Game Changers issue 12

ISSUE #12

Behind the Scenes

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Boss of Bitcoin

Interview with Alexey Kutsenko, Founder and CEO of Tools For Brokers

120 Advertising:

George Agathangelou

That’s not me!

Paul Orford

The Social Media Guide to Launching an ICO Charlotte Day

Why don’t people do everything themselves?

Andrew Saks-McCleod

Morgan’s Momentum Morgan Sampson

A Different Approach – Against the Current Harry Michaelides

GAME CHANGERS

DIRECTORY O1 O2

In this month’s Spring edition, we have sourced some great new personalities from not only FX, but also from a wide range of related industries.

With Game Changers always looking to broaden the spectrum of personalities in our publication, keep reading for more about the modern greats and future champions!

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

Note from the editor View from the top 03

Jon Leung & James Alexander

INVAST GLOBAL BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO MT5 04-06

O3

Richard Bartlett

O4

Dmitriy Petrenko

O5

George Agathangelou

O6

Leonid Mamchenkov

O7

Aleksey Kutsenko & Albina Zhdanova

O8

Charlotte Day

O9

Maria Stylianou & Marios Antoniou

PrimeXM - Bet on Bartlett. 07-09

FX Back Office – The Ultimate Forex CRM 10-12

iCoin summit - Game Changers @ iCoin Summit. 13-14

The key feature of a successful CRM Flexibility 15-17

Tools for brokers 18-21

The Importance of Personal Branding 22-24

INFLYX REACTION 25-27

VIEW FROM THE TOP

With summer coming and what is branded as the ‘biggest party in Forex’. It’s that time of year that the Cyprus expo rolls into Limassol and opens its doors.

The event much like the industry itself has evolved from primarily a focus on FX B2B, moving through the gears of Binary Options and now embracing the ICO / Crypto sphere.

I look on with great interest into how this looks to move forward, with both the government and regulator now looking to embrace the hedge fund industry to these shores.

With a lot of competition to get into this month’s edition, we have some blue bloods of the industry.

Moreover, I was lucky enough to be able to feature some old friends along with new events such as the iCoin Summit in Limassol.

BECOME A GAMECHANGER. Let the world hear your story.

Moving forward we are always looking for new personalities to profile, so feel free to message me to talk more.

Have a great month, enjoy the expo and let’s change the game together!

Paul ORFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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INVAST GLOBAL BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO MT5 With a new offering from industry leader, Invast Global, MT5 looks to have finally come of age.

The service being launched by the Sydney-based prime broker, with the support of Deutsche Bank, will allow brokers and their clients to connect their MT5 servers/platforms directly to global stock and futures exchanges. Invast Global has solved the issues of execution and live pricing by striking price redistribution deals with the underlying exchanges and establishing a multi-asset global relationship with Deutsche Bank. The innovative firm is now ready to turbo-boost their client’s MT5 capabilities.

Jon Leung and James Alexander are seriously connected.

As Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, respectively, the duo form the operational spine of boutique, multi-asset prime broker, Invast Global. With the launch of a new offering for MT5 brokers, Invast Global has become arguably the most connected Prime-of-Prime broker in the industry.

The company has gained a lot of attention over the past few years, with high-profile award wins – including their most recent win when they took out the Best Prime Broker (Innovation) at the 2018 HFM European Hedge Fund Awards – beating out much bigger opposition.

Winning awards for innovation is not a surprise when you meet the dynamic Leung and Alexander. The two have worked side-by-side for over a decade and have amassed a great deal of knowledge and expertise – particularly as it relates to Direct Market Access exchange connectivity.

This sort of expertise can be rare in the OTC FX and CFD industry, where exchange connectivity has not been necessary.

But the industry is evolving – partly in response to regulatory reforms and partly in response to demands for more investment products from an increasingly sophisticated retail sector around the world.

As regulators globally continue to tighten the screws on retail FX products, single stocks and futures offer a solution, allowing brokers to protect themselves and diversify their business risks away from a sole reliance on FX trading.

It appears to be a more regulatory-friendly and sustainable business model for the industry to move to. At the same time, retail clients around the world are looking to be able to trade the internationally-known stocks like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Tencent, Volkswagon - and a whole universe of global ETFs. Up until now, the limitations of MT4 have stymied this natural evolution of the industry.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

The service is being launched by the Sydney-based prime broker, with the support of Deutsche Bank.

Enter MT5 and the revolutionary capabilities the platform possesses, accommodating an unlimited range of instruments and the complexities of exchange connectivity, including live market data and exchange execution considerations.

For the past 12 months, Leung and Alexander, and their teams in Sydney and Tokyo, have been toiling away behind the scenes building what they believe is the “perfect” MT5 solution for brokers.

“Full OTC FX and CFD offering, combined with streaming live prices and DMA execution on over 10,000 single stocks, ETFs and Futures, from almost 30 global exchanges.“ says Leung.

“We can’t wait to flick the switch on our first live broker client.”

Jon Leung Chief Operating Officer.

“We have a rollout plan for our existing retail broker clients, which we are well advanced in completing. Then we will open the offering to new broker clients.” Adds Alexander. “Demand thus far has been incredibly strong from our existing client base and all indications are that the global demand from MT4 and MT5 brokers is much the same. Clients are excited for the opportunity to access a broader suite of products and welcome the comfort and transparency afforded by the DMA nature of these products”.

James Alexander Chief Commercial Officer.

James Alexander will be launching the product at the iFX Cyprus Expo and will be available to discuss the Invast Global multi-asset Prime-Of-Prime offering for brokers so don’t miss out on this important competitive edge in the retail marketplace.

Contact the Invast Global Prime Services team by emailing: primeservices@invast.com.au

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MT5 Transformed!

To find out more visit this site: info.invast.com.au/MT5-Direct-Market-Access-CFDs (Or visit us at the IFX Expo in Cyprus)

GLOBAL

+61 2 9083 1333 • primeservices@invast.com.au • invast.com.au Invast (ABN 48 162 400 035) has an AFSL issued by the ASIC (No. 438283) which authorises it to carry on a financial services business in Australia.

Bet on Bartlett.

It is no industry secret that myself and Richard have been great friends for many years, and this is the interview I always wanted to do. It has been great to work with him as a new entrant into FX, to evolving into what I would call an industry titan representing a world leading product.

Q We got on with each other form the first time we met in quite a pressurised environment, what struck me was your high ethical standards within a very pressurised environment. How easy is it to maintain these high standards in our industry?

