November 26, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

LeapRate Forex Fraud Watch - Feisal Sharif to pay over $3 million

More than 50 people scammed through a commodity pool in Connecticut The Commodity Futures Trading Association (CFTC) has announced today that it has obtained a court order against Feisal Sharif, operating through his commodity pool First Financial LLC in Branford, Connecticut. The restitution pronounced by the court amounts to $2.2 million plus $900,000 civil monetary…

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November 26, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

FCA cracks down on SEI for failures with client funds

Failure to comply with Client Money Rules costs the company almost $1.5 million The Financial Conduct Authority has imposed a fine on SEI Investments Europe for breaching its so called Principle 10. The company has not protected the funds of its investors properly and has breached the standard practice of keeping customers' money in segregated…

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November 26, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

FX Concepts bankruptcy detailed

World’s largest currency hedge fund, once $14B, ended with just $2M under management and $79M liabilities Few people would have thought that John Taylor's once mighty currency hedge fund would be going out of business so soon after it was established as a leader in the industry. Once a $14 bln dollar giant it ends…

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November 26, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

ASIC nabs public company CEO for insider trading in M&A deal

Former CEO of UCL resources Christopher Jordinson faces up to 10 years in prison Former CEO of Australian company UCL Resources Christopher Jordinson has admitted that he  was participating in an insider trading scheme that involved his nephew and two other people. He tipped them off about an incoming takeover bid from Oman-based Mawarid Mining LLC earlier…

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November 25, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

CySEC warns investors about PlanetOption

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…

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November 25, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Korea decides to exempt Bitcoins from capital gains tax

BitStamp 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.…

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November 25, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

LeapRate Retail FX Volume Index climbs 1% in October to $286B daily

Retail 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…

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November 25, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Australia's ASIC launches First Derivatives MAI system to monitor trading

The 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…

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November 22, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Gain Capital increases convertible note offering, raises $70 million

Funds 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…

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November 22, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

PBOC says China does not need more FX reserves

Chinese 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…

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