In a Finance Magnates exclusive, we can reveal that FX industry veteran Ilies Larbi, has departed from FXCM after nearly 15 years of service.
Larbi, a well-known and popular figure in the FX industry, has departed from FXCM to launch Ouinex, an international crypto-exchange headquartered in France.
Larbi, based in Paris, departs FXCM having most recently held the role of Global Head of Retail Partnerships for the last year and a half in a long and distinguished career with the international broker.
Having started as a sales associate in 2007, Illes quickly rose through the ranks becoming the VP of Sales in France. After stints in Germany and the UK, Ilies held different Managing Director roles with FXCM in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Finance Magnates got the opportunity to get the exclusive story on Larbi’s departure from FXCM. This includes his thoughts on the crypto industry, getting the low down on Ouinex, and the exciting new venture with Larbi, a graduate of McGill University and Wharton University, as its Co-Founder and CEO.
After nearly 15 years and an impressive roster of positions with FXCM, you are launching a new global crypto exchange Ouinex. What prompted the change and why now?
Like many in the TradeFI industry, I have been closely monitoring the digital asset industry and the evolution of trading products associated with that space. I think it's fair to say that the 'crypto' universe has become too large to ignore. We are seeing crypto adoption progress within the institutional space and a regulatory environment that has become more mature and relatively 'stable' in certain countries such as France. We have also noted an increased demand from the TradeFI-savvy retail audience for a regulated solution that provides advanced trading functionalities. In past months, things have lined up for me from a professional perspective, and I have had the opportunity to meet the right people who have shared the same vision. We have decided to take the leap and start Ouinex.
Can you tell us more about Ouinex? What stage are you at now? and I understand you already have some key personnel in place. What more can you reveal about the team and the project itself?
Ouinex (pronounced 'win-ex') is a crypto exchange designed for active traders, whether institutional or retail. We have been refining the concept for some time and collating genuine feedback from surveys we conducted on thousands of TradeFI traders. We have understood their demands, and, simply put, Ouinex will provide a solution that will answer that demand.
In alignment with our global ambitions, the Ouinex team comprises international members in Latin America, Africa, the UK & Europe. They are all senior executives, each with over 15 years of experience in Tier 1 Financial Institutions, with proven track records in their respective expertise. We will be releasing the whitepaper in the near future, wherein more detail will be shared.
At this stage, we are entering the pre-seed funding round.
In a crowded marketplace, what will make Ouinex stand out from its competitors?
Let's define the marketplace first. Ouinex is targeting a very particular audience. An audience that we know very well and to whom we have been providing TradeFI trading services for over a decade now. We have a very specific demand emanating from them, and we need to satisfy that demand in order to help them make the leap into the digital asset space. For the regions we are targeting, I don't think that the 'marketplace' is that crowded. In 4 brief bullet points, Ouinex will separate itself from competitors by:
- Its proprietary trading platform with advanced trading functionalities and automation capabilities,
- Quality of price and speed of trading execution,
- High touch approach to Client services in a scalable format,
- Security and Regulation.
You have chosen Paris as your headquarters, why Paris, and what effect do you think the granting of a license for Binance will have upon yourselves and the French crypto scene?
We needed a crypto-friendly jurisdiction that not only embraces the digital asset ecosystem but also promotes it by providing clear regulations and a legal framework within which innovation can thrive. France, along with the local regulator the AMF, provides just that, and we are grateful for it. Our choice of country has certainly been confirmed by Binance's granting of the PSAN License, attesting to France's position as the European crypto hub. We feel Ouinex is poised to profit from their presence which should positively impact crypto adoption in France.
You said a focus for Ouinex will be on the EU, African and Latin American markets, three very different markets, presumably requiring three very different approaches. Why these three regions and what differences have you noticed in the strategies required?
As a team, we have extensive experience selling TradeFI financial services in these 3 regions, previously having successfully conquered these markets. It was only natural to address these regions to capitalise on our respective networks. I said earlier that the Ouinex differentiator is our high touch approach to client services. In fact, our goal is to reinstate human engagement at the core of our services in an industry that has been suffering from generally poor client services across the board. In France and the EU, we will do this via our physical presence. The question then becomes: How do you scale your ability to service clients in a split second without using FAQs or chatbots but with actual human interactions in regions where you might not be allowed to be present physically. We believe we have a solution for this involving decentralisation, our community of active traders and our utility token OUIX. We shall deploy this approach in Africa and Latam mainly.
Lastly, exciting times for you and the Ouinex project, what should we be looking out for from you over the coming months?
They are indeed exciting times for Ouinex. We are entering our pre-seed funding period imminently, shortly after we will be announcing our ICO for our token OUIX. In a few weeks, we will be launching our ICO website which will provide a more definite timeline and extensive details about Ouinex, the team and the tokenomics of OUIX.
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