Gerald Segal
LeapRate Analyst
September 21, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

SEF applications approved for trueEX and ICE IntercontinentalExchange

What is an SEF exactly? The CFTC has granted two more (temporary) SEF licenses, this time to trueEX and ICE IntercontinentalExchange. trueEX is an interbank exchange for interest rate swaps. And ICE is, of course, the large publicly traded (NYSE:ICE) US commodities exchange, which operates regulated exchanges and clearing houses for energy, agricultural, credit, currency, emissions,…

Read more
September 20, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Binary options broker Cedar Finance earns CySEC CIF license

CySEC remains one of the few regulators to license binary options brokers. LeapRate Exclusive... LeapRate has learned that Cyprus-based binary options broker Cedar Finance has been granted a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license to binary options broker Cedar Finance. The license was actually issued to Cedar Finance's parent company T.B.S.F. Best Strategy Finance Ltd. Cedar Finance…

Read more
September 20, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

SEF applications approved for Javelin, BGC Partners and TeraExchange

Most major Swaps industry participants have received, or at least applied for, SEF designation. The CFTC has granted three more SEF licenses, this time to Tera Group's TeraExchange, BGC Partners and Javelin Capital Markets. They now join Bloomberg, Tradeweb, State Street, GFI, and MarketAxess, with applications still in process for industry giants CME Group and Thomson…

Read more
September 20, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

CySEC warns investors against binary options broker TraderXP

Unclear what the CySEC warning against TraderXP. It is interesting comparing the warnings and fines issued by regulators such as the CFTC in the US, and CySEC in Cyprus. The CFTC is always very precise and detailed when it issues a warning, specifying what exactly happened (or is alleged to have happened). CySEC's pronouncements, however,…

Read more
September 18, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

CME Group joins the SEF parade with its own application

CME Group will initially focus on commodity products, and will look to develop additional markets over time. CME Group, which runs the world's largest derivatives marketplace, announced today that it had (finally) filed an application to be registered as a Swap Execution Facility (SEF) with the CFTC. CME Group plans for its SEF to be…

Read more
September 18, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

IG Group reports down Q1, warns on outlook for the year

... however the stock market ignores the warning, sends IG Group stock up 1.7%. UK spreadbetting leader IG Group, which is in process of rebranding its businesses to just IG.com, reported its fiscal 2014 Q1 results as being significantly below last quarter. (IG has a May 31 year end, so Q1 was the quarter encompassing…

Read more
September 18, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

MarketsPulse upgrades its CRM for binary options brokers

MarketsPulse CRM v2 now updates sales and retention teams in real-time on more actions traders make. Binary options platform provider MarketsPulse has announced a major upgrade to its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software package for binary options brokers. The new CRM version now tracks a trader's demo-money and real-money account activity and finances in real-time. This upgrade…

Read more
September 17, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

Gain Capital August forex volumes drop 20%

... however year-on-year Gain Capital's volume metrics remain more than 50% ahead of last year. We should first remind people (after getting many inquiries) that Gain Capital's reported volumes still do not yet include GFT volumes. Gain's announced acquisition of GFT has not yet closed, although it should close at some point before the end…

Read more
September 17, 2013 BY Gerald Segal

BitPay hits 10,000 merchants using its Bitcoin payment services

VC-backed Bitcoin payments solutions company is making tracks to make Bitcoin a 'real' currency. Everyone understands that a currency must be something we actually use to buy things. For a while, the hype surrounding Bitcoin was all about who is investing in it (the Winklevoss twins), and who was making it available to trade (several…

Read more