As expected, FXCM reported healthy Q1 financial results. Well if you're a retail FX broker big or small, and you're not banging out record trading volumes during 2013, then something is wrong. Leading retail FX firm FXCM, the world's largest online FX broker (and a member of LeapRate's Approved List of global FX brokerage firms),…
Read moreJapanese based FX firms continued to see a burst of growth. After seeing leading Japanese FX broker GMO Click report record volumes in April, now comes word that the mid-size brokers in Japan are also doing well. The Monex Group of Japan has reported that spot FX volumes shot up 91% in April, to average ¥242…
Read moreAds and landing pages have been popping up with "We're not in Cyprus" type ads. Forex brokerages (at least some) had been known years ago, rightly or wrongly, for advertising which goes beyond 'aggressive' and borders on 'offensive'. Well it seems as if some of that type of advertising is back in vogue, following the…
Read moreNew rules would have called for FX prime brokers to submit pre-trade mid-market quote and risk disclosures. Courtesy of our friends at CFTCLaw.com... The CFTC has apparently given last-minute relief from its new client disclosure rules (which came into effect on May 1) to FX Prime Brokers, after listening to complaints that the market could be…
Read moreThis is not David Prescott's, aka David Weeks, first run-in with securities regulators. The CFTC has announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued an Order freezing the assets of David Prescott and his business Cambridge Currency Partners. A hearing on the matter is set to take place next week. The order…
Read moreCoinLab takes Mt. Gox to Court for $75 million as the race to lead the Bitcoin revolution heats up. In February a joint venture between leading Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, and CoinLab -- which bills itself as the first U.S. venture-backed Bitcoin company -- was announced. The plan was for CoinLab to take over Mt. Gox’s Bitcoin operations…
Read moreHowever Swissquote's eForex volumes were down, despite a rise in client assets. Leading Swiss online brokerage Swissquote (a member of LeapRate's Approved List of global Forex brokerage firms) announced today that FX volumes were down in Q1 to average $24 billion per month (CHF 22 billion), down 11% from Q4-2012 levels. This despite a 4% rise in clients' FX assets at…
Read moreAs the Yuan continues to strengthen, Chinese FX traders also come out to trade. LeapRate Exclusive... LeapRate has learned, in discussions with various retail FX brokerages, that trading volumes from China-based clients have soared this year by about 30% -- and even more at some firms which have been actively targeting the Chinese market. What's…
Read moreA nice month for EBS, after a slowdown in March. ICAP's Forex ECN unit EBS reported April FX trading volumes at $128.3 billion (average daily volume for the month), up 7% from March and up 17% from last year April. After two strong months to start the year, things slowed down at EBS in March,…
Read moreMetals volumes were strong, but FX volumes disappointed in April. CME Group, which runs the world's largest derivatives marketplace, announced April FX volumes which were surprisingly down by 16% from March. FX contract volumes (mainly Eurodollar futures contracts) traded at CME came in at 898,000 in April, down 16%% from March's 1,072,000 (see chart below). Metals…
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