January 14, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

ICAP's EBS hires Integral founder as its new CTO

Dr. Viral Tolat co-founded Integral 20 years ago and was with Integral since. EBS management is taking some serious steps to try and keep up with rising rival FXall, and its parent company Thomson Reuters, in the Forex ECN business. ICAP's EBS unit has announced that is has hired Dr. Viral Tolat as its new CTO.…

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January 14, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Oanda beefs up senior management team

Oanda's new CMO comes from outside the FX industry. Oanda, one of the world's leading online FX firms, announced the addition of two new outside hires to its senior management team. Oanda has been rebuilding its management ranks since K Duker took over as CEO last May from Oanda founder Michael Stumm. Oanda also saw…

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January 14, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Another blow to the spot FX business in the U.S.

Is CME Group lobbying responsible for the NFA's new anti-spot FX rule? As reported by leading MT4 bridge provider CMAP LLC, a recently implemented NFA rule change forces U.S.-regulated FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) to maintain equity capital of at least $20 million if they offer spot FX. The NFA's previous rules stated that only FCMs / RFEDs which…

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January 11, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

PFSOFT's ProTrader unveils updated web trader

More mobile trading has somewhat reversed trend of move to desktop traders. While desktop traders still dominate the FX trading landscape, the fact that traders are more and more using mobile devices -- both smartphones and tablets -- has re-increased the importance of web traders to the typical retail FX trader. (And has also resulted…

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January 11, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

FXCM expands its deal with Tradency

FXCM to offer Tradency's Mirror Trader to its entire client base. FXCM, the world's largest retail FX brokerage (and a member of LeapRate's Approved List of global FX firms), announced that it has expanded its existing agreement with Tradency, the developer and originator of Mirror Trading technology, to provide access to Mirror Trader to FXCM's entire client base. …

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January 10, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

London Capital Group revenues down 45% in 2H-2012

LCG reports continued slow trading volumes in Q4 and into this year. London Capital Group issued a Trading Update on its fourth quarter 2012, stating that it "continued to experience suppressed trading volumes in the fourth quarter". The group's revenues in the second half of 2012 totalled just £10.2 million, down 45% from £18.4 million in the…

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January 10, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

BNP Paribas goes live with Chinese version of Cortex FX

Both institutional and retail eFX brokers pouring more resources into China. BNP Paribas introduced its Silverlight-based single dealer eFX platform Cortex just last March, and has now announced the roll-out of a Chinese language version of Cortex. Similar to leading retail FX brokers, BNP has clearly prioritized China as a high-growth region. The Cortex platform…

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January 09, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Saxo Bank brings in ETNA Software for tech help

ETNA will provide Saxo Bank with outsourced services around its in-house systems. Financial platforms and IT consulting firm ETNA Software today announced that it has signed a "long-term partnership" with leading retail FX broker Saxo Bank. We understand that this new relationship is connected to the Saxo Bank downsizing completed at the end of last year,…

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January 09, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Banc de Binary gets CySEC license

First "pure play" Binary Options provider to get licensed in Cyprus. Quite a number of the Binary Options brokers which set up shop in Cyprus over the past two years were somewhat disappointed when the national financial regulator CySEC decided last year that Binaries were indeed a financial instrument -- making them subject to regulation,…

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January 09, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Japan FX volumes come roaring back

GMO Click Securities reports FX volumes 2.5x what they were last December. As we predicted a few weeks ago, December FX volumes are looking unseasonably warm in Japan, as Yen volatility surrounding the intentions of the new Japanese government has brought traders back to the table. As is evident from the chart above, trading volumes…

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