Australian regulatory chief voices concern amid global FX rigging probe As we have been covering here at LeapRate, international investigations of price-rigging by banks and currency traders have now reached down under. Amid international pressure from other jurisdictions, Greg Medcraft, chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), told the Financial Times last week:…
Read moreNot quite Japan, but retail trading is rapidly becoming an important part of the global forex market. An interesting article in The Australian Financial Review highlights the growing importance of retail forex trading in Australia, Japan and elsewhere around the globe. The conclusions of the article should not be surprising to our readers -- our Retail…
Read moreFollows ASIC review of City Index Australia involving weaknesses in handling client money. Australia's financial regulator ASIC has announced that it is requiring City Index Australia to appoint an independent expert to review its business and develop a plan to rectify certain deficiencies. The independent expert will report regularly directly to ASIC for the next 18…
Read moreAustralia's smaller FX brokers are scrambling to offload market-making, to avoid higher capital charges. Australia continues to be one of the hottest FX markets out there. The country's Forex and CFD sectors continue to grow and -- more importantly -- Australia is an important base for attracting clients in fast growing Asian markets, specifically China.…
Read moreAustralia's ASIC requiring more capital, but only for market makers. Australia's financial regulator ASIC has put into effect (as of January 31, 2013) its new minimum capital requirements for retail brokers, including FX firms. Minimum capital is now AUD$ 500,000 (about USD$ 515,000), up ten-fold from just AUD$ 50,000, which was the lowest minimum capital…
Read moreClaims Halifax has taken U.S. retail FX traders – the CFTC wants penalties, and wants trades undone. The CFTC has filed a complaint (in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois) against Australia's Halifax Investment Services, claiming that the Australian broker has solicited U.S. retail FX clients, and has taken on U.S. clients. The CFTC wants monetary…
Read moreResearch firm Investment Trends issued a detailed report on the Australian Forex and CFD market (see text of theire news release below). Among the key findings were that Australia is already a larger FX market, relative to the country's size, than most other countries, yet the prospects for growth are still high. The report also…
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