’s License
On Thursday, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) reportedly suspended OptionRally’s operational license. The binary options retail brokerage did not comply with client fund protection laws. In addition, there may have been further issues with OptionRally’s capital not meeting the criteria demand set by Cypriot law.
German CFD Industry Continues to Grow
On Thursday, Investment Trends, the international research institution focused on international trading and investment trends, released a report showing that the German CFD market continued to grow despite low volatility. According to the report, the number of traders had increased by 6 percent in March 2017 on a year-on-year basis.
MetaQuotes Stops Supporting Windows XP
On Friday, MetaQuotes, the company behind the popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms, announced that it will soon cease to support the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. The changes are scheduled to come into effect on October 1 2017. On that date, MetaQuotes will also stop supporting Windows Vista and Windows 2003.
