Block.co GEORGE AGATHANGELOU CMO at Block.co
Q Hello George, welcome back to Game Changers. It has been a long time since your last appearance. George, you must be one of the most controversial personas in the financial industry. With a background in Economics, you’ve dealt with FX for quite a lot of years! You were in, you were out and have decided you can do without! But first things first. What got you in the FX in the first place? Having studied Economics and Business Administration, I was trained to believe that investment and trading could provide an additional revenue stream to individuals and had the desire to enter the investment services industry. I guess that the timing was right back then, because it was at a time when the Forex industry was booming in Cyprus and retail forex brokerages just started to spread like mushrooms on the island. Q And how has this evolved? Looking back today, we have witnessed a rapid development of the industry, with many bumps and challenges along the way, mostly deriving from excessive regulations, as a result of the behavior of dishonest players in the market. Q What were your feelings around this industry over the years? I feel that this industry has transformed a lot over the years. Many lessons have been learned both by market participants and regulators and still many problems are left to be solved, especially when it comes to fair market practices and corporate social responsibility. Q What changed during the past 10 years? Following the first Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) that came into force on 1st November 2007, that replaced and expanded upon the Investment Services Directive, the European Commission decided to review the MiFID framework and on 20 October, 2011, published proposals for (i) a revised Directive (MiFID II) and (ii) a new Regulation (MiFIR). On 15 April 2014, the Council of the European Union adopted the final texts of MiFID II and MiFIR (Level 1 texts). These texts intended to address several shortcomings of the initial MiFID framework as well as some sources of systemic risk which became apparent during
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the financial crisis. Since entry into force of MIFID II the 2nd July of 2014, ESMA published more than 100 papers (delegated directives, delegated regulations, RTS, ITS, guidelines…) on MiFID II/MiFIR topics to ensure a proper implementation across Europe. As from compliance deadline (1st of January 2018), ESMA issued more than 10 guidelines and other related MiFID II documents, which compel MiFID entities to perform ongoing monitoring on new requirements. These guidelines addressed marketing materials used, KYC on boarding procedures, remuneration policies and other elements, to strengthen the protection of investors by introducing new requirements and reinforcing existing ones. Q Can you tell the readers what made you switch industries from Finance to Tech? Let’s just say that I felt that my time in the Finance Industry had come to an end, and that I had much more to offer by being in the technological innovation forefront, and by participating in Block.co, with the noble mission of combating fraud and corruption.
Q How big is the problem with fraud? Massive funds and resources are spent every year to
