News Nuggets | 22 May: BUX Zero Rebrands; XTB MENA Adds Shares Trading

BUX Zero Rebrands to BUX

Zero-commission investment platform, BUX Zero, announced the rebranding of its platform to BUX, aligning with the branding of the fintech’s flagship.

“We are growing up as a firm and have become a more sophisticated player in the space. This needs to be reflected in the brand name,” said Yorick Naeff, the CEO at BUX. “Dropping the Zero in the BUX Zero name signifies our commitment to this flagship application and shows that we are more than just a price leader.”

“We are incrementally increasing access to financial markets and the ease-of-use of our app through automated investing, interest on uninvested cash, and access to numerous asset classes.”

Last year, BUX rebranded its CFDs platform to Stryk, previously BUX X. The company wanted to differentiate the brands of its CFDs platform and zero-fee trading platform.

IC Markets Inks New Sponsorship Deal

IC Markets, an Australia-headquartered FX/CFDs broker, has become the sponsor of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2023, which will be held between May 20 to May 28 in Durban, South Africa.

The broker’s branding will be displayed alongside the Agricultural Bank of China, DHS, Double Fish, Enlio, Floki, Ganten, Liebherr, Li-Ning, Shui Jing Fang, and TATA in the sports tournament.

“This partnership represents another significant step in advancing the global growth and popularity of table tennis, and we are looking forward to a successful collaboration with IC Markets,” said Blythe Fitzwiliam, a World Table Tenis Business Development Director.

The sponsorship shows brokers’ growing interest in regional and niche sports. The announcement highlighted that the table tennis tournament is expected to get an audience of almost 250 million, which would boost the brand of the broker.

Scope Markets Adds New Business Development Manager

Scope Markets, an FX/CFDs broker owned by the Rostro Group, has hired Frans Mans as a Business Development Manager in South Africa. It is at least the second appointment made by the broker in the country. The broker onboarded Linton White as the General Manager of South Africa Operations in April.

The appointment came when the broker considered expanding services in many regions, including MENA and Asia.

XTB Expands MENA Offering

Poland-headquartered XTB is expanding its offering in the MENA region with the addition of stocks from the 15 largest stock exchanges in the world, including NYSE, LSE, and Deutsche Boerse. The new instruments will be available for trading on Monday.

XTB MENA received an operating license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in 2021 and started offering services within months. Until now, the broker's services in MENA have been limited to contracts for differences (CFDs).

“The development of our product offer in the MENA market is a natural step in our growth. Our goal is to provide our clients with a full investment spectrum, so we are constantly working on the development from both the perspective of products but also technology,” said Omar Arnaout, the CEO of XTB.

“I will also not hide the fact that our branch in Dubai is one of the fastest growing. This shows the enormous interest in financial markets in this region, and I am pleased that local investors will gain new investment opportunities.”

ASIC Bans Individual for ‘Naked Short Selling’

The Australian financial services regulator, ASIC, has banned the former Gleneagle Securities fund manager and authorized representative, Gregory Tolpigin for three years for their engagement in naked short selling.

According to the regulator, Tolpigin engaged in the naked short selling of shares on 150 occasions from 19 January to 27 August 2021, totaling over AU$7 million. He sold those shares through accounts held with Gleneagle Securities and associated entities.

Naked short selling is when a person sells a financial instrument that is not held by the person and cannot be transferred to the buyer at the time of order placement. Tolpigin did not own or borrow the shares when placing the sell order.

“ASIC views the prohibition on naked short selling as an essential policy for the maintenance of financial market integrity,” the regulator stated. “It reduces the risk of settlement failure, distortions to the operation of financial markets and abusive short selling that can artificially depress prices. It also improves the accuracy of information available to the market.”