News Nuggets | 12 April: Darwinex Zero Goes Live; VTB Forex Adds CNY Pairs

Exness Promotes Shayma Ghanim to Country Manager

Exness, a top forex and CFDs provider, has promoted Shayma Ghanim, its former Senior Key Account Manager and Team Leader for the Middle East and North Africa, to the position of Country Manager. Ghanim announced the new role on Wednesday through LinkedIn.

Ghanim's promotion comes two years after she joined Exness in her former role. Writing on LinkedIn, the executive noted that she hopes to leverage the experiences and knowledge she gathered from her previous role “to help further drive Exness’ growth in the region.”

Although the executive did not mention the region that she will be working from in her LinkedIn post, her profile on the professional networking platform shows the role is a Cyprus-based hybrid role.

Numerix Acquires FINCAD from Zafin

Numerix, a provider of risk management technology for stakeholders in the capital markets industry, has taken over FINCAD, a provider of pricing and risk analytics solutions for financial derivatives and fixed-income products. The company acquired FINCAD from Zafin, a pricing software solutions provider.

“This combination is a game changer for the industry, allowing Numerix clients to use the most robust front-to-risk decision making software with their choice of best of breed analytics," Steven R. O'Hanlon, the President and CEO of Numerix, explained in a statement.

Numerix further noted that both companies boast deep networks of sell-side, buy-side, corporate and insurance market clients across the capital markets industry.

Spotware Introduces cTrader Desktop 4.7

Spotware Systems has presented the cTrader Desktop 4.7 release, introducing a host of essential features for both traders and algo developers. The Market Replay functionality enables users to evaluate their trading strategies using historical data without risking real funds. The cTrader Automate API now includes comprehensive internet access, the ChartShot method, in-app notification sounds for cBots and custom indicators, and an integrated Help Center.

ZA Bank Reveals 'Banking for Web3' Aspirations

ZA Bank has unveiled its latest strategy aimed at becoming the premier banking choice for the Web3 ecosystem, offering critical banking services to Web3 enterprises.

In its dedication to the Web3 community, ZA Bank is now fully prepared to act as the settlement bank for regulated Web3 entities in Hong Kong. Furthermore, it is ready to facilitate transactions for licensed virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) such as Hash Blockchain Limited in a prompt and efficient manner.

Darwinex Zero Goes Live

On Wednesday, Darwinex announced the launch of Darwinex Zero, a subscription-based trading platform that allows traders to execute trades on the live market without risking any capital.

Traders need to pay a monthly subscription of €38 and a €95 one-off payment for signing up. It will provide access to over 900 CFDs instruments of forex, stocks, commodities, and stocks. The platform has plans to expand the offering by adding futures, spot stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.

Darwinex Zero offers a virtual trading account on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. The program starts with traders proving their skills on the virtual account and then receiving seed capital on a tier-based program.

In the first stage, traders can receive €25k to €250k in 3 months, and in the second stage, it can go up to €500k in 6 months. The third stage opens access to external investments, while in the final stage, traders can promote their brands and approach their own investors.

Fortex Expands Trading Platform Features

Fortex, a provider of trading technology, has enhanced the offered features on its platform to meet the demand of its European Union client base. Some of the newly added key features are one-click trading, lot trading, price levels on charts, and the ability to save changes on the chart.

"With the growing demand for trading technology solutions in EU regions, Fortex is well-positioned to meet the needs of traders with its comprehensive and cutting-edge platform," said Jake Zhi, the Director of Sales at Fortex. "Our latest expansion demonstrates our commitment to innovation and delivering exceptional value to our clients."

Recently, Fortex enhanced its flagship platform XForce by adding new features to it. Meanwhile, the company recently onboarded Aris Christoforou as the Head of Marketing and Regional Operations to strengthen its presence in the EU.

Saxo Bank Receives BBB Rating

S&P Global Ratings has rated Saxo Bank with BBB, which is the Denmark-headquartered group's first-ever rating.

Further, the company is in the process of being appointed a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) later this year by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA).

"We are pleased to receive a BBB rating with a positive outlook from S&P Global Ratings, which highlights our strong capital position and business model, cautious approach to risk management and ambitious growth strategy," said Søren Kyhl, Saxo Bank's Deputy CEO and COO.

"We are also excited about the prospect of becoming a SIFI later this year. This proposed designation is a recognition of our resilient business model and our commitment to providing top-quality platforms, products and services to our growing number of retail clients and institutional partners."

VTB Forex Adds Chinese Yuan

VTB Forex, one of the few Russian forex brokers, expanded the range of offered currency instruments with the addition of two new pairs: CNY/RUB and USD/CNY. Additionally, the broker highlighted that it will provide the narrowest spread on the Russian forex market for trading the CNY/RUB currency pair.

The addition of Chinese currency is strategic as the demand for CNY went up more than 44 times since the beginning of 2022 on Moscow Exchange. The most actively traded pairs are CNY/RUB and USD/CNY. The pair EUR/CNY is slightly less popular, the broker revealed.

"Like the Moscow Exchange, which became the first organized yuan market outside of China, VTB Forex became the first forex dealer in the Russian market to open yuan accounts for its clients to invest in forex," said VTB Forex's Vladimir Kostyukov.

"In our opinion, in the current situation, one of the most effective options for using foreign exchange assets is investing in the Forex market. I would like to note that in April 2023, the CNY/RUB currency pair in the turnover of exchange trading reached 39%, while the share of the USD/RUB pair decreased to the lowest in recent years 34%. Therefore, we are confident that new currency pairs with Chinese yuan will become in-demand and integral instruments in a trader's portfolio."

Ninety One Hong Kong Fined HK$1.4M

Hong Kong's financial market regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has reprimanded and fined Ninety One Hong Kong Limited (NOHK) HK$1.4 million for dealing in futures contracts without the required license.

According to the regulatory investigation, the company executed 4,864 trades in futures contracts between April 2014 and January 2020 for portfolios managed by its three overseas affiliates without a proper license, thus violating local laws.

However, the SFC highlighted that it is not clear if the company violated the provisions deliberately and also if there is any client loss. The violation was reported to the regulator by the firm itself, which also cooperated in the investigation.