Commerce.com, Trading212, HF Markets and Extra: Govt Strikes of the Week

Weekly Roundup of Executive Moves
Despite the widespread layoffs in the market, we have observed a significant rise in the number of new executive positions being allocated this week in the fintech, cryptocurrency, and foreign exchange sectors as February approaches. In this week’s executive moves roundup, let’s take a look at the leaders who have taken on new responsibilities and challenges.
Trade.com Michalis Tsaousellis is appointed Chief Dealer
Michalis Tsaousellis has been appointed as the Chief Dealer of Trade Capital Markets (TCM) Limited. He oversees the trade staff of the company, develops and introduces new items, and streamlines the product development process. He is based in Cyprus. He will also supervise and evaluate actions related to traded market risk. His Linkedin profile states that he was employed as the Chief Dealer for a year at an unidentified forex broker before joining the Trade.com operator. Before that, he spent about five years working as a Senior Dealer at the FXPRIMUS offices in Cyprus.
Two Directors Leave the Boards of Trading 212
The Board of Trading 212 underwent several modifications due to the recent resignation of two directors. Borislav Tzonkov Nedialkov and Rajvinder Kaur Somal are the directors. As per the UK Companies House documents, the appointments of the directors came to an end last Thursday, January 26. Trading 212 informed Finance Magnates on Friday that Nedialkov’s resignation from the Board of Trading 212 UK, the company’s UK subsidiary, was solely motivated by a desire to “better focus on Group-wide activities,” whereas Somal’s resignation was due to a new professional opportunity.
Martin St-Hilaire, MD of Titan FX, Joins the VFSC
Martin St-Hilaire has been named a member of the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). His nomination was made because he is “an individual with prior knowledge and experience of financial services,” according to the Vanuatu Official Gazette of 2023. St-Hilaire does, in fact, bring almost 20 years of experience to his position as regulator. He assumed the role in October 2018 and will remain the Managing Director of Titan FX. He has also worked for Delloite and KPMG, two of the Big Four audit companies, as an audit specialist.
Andreas Andreou of HF Markets becomes a CCO at BDSwiss in Cyprus
BDSwiss has appointed Andreas Andreou as its new Chief Commercial Officer in Cyprus. Andreou, who revealed his new role on LinkedIn on Wednesday, has over 20 years of expertise to the position. After serving in a Dubai-based capacity for a year and a half, the executive departed HF Markets last month. But he’s been with HF Markets—which changed its name from HotForex in May of last year—for a lot longer. After working with HF Markets for almost six years as the Group Office Liaison Executive in Cyprus, Andreou joined the company in October 2014. Before taking a position in the same role at the broker’s Dubai branch, he held the executive position for more than a year and a half.
Employers at Fluent Trade Technologies in Israel Søren Stougaard Dalby has been appointed as the new Head of FX Product at Fluent Trade Technologies. His Linkedin profile indicates that he will be working remotely for the Israeli company from his home country of Denmark. In 2011, Fluent Trade Technologies was founded. It offers brokers and automated trading systems turn-key solutions. Over 100 FX trading venues, or over 95% of FX liquidity, are licenced to the company.
Mohammed Ibrahim Acquires Role as Group CEO of XS.com in Dubai Offices XS.com is pleased to announce the arrival of Mohammed Ibrahim as the Group CEO. Although he will spend some time in the online broker’s worldwide offices, his base of operations is in Dubai. XS.com offers liquidity, technology, and other white-label solutions for institutions in addition to counterparty trading services for regular traders. The company’s headquarters are currently in Cyprus, however it was founded in Australia in 2010. With licences from Australia, Cyprus, and the Seychelles, it provides brokerage services.
Sitlani and Brewer, co-founders of iS Prime, depart the company after eight years.
After eight years, Raj Sitlani and Jonathan Brewer have made the decision to close their firm.
Rebranding as iSAM Securities from ISAM Capital Markets
Two weeks ago, ISAM Capital Markets decided to change its name to iSAM Securities in an effort to establish itself as a premium institutional brand. 2014 saw the Co-Founders of iSPrime start working with quantitative hedge fund manager iSAM.
Rob Harding, CFO, departs De La Rue to join PayPoint
Rob Harding has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of PayPoint, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PAY. He will start working for the company “later this summer,” while retiring CFO Alan Dale will continue to work until December in order to facilitate a seamless transfer.
The change in leadership aligns with PayPoint’s intention to concentrate on the UK market, as seen by its decision to purchase Respect Group, a company that specialises in engagement and giving, for £83 million.
Eight-cap appoints CEO Alex Howard
Eightcap, an Australian company with its headquarters in Melbourne, has appointed Alex Howard as its new CEO, succeeding Joel Murphy, who has been promoted to Non-Executive Chairman. Eightcap offers foreign exchange and a variety of asset class instruments for retail counterparty buying and selling. The platform operates internationally with regulatory licences in four jurisdictions: Australia, the UK, The Bahamas, and Cyprus. It has recently increased the number of cryptocurrency CFDs available on the site to over 250.
Veteran FX trader Fred Scala becomes MD of B2B Sales at Direct Trading Technologies
As Managing Director of Direct Trading Technologies, Fred Scala oversees business-to-business (B2B) sales. With licences from the UK, Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates, Panama, and Vanuatu, Direct Trading Technologies provides online brokerage services that include trading with currencies, contracts for differences (CFDs), and commodities. In addition, Scala will handle institutional liquidity streams, a CRM system, and the sales of white-label FX and cryptocurrency solutions.
Monica Long is elevated to President by Ripple
Monica Long, a seasoned Ripple employee, has been elevated to the presidency. She has spent the last 10 years working for the blockchain-based payments company; in part, Ripple’s growth in the custody, settlement, and liquidity domains contributed to her elevation.
After 15 years, Anthony Darvall departs from easyMarkets and starts a startup.
Anthony Darvall founded the online 3.0 fintech startup Traderflow after leaving the foreign currency trading company easyMarkets after over 15 years of employment. This occurs a few weeks after Ohad Golan, who joined easyMarkets four years ago and served as Chief Marketing Officer, left the company.
Directors of Trading 212 Resign, and New Board Members Are Selected
After the departure of Trading 212’s directors and the nomination of new board members, the financial services sector is undergoing significant change once more. The dynamic character of the sector and the growing intricacy of traded market risk operations are reflected in this change in leadership. Executives’ experience and background in the finance sector will become more and more significant determining factors as they take on new positions and tasks.