FX week in review: City Credit Capital bankrupt, ATFX and CAPEX.com acquire, CEO moves

The first full work week of the unofficial FX & CFDs trading summer season, also the first week of 2H-2023, did not disappoint.

Following a quite tumultuous first half of 2023 in the FX and CFDs business, July began with a bang – the bankruptcy of a well-known name in the London CFDs brokerage scene, a large loss posted by a neobroker brand, and acquisitions by two brokers to help open up new markets.

Plus, a larger-than-usual number of senior executive moves in the sector including two well-know industry CEOs.

Which FCA regulated CFDs broker entered administration?

Which ASIC licensed CFDs broker did ATFX buy, expanding its business to Australia?

Where did BDSwiss CEO Nicolas Shamtanis move to?

We’ve got answers to these questions and a whole lot more, and it all appeared first or exclusively this week on FNG.

Some of the most read and commented-on FX industry news stories to appear over the past seven days on FNG included:

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CFDs broker City Credit Capital / CIX Markets bankrupt, enters administration. UK financial regulator The FCA has announced that FX and CFDs broker City Credit Capital (UK) Ltd has been placed in administration. The administration and shutdown order also applies to the company’s “downmarket” brand CIX Markets, which operated at website cixmarkets.com. City Credit Capital and CIX Markets are controlled by US entrepreneur Alfred Tang.

ATFX expands to Australia acquiring Rakuten Securities AU. Leading online trading CFDs broker ATFX has announced its acquisition of Rakuten Securities Australia Pty Ltd (“RSA”), a subsidiary of Japan’s Rakuten Securities, Inc., further strengthening its position in the Australian market and expanding its global footprint. The company said that this strategic move marks a significant milestone for ATFX as it continues to solidify its position as a global trusted online broker with innovative trading solutions. By acquiring RSA, ATFX gains access to a well-established customer base and a talented team of industry professionals.

CAPEX.com acquires WiredMarket.com expanding to Greece. Retail FX and CFDs broker CAPEX.com has announced what amounts to its first M&A deal, acquiring the book-of-clients of WiredMarket.com, thus expanding into the Greek market. WiredMarket.com, founded in 1991, is an online CFDs broker based in Athens, Greece. Capex.com, which rebranded from CFD Global.com in 2019, is a MENA focused broker owned by Key Way Group Ltd, a Romania based, Gibraltar domiciled fintech investment group. The company is controlled by founder and CEO Octavian Patrascu.

Freetrade posts £15.6M Revenue, £39.8M Net Loss in FY 2022. UK neobroker Freetrade has released it financial results for 2022 (fiscal year end September 30), indicating modest growth on the top line while continuing to lose big money on the bottom line. Freetrade reported Revenues of £15.6 million in 2022, up by 23% from £12.47 million in 2021. However Freetrade’s net loss grew substantially, from £17.1 million last year to £39.8 million in 2022. We reported last month that Freetrade is about to launch a crowdfunding round, to help shore up the company’s finances, at a significant discount to its previous valuation of £650 million when it raised capital in late 2021 and again in mid 2022.

Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:

❑ Exclusive: BDSwiss CEO Nicolas Shamtanis departs, joins Netrios/Red Acre.

❑ IG Group CEO June Felix takes medical leave.

❑ Euan Marshall resigns as CMC Markets CFO.

❑ Exclusive: LCG adds ADSS vets Ash Elgarf and Dan Benton to head Dealing, Sales.

❑ Moneycorp appoints Velizar Tarashev as CEO, replacing Mark Horgan.

❑ Exclusive: Exness’ Artem Seledtsov adds Chief Sales Officer role.

❑ Exclusive: OvalX Deputy Head of Trading Richard Wiltshire joins LCG.

❑ Exclusive: HYCM hires Axiory/ATFX alum Dominic Poynter as CMO.

❑ Shadi Salloum joins XS.com as Regional Director for MENA.