Fazzaco Weekly Digest: US FX Brokers' Retail Deposits Data; Plus500 FY 2022 Results; Julian Gay Joins oneZero

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

1. US Forex Brokers' Retail Deposits Drop in November, Gain Capital Still Dominates

Retail FX deposits at brokerages in the US, one of the most developed investment markets worldwide, dropped in November 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) date showed.

The CFTC has published its monthly report, which covers data for FCMs that are registered as Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFEDs) and those included as broker-dealers that hold retail Forex obligations in the United States, namely Gain Capital Group LLC, IG US LLC, Interactive Brokers LLC, OANDA Corporation, CHARLES SCHWAB Futures & Forex LLC and the newest comer Trading.com Markets.

According to the CFTC dataset, the FX funds held at six registered brokerages hit over $486.1 million in November 2022. Excluding Trading.com Markets, the retail FX deposits of the five established brokers reached $485.5 million, a month-on-month increase of 3.6 percent compared with the $503.6 million reported in October 2022.

2. Plus500 Reports $832 Million Revenue for FY 2022

Plus500, a global multi‐asset fintech group operating proprietary technology‐based trading platforms, has issued the following trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2022. 

FY 2022 Group revenue grew to approximately $832m (FY 2021: $718.7m), supported by a strong level of Customer Income, a key measure of the Group's underlying performance, of approximately $639m during the year (FY 2021: $702.8m). Customer Trading Performance for FY 2022 was approximately $193m (FY 2021: $15.9m), with the Company continuing to expect that its contribution will be broadly neutral over time.

​3. Julian Gay Moves to oneZero as Director, Institutional Sales EMEA from smartTrade

oneZero Financial Systems, a multi-asset enterprise trading technology provider, has added Julian Gay as its Director, Institutional Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Julian is a sales veteran who boasts seasoned experience in the eFX sector for around two decades.

Before joining oneZero, Julian worked at smartTrade Technologies, a leading global provider of multi-asset electronic trading platforms, as Director, EMEA Sales. Prior to that, he has spent more than thirteen years at Integral Development Corp., an end-to end eFX solution provider, where he first served as Vice President, European Sales, then rose to Director, EMEA Sales after over four years.

4. Exness' Trading Volume up 5% MoM in December Though Active Clients Declined

The leading global multi-asset broker Exness has released the trading volume statistics with forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) instruments on its platform for the month of December 2022, showing a monthly rise in its total trading volume despite a decline in the number of active customers.

According to the broker, the total trading volume for the month came in at $2525 billion, which is up from last month's $2405 billion. That was a month-over-month increase of almost 5 percent.

​5. Saxo Bank Considers Local Listing After SPAC Merger Collapses

Saxo Bank, a Copenhagen-based retail FX and CFDs broker, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) at Nasdaq Copenhagen as early as this year.

​This follows the termination of the proposed business combination of Saxo Bank and Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company Limited (DCAC) last month, citing that "the timing is not optimal".

6. Collapsed Crypto Exchange FTX Recovers over $5Bn Assets

Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX has located more than $5bn (£4.1bn) of assets, an attorney for the firm says.

However, a US bankruptcy court was told on Wednesday that the extent of losses to customers is still not known.

Prosecutors have accused FTX's former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried of orchestrating an "epic" fraud that may have cost investors, customers and lenders billions of dollars.

7. SVG FSA Requires Forex Brokers to Submit Certified Copy of Requisite Licences Until March 10​

The regulatory agency of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued a formal notice to all Registered Agents and Trustees of the new requirements in place for SVG-registered Business Companies (BCs) and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) currently engaged in and seeking to engage in forex business activity.

Companies wishing to engage in Forex business must provide a certified copy of requisite licences/approval from the jurisdiction(s)/authorities where their business activities will be conducted upon the submission of an application to be incorporated or formed in SVG. An application will be rejected if no such evidence is provided.