FxPro

FxPro Financial Services Ltd

Type	Private
Industry	Financial services, forex, currency trading
Founded	2006
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Charalambos Psimolophitis (Chairman) Denis Sukhotin (CEO)
Employees	170+
Website	www.FxPro.com

FxPro is a U.K-based ^[1] online broker offering contracts for difference (CFD) on foreign exchange (FX), shares, futures and precious metals. FxPro Group of companies is regulated by multiple regulatory authorities across the global financial markets.

History

FxPro was founded in 2006 in Cyprus.^[2] In 2009 FxPro began its expansion with the opening of representative offices in Austria, France, Spain and Russia.^[3][4][5] In 2010 FxPro was granted regulation and licensing by the UK's Financial Services Authority and opened its London office.^[6]

In 2011 the company opened an office in Australia, however it shut this down in March 2013 and moved those clients to its cyprus and UK operations after new capital regulations came into force in Australia.^[7] In 2011 FxPro started offering Electronic Communication Network (ECN) trading access to some of its clients.^[8]

In 2012 FxPro moved away from being a market maker in favour of a no dealing desk (NDD) or agency model. This means that trades are now passed straight through to liquidity providers.^[9][10]

Trading Facilities

The company provides traders a choice between the MetaTrader 4 and cTrader trading platforms. Clients using the MT4 platform from MetaQuotes Software also have the option of a web-based alternative, and several mobile trading versions. The company's cTrader platform Spotware, provides ECN traders with greater price depth and Volume-weighted average price (VWAP). cTrader is compatible with cAlgo, an algorithmic trading platform that allows clients to create trading robots and run them in cTrader so as to fully automate the trading process.

Since 2013 the company has been engaged in making algorithmic trading accessible to the retail sector. It launched Quant, a web-based strategy-building solution for the MT4 platform that allows users to create their own trading robots (called Expert Advisors) using a drag and drop interface, or to download them from the company's EA library. Quant, unlike cAlgo which requires knowledge of C#, enables users to create automated strategies using technical indicators and logical operators without any prior coding knowledge.

Regulatory Information

FxPro Financial Services Limited is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).^[11] In 2007 the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) came into effect. This allows firms that are regulated in Cyprus to provide investment services anywhere within the European Union.^[12]

FxPro UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of FxPro Group Ltd, is licensed and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority.^[13] FxPro UK Limited formerly acted as an introducer to its parent company and did not provide any brokerage services or hold client funds until June 2012, when the company upgraded its FSA license so it could accept UK clients.^[14]

Sponsorship

FXPro has used sponsorship of sporting events as a key way to promote itself, these sponsorships have included:

• BMW Sauber F1 - Ahead of the 2009 Formula 1 season, it was announced that FxPro would be an official sponsor of the BMW Sauber F1 team. FxPro's logo appeared on the front wing and side mirrors of the car, as well as on the drivers' overalls, helmets and pit lane equipment.^[15]
• Virgin Racing - In December 2009 FxPro announced that it would be one of the sponsors of Sir Richard Branson’s new F1 racing team, Virgin Racing.
• FIA World Championship Rally, Cyprus - FxPro is the first main Sponsor of the WRC Cyprus Rally, which rejoined the WRC calendar in 2009, and forms part of the 12 round championship.^[16]
• IRC 2010 Cyprus Rally - FxPro was title sponsor of the IRC's 2010 Cyprus Rally, a mixed surface rally which took place in the countryside around Limassol, Cyprus.^[17]
• Fulham Football Club - In June 2010 Fulham F.C. announced a shirt sponsorship deal with FxPro.^[18]
• Aston Villa Football Club - In June 2010 Aston Villa announced a shirt sponsorship deal with FxPro, the most lucrative in the club's history.^[19]
• AS Monaco FC Club - In 2011 it was announced that FxPro would be the official partner of AS Monaco FC.^[20]
• AFC Champions League - In 2011 FxPro was the official partner of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League, Asia's premier club football tournament.^[21]
• FxPro Super Rugby - In 2012 FxPro became the domestic naming rights partner of five Australian SANZAR Super Rugby teams (NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, Melbourne Rebels, Western Force, and The Brumbies).^[22]

References