OvalX’s Foulds Moves to Alvar Financial after twenty years

Veteran of ETX Capital Leaves After Two Years of Service

After more than two years leading Spreadbetting Sales at OvalX (previously ETX Capital), a British retail broker, Mark Foulds has left the company. On his LinkedIn profile, he posted the following statement: “It was a pleasure working with some great people at ETX.” Working with a broad clientele has also been a lot of fun for me. I value the support you have given us over the years and am looking forward to building on that connection with Alvar.” The seasoned professional from ETX Capital sent his sincere gratitude to Andrew Edwards, the brokerage’s previous CEO, who brought him in and served as his mentor for two decades.

Foulds was a dealer at City Index for nearly two years prior to joining ETX Capital. Since 1965, ETX Capital has been a spread broker in the British market. Following the company’s merger with sibling fintech startup Oval, in May 2022, the name was changed to OvalX. However, in late February 2023, Finance Magnates exclusively revealed that the broker was formally closing. On March 17, the company ceased operations and moved its clientele to Capital.com.

When the company declared it was starting a process of employee layoffs early in the year, rumours about its problems started to spread. Reports of a potential merger or asset sale were also present. Following a buyout by Switzerland-based private equity company Guru Capital in October 2020, ETX Capital changed its name to OvalX in May 2022. OvalX offered forex and CFDs to both professional and retail traders. Monecor (London) Ltd was in charge of managing the brand in London, and Oval Cash (Europe) Ltd was in charge of handling continental activities.

The shutdown came after Monecor, which had been under Guru’s leadership for the first full year, reported a pre-tax loss of £9.2 million for 2021. The macroeconomic environment and large investments were blamed for the loss. Following a tax credit, the net loss came to £6.8 million, a substantial decrease from the net profits of £428,000 in the prior year.