The regulator continues its crackdown on unlicensed binary options brokerages Cypriot financial regulator CySEC has informed the public in a press release today that the company standing behind PlanetOption is not permitted to conduct business in the country and it has never been issued a license and is outside of its regulatory framework. Based on…
Read moreBitStamp upgrades hardware, hires more customer support personnel While the wild ride of the digital currency continues, price discrepancies between different exchanges have subsided. With Bitcoin currently trading at $832 on BitStamp, prices on Mt Gox are $840 - a difference of only $8 is negligible considering the $100 discrepancies we observed a week ago.…
Read moreRetail forex volumes remained strong in October despite institutional FX slowdown. October was somewhat of a strange month in the forex world -- at least as far as trading volumes go. While all major institutional FX ECN platforms -- including Thomson Reuters, FXall, ICAP EBS (LON:IAP) and the CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) -- reported declining volumes, retail…
Read moreThe first of four pillars for a more effective market surveillance system is now operational Starting today ASIC has launched its new MAI (Market Analysis Intelligence) system which enables it to better monitor, investigate and take regulatory actions against trading breaches. According to Commissioner Cathie Armour the MAI is designed to thoroughly analyze real time…
Read moreFunds to be used for debt repayment, share buybacks and potential strategic acquisitions Retail forex broker GAIN Capital (NYSE:GCAP) has just announced that it has successfully priced and increased the size of its convertible note offering to $70 million. The company also issued to the initial purchasers a 30-day option to purchase additional $10 million…
Read moreChinese officials will be taking first steps towards FX liberalization It has been only a couple of days since we heard from Chinese officials on the subject of FX market reform. It has proved to be enough for us to get more details into the thinking of the People’s Bank Of China (PBOC). As Bloomberg…
Read moreThe stock market likes exceeding expectations. It does not like convertible bonds. Most of us in and connected to the forex industry understand that we are all together in one big boat. Rising industry volumes generally mean good times for (most) everyone, while slow volumes hurt (nearly) everyone. There are always the haves and have-nots,…
Read moreBitcoin’s wild roller coaster ride takes it from $900, down to $450 and back up to $700 What a week it has been for the virtual currency Bitcoin – prices have been swinging in both directions in roller-coaster mode. As the Senate hearings on the digital currency were ongoing it has rallied all the way up to $900…
Read moreExactly one month after hitting the magic 100K Alexa level, our readers make us even more popular. A quick shout-out of thanks to all our readers, commenters, customers and friends.... LeapRate's growing audience has rocketed us in just one month more than 10,000 more positions in Alexa's ranking of the world's most popular websites. We're…
Read moreAs 4pm fix investigation continues, industry calls increase to change the way FX benchmarks are set In yet another twist, yesterday’s Bloomberg piece titled “FX Dealers Said to Use Day Traders to Make Personal Bets” is shedding some light on the FX manipulation practices surrounding the 4 pm fix saga. The trio of authors have…
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