After one and a half years as Chief Executive Officer of Australian retail FX brokerage FXTG, Starvo D’Amore has resigned from his position.
Yesterday, Mr. D’Amore officially submitted his resignation, however he will remain at the company for a short while in order to assist with the transition as his replacement, Michael Berman, who joins the company from broker-neutral technology company FundSeeder where he spent a year as Head of Research.
Previously, Mr. Berman has held several senior executive positions in the industry, including 11 years as CEO of VT International, a boutique hedge fund and research consultancy.
Mr. D’Amore’s resignation represents the first transition of CEO since FXTG was purchased by Aviv Talmor in 2014, following the demise of the company’s previous holdings company Dealserv, which went through the hoop along with its unregulated retail FX brands 4XP and FX Sales.
FXTG came into being in late 2009, initially in London under a license provided by the Financial Services Authority (latterly Financial Conduct Authority). The company was established by, and had shared ownership interest with Israel-based Dealserv, the service provider behind now-defunct unregulated brokerage Forex Place (4XP) which ceased operations last year.
Very shortly after establishing in London, FXTG surrendered its Financial Services Authority license, in favor of Australia’s highly coveted AFS license from the Australian Financial Services Commission (ASIC). FXTG then took an entirely new corporate direction with a ground-up restructure following the purchase of the firm by prominent retail FX industry figure Aviv Talmor.
Mr. D’Amore had joined FXTG in 2011, whilst it was under its original ownership. At that time, he held the position of Head of Sales.
Three years later, following the demise of Dealserv and 4XP, Mr. Talmor purchased the firm and appointed Mr, D’Amore as CEO, with the first task being to remove the ineffective previous management in its entirety.
At the time, Mr. D’Amore explained to LeapRate “The replacement of the former management team was an absolute necessity for the survival and future growth of the firm. The redundancies included the entire previous management team and all of the Dealserv managers. Mr. Talmor then appointed new management of his selection.”
Today, Mr. D’Amore spoke to LeapRate regarding his resignation from the company: “I just need to take a break, which I have not done for 7 years. I will still be at the company as a consultant and to help with the transition, and I am leaving on very good terms, this being a personal decision.”
“After the transition period, I have not yet decided what I would like to do.”
I will definitely remain involved in some capacity and will still remain the Responsible Manager and may provide consultancy.”
“New CEO Michael Berman is an excellent fit to the company. He has a good background in this industry and has a strong buiness name, having held positions at similar firms that are successful” concluded Mr. D’Amore.
Subsequently, the ownership of FXTG has contacted LeapRate and released the following statement in response to Mr. D’Amore’s comments. “FXTG’s ownership and management wishes Mr. D’Amore the best in his future endeavours. Due to the requirements of regulatory procedure, he will participate in the transition period solely, as is necessary”.