Fazzaco Weekly Digest: Swissquote Expands Themes Trading; SPACs Can Now Be Listed and Traded in Switzerland; Joshua Choi Joins TradeZero

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

1. Swissquote Expands Themes Trading with “Metaverse” Certificate​

Fazzaco learned that Swissquote, Switzerland's leading bank in online trading services, has added Metaverse Certificate to its Themes Trading Offering.

The Swissquote Metaverse Certificate invests in companies that are expected to benefit from the metaverse, including but not limited to, companies creating virtual worlds, developing hardware to access the metaverse or enabling digital payments.

2. SPACs Can Now Be Listed and Traded in Switzerland, Says SIX​

The SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX) announced today that as of 6th December 2021, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) can be listed and traded on SIX. Authorization from all of the relevant authorities has been obtained.

According to the official press release, the new listing standard for SPACs caters for the specific characteristics of these vehicles while upholding an appropriate degree of investor protection.

3. Joshua Choi Joins TradeZero as Its New CFO​

TradeZero, an online broker and stock trading platform, announced that it has appointed Joshua Choi at its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). According to the company, the appointment is part of its plans to expand its C-suite as it transitions to a public company through a business combination with Dune Acquisition Corporation.

Before joining TradeZero, Choi has been serving as Director at Fortress Investment Group since 2015. Prior to that, he was with the private equity team at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

4. MarketAxess Extends Its EM Local Markets Offering into Egypt, Hong Kong and Serbia​

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MarketAxess), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets, announced yesterday the extension of its Emerging Markets (EM) offering to Egypt (EGP), Hong Kong (HKD) and Serbia (RSD).

MarketAxess elaborated that its local currency trading, which now also includes onshore Chinese debt (CNY), rose 20% YoY to more than $147 billion in the Q3 2021. The number of active participants trading Emerging Markets debt across the MarketAxess platform hit a record of over 1,300 firms.

5. CMC Markets Promotes Camilla Boldracchi to Institutional Services Team Leader​

Fazzaco learned that UK online broker CMC Markets has promoted Camilla Boldracchi to the position of Institutional Services Team Leader.

As seen on her LinkedIn profile, Camilla joined CMC Markets as Associate Institutional Relationship Manager in April 2019. Prior to CMC Markets, she worked as Business Development Manager at PhillipCapital UK. She started her career as Project Assistant at Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in January 2014.

6. CySEC Issues Warning Against Unregulated Entities​

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has exposed recently six websites not belonging to an entity which has been granted an authorization for the provision of investment services and/or the performance of investment activities, as provided for in Article 5 of Law 87 (I)/2017.

7. ComplyAdvantage Launches Anti-money Laundering Guide for Digital Banks​

ComplyAdvantage, a RegTech company providing anti-money laundering technology, today announced the launch of its new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Guide For Digital Banks.

The guide provides firms – including neo and challenger banks – offering digital-first services with a clear understanding of the regulatory challenges they may face; how best to structure an effective, customer-centric AML program and; real-world examples of success stories from digital-first banks.