News Nuggets | 19 April: Maoz Tenenbaum Leaves Leverate; Cornerstone's Revenue

Tribe Capital Eyes FTX Revival

Tribe Capital, a venture firm with prior investment in FTX is contemplating a new infusion of capital to aid in the revival of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange. Arjun Sethi, Tribe's Co-Founder, engaged in discussions with FTX's unsecured creditors' committee in January to introduce a tentative proposal.

Tribe is reportedly exploring the possibility of spearheading a $250 million fundraising drive, featuring a $100 million commitment from itself and its limited partners.

Deutsche Bank President Set to Depart

Karl von Rohr, the President of Deutsche Bank, has notified the Supervisory Board that he will not seek to extend his contract as a Management Board Member beyond its expiration in October 2023.

Von Rohr joined Deutsche Bank in 1997 and became a Management Board Member in 2015. Initially, he oversaw Human Resources, Legal, and Governance before being appointed to President in April 2018. Later, he assumed responsibility for the Private Bank and Deutsche Bank's Asset Management in July 2019, primarily comprising the majority stake in fund manager DWS. Since 2018, von Rohr has served as the Chairman of DWS's Supervisory Board.

Barclays Fined $2.5 Million by FINRA

Barclays Capital Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as part of a settlement proposal for alleged rule violations. By submitting a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), Barclays seeks to resolve the matter while ensuring that FINRA will not initiate any further actions based on the same facts contained in the AWC.

Barclays Capital, a member of FINRA since 1987, is a financial services company with 16 branches and roughly 3,000 registered representatives.

The alleged violations span from January 2011 to December 2022 and involve around 4.3 million instances of failure to report or inaccurate reporting of over-the-counter options positions. Additionally, Barclays Capital has been accused of neglecting to establish and maintain a supervisory system that complies with FINRA rules during this period.

Broadridge and Linedata Partner to Enhance Post-Trade Matching

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a major global fintech firm, announced today that it is expanding its partnership with Linedata, a provider of asset management and credit technology data and services.

This extension aims to improve automation in middle and back-office functions related to trade matching. As part of the collaboration, Broadridge's NYFIX Matching solution will be integrated directly with Linedata's Order Management System (OMS), powered by its Asset Management Platform (AMP).

George Rosenberger, General Manager of NYFIX at Broadridge, expressed that the partnership demonstrates both companies' commitment to offering an optimized post-trade matching service to a broad client base.

Maoz Tenenbaum Leaves Leverate, Starts Consultation Business

Leverate's Vice President of Global Sales for the last four years, Maoz Tenenbaum left the company earlier this month. He will leverage his expertise in the industry to start an independent consulting business for the trading space. His focus will be to help brokers establish their businesses and connect them with technology providers and assist in marketing efforts.

Tenenbaum told Finance Magnates: "Having accumulated over eight years of experience as a sales professional in the fintech industry, I possess a comprehensive understanding of the entire ecosystem. This includes trading platforms, CRM, affiliates, and payment solutions. My core focus is centered on facilitating the growth of fintech companies by leveraging my extensive network, knowledge, and sales expertise to help them form strategic alliances and acquire new clientele."

RoboForex Allows Performance Fees Adjustment in Copy Trading

RoboForex has enhanced its copy trading platform for traders by introducing performance fees adjustment on trades copied by investors. However, the performance fees paid by the Investor to the Trader are subject to profitable trades.

"This novelty will allow Traders not only to make a profit on their own trades, but also receive added income in the form of Performance fee for their positions copied by Investors who are following them," the broker said in the announcement.

Worldline and Crédit Agricole to Form a French Payments Giant

Worldline and Crédit Agricole SA signed a non-binding exclusive strategic partnership agreement for the creation of a major player in the French payment market.

It will be an opportunity for Worldline to expand its footprint in the payments industry further. Under the terms, Worldline will be the payments technology provider, while Crédit Agricole will leverage its distribution networks.

"The perfect fit of Worldline's state-of-the-art products, technology, and services at scale combined with Crédit Agricole Group unique distribution network and acquiring market leadership would be a key differentiating factor for our customers," said the CEO of Worldline, Gilles Grapinet.

Cornerstone FS Expects £1.95M in Q1 Revenue

Cornerstone FS Plc (AIM: CSFS), a foreign exchange and payments company, provided a trading update on Wednesday, reporting its unaudited revenue expectation of about £1.95 million for the first quarter of 2023. It was a significant improvement from £0.95 million in the same period of the previous year.

The company highlighted that the revenue growth was boosted by the increased focus on revenue generation with the sales team that was introduced at the end of last year and also with an expanding partnership network. However, the board does not expect a similar growth rate in the second quarter of the year.

“This has been an exceptionally strong quarter for Cornerstone,” said James Hickman, the CEO of Cornerstone.

“We have generated substantial revenue growth, compared to the same quarter last year, driven by our enhanced sales efforts as we focus on commercializing our existing platform. I am delighted that we achieved our first EBITDA positive quarter. We are cautiously optimistic both in terms of revenue performance and EBITDA positivity for the 2023 financial year.”

FCA Warns against FX Rally

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continues to clamp down on illegal platforms and recently flagged the unauthorized firm FX Rally. It offers CFDs trading with margin forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other asset classes.

"This firm may be providing financial services or products without our authorization. You should avoid dealing with this firm and beware of potential scams," the FCA stated.

On its website, the platform notes a British Virgin Islands address as its office, along with a UK phone number and an email.

"Some firms may give incorrect contact details including postal addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. They may change these contact details over time," the FCA added. "They may also give you details that belong to another business or individual, so the information looks genuine."