I find that when you do something you enjoy doing and have passion for, it makes it so much easier to go the extra mile and instils pride in your work, therefore working in an ethical manner is the only way to maintain that pride in what you are doing. The pressure just adds to the fun.

The FX industry in general is very fast-paced and with everything being so fluid, it is crucial to remain loyal to your ideals and values. Coming from an organizational background where the company’s values are always first, I know that the key is to be committed at all times.

At PrimeXM for example we have worked very hard to build our reputation in the industry and we have made a name for ourselves as one of the most reliable technology providers.

We are fully transparent, which is critical as we are one of the few technology providers that provide aggregation and execution engines without ever interfering with the pricing and liquidity that goes through the system. The clients have direct relationships with whichever LPs they choose to work with and get the pricing directly from them into their own dedicated XCore.

Remaining true to our values we have sought to be consistent in what we offer and in how we interact with our partners and as such, we are known for our solid offering which of course stems from a highly motivated team of in-house experts who drive our technology.

Q Can you tell the readers how you got into FX? The FX industry looked very exciting, the rapidly changing landscape and many opportunities for sales orientated individuals were all things that attracted me in the first place all those years ago. I started as a lowly sales agent for an FX broker and was quickly promoted to sales manager covering both new sales and retention, by then I was already bitten by the bug and knew that I wanted to make a long-term career in the industry. After running sales teams for several other brokers in the retail side of the sector, I realized that what can really make a difference for a brokerage is having solid technology behind it. So, I jumped to the technology side of the business for which I have enjoyed 5 years doing now. It is a much different approach of course as its more business development and consultative style of selling but you get to build much more rewarding and long-term relationships and really make a difference to the client’s businesses, so I am equally fulfilled in my job even if it is a little slower pace than running a retail FX sales floor.

After all these years with PrimeXM, I still find it very fascinating about what goes on behind the scenes of a market leading technology provider and the infrastructure resources that it takes to offer a dedicated, truly low-latency trading environment. Also, it is inspiring to see how having the right technology setup can really turn around or add serious value to a brokerage, it’s very rewarding to be a part of.

Q Could you have ever envisaged that PrimeXM would become one of the most recognisable names in FX technology?

It’s beyond a doubt a great success to have achieved this level of recognition in the industry, but as we channel extremely cutting-edge technology, I believe that our success was inevitable (he says modestly). I also add confidently that seeing what else we have planned in the near future and the serious appetite and energy we have as a team to evolve and push further, we have not even started to achieve what we are capable of.

What really sets PrimeXM apart is that we are very thorough and committed in everything we do, so when we said that we wanted to build the most cutting-edge aggregation and execution engine in the industry, we didn’t just look at its performance, reliability and ability to connect to any platform, we also thought about where the system sits and how to ensure that the infrastructure as a whole can cater to the intense needs of both the retail and institutional sides of the market.

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your system; we have provisioned our system with hardware that caters to the high demands of the industry and is fully redundant.

The other pioneering advancement we made in the FX technology space was investing heavily into our own global infrastructure which was a very costly but strategic investment that allowed us to fully manage the execution process front to back and therefore offer unrivalled system reliability and performance to clients using our technology and connectivity solutions. In addition, being able to offer co-located hosting of trading platforms and dedicated XCore pricing engines, presents a significant value-added business proposition and is the reason why we enjoy the largest market share of clients in the retail space.

Q With visionary leaders like Clive Diethelm and Cristian Vlasceanu, this must give you confidence that the future of the company is very bright?

It is a privilege to work with leaders like Clive and Cristian as they are committed and dedicated to our technology. They not only know the requirements for high-performing setups inside out, but they are also able to calculate and predict where the industry will be moving towards and are quick to ensure that our clients are always getting the best.

Richard Bartlett.

Head of Global Sales.

Q When you began at PrimeXM, it would be fair to say that other brands were close to you in what you had to offer. With the release of the XCore being the Game Changer, what do you think blew the other competitors away?

Naturally I am biased but, in my opinion, no one has ever been that close to us, we have set and maintained the industry standard since 2010. Don’t get me wrong though, I sincerely believe competition is great for any industry sector as it drives market leaders such as PrimeXM forward and gives us other people to benchmark ourselves against.

In the end it is the clients that benefit, so we positively welcome competition.

The release of the XCore back in 2012 was indeed a gamechanger as it brought true institutional grade execution performance and tools to the retail market participants which transformed the landscape for FX brokers and seriously improved the quality and range of services they could offer their end clients.

The XCore is extremely sophisticated. When we do demos for people to show them how the XCore works, they are always amazed by its extensive capabilities and I think it’s fair to say that there aren’t many other execution engines out there that are on the level of the XCore.

What makes the XCore so truly unique is that we have carefully provisioned every aspect of its setup, from the connectivity aspect to the hardware that supports the XCore, we have ensured that our system is very reliable and extremely high-performing. This is really important, especially in volatile market events when traffic load can crash GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

Of course, the success of PrimeXM is very much a team-effort, we have more than eighty people that work tirelessly to ensure that what we offer our clients is truly cutting-edge technology complimented with impeccable customer service.

Our team is driven by our company mission and we are all very motivated to continue developing technological innovations that define the future of the finance industry.

Q Although you still support the retail market incredibly well, I have noted that you are now moving into hedge funds, family offices and tier 1 providers as clients. That must be incredibly satisfying as you see your product evolve over this time?

The XCore is continuously evolving and we always work towards the development of new tools for the XCore. In fact, the framework and performance behind the XCore was always designed from the outset with financial institutions that are focused on the institutional side of the sector, so it is natural progression for us to push into this side of the market more and more and many of the new tools and features we are launching soon will cater more specifically for the institutional user. Of course, we will continue to cater to our retail clients fully as well, as we are very focused on innovating the financial trading industry as a whole.

The changes in regulations and the changes in how the sector operates as a whole call for an order management and execution engine that also offers high level monitoring and risk management tools and this is exactly what the XCore offers.

Q How do we get time to speak with you at the expo?

We will be at booth 33 this year and we’d be delighted to see you and everyone there. The expos are such a great opportunity for the people in our industry to catch up and learn about the new technologies available in the field.

As the iFX EXPO is taking place in Limassol which is also our base, we are particularly excited and of course, anyone who’s interested in speaking with us can also email us at sales@primexm.com to setup a private meeting.

