ESMA on CySEC, Russian Sanctions, Stax, eToro: Editor's Pick

ICYMI: the biggest news stories of the week

eToro Reports 2.4 Million Funded Accounts in 2021 Financial Results

The trading week kicked off with eToro releasing its fourth-quarter of 2021 full-year financial results, noting a significant increase in total commission. According to the report for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, the investment platform netted $304 million, which is up 85% compared with Q4 of 2020.

Net trading income saw a surge of 50% compared with the last quarter of 2020, after pocketing $237 million. Also, 2.1 million new registered users were seen on the platform during the period, representing a 31% increase compared with Q4 of 2020, with 26.9 million total registered users as of December 31, 2021.

FTX Gains CySEC License to Offer Regulated Crypto Products in Europe

Monday also saw the news that Crypto exchange giant, FTX has expanded its footprint in Europe with the establishment of a new entity and is obtaining a regulatory license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

The new entity, FTX Europe, is headquartered in Switzerland and has regional headquarters based in Cyprus. The company aims to expand its presence in Europe and the Middle East.

The move is strategic as it will now passport its CySEC license to offer regulated cryptocurrency investment products in European Economic Area (EEA) countries. The services will be provided through its domain ftx.com/eu.

ESMA Recommends CySEC to Improve Cross-Border Activities Supervision

The European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA ) has acknowledged the shortcomings in the supervision of cross-border investment activities in the European Union.

The EU regulator further provided two recommendations specifically to CySEC, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission which oversees the financial services companies based in Cyprus. These recommendations were made under ESMAs Article 16 and it is the first time an NCA received them.

The specific instructions to CySEC aim to Increase the human resources needed for the supervision of the cross-border services of the Cypriot investment firms. Further, the EU regulator wants CySEC to strengthen its supervisory activities around the monitoring and enforcement of compliance measures.

CySEC Comments on Recent Peer Review Made by ESMA

Following the ESMA recommendations to CySEC, the Cypriot regulatory authority then issued a statement welcoming the recommendations.

How Are FX Brokers Responding to Russian Sanctions？

Western governments have responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine with an unprecedented barrage of economic sanctions. Multiple global financial companies have followed up with sanctions of their own.

The European Unions ban of seven Russian commercial banks from accessing the inter-bank messaging network, SWIFT, which is used for cross-border payments transfer has had a massive impact.

The sanctions have not only affected business in Russia but also foreign companies that are providing services in Russia and having Russian clients. But, are forex brokers affected？

Payments Startup Stax Gets Unicorn Status after Raising $245M

Payments platform, Stax announced the closure of a $245 million funding round on Tuesday that took the valuation of the company to $1 billion. The valuation was reached after raising an additional round of capital.

The investors in the funding round include Greater Sum Ventures (GSV), HarbourVest Partners and Blue Star Innovation Partners. In addition, Rob Wechsler, the Founder and CEO of Blue Star, will join as a member of Staxs board.

Integral Posts 8.9% YoY Surge in ADV during February

Integral, one of the largest technology companies in the foreign exchange (FX) market, recently announced the average daily volumes (ADV) for February 2022. The number touched $54.9 billion in the reported period, which is up by 8.9% compared to the same period in 2021.

Compared to January 2022, the latest figure increased by almost 12.7%. Customers average daily volumes climbed consistently during the first two months of the running year. In January 2022, the FX technology provider reported a strong recovery in the ADV as the number reached $48.7 billion.

NFTs: Still Building through the Dips

Crypto commentary is nothing if not fickle, and that applies even more with NFTs. Currently, the entire NFT market is going through a dip, with the prices and sales volumes of most collections down significantly in recent days.

Could there be harder NFT corrections still to come？ Will we see NFT projects' value hit zero？ Finance Magnates discusses the recent dip in NFTs.

SIX Sees 83% Decline in 2021 Profits, Revenue Rises

SIX Swiss Exchange released its consolidated financials for 2021, reporting an annual net profit of CHF 73.5 million (around $79.2 million), which is a decline of 83.2 percent from the prior year.

However, the European exchange strengthened its operating income by 8.9 percent to almost CHF 1.9 billion. EBITDA for the year came in at CHF 421.7 million, which is 14.8 percent higher. But, EBIT came down by 71.4 percent to CHF 147.2 million.

Chinese Broker Futus Q4 2021 Revenue Jumps 35%, Net Profit Slips

Futu (Nasdaq: FUTU), which is known for providing Chinese traders access to US and Hong Kong stock markets, released its unaudited fourth-quarter financials, reporting a revenue increase of 35.1 percent to HK$1.6 billion (around $205.5 million).

The gross profit of the company came in at HK$1.39 billion ($177.7 million), a year-over-year increase of 46.8 percent. However, the net income declined by 6.3 percent to HK$498.8 million ($64.0 million), whereas the adjusted figure stood at HK$533.4 million ($68.4 million), which is down 3.5 percent.

The Neutrality of Crypto

As the use of crypto to raise money and circumvent sanctions becomes more and more apparent, Finance Magnates looked at the neutrality of crypto.

After the Canadian Convey sanctions of last month and now the need for crypto by both Ukrainians and Russians, has crypto's neutrality been as important as now？

Official Sales Launch - iFX EXPO International 2022

Following on from the success of the recent iFX EXPO in Dubai, the iFX EXPO International 2022 taking place in Limassol, Cyprus is now taking bookings for booths and sponsorships.

It's back at the Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center (Palais de Sports) meaning bigger and better opportunities for booths and sponsorships so the race is on to secure the top spots.

The event offers unrivaled panels, international speakers, stellar networking opportunities and glamorous parties so fintech and finance brands wont want to miss out.