Fazzaco Weekly Digest: ATFX Acquires South Africa's Licensed ODP; ISX Financial Names New ISVP Sales; Liquidity Providers & Market Makers

Last week, several firms in the financial industry made acquisitions or optimized organizational structures to expand their global reach or improve their working efficiency, including ATFX acquiring South Africa’s licensed OTC derivatives provider Khwezi Financial Services, and oneZero uniting its institutional and retail teams.

In the crypto field, every move of the former crypto giant FTX still attracts widespread attention in the industry. After the exchange's founder was convicted, two of his former colleagues teamed up to create a new crypto exchange called Trek Labs.

Notably, Fazzaco's series articles of Demystifying Brokerage Business - A Comprehensive Guide for Forex Start-ups have been updated, providing a detailed reference for start-up brokers to choose their trading software.

In addition, we have differentiated and profiled the easily confused market makers and liquidity providers in our latest audio article.

Here are the related details, as well as some of the most read forex, crypto, and fintech news pieces and articles from Fazzaco over the past week.

1. Listen to the Article: Make No Mistake, Not All Liquidity Providers Are Market Makers​

The forex market is a global hub, boasting daily trade volumes that soar into the trillions of dollars. Consequently, the ability of traders to swiftly trade currencies at fair prices—a concept known as liquidity—holds paramount importance. A robust liquidity framework ensures smooth market operations, heightens trading efficiency, lowers transaction costs, and fuels market dynamism.

In the context of liquidity providers within the forex market, it's a common verbal practice to broadly tag liquidity providers as market makers, yet such a label misses crucial nuances. Indeed, both LPs (liquidity providers) and MMs (market makers) work towards enhancing liquidity by engaging in currency trades. However, their distinct differences significantly influence trading patterns, risk management strategies, and profit frameworks. Hence, let's delve into why we can't lump all liquidity providers under the umbrella term of market makers.

2. Isavella Frangou Named SVP Sales of ISX Financial

Fazzaco learned that Isavella Frangou, a fintech enthusiast with 15+ years of paytech experience, has joined a payment solutions provider, ISX Financial, as Senior Vice President of Sales, out of Nicosia, Cyprus.

Based on her LinkedIn profile, most recently, she was Senior Vice President of Global Sales at a paytech payabl.. Isavella spent a decade in the company, where she joined as Sales and Marketing Manager, then rose to VP, Marketing and Sales in January 2022.

3. ATFX Acquires South Africa's Licensed ODP, Khwezi Financial Services​

Following the acquisition of Rakuten Securities Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Rakuten Securities, Inc., ATFX, a global leading online trading CFDs broker, has taken over a licensed Over-the-Counter Derivative Provider (ODP) in South Africa, Khwezi Financial Services.

Khwezi Financial Services is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the acquisition allows ATFX to legally offer over-the-counter derivatives services to South African clients as an ODP.

4. CFTC Releases Report: Retail Forex Funds in US Drop 1.65% in September

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released its latest monthly report, which shows that retail forex funds in September 2023 decreased by 1.65% M-o-M.

The report covers registered retail foreign exchange dealers (RFEDs) and broker-dealers operating in the US. These include Gain Capital Group LLC, IG US LLC, Interactive Brokers LLC, OANDA Corporation, CHARLES SCHWAB Futures & Forex LLC, and Trading.com Markets.

5. Forex Trading Software: A Key Factor for Brokerage Success​

In forex trading, people often use multifunctional trading software platforms to access the services of brokers or other financial institutions to buy and sell currencies. Trading software, in a sense, serves as the core of the forex industry, as traders rely on it to trade and brokers rely on it to profit. Without it, the entire business would cease to exist. In the highly competitive forex market, how brokers choose the right software is one of the key factors that determine their success. Among the most well-known forex trading software are the MetaTrader series (MT4/MT5) developed by MetaQuotes, Ctrader by Spotware, Panda Trading Systems, Match-Trader, Leverate and X Open Hub.

So, who should brokers choose and why? This depends on the broker's capital, goals, client base and market factors. Generally speaking, we can give some suggestions from the perspectives of start-up brokers and existing brokers.

6. oneZero Unites Institutional and Retail Teams, Names New Chief Commercial Officer

oneZero Financial Systems (oneZero), a trading technology provider for multi-asset class execution, distribution and analytics, disclosed today (November 14, 2023) its plan to merge its institutional and retail teams, looking to maximize growth and boost client service with a unified global sales and customer success team.

The new expanded team will under the leadership of Alex Neo, who has been elevated to Chief Commercial Officer, and Lynnette Yeo, who has been named Managing Director of Global Relationship Management.

7. Former FTX, Alameda Executives Team Up to Start New Crypto Exchange​

Two former colleagues of recently convicted Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder and CEO of the bankrupt crypto giant FTX, are building a new crypto exchange just days after their former CEO was found guilty on seven charges of fraud.

FTX's former general counsel, Can Sun, and former Alameda Research software developer Armani Ferrante reportedly have teamed up to start Trek Labs, a Dubai-based company that recently obtained a license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, which regulates digital assets in the emirate.