HIGHLY AUTOMATED ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR FOREX BROKERS. CONSISTS OF THE ENTIRE BACK-OFFICE SET-UP, PARTNERSHIP AND CLIENT AREAS CHOOSE FX BACK OFFICE TODAY, FOR A FASTER, MORE SUCCESSFUL TOMORROW

Phone: + 357 25 10 34 19 Mobile: + 357 955 90 559

FX BACK OFFICE www.fxbackoffice.com

FX BACK OFFICE

THE ULTIMATE FOREX CRM WHAT’S ON OFFER Full, Multi Branding Multiple Brands or Companies can be monitored and managed from one CRM

Tools for Marketing – Increased marketing prospects through specialized software for optimization and tracking within our marketing section

Convenience Store all of your clients’ information and personal documents in one place. All data is easily accessible and can be edited at any time

Simple and easy client management Manage, approve or decline verification of a client, utilize our document expiration control function, and add your KYC questionnaire

Instant Client message delivery Internal message system will allow you to send any kind of message to your client(s)

Trading – Open and manage trading accounts, and register new client profiles

Collaboration Task system for the company’s internal cooperation between departments or international offices

Internal notifications Instant notifications designed to improve the company’s response speed and support quality

Complete overview and control Apply strict permission settings for each and every aspect of the CRM for your full control

Live chat and VOIP integration Track every action taken by your sales team

Automated emails Save time by setting up over 40 automatic emails

Ease of Translation Simple and instant CRM and client cabinet translation system

Full customization Express your wants and needs and we will create it for you

Built in, and well thought-out, GDPR protocols Pre-set GDPR protocols concerning your communication with clients

Exceptional MiFID II and CySEC compliant reporting system Create any report or ask us to do it for you

Connection to the most popular PSPs and best trading platforms Integration of any trading platform or PSP required

Seamless migration Easily move your client data from CRM to another

No user or volume limitations Utilize our entire solution with an exceptionally low monthly fee

FX BACK OFFICE www.fxbackoffice.com

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FX BACK OFFICE THE ULTIMATE FOREX CRM GAME CHANGERS TAKES A LOOK AT THE MAN BEHIND THE MAGIC

DMITRIY PETRENKO When was FXBackOffice founded, and who founded it?

Dmitriy: FXBackOffice was founded in early 2016 and began as a pipe dream between a few extremely experienced industry professionals who knew they could revolutionize the day to day running of the Forex brokerage business. With over ten years of experience a piece from our team of directors, we understood exactly what a broker needed in order to operate at peak level and excel within the industry.

What have you seen clients demand in the last year or so?

Anything you have had to change at the company because of this?

Dmitriy: We’ve seen a large demand for development especially in terms of compliance. We’ve had to adjust the product accordingly to assist our clients in complying with regulators such as CySEC, FCA, FMA and so on, due to the regulators tightening their belts for overall protection of the traders.

Different clients have asked for different things, anything from in-depth financial questionnaire implementation inside the registration process, to specific data that clients agree to, to be stored inside their profile in the backend segment of our product. Our reporting system seems to have taken off with the clients the most, with all sorts of requests for different reports (including MiFID II) that we have quickly implemented and applied throughout, making our product better overall.

FX BACK OFFICE www.fxbackoffice.com

What are regions of the globe are the strongest client base for the company?

Dmitriy: We have clients from China to Australia, Turkey to UK, Africa to Cyprus. There’s no one region that has a stronger client base than the other, to be honest.

In a very short amount of time, we have managed to establish a very strong global presence as a forex back-office provider, and are proud of the diversity of our client base.

What further developments you are planning to make in 2018?

Dmitriy: We are constantly improving our CRM solution. Our aim is to keep providing our customers the best forex CRM on the market.

In the first quarter of 2018, we revised and further improved the marketing and management parts of the CRM, adding even more automated functionalities to optimize workflow on a daily basis. We added much needed GDPR protocols to save our clients time and energy. We also carefully consider our client’s requests, and going further into 2018, plan to make their visions a reality.

Phone: + 357 25 10 34 19 Mobile: + 357 955 90 559

How long is the process of integrating FXBackOffice and is it compatible with any FX/CFD trading platform?

Dmitriy: The entire integration of our forex back office can be done within a week. We handle the migration of client’s profiles, documents, and sensitive information quickly and with complete ease, so any broker can move from their current provider to us, and no information will be lost along the way. We are already heavily working with MT4 / MT5 and cTrader amongst others. There is no known platform that we cannot add, nor no amount of volume we cannot support

Game Changers @ the iCoin Summit – Limassol 2018.

This month Game Changers were lucky enough to be invited along to the iCoin Summit in Limassol, Cyprus. As someone who is always intrigued and a voyeur of this subject, I wanted to learn more about how this can benefit society as a whole, without being drowned in a word salad!

I was fortunate enough to have George Agathangelou from 7marketz who is not only one of the local thought leaders on Blockchain, they invited Game Changers along to the inaugural iCoin Summit.

Q The turnout was tremendous, I think around 700 people on the first day, for a first time event to a niche event is fantastic. Any ideas on why the deluge of people?

Indeed, we initially aimed to have 350 people in total, however ended up having 1594 tickets sold and a total of 1482 people joining in two days, surpassing all of our expectations.

This just shows, Cyprus is open for innovation and people are looking for diversification.

I met a very tired but happy George after what can only be described as a successful inaugural event for a quick chat.

Q First of all, congratulations on such a landmark event, how was the idea formulated to make the summit?

Thank you very much for the feedback, Paul. Being one of the top 3 global ICO marketing agencies, 7MARKETZ Group travels to dozens of blockchain events every month and while, every event promises investment for competing blockchain startups, the reality is often utterly different.

Thus, we wanted to bring investors, ICOs, decisionmakers and everyday people under one roof and have guaranteed investment round, and that is the story behind iCoinSummit.

Q I was a long time sceptic of this type of thing as

the number of scams etc out there. I think you have created an event where you can differentiate yourself from the low quality events. How do you keep the bad guys out?

Keeping bad actors away comes from making proper due diligence on all companies that wanted to participate. We had 74 ICO applications in a matter of days, it was truly a hard decision! We interviewed every single ICO application, studied whitepapers, MVPs, teams and roadmaps and finally put the results to an internal voting. While we initially wanted to have only 16 ICOs present, due to high demand we ended up selecting 20 ICOs in total.

