News Nuggets | 8 June: Ex-CFTC Chair Joins Circle; Marqeta Shuts Aussie Office

CME Group Fines Trader $150,000 for Violating Rules

Chicago-based derivatives marketplace operator, CME Group, has fined a trader $150,000 and suspended him from its trading floor for allegedly violating the exchange’s rules.

Gregory Wasserman was banned by the exchange on claims he had entered orders for Soybean, Soybean Meal, and Soybean Oil futures with no intention to trade but to cancel the orders before execution or modify the orders to avoid execution. The violations are said to be committed between December 19, 2018, and November 8, 2019.

Furthermore, Wasserman reportedly entered the orders to mislead other market participants and to disrupt the operator’s fair executions of trade. Specifically, Wasserman entered large quantities on one side of the market alongside small amounts on the opposite side of the same market.

TipRanks Expands Offerings to French and Italian Stocks

Users can now access information about French and Italian stocks from TipRanks’ platform. The big data firm, which provides institutional-grade research tools and data to retail investors, announced the development yesterday (Wednesday), noting that it has expanded its offerings.

The addition means that users can get analyst ratings on desired French and Italian shares. On top of that, they now have access to Smart Score, charts, technical analysis and dividends and earnings information, among other features.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) recently integrated TipRanks’ Smart Portfolio solution with its new consumer-facing platform, TASE+, which provides users insight into their portfolio holdings. Furthermore, TipRanks recently launched research tools for the trading of 7,000 exchange-traded funds. The tools offer analyst forecasts and price targets, Smart Score prediction and technical analysis for ETFs.

Deutsche Bank's Asia-Pacific Head Departs

Jin Yee Young, the appointed Head of Deutsche Bank's private banking segment for the Asia Pacific region since January, has recently chosen to depart from the organization. His exit was made known via an internal memo that came to light on Thursday.

His vacated role is to be filled by Marco Pagliara, effective immediately, who will assume control over emerging markets, including the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. Pagliara is not new to Deutsche Bank, having joined the German financial institution in 2019.

FCA Flags Unlicensed Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued warnings against three unlicensed firms, BITBINX, TRADEMARKETSPRO, and wattsautoleasing.com, cautioning that they are not authorized to offer financial services within the UK. The notice was given out on Thursday.

BITBINX is known for offering automated cryptocurrency trading on its platform, while TRADEMARKETSPRO functions as a Contract for Difference (CFD) platform. Meanwhile, wattsautoleasing.com, which offers car leasing services, is a cloned entity of a company officially registered by the regulator.

Citi Introduces Automated Settlement

Citi Securities Services has announced the introduction of a new automated solution aimed at enhancing Citi’s custodial services in terms of post-trade instruction and settlement processing. The system is equipped with an innovative technology module that establishes a direct connection to the central clearing and settlement system (CCASS) of Hong Kong.

This technological advancement facilitates more efficient and timely settlement of trades for clients in the Hong Kong market depository. Furthermore, it offers greater flexibility and processing capability, unrestricted by the current market's settlement schedule.

JPX Warns of Imposter Services

Japan Exchange Group (JPX) has warned against certain applications and websites that falsely claim affiliation with the company to offer various trading services. These platforms, including JPXVIP.com and JPXtradefx.com, are not provided by the JPX Group, yet they exploit the 'JPX' trademark owned by the exchange.

JPX Group does not offer trading services directly to individuals and maintains no association with these or similar platforms.

BinckBank Penalized for Governance Flaws

The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) has levied an administrative fine of €530,000 on BinckBank N.V., currently trading under the name Saxo Bank. The fine was issued on 1 June 2023, and relates to the bank's failure from December 2019 to December 2021. During this time, BinckBank did not have clear procedures to protect clients. The aim was to ensure clients only invested in suitable financial products.

Furthermore, BinckBank's policy was vague and lacked specifics. This led to a large fine by the AFM. Since then, BinckBank has taken corrective action. The AFM has recently acknowledged that BinckBank’s current policy now complies with legal requirements.

Circle Onboards Former CFTC Chair

Stablecoin issuer Circle has announced the appointment of Heath Tarbert as the new Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate, effective from 1 July 2023. The appointment came after Circle obtained a payment institution license in Singapore.

"As we continue building a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, Heath's perspective, legal acumen, and global regulatory experience will help us advance the utility value of USDC worldwide," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle's Co-Founder and CEO.

Tarbert will join Circle from Citadel Securities Group, where he has been the Chief Legal Officer for the past two years. Additionally, he was the Chair and Chief Executive of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Moreover, he served for a couple of years in roles at the US Department of Treasury.

Exness Names New Global Head of Talent Acquisition

Cyrus-headquartered Exness promoted Mark Harrison as the Global Head of Talent Acquisition. He joined the broker in September 2017 and previously was the Head of Talent Acquisition.

"I am truly honored to have this incredible opportunity to lead our global strategic initiatives and drive the recruitment efforts that will enable us to attract and acquire top talent from all around the world," Harrison added.

"This promotion marks a significant milestone in my career, and I am eager to take on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

Harrison had a long career in the recruitment field and was part of the human resource team at the Finance Accreditation Agency, Citi, Huawei, and a few others.

Marqeta Shuts Australia Office

Marqeta, a global card issuing company, has closed its Australia office to cut operational expenses. The company posted a net loss of $69 million in the first quarter of 2023, which included a $32 million one-time noncash post-combination compensation expense linked to the Power acquisition.

"All existing Marqeta customers in Australia will continue to be supported by our US office. This doesn't impact their business," a Marqeta spokesperson said, adding that "all recently signed customers that are currently being onboarded will be supported," and the company will "continue to support our global customers who want to expand into Australia."

Nexdesk Enters Europe with B2B Crypto OTC Desk

Nexdesk has launched its B2B self-service digital asset OTC trading desk for European users. It enables B2B businesses to execute trades around the clock and offer digital assets like USDC, BTC, USDT, and ETH.

The company has partnered with Nexpay, a Lithuania-licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI), to offer banking and crypto operations.

"The OTC desk permits customers to execute large-volume trades with minimal price slippage," said Uldis Tēraudkalns, the CEO at Nexpay.

"Partnering with Nexdesk, we aim to provide a seamless user experience while prioritizing compliance, security, and customer satisfaction. As a licensed EMI, Nexpay abides by strict rules, and all customer funds are kept in segregated client accounts within the Bank of Lithuania, which is an integral part of the Eurosystem, giving our clients a very high level of security."

Ouinex Closes Pre-ICO Raising Over $2 Million

Ouinex, the cryptocurrency exchange launched by FX industry veteran Ilies Larbi, has closed the pre-seed (pre-ICO) funding raising more than $2 million. The company highlighted that the funding came from its user base of "over 1000 FX, CFDs, and equities traders" when the sentiment across Web3 and capital markets is bearish.

"This fundraiser represents the unequivocal confidence our users have in our ability to build one of the best performing crypto asset exchange platforms in the world," Larbi, who is leading the platform as the CEO, said.

The upcoming crypto exchange earlier partnered with Interactive Trading (IVT), a France-based trading academy hosting a community of 150,000 active traders. It is now aiming to launch the trading platform in Q1 2024.