Fazzaco Weekly Digest: MFSA's Annual Report; Financial Institutions' Global Spend on Financial Crime Compliance; Interactive Brokers (UK)'s Turnover in 2020
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. MFSA Publishes Its Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2020
The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has published its Annual Report and audited Financial Statements for the year ending 31 December 2020, showing that the Maltese financial services sector saw an increase of 5.5% in real Gross Value-Added rate which grew to €1.028 billion in 2020.
Highlights from the year under review include:
• A higher number of supervisory inspections totalling 419, marking an 84% increase from 2019 and a 149% increase over 2018 figures.
• The integration of Anti-money laundering (AML) and Combatting the Funding of Terrorism (CFT) at the core of the Authority's risk assessment and supervisory frameworks. The MFSA conducted 81 supervisory inspections on behalf of the FIAU, both as full-scope (comprehensive) and focused (targeted) inspections.
• The processing of 265 applications for authorisation, 25% of which were withdrawn or refused.
• Ongoing monitoring of the effect of COVID-19 and Brexit on the sector including its effects on financial stability.
• Significant enhancements and investment in the human resource of the Authority, with a total of 16,383 hours of training provided to MFSA staff. In 2020, the Authority also set up the Financial Supervisors Academy which provides training programmes to employees, as well as to other regulators, supervisors, policymakers and academics outside of the MFSA.
• The continued implementation of the Authority's Technology Strategy whilst reaping the results of recent investments.
• A focus on ensuring stability, continuity, and growth for both the Authority and the sector.
• Continued focus on investor protection and consumer education.
• 52 enforcement actions taken, with the Authority issuing a total of €975,462 in administrative penalties, as opposed to the combined total of €1.2M issued in the three years between 2017 and 2019.
• A tenfold increase in the number of registered beneficial owners of trusts with more than 3000 declarations being registered.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a leader in providing essential information to help customers predict and manage risk, recently released its annual True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance Global Report, based on a survey of 1,015 financial crime compliance decision makers at financial institutions including banks as well as investment, asset management and insurance firms globally.
According to the report, the projected total cost of financial crime compliance across all financial institutions reached $213.9 billion in 2021, surpassing the $180.9 billion recorded in 2020. The majority of this sizeable year-over-year increase is represented by Western European counties and the United States, which continue to represent 82.7% of global total projected costs.
3. Interactive Brokers (UK) Sees 21% YoY Jump in Total Turnover in 2020
Fazzaco learned that Interactive Brokers (UK) Limited, a broker/dealer trading company in the UK, has posted its annual financial figures for the year 2020, ending on December 31, revealing a huge growth in turnover on a YoY basis.
More specifically, the FCA-regulated broker registered a total turnover of £42.3 million, compared to the previous year's £35 million. The pre-tax profits came in at £15.3 million, 14.5% lower than a year earlier(2019: £17.9 million). The after-tax profit reached £13.8 million.
Number of clients rose to 53,895 from 44,216 the year before, showing an increase of 21.9%. However, a mass migration of clients occurred from the UK entity to other sister entities resulting in a drop of 44 percent in clients' numbers.
4. FXCM Launches 'Client First, Trader Driven' Initiative as a Brand Refresh
FXCM, a leading international provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, cryptocurrencies and related services, starts a brand refresh with an ambitious 'Client First' initiative expanding its product offering and boosting its client service as a part.
Highlighted by the 'client first, trader driven' tagline, 'Client First' initiative is believed a strong commitment to client service. FXCM has demonstrated this commitment so far in 2021, reporting that its average live-chat pick-up time was five seconds, while 100% of calls were answered in 45 seconds and emails replied to within a day.
5. Global Kapital Gains FINRA License by Acquiring GK TRADE New York LLC
Fazzaco learned that financial services firm Global Kapital Group (GKG), parent of retail FX broker GKFX, has announced its acquisition of GK TRADE New York LLC, licensed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
The Group aims to enter the US market through its latest acquisition, enabling us-based clients to trade securities and mutual funds.
6. Acuity Trading Launches New R&D Centre in Barcelona
Fazzaco learned that Acuity Trading, a news technology company, has formally launched its new R&D Centre in Barcelona. The new Spanish company is Acuity Trading's latest expansion into Europe as part of a strategic growth plan.
According to the official press release, the centre will be dedicated to bringing together deep expertise in data science and machine learning to improve existing, tech-based capabilities and to develop emerging technologies that will power the future fintech industry.
7. Former AvaTrade Executives Launch New Retail FX Broker GoDo
Fazzaco learned that Mohamed Ahmed and Ebieraja Alex, former senior executives at AvaTrade, have launched a new retail FX and CFDs brokerage firm GoDo.
GoDo is a Mauritius FSC regulated entity and will be based in and managed from Dubai. Mohamed Ahmed was CEO of AvaTrade's Dubai based operation for the past two years. Ebieraja Alex was Head Of Business Development for Mr. Ahmed in AvaTrade UAE for the past year and a half.
GoDo is offering trading on the MT4 platform, as well as via ZuluTrade copy trading and RoboX social trading. It will initially focus on the Arabic language trader market, but the company has plans to expand to other markets and jurisdictions, and add additional licenses.
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