Yagub Rahimov.

CEO / Co founder of 7marketz Inc.

We had supporters from every angle, including local TV stations, Radio stations, magazines, international blockchain platforms as well as social media influencers. We had our community’s support.

Q

For the first time in a long time I felt like I have attended an event where I have learnt something of value. Normally we have to tread the carpets at FX expos, where everything is pretty much the same.

How do you plan to continue to keep this fresh in the future?

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7MARKETZ Group is not a traditional event maker, perhaps, that is the main reason why iCoinSummit was a very unique event. We wanted to have an event that would add value, without the same old same old.

We aim to be the bridge between investors, tech innovators, regulators, blockchain start-ups and everyday people. iCoinSummit will go global from here onward, starting with Tel Aviv, Israel and Seoul, South Korea very soon.

In the very first iCoinSummit we had $250,000 investment pool but ended up having over $960,000 invested ($220,000 to SafeIn, $350,000 to Grapevine, $300,000 to Decenternet, $15,000 to BEX, $15,000 to Heptapolis and every other participating blockchain start-up receiving $4,000 marketing credit from AtoZMarkets.com) and two ICOs receiving free exchange listing from Cobinhood (Grapevine and SafeIn) valued over $100,000 each, summing total commitment to $1,160,000. In our upcoming events we also aim to increase the investment pool to $2,000,000 to $5,000.000.

Q In my opinion this was a unique event as I was not spammed by people trying to sell my stuff. Did you do a quality control beforehand?

Everyone was vowed with the special touches iCoinSummit brought. It seems that even people with intention to sell stuff were distracted by what the event had to offer and got to be a part of the community instead.

Q My personal favourite was GWT (Global Wind Turbines.) who are going to revolutionise the wind turbine industry. Did you have any particular favourite at all?

My favourite is Coineru – The Currency of Life, but of course I am a bit biased with this as the founder, Todor Ivanov has been a friend for years. Coineru is an ambitious project and its vision is to combine a payment network, a blockchain smart contracts platform, an investment marketplace, and a Blockchain based identity and reference data management solution. Think about blockchain and smart contract based decentralized applications for credit ratings, insurance, business records, business contracts, transparent reporting, audit and compliance, social integration, marketing and more, in one ecosystem. Info: http://coineru.org The founder of the iCoinSummit, Yagub Rahimov, however became a fan of Decenternet and Grapevine. He also showed his support by donating $300,000 worth marketing budget to each project as well. .

Q 7MARKETZ Group has positioned itself as a great source to help you if you are looking to make an ICO. Can you elaborate more on how they can assist?

7MARKETZ Group founder, Yagub Rahimov, is a passionate Libertarian with strong vision in decentralized economies.

Hence, the team behind is on the look for the next big blockchain start-up.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

We have had a very successful record of ICO launches last year and we intend to keep the bar just as high in 2018 and afterwards, by carefully hand-picking the best partners to work with. We cover the full spectrum of marketing services, from Graphic Design, SEO, Social, Web Development, Native Ads, Analytics, automations, media planning and buying as well as consultation on marketing practices. Not only that, the group owns a number of top level publishing platforms such as iCoinSentiment.com, AtoZMarkets.com (former AtoZForex. com) as well as magazines and events in 4 corners of the world. Specifically, for ICOs we cover all of the above where applicable plus advisory services, directory listings on ICO aggregators, PR articles and video interviews, Smart Contract set-up/audit, wallet set-up, ICO management software. We are essentially a one stop shop for any ICOs’, we would rather call them blockchain start-ups’, needs.

Q I am guessing that there will a huge demand for the next event, how can people get on the mailing list or get more information about the next event?

The next event is already in the works and more details will be soon announced. Anyone interested can check the site icoinsummit.com with the updates on the next event where he can find an email subscription service.

Additionally, we have also launched our new crypto-portal iCoin Sentiment (https://icoinsentiment.com ) that is a state of the art, Artificial Intelligence powered cryptocurrency portal with live pricing and sentiment analysis, encompassing all the coin market data.

Alternatively, people may follow us on Telegram , Youtube and Facebook.

Meanwhile, see you at the iCoinSummit Asia in Tel Aviv and in Seoul in the next few months.

Paul Orford.

Editor in Chief of Game Changers magazine.

The key feature of a successful CRM - Flexibility

BY LEONID MAMCHENKOV CTO at Qobo.

Q

Very briefly, can you please describe what Qobo and Qobrix are, and what is the difference between the two?

Qobo is a company. A group of companies actually. Qobo is the main developer of Qobrix. Qobrix is our software, which comes in a variety of shapes and forms. To begin with, Qobrix is a software development platform for rapidly building business applications. We have developed a number of products and solutions based on the Qobrix platform:

1. Qobrix CRM and Qobrix Member’s Area/Trader’s Cabinet for the Forex Industry 2. Qobrix CRM, Client Portal and Agent Portal for the Real Estate Industry 3. Qobrix Intranet And of course, the generic version of our CRM System plus other applications.

Q What are some of the features of the Qobrix CRM for the Forex industry?

Qobrix CRM comes with all the usual features you’d expect in any CRM, such as leads and accounts management, customer activity tracking, and document storage. However, we have extended and optimized a few of the features specifically for Forex. For example, funds management, trading accounts and trading history handling, KYC and AML processes, and more.

We have also integrated Qobrix CRM with a variety of external tools and services, such as trading platforms, payment gateways, mass mailing solutions, telephony and more.

Q Which feature do you consider to be the key for a successful implementation of a CRM System in a company?

Companies vary considerably, even in the same industry.

So, do their needs and requirements. What works for one, is often completely useless for another. The one feature that we therefore consider to be an absolute necessity for a successful CRM is flexibility.

Q Can you provide examples of the CRM flexibility that you have had to deliver?

Sure. Here are a few areas where we’ve seen significant variations between different companies: marketing channels, onboarding process, partners, management, fund management, trading, support, document management, etc.

Leonid Mamchenkov.

CTO at Qobo.

Q

Let’s dig deeper. For example, what are some of the most significant differences that you have seen in the onboarding process?

Most retail Forex companies use marketing campaigns to bring in potential clients (leads) who register on the website and then follow a particular process, during which they are assisted via automated emails and telephone calls from the sales team. In this scenario, a CRM system needs a solid API for the integration with the website. It also needs email automation and tools for lead assignment. Reporting is an important part of such a system too. Integrations with telephony systems, calendars, and other tools are important as well.

