Fazzaco Weekly Digest: NAGA Hires Former Tickmill Compliance Leader; Plus500's Q1 2024 Financial Results; Acuity Trading Partners with Excent Capital

Last week witnessed significant changes in the industry, as several well-known companies, including NAGA, ATFX, Exinity​, GCEX, IG Group​, and Binance, made high-level transitions that garnered widespread attention. 

Apart from advancing their careers through promotions and job transitions, a number of senior leaders opted to embark on new entrepreneurial ventures in pursuit of their ambitions. Notably, the former CEO of Admiral recently unveiled FirstByt, a SaaS company providing technical support to both traditional financial and cryptocurrency market participants. Additionally, MetroTrade​, founded by two seasoned industry experts and entrepreneurs, successfully obtained registration as a CFTC introducing broker and became a member of NFA last week. 

In other news, several financial services companies, such as Plus500, Interactive Brokers, and Morgan Stanley​, released their latest quarterly financial reports, highlighting strong performance. 

However, the imminent implementation of the Technical Standards of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation Amendment (EMIR Refit) at the end of this month raises the question: are EU traders adequately prepared for the forthcoming trading regulatory rules? Fazzaco has explored this issue in the article "Listen to the Article: How is the OTC Derivatives Market Prepared for the Upcoming EMIR Refit?". 

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

1. A Dynamic Report of 63 Executive Moves of 46 Brokers, Fintechs & Crypto Firms Since Feb 2024​

This year, we will continuously follow the executive moves of various brokers and fintech companies in the financial sector, as well as crypto firms. In the following article, we present a statistical analysis of the executive movements in the forex / crypto market from February 6 2024 to April 12 2024.

By filtering the Fazzaco News database, the data in this article uses a total of 45 news under the Executive Moves tag reported by Fazzaco since February 2024, involving 63 job changes across 46 companies.

2. NAGA Hires Former Tickmill Compliance Leader Loukia Matsia as Head of Compliance and AML

Fazzaco has learned that NAGA Group, a financial technology company specializing in social trading, has appointed Loukia Matsia as Head of Compliance and AML.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Matsia joined NAGA from Tickmill Europe, a CySEC-regulated FX and CFD broker, where she served for over eight years and held various leading roles, including Head of Back Office, Compliance Officer, and most recently, Head of Compliance and AML. Prior to that, Matsia worked for about two years at 24Option and CommexFX, where she was involved in administration/customer services.

3. Prop firm Stocknet Institute Integrates Leverate's SiRiX​

Prop trading firm Stocknet Institute has integrated Leverate's cutting-edge trading platform, SiRiX, into its platform, in a move to offer traders an unparalleled opportunity to access a top-notch platform that helps enhance learning and trading strategies.

In this collaboration, Stocknet Institute will leverage Leverate's expertise and the advanced capabilities of SiRiX, which provides easy access to advanced indicators and chart analysis.

4. Plus500 Registers Strong Financial Results for Q1 2024

Plus500, a global multi-asset fintech group operating technology-based trading platforms, today released its trading data for the three months ended 31 March 2024 (Q1 2024), reporting a strong financial and operational results for the first quarter of the year.

Revenue totaled $215.6 million for the quarter, 4% higher than $207.9 million in Q1 2023 and 14% higher than $189.6 million in Q4 2023.

5. Former Admiral CEO Victor Gherbovet Launches New SaaS Solution Provider FirstByt​

Former Admiral CEO Victor Gherbovet has launched FirstByt, a new SaaS technology company that offers end-to-end solutions including white labels, legal support, payments, compliance,s sales, and marketing services for crypto and traditional market participants. The company now has offices in Lithuania and Romania.

As seen on the FirstByt website, the company was co-founded by Victor Gherbovet, Serg Gulko, and Victor Gherbovet. Currently, Victor Gherbovet serves as the co-CEO, while Gulko takes on the role of Chief Technology Officer.

6. Acuity Trading and Excent Capital Team up to Enhance Trading with Advanced Analytical Tools

Acuity Trading, a pioneering provider of cutting-edge market analytics and trading solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Excent Capital, a global platform known for its innovative trading solutions.

This collaboration is set to equip Excent Capital with Acuity's state-of-the-art trading tools, including AnalysisIQ, Economic Calendar, and NewsIQ, all available in multiple languages to cater to a diverse global clientele. These tools are designed to seamlessly integrate across various platforms, from web and mobile to MT4/5 & proprietary technology, providing Excent Capital's clients with unmatched trading insights.

7. Listen to the Article: How is the OTC Derivatives Market Prepared for the Upcoming EMIR Refit?​

On October 7, 2022, Fazzaco reported on the Technical Standards of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation Amendment approved by the European Parliament and Council. This regime, known as EMIR Refit, will officially come into effect on April 29, 2024.

EMIR Refit introduces three significant changes worth noting. As per the regulations set forth by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), all over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, i.e., derivatives traded outside trading venues, will utilize a unique product identifier (UPI).