Fazzaco Weekly Digest: IC Markets' Latest Appointment; Equiti Group Welcomes its New CTO; UK FCA's Warning

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 week.

1. Exclusive: IC Markets Promotes Calvin Mangalino to Head of Compliance​

Fazzaco learned that IC Markets, an Australian-based online retail FX and CFD broker, has promoted Calvin Mangalino to Head of Compliance. Before this promotion, Calvin served as Compliance Manager since July 2021, when he joined the broker.

He has proven senior leadership experience, with a risk and compliance focus, and customer centric approach. Between March 2015 and July 2018, he has been with AxiCorp, a global online FX and CFD trading company, as Head of Client Experience. Prior to that, Calvin was Senior Equities Account Manager at CommSec, Australia's largest online broker.

2. Christoffer Rosenkilde Nielsen Joins Equiti Group as Chief Technology Officer

Equiti Group, a world class provider of online trading technology and multi-asset financial products, has announced the appointment of Christoffer Rosenkilde Nielsen as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In his new role, Christoffer will be responsible for driving the company's global technology strategy by fostering a strong engineering culture as well as providing technical leadership across all areas of the business.

He brings over 10 years of experience in fintech sector to Equiti Group, having previously held positions at Saxo Bank, ATP, and more recently worked at Euronext Securities as Chief Information Officer.

3. UK FCA Issues Warning Against Six Unauthorized Companies

The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently issued warnings against six new companies that are soliciting customers in the UK jurisdiction without any licenses or are clones of authorized platforms. 

According to the regulator, these companies include:

bigmorebenefitslimited.org

Legal Finance / legalfinance.io

ATFX Global Trading / ATFXcoin

Concrete Loans Ltd

Aurat Capital Ltd

Credit Ltd

4. Coinbase to Pause Ethereum Transactions During Merge Upgrade

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has released guidelines in preparation for the highly anticipated Ethereum (ETH) Merge upgrade that will transition the network to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol. 

The exchange is set to briefly pause all withdrawals and deposits involving Ethereum until the entire Merge migration scheduled for around September 15 is complete, Coinbase stated in a blog post published on August 16. 

5. Paysafe Receives Registration from OAM to Operate as VASP in Italy

Paysafe, a leading specialised payments platform, today announces that it has registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in Italy with the 'Organismo Agenti e Mediatori' (OAM). Paysafe is the latest in a string of firms to do so, following eToro and Blockchain.com.

With this registration, Paysafe will be able to offer a suite of products and services to Italian customers in compliance with local regulations.

6. Ripple,Travelex Bank Partner to Launch Crypto-Based B2B Payments in Brazil

Ripple, the leading provider of enterprise blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions, today announced the launch of RippleNet's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) in Brazil with Travelex Bank, the first bank in Latin America to utilize ODL. Travelex is the first bank registered and approved by the Central Bank of Brazil to operate exclusively in foreign exchange.

By utilizing XRP, a digital asset ideal for payments, Ripple's ODL solution allows customers to send money across borders instantly with very low-cost settlement and without the need to hold pre-funded capital in the destination market.

7. Eurex to Offer New FX Futures Contracts Covering Emerging Markets Currencies

Eurex, the largest European futures and options market, today announced that it will start trading new FX Futures contracts covering Brazilian Real (BRL), Mexican Pesos (MXN) and South African Rand (ZAR) on 10 October 2022. The launch of the three most heavily traded currencies outside the G10 reinforces Eurex's position as Europe's leading FX liquidity hub.

In total, five new contracts will be listed covering the following Emerging Markets currency pairs: BRL/USD, MXN/USD, MXN/EUR, ZAR/USD, ZAR/EUR. An accompanying liquidity scheme will ensure tight pricing and competitive liquidity. The new contracts will be cash settled in US dollars or euros upon expiry. Therefore, clearing members can use their existing infrastructure and will not be required to open new cash accounts in these Emerging Markets currencies.