But that’s not the only way, of course. We’ve seen many younger companies put more focus on their partnerships.

Introducing brokers and affiliates, in this case, are responsible for bringing in leads and help during the conversion process. A CRM system for such setup needs tight security and improved controls for batch processing, as leads are often imported periodically (once or twice a day), instead of coming in one-by-one.

Another variation are companies that provide a VIP-like service. Each client is hand-held through the process, and the company works only with a few clients, but provides them with a much more personal service. A CRM system for a

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company like this does not require importing or a complex API. Instead, it should provide more control for managing non-structured data and extended customer information.

Having to manage fields like “Wife’s birthday” and “Child’s name” would be a major annoyance for most retail Forex companies, but it’s crucial for VIP service.

Q How does such flexibility apply to funds management?

We’ve seen a number of variations in this area as well. The simple fact is that there are countless payment gateways available for integration. All of them do the same thing; they handle the transfer of money from and to the client. But each service provides a different API, with different features, rates, and quirks. There are significant variations in what a company can and cannot do based just on which payment gateways it decides to use.

Furthermore, there are different approaches to how to handle deposits and withdrawals internally, within the company. Some Forex brokers transfer funds directly to and from clients’ trading accounts. Others work with wallets, which provide a layer of control and flexibility. Internal transfers or transferring of funds between trading accounts is something else to think about. Some brokers don’t offer it at all.

Some allow such transfers only within the same trading platform. Others expand the functionality to support all kinds of transfers, including not only the transfers between trading accounts of a client, but between the client and an introducing broker.

Over and above this, we are seeing many Forex companies experimenting with the cryptocurrency world, which brings its own challenges and benefits.

CRM flexibility is a vital component to all this. Not only does the modern world provide many options to choose from, but it continues to change. Any successful CRM system needs to adopt and change with it.

Q What are, in your opinion, some of the future challenges to CRM flexibility?

These are plenty. In our view, CRM systems are moving away from being solely useful for sales and marketing functions. Instead, they are becoming more of a centralized system for the entire company, all of its departments, and even expanding further into a tool for partners, vendors, and even clients.

Also, the market is becoming more and more dynamic, with significant paradigm shifts happening every few months or years, instead of decades, so CRM systems need to adopt faster and to a wider range of problems. That also brings the challenges associated with larger data sets and an increased number of active users. As such, CRM systems need to continuously improve the performance and security that they offer.

Q How are you approaching these challenges? How do you make sure that Qobrix stays flexible, secure, and fast?

We have a number of approaches that help us with this.

First, we follow best practices established in software development.

We use a number of tools and processes to help us stay on track.

These vary from code management and testing tools to project management and documentation.

Third, we utilize a lot of the cloud infrastructure that helps us with scalability and security. Amazon AWS is an integral part of our development process and is crucial even for projects which are hosted on the client’s infrastructure.

Last, we focus on the integration of Qobrix with available tools and services. Qobrix provides a full featured API, so it is easy to plug it i nto an existing company’s infrastructure. And it also comes with a variety of connectivity options to common and widely used solutions.

Q Are there any challenges, current or future, where CRM flexibility is important, but where the technology alone is not enough to solve the problems?

One particularly challenging area in the Forex industry is regulatory compliance. There are many regulations which are already in place, and a few which are changing or upcoming. Stricter compliance for the KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) procedures, as well as the upcoming GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) come to mind.

This is one area where CRM vendors will need to work more with compliance officers, lawyers, and specialists from other professions in order to adopt and adjust to these ever-changing rules.

Second, we build Qobrix as a modular system, where each part is as independent and autonomous as possible. We rely on a lot of Open Source Software to make sure that we don’t reinvent the wheel. We try to minimize custom development that we do for each client, and instead build reusable, flexible features which we iterate over and over. We favour convention over configuration, and configuration over development.

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®

Interview with Aleksey Kutsenko and Albina Zhdanova Q Aleksey. When you founded Tools For Brokers, you were under 30 years old. What motivated you to start your own company?

Prior to starting my own company, I worked in a Russian brokerage firm more than three years. My journey there began as a developer and ended with a technical director position.

At that time Russia didn’t have any companies specializing in software development for firms operating in foreign exchange markets.

During 2008 - 20010 years, FOREX went through a new branch of development. Beyond securing the trading, brokers began to offer additional services like PAMM, Trader Tournaments, etc. It was at that period the need emerged to adapt existing platforms and develop plug-ins to increase their efficiency.

I watched a steadily increase in demand and understood that the requirements for software would also increase with growth and expansion of the FOREX market. As an employee of a brokerage firm, I was limited in my ability to provide solutions for the entire spectrum of requests coming from the market. Therefore, I decided to create my own company that would provide a full range of services to brokers with innovative IT solutions.

Tools For Brokers was founded in 2009. Our initial mission was to develop solutions that were not yet available in the market. Our first clients were by recommendation only. Later, we began to penetrate the markets of neighbouring countries and the CIS. At that time, the IT solutions market was virtually underserved. In our first few years, we had no need to invest in marketing. We were successful through the use of digital campaigns. We acquired our first international client almost immediately. It was a company from India.

Q Albina. It is fair to say that it has been a great suc-

cess with it having over 350 brokerage clients using your products. What are the keys to your success?

I am convinced that this is mutual understanding, teamwork, as well as perseverance and confidence in the chosen path.

I believe these are keys to success for any company and any business. You see, when you have a good idea, you need to find the right people who will share your aspirations, who will support you, charge you with their positivity, and show responsibility and initiative.

In my opinion, the time of loaner stars has passed, and now you need to bet on teamwork. It is essential that the members of your team are always in development, increase

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

Aleksey Kutsenko Founder / CEO of Tools for Brokers.

qualifications, share expertise. It is equally necessary to be sober-minded about mistakes, working through them and creating conditions that would exclude their appearance in the future.

It is crucial for us to receive feedback from the users of our products and services. We spend a lot of time to understand the peculiarities of our client’s work. I can say that right now we are working hard on establishing a global company infrastructure where not a single customer request will be left without our attention, and all requests will receive a comprehensive investigation from our side. We have made great strides in this direction already. Tools For Brokers has a 24-hour technical support service. I want to especially note that this service is already available in Chinese for our Asian clients. We have many ideas that we’ve yet to substantialize in this direction.

