Fazzaco Weekly Digest: Guru Capital Finalizes Acquisition of ETX Cyprus, M4Markets Announces New Website......

Take a look at the latest happenings in this week's news digest from around the forex, fintech and crypto industry. Here are some of the top headlines from this past week.

1. Afterpay Announces Partnership with Adyen to Offer Alternative Payments

Afterpay, an international payments platform, announced that it has teamed up with another payments platform Adyen to offer Afterpay’s buy now, pay later service to retailers.

According to a news release, British footwear brand Hunter is one of the first retailers to offer Afterpay with Adyen.

Afterpay’s service permits customers to buy their items and pay in four installments without taking out a loan or paying upfront fees or interest. Australia-based Afterpay has over 13 million U.S. customers and almost two million consumers in the U.K.

2. Guru Capital Finalizes Acquisition of ETX Cyprus

Fazzaco learned that Guru Capital, a Swiss private equity firm, has completed the acquisition of ETX Cyprus, Cyprus based Monecor Ltd after successfully acquiring UK based Monecor Ltd.

Monecor Ltd operates the ETX Capital brand in the UK. ETX Capital is one of the UK's leading online CFD and spread betting companies. With the change in ownership, Guru Capital said that its vision for ETX Capital is expanding the London-based brand in new markets. ETX Cyprus will be the headquarters of the brand's European operations.

3. Dogecoin Crosses 10 Cents Mark, Hits New All-Time High

In addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which reached record highs this week, with bitcoin topping $63,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday morning, Dogecoin, the joke cryptocurrency, also soared nearly 60% in the past 24 hours and crossed the 10 cents mark to hit its new all-time high of $0.13. Its market cap has now surpassed $17 billion.

The virtual currency, which has won a lot of focus from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), has jumped nearly 3,000% on a year-to-date basis from a price level of just $0.004 at the beginning of the year.

4. M4Markets Announces New Website

M4Markets, an FSA-regulated Forex and CFD broker focused on delivering a unique trading experience to its clients, announced that it has rolled out its newly redesigned website at www.m4markets.com.

The new website has been created with the user in mind and features a streamlined, modern design, improved functionality and easy navigation to information that traders should have access to.

Focusing on transparency, the new M4Markets website also includes additional information about the broker's pricing through dedicated pages.

5. Murex Expands Physical Presence with New Office in Cyprus

Murex, one of the leading providers of trading, risk management and processing solutions for capital markets, will expand its physical presence in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region with a new office in Cyprus. 

After a deliberative process, Murex selected Nicosia among a host of other possible locations as a satellite of its Beirut office, the center of the MEA region and an essential innovation site for Murex. 

6. Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Reports Record Net Revenues in Q1 2021

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has posted solid earnings results for the first quarter of 2021, with net revenues of the Institutional Securities reaching a record level of $8.6 billion, up 66% compared to the $5.2 billion for the same period of 2020.

In Q1 2021, the Wall Street giant reported net revenues of $15.7 billion across all segments, including Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management. This figure was significantly higher than the previous year's figure of $9.8 billion.

During the period, net income applicable to Morgan Stanley was $4.1 billion, or $2.19 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.7 billion, or $1.01 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago.

7. Deutsche Bank Tried to Dismiss Spoofing Claims at Illinois Court​

Documents filed by Deutsche Bank on April 16, 2021 showed that the conglomerate is trying to dismiss the complaint against it at Illinois Northern District Court. It was accused of spoofing the market for US Treasury futures products and Eurodollar futures products in 2013 by a list of plaintiffs including Rock Capital Markets, LLC; Atlantic Trading USA, LLC; Charles Herbert Proctor, III; Robert Charles Class A, L.P.; Todd Rowan; David Vecchione.

Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Complaint claimed that Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc unlawfully “spoofed” US Treasury futures products and Eurodollar futures products during calendar year 2013. But Deutsche Bank made it clear it would oppose the complaint.