Author: Desmond Brooks

Firstrade has strengthened its mobile trading app by integrating advanced AI powered tools from Trading Central, aiming to offer investors real time market insights and improved decision making capabilities. This collaboration seeks to provide traders with enhanced resources for understanding market dynamics and optimizing their investment strategies. New Trading Central Tools Now Available on Firstrade App The expanded partnership with Trading Central brings several new features to Firstrade’s mobile platform, including Technical Insight, TC Market Buzz, and thematic portfolios. These tools, already available to desktop users since February 2024, are now accessible to mobile app users as well. John Liu,…

WhiteBIT, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has achieved the highest level of certification for payment data security by obtaining the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1 certification. This accomplishment highlights the platform’s dedication to ensuring top notch security for its users’ financial information. The PCI DSS certification confirms that WhiteBIT follows the best practices for handling, storing, and processing payment card data, safeguarding users against cyber threats and online fraud. With this certification, customers can securely conduct transactions using payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay, confident that their data is protected. “Our customers’ security has…

Amid a global stock market resurgence, EBC Financial Group (EBC) is taking steps to boost liquidity across five key stock indices: the U.S. Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500, China’s A50, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. This move aims to provide investors with more efficient trading options around the clock, offering reduced trading costs and increased market access. As global capital seeks new growth opportunities, EBC’s liquidity enhancement comes at a crucial time, positioning investors to capitalize on the ongoing shifts in financial markets. With fresh capital inflows and a rise in initial public offerings (IPOs) driving stock markets worldwide,…

UK-based stockbroking platform Freetrade reported a trading volume of £3.4 billion for the 15 months ending in December 2023, marking a slight drop compared to £3.6 billion in the previous 12 months. The latest financial filing from the company covers a longer period as Freetrade shifts its fiscal year from October-September to January-December. Positive Results Amid Challenges Despite the drop in trading volume, Freetrade experienced a solid year in other areas. The company saw an increase in net funding of £240.2 million over the 15 months, although this was lower than the £598.4 million raised in the previous year. Additionally,…

The shift to a one-day settlement period (T+1) brings significant challenges, including the need for system updates, standardization, and alignment across the European Union’s financial markets. T+1 to Enhance Efficiency and Reduce Costs The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is gearing up to accelerate the securities settlement process from two days (T+2) to one day (T+1), aligning with global market trends. This move aims to reduce risk, lower costs, and enhance the efficiency of cross-border transactions, but it presents hurdles such as the modernization of post trade systems. ESMA has emphasized that substantial investments will be required to achieve…

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) currently oversees 328 Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs), while total assets under management (AUM) increased slightly in the second quarter of 2024, despite a yearly decline. Slight Decline in Company Numbers, Growth in Assets According to CySEC’s Q2 2024 statistics, the number of entities under its supervision dropped from 334 the previous year to 328, marking a 1.8% decrease. This figure includes 236 Externally Managed UCIs, 33 Internally Managed UCIs, and 69 External Fund Managers. The total AUM for these entities rose by 2.88% compared to the previous quarter, reaching…

Stripe has entered into a strategic partnership with FreedomPay to enhance enterprise-level payment solutions, offering businesses more flexibility in their point-of-sale (POS) systems. While Stripe’s Terminal is widely used by small and medium businesses for custom POS setups, larger enterprises typically rely on their established systems. This new collaboration aims to bridge that gap by integrating Stripe’s payment services with FreedomPay’s extensive network of over 1,000 supported POS systems and card readers. Bringing Unified Commerce to Large Enterprises FreedomPay specializes in providing integrated commerce solutions that bring together various POS systems, payment providers, and loyalty programs. By partnering with Stripe,…

Ebury, a prominent payments company owned by Santander, is broadening its reach by offering tailored payment solutions to forex (FX) and contracts for differences (CFD) brokers. This move marks a significant step in the company’s strategic growth, as it actively targets a new client segment to diversify its service offerings. Expanding into the Brokerage Sector Ebury began onboarding FX and CFD brokers in December 2023 and has since attracted more than 20 brokerage clients, with over a dozen currently using its services actively. The platform offers a range of financial tools designed specifically for brokers, including international bank accounts (IBANs)…

MetaQuotes has rolled out Build 4620 for its MetaTrader 5 platform, bringing a slew of updates aimed at improving stability, enhancing user experience, and supporting advanced trading strategies. This update went live on October 11, 2024, and addresses key issues with the MQL5 programming language while introducing exciting new features. What’s New in Build 4620? 1. Reliable Tick History RetrievalTraders can now access uninterrupted historical tick data, solving a bug that previously disrupted backtesting and strategy optimization. This enhancement ensures accuracy and consistency in analyzing past market movements—an essential feature for creating profitable strategies. Tick history improvements mirror trends in…

GCEX, a regulated digital prime brokerage, has introduced a new and enhanced market data feed solution that provides real-time data for a broad range of products, including Equity Index CFDs, Energy CFDs, Commodity CFDs, Crypto CFDs, Spot FX, and Bullion. This new service allows brokers, funds, and professional traders to access and redistribute real-time market data without limitations, offering increased flexibility for users across the financial ecosystem. New Market Data Feed Launched GCEX’s new data feed comes as an addition to its comprehensive brokerage services. One key advantage of this service is that users are not required to open a…