Q Aleksey. Being part of the industry, what are the core problems you see between a trader and brokerage? How can cooperation with an IT solutions provider be useful to the regulator?

If you look at the market as a whole, I would like to highlight one problem - the lack of deep understanding of

capabilities of Forex by the operators. Very often the nature of collaboration between a trader and a broker is determined by the business model of the broker. Currently, there are a few dominant models: Market Making or B-book, as well as STP or A-book If we look at the Market Making Model, then the main problem is financial. It is apparent because in this model the broker’s profit is the loss of the trader. The latest changes in the European regulations are aimed at protecting the trader, educating him on the risks and allowing him to make informed decisions. As a consequence, this should shift market preference towards the STP model. In my opinion, the level of success of brokers operating under this model will largely depend on the amount of help the broker provides the trader. Already some companies don’t offer just trading, but also provide a set of additional services, such as analytical facilities, training seminars, and solutions for minimizing risks.

In these instances, IT solutions providers can be beneficial.

If we look at how regulators influence the IT solution provider, then I would point out the following. Regulator decisions affect the emergence of new technical solutions which help adapt existing software to new rules. One of the challenges for the market right now, as an example, is the process of upgrading all of the trading platforms to comply with new requirements. Solutions developed by the IT provider, in this case, will be very helpful to both the trader and the broker.

Stricter regulation in the Forex market, to some extent, can distract a broker from his core responsibilities. Attention has to be diverted to the creation of reports and study of normative acts. IT solution provider can significantly alleviate the work burden on the broker by offering solutions for automating reports, all following local requirements.

New regulatory requirements may spike a broker interest to enter new markets, for example, the crypto market. It is very similar to Forex. For example, for companies that are currently at a crossroads: what to do next, one of the possible solutions may enter the crypto industry, as today it is virtually unregulated. All that’s needed to achieve this is an adoption of the personal cabinet of the customers to crypto.

IT provider can help with that as well.

Q Aleksey. In 2017 you took part in founding a distributed decentralized crypto platform for trust management. How do you think crypto trading will be becoming more attractive to investors than Forex in the future?

It’s hard to say. At this stage, FOREX is on the path of tightening regulation, while cryptocurrency is practically unregulated. Personally, in my opinion, the Crypto market in many respects will repeat the development stages of FOREX. For example, in 2008, ten years ago, FOREX was poorly regulated. Most companies existed on cheap offshore licenses; there were no bans on advertising. The stock market was not very accessible to the common man; Cryptocurrencies are quite complicated but have simplified trading systems. They are good because they crack into a young audience. Crypto trade is a hype. It is very attractive to the new generation of young men and women from 14 to 20 years old- this is just their thing. They will be quick to jump on the trade.

It seems to me that brokers who want to succeed and develop should pay attention to crypto. Because, above all, it is an opportunity to attract a new audience. Besides, it poorly regulated in most countries. And since crypto is not recognized as a real currency, there are no licenses required.

Obviously we do expect regulations on crypto in the future, but we all know that it doesn’t happen overnight. For the next five years, the crypto market will be at the stage of stabilization. I believe that the growth of the cryptocurrency market will be faster than the FOREX market. One of the main indicators of this is the fact that the new generation will prefer deliverable crypto.

Albina Zhdanova COO at Tools for Brokers.

Q Albina. How can Tools For Brokers be of interest to Crypto Operators?

Despite the fact that a large proportion of our clients work in the FOREX market, we closely monitor the development of crypto in the world. Every month there are more and more brokers that would like to work with crypto. One of the things we specialize in is an integration of Crypto Flow to the trading platforms.

We have created two unique developments that can be applied to both markets. Their application can elevate the broker’s abilities to a new level. Broker Business Intelligence (BBI) is a multi-use and cross-functional solution for statistics collection and risk management. It can analyze (interpreter) the flow and advice of brokers. Statistical data is presented in the form of an accurate and detailed picture of the overall situation. Trade Processor is a free-risk bridge system. It allows you easily and quickly to add new liquidity providers, and their number can be unlimited. It is distinguished by the flexibility of the configuration of execution for each liquidity, the possibility of individual adjustment for an infinite number of parameters. A big plus for customers is the fact that unlike existing bridges on the market, our development installes on the broker’s server. Both our know-hows are available in a version for MT4 and MT5 platforms.

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But we are ready and able to solve individual requests of crypto operators. For example, at the beginning of this year, three companies asked us to create cryptofeeders for them.

We got it done quickly, and now offer a cryptofeeder application in Tools For Brokers portfolio for the three largest crypto trading platforms.

Q Albina. Last year Tools For Brokers moved the headquarters to Cyprus. What advantages does having a base in Cyprus have over St Petersburg?

Undeniably we made the right decision by moving our headquarters here. Cyprus is a vital place for the Forex industry. Europe’s top 10 broker firms located here. There are representative offices of top 5 companies in the world.

Representatives of the leading players in the Forex industry are always coming here. This location allows us to be on top of the latest industry news. We are more readily available for personal communication with our clients. Over a cup of coffee with a client we can discuss all emerging issues, answer questions and receive crucial information but most importantly, we can proactively influence the stage of development of the software products required by our clients. Staying on the top of the things is important.

Q Aleksey& Albina. The expo in Limassol is seen as one of the key events of the year, what do you enjoy about it?

Aleksey: Undeniably, the exhibition in Limassol is a key event for us. We have participated in it five times already.

Prior to moving our headquarters to Cyprus, it posed an opportunity for us to communicate with the leading players in the industry. As you know, due to the CySEC policy in Cyprus, a large number of brokerage companies of our potential customers are concentrated there. Previously, it has been an excellent opportunity to network, learns the trends of the market, understands the needs of customers, and conclude new deals. Now, it is an opportunity to present our new developments and meet with customers globally. Exchange of information is extremely important. Attending these types of exhibitions yield more business connections than raw sales.

The success of sales may largely depend on the sociability of your company. We must admit that the Cyprus exhibition - one of the most significant shows in Europe, gathers a large number of visitors from our target audience. It is absolutely

Q Aleksey & Albin. By holding the role of senior management within Tools For brokers. What is the fundamental principle which guides you both?

