New Year's read: N.Korea bans forex, ACM continues restructuring, interview with Forex fund managers

North Korea to ban Forex :

North Korea will ban the use of foreign currency from New Year's Day in another move to reassert the communist regime's control over the economy, South Korean officials and analysts said Thursday.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a report of the ban carried by China's Xinhua news agency earlier this week.

Xinhua, reporting from Pyongyang, quoted a decree by the North's Ministry of People's Security which prohibits all units and individuals from using foreign currency from January 1.

Foreigners will have to exchange money into North Korean won, the decree said, adding that any violation would be "severely punished".

The ruling came less than a month after the North issued new won banknotes as part of a 100-to-one currency revaluation. It restricted the amount of old notes which could be changed for new currency, sparking widespread anger.

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ACM replaces the head of its Dubai office:

ACM's Dubai office will now be managed by Mario A. Camara and Tarek Bazerbachi, who will be overseeing the firm's operations in the Middle East and Asia. Camara will be responsible for operations, management of institutional clients, legal, compliance, finance and marketing. Meanwhile, Bazerbachi will be in charge of sales. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, Camara held the position of Chief Legal Officer and was responsible for successfully incorporating ACM's subsidiaries in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and obtaining the corresponding licenses.

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Kaploun And Zalessky: Absolute Opportunities

Nikita Kaploun and Paul Zalessky founded their trading firm, Absolute Capital Management, in 2008, but neither are trading neophytes with a combined 13 years of trading experience and additional experience as analysts at institutional trading firms.

Zalessky became interested in the investment industry while studying finance at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, where he earned a master of mathematics degree, specializing in statistics and finance, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. His mathematics background helped him to create quantitative investment strategies, and he got involved in Forex Trading “because it allows for numerous trading opportunities,” he says.

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