LeapRate can confirm that City Index is in the process of closing its branch office in Israel, which was confirmed by a call to the company today.
The company representative explained to LeapRate that the branch office will close shortly, and that City Index customers in Israel have been notified that their accounts will remain active as normal, and that customer service will be transferred to City Index’s head office in London. This news comes following the recent departure of Managing Director Meir Velenski, an industry leader whose direction and approach to business brought tremendous value to the firm.
New customers in Israel who wish to open an account with City Index can proceed to do so, and the account and service will be carried out from City Index in London, under the company’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) license, an aspect which is very popular with Israeli customers.
City Index’s branch office in Israel was successful in garnering a number of educated, high net worth customers, paving the way for other firms to consider Israel as a viable marketplace for retail FX firms. The high caliber of client which City Index’s office in Israel was successful in bringing on board will stand to benefit City Index as a whole, as Israel’s high net worth traders are often loyal to good quality companies and will generate a steady and long term order flow for their company of choice.
Currently the nation is considered home to the majority of technology providers, platform companies, social trading system developers, signal trading providers, affiliate marketing companies that are all associated with the FX industry worldwide, but despite this, there have been few firms from overseas which have entered the market in Israel.
Israel has a number of experienced traders who have a deep understanding of the global financial economy, however a great number of such traders have long standing relationships with Israel’s extremely secure banks and as a result the majority of electronic trading in stocks, equities and FX is conducted through two of the nation’s largest banks, Leumi and Hapoalim.
Essentially, the service which customers in Israel will receive from City Index will be identical to previously, as the branch office in Israel was not responsible for the trading infrastructure of City Index, but instead was a useful center for customers to contact locally in order to provide one-to-one customer support.
Forthcoming regulatory changes in Israel are likely to require all companies offering service to Israeli customers to hold a license which will be issued by the Israel Securities Authority, however a final date for its implementation has not yet been announced.