Aleksey: I would single out two basic principles - the distribution of leadership roles and trust. I am highly skilled in the technical aspects of our work. I am well aware of how a brokerage company works, and how technological implementation is executed. My interests lie within the product. Therefore, it is quite understandable that a certain degree of separation occurred. Albina, in turn, is more engaged in the regional business development, and the search for new partners. While we are both independent, we still overlook each other’s actions. At this stage of the company’s development, it’s our sales that dictate the needs for products, in contrast to the situation that was 5-7 years ago. Certainly, I also control the development process. We always discuss our actions, but each of us is responsible for our own business segment.

Albina: We are both moving towards the same primary goal, and we are doing everything possible to reach it. In some instances, we have different positions, but we discuss, listen to each other, and find the optimal solution together. I believe that’s possible because we don’t want to prove anything about ourselves, we only care what’s best for the company.

From my own perspective, one of the most important things to me is the systematic approach to work and understanding of all aspects of our cooperation. It is important to me that all members of our team speak the same language and understand each other. It is achievable through a building and maintaining effective communications.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

Aleksey Kutsenko Founder / CEO of Tools for Brokers.

necessary to participate in such events.

Albina: This year is special for us because now we are located here. IFX EXPO is an international exhibition, which is, without exaggeration, the world’s largest summit for the Forex industry. Here we can meet with colleagues not only from Europe but also from Asia, South Africa, America and other regions of the world. This is understandable, CySEC licence listes on stock market all over the world, and many come here to find new ways to develop business and find new partners.

Q How can we find you at the expo?

Albina: All members of our sales team will participate in iFX EXPO 2018. We have prepared a lot of new and interesting.

Visit us at booth number 51. We will be glad to see you!

The Importance of Personal Branding Charlotte Day. Creative Director.

When it comes to business, most entrepreneurs recognise the importance of branding. After all, a strong, well-respected and instantly recognisable brand gives you a competitive edge. The question is; why do so many thought leaders, industry experts, CEOs and passionate employees dedicated to growing their dream career fail to acknowledge the importance of personal branding?

Personal branding – what’s it all about?

Personal branding is the process of marketing yourself and your career as a brand. This might seem like an exercise in vanity carried out only by those with an overinflated ego (we’ve all met characters like this along way). Instead, it’s the perfect opportunity to tell people who you are and the type of team leader, advocate and human being you want to be both in and out of work.

It’s not boasting about your achievements in a cringe worthy way. If you do this, you’re likely to be blocked by co-workers and given some rather unwanted glares across the canteen.

Instead, it’s about identifying your niche, enjoying meaningful interactions with others and conveying very clear messages and values which explain what you’re all about. Be confident, original, interesting and establish credibility in a way that feels right to you. If you feel like everything you’re putting out into the world is a reflection of your true self, as a professional and a person, then you’re on the right track.

So now we know self-branding can be a good thing, how can you get the ball rolling? Here are some useful tips and ideas.

1. Learn what it means to be an influencer Believe it or not, you don’t have to be a celebrity raking in millions of dollars per year to be an influencer. If you’re passionate about a topic and have unique insights that you think will educate and inspire like-minded people, then go for it. But be prepared to graft.

You need people to listen to you in order to make yourself known in your specific field and attract the attention of others. The more influencers who start to follow and share your thoughts, the more you’ll grow in popularity. So, where to start?

• Tweet about key topics Twitter is the place to be for influencers and if you want to stand up and get noticed, be sure to tweet about topics relevant to your industry as this will show you’re relevant and up-to-date.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

Charlotte Day. Creative Director at Contentworks

• Share recent achievements If you want to be the go-to-guru for a particular subject; don’t be afraid to share your own insights and beliefs on social media as this will attract people you want to interact with. A great way to do this, is to link back to work you’ve published and talk about recent achievements or discoveries.

• Engage with others Don’t expect people to come to you, especially at the beginning. Reach out to others by engaging in conversations and debates – just be sure that anything you post online is a true reflection of your personal brand. Send direct messages to those who interest you and remember to reply to content that reaches your inbox. A simple re-tweet can also generate followers, so keep this in mind too.

• Watch your reputation We all know how easy it is for a corporate brand to acquire a bad reputation. In the same way you too can acquire a negative personal brand reputation if you’re not careful. Be careful not to tweet anything offensive even from your personal Twitter. Watch your tone when responding to emails, even if it seems they are unfair or aggressive. Similarly, be sure to be on time for meetings and to reflect your true character always. I remember one CMO telling me “Don’t bother about the little people, only impress the ones that matter.” There are no “little people”. Whether it’s the tea lady, the cleaner or the

Attract · Engage · Succeed

Branding Starts With You

www.contentworks.agency

CEO of a huge multinational. Always treat others fairly and with respect.

Takeaway: Be meaningful and lead by example. To be an influencer you must demonstrate content that’s not only gripping and interesting to read but also which that challenges the norm and looks at things from a different angle. Following the crowd simply won’t be enough.

2. Choose the right networking opportunities This is an interesting one. As you establish your personal brand and become known for your expertise, you may be asked to attend different networking events. Some may be great for your brand. As the Creative Director of Contentworks – a content marketing agency which tailors solutions for the finance sector – attending the iFX EXPO Limassol and speaking on the panel – is great for my business as well as for me as a professional. I have, however politely declined invites to speak at other events. This may be because the organisers have a bad reputation (guilty by association) or because the event doesn’t fit with our business ethos.

Declining invitations is completely ok if you’re polite about it. There’s no need to apologise, simply decline politely and wish them luck with their venture. Being confident in your own judgement is key here. Invites that don’t fit with your corporate/personal business attitude and beliefs are of little benefit so have the confidence to turn them down.

Takeaway: Know your personal brand! If you don’t, you run the risk of attending networking events that simply don’t fit with who you are and what you want to achieve. Remember that your personal brand is a precious thing once crafted, so spoiling it by being associated with the wrong events is not advisable.

3. Craft Your Approach Companies with a strong brand tend to do well because they’re instantly recognisable and consumers know what they’re getting. Self-branding works in a similar way. If you love a bit of humour, why not make your brand fun, friendly and perhaps a little off the wall and cheeky? If you’re all about the facts and want to release serious, hardcore information into the world without any of the jokey ‘fluff’ that suits other brands so well – go for it! The trick is to be consistent and true to yourself.

