Saxo attributes its departure from UK CFD & FX lobby group on disagreement
Saxo says its departure is due to fact that the Association does not sufficiently reflect its views and interests.
There is a short follow-up to FinanceFeeds report from February this year about the changes engulfing the UK CFD & FX Association. Back then, FinanceFeeds was the first to notice and report that Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd removed its corporate entity from the director’s list of the lobby group effective January 30, 2017, replacing it with the company’s UK Chief Legal Counsel Andrew Anthony Stylianou who was appointed to represent the company on the Directors list of the Association on that same day.
Today, Saxo issued a press release explaining that the association “was not sufficiently reflecting” its views and interests. The company notes that it is supportive of the proposals by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that will set new standards for the retail CFD industry in the UK.
Saxo’s abandoning of its membership in the Association happened amid a wider reshuffle at the lobby group. There was also a termination of the appointment of Forex Capital Markets Limited (FXCM UK) as a director at the CFD & FX Association on January 27, 2017. Let’s mention that FXCM’s CEO Brendan Callan is one of the directors of the CFD & FX Association. It is worth noting that this decision was made before the US regulators published their findings that showed FXCM US having traded against its clients for a number of years.
Back then, however, neither FXCM UK, nor Saxo explained the reasons for the moves.
Of course, you must be interested into what the position of the lobby group is regarding the new CFD rules looming for the UK market. Well, a recent report by the Financial Times stated that “a faction within the industry group for retail online trading companies, the CFD & FX Association, is pushing for the trade body to resist proposed regulatory changes”.
The Association was incorporated on May 30, 1996 and has previously been known as Sports Spread Betting Association and Spread Betting Association Limited. The company changed its name from Spread Betting Association Limited to CFD & FX Association Limited with effect from October 12, 2015.
Formally, the “nature of business” of the organization is gambling and betting activities. The principal activity of this entity is that of a trade association for firms operating in the spread betting and foreign exchange markets with the objective of promoting the common interests of its members. Its office address is that of IG Group.