Takeaway: When crafting your approach to self-branding, think carefully about your strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t have a funny bone in your body, don’t attempt to create a witty personal brand – it simply won’t work. The more you develop a strong personal style, the more recognisable you will be. People will get used to your tone of voice and come to love your brand.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #12

4. Be Prepared to Give If you want to build your brand, it’s really important to network and that often means giving up your precious time – for free. Distributing articles, attending seminars and meetings, talking to followers, answering questions and entering debates all takes time. But it’s that graft that will help you to make valuable connections. Whatever you put out there, try to be useful. The more people need your content, the more they’ll come back for more.

Once you have achieved a “known” personal brand status, then you can re-evaluate your time and costs. Do I still give articles for free? Yes. Do I give them for free to low grade sites?

No. Once you are a known thought leader and have built your brand you can be choosier about what you give. Until then, give as much as you can without complaining.

Takeaway: Work on your energy levels. Brand development doesn’t come easy but the more you appear in spaces relevant to your interests, the more well-known you should become. This takes energy and time management, both qualities you will need to master.

5. Set Personal and Professional Goals Coca-Cola is a very well-known brand, but do they sit back, put their feet up and stop pushing forward? No way! Everything from creating ads to launching new products takes time and you can be sure that there are specific targets and goals that must be met to achieve the desired results.

When you’ve establishing your personal brand you’re not done. Set goals. Decide what you want to achieve in a specific time frame and map out what you need to do to get there.

This means re-evaluating your time and how you spend it.

Look at your day to begin with. How many hours do you spend watching Netflix and how many hours do you spend building your brand? Personal branding does not happen overnight, it usually takes years. That means you need to keep setting goals and pushing forward.

Takeaway: Have short-term and long-term goals. While a short-term goal might be to build your social media following, a long-term goal could be to appear on the speaker’s panel of a certain event.

At Contentworks, we know that branding is not a walk in the park. That said; it’s the driving force behind a successful business and a successful career. If you see content marketing playing a role in your future branding strategy, talk to www.contentworks.agency today.

INFLYX REACTION Maria Stylianou & Marios Antoniou Executive Director

Q Marios

Chief Risk Officer

& Maria. What attracted you to INFLYX?

Marios: Mainly the senior management. I couldn’t help but notice that something was missing from institutional business: transparency. This is what INFLYX is built on, dedication to deliver a service as transparent as possible with tailor-made solutions. In addition, the opportunity to offer risk management services to various institutions is another factor that made me think that INFLYX is the place for me for many years to come.

Maria: The idea was to create a new multi-asset liquidity provider solution whereby the transparency would be the utmost and most important value of the business. What really attracted me with this idea was the strong team, knowledge and technology backing up INFLYX. The potential of INFLYX being a top tier liquidity provider at a global level is what excites me and keeps my role challenging.

Q Marios, your first real exposure to institutional FX was as the Head of Dealing for TopFX. What attracted you to going the institutional route?

After spending a couple of years in the retail side of forex business, I wanted to take the next step in my career and interact with people that are looking for something extra, something that would improve their trading experience. To give you an example, we see that a lot of brokers offer tight spreads but the TOB price is not as liquid as it should be.

Institutional investors pay attention to things like that, something that helped me to develop my knowledge further.

In addition, working as head of brokerage gave me the opportunity to interact with prime brokers and get a better understanding how things work from a different angle.

Maria Stylianou Executive Director.

Q Marios. It is rare that you find dealers who have a Masters in Risk Management. What led you to choosing this as an academic subject?

I started forex trading before completing my studies to become a mathematician. Knowing statistics was good enough, but to manage my account in a more proper way I decided that I had to study risk management and learn how to apply various models in decision-making. Along with degrees in mathematics and risk management, I also managed to pass all three levels of the CFA Program.

Q Maria. You have had a long career since obtaining your Masters degree from Manchester University.

What attracted you to FX? The main thing that attracted me to FX was the dynamic ever-changing environment that I get to deal with every single day. Being in the FX industry and especially in a senior position you get the chance to apply a broad aspect of knowledge and skills into action. Coming from a background of Financial Mathematics at University enabled me to have a solid ground that I could build on and expand further my knowledge and skills. Every day is a new day at the FX industry and the rapid changing economy of scales at a global level is what attracts me and keeps me passionate with FX.

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Moving from forex to the banking sector was a big challenge for me. The size and type of balance sheet were different, the size of the transactions was unusual for me and of course the products that we had in our portfolio (loans, bonds, options, etc). Working in banking market and liquidity risk management gave me insights into how capital can be efficiently utilised and how to develop proper models to mitigate risks arising from the business.

Q Marios. There are a lot of Prime of Prime providers starting every day. What makes INFLYX so different?

Marios Antoniou Chief Risk Officer.

Q Maria. You have had a long career since obtaining your Masters degree from Manchester University. What attracted you to FX? The main thing that attracted me to FX was the dynamic ever-changing environment that I get to deal with every single day. Being in the FX industry and especially in a senior position you get the chance to apply a broad aspect of knowledge and skills into action. Coming from a background of Financial Mathematics at University enabled me to have a solid ground that I could build on and expand further my knowledge and skills. Every day is a new day at the FX industry and the rapid changing economy of scales at a global level is what attracts me and keeps me passionate with FX.

INFLYX is built on transparency. We offer some of the best spreads, execution and technology and we’re committed in delivering exceptional service that can satisfy almost anyone.

Our team includes people who understand the industry and know what is missing but more importantly they know how to offer solutions. Our liquidity offering is suitable for every type of trading and is available under unparallelled conditions. In addition, since our team includes people with different and diverse backgrounds, we can ensure that INFLYX can be the leading candidate when it comes to risk management and liquidity solutions.

Q Marios. What are the plans for the next 6 months for INFLYX? First of all, we want to make people aware of our brand and then link our name with transparency, efficiency and optimisation. Even if our offering is extremely competitive, we are looking for new ways to enhance our packages. We are also looking for partnerships that can last for many years and not for just today or tomorrow. We have a long-term business plan; we want to become one of the biggest and reputable liquidity providers.

Q

Maria. How have you seen the local FX market evolve since your participation?

There have been extreme and severe changes over the last few years. Stricter international and European legislation, Directives and Guidelines have imposed to the regulated FX companies a great deal of compliance measures. I personally believe that a significant number of such regulatory and compliance measures were necessary in order for the FX industry to become more professional. In addition, a greater responsibility towards the end clients was a direct positive consequence of those regulatory and compliance changes at international, European and National level.

Q Marios. How did the working environment change when you became a bank employee? Was there a huge difference to the local FX employers?

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ISSUE #12

THE JOURNAL FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

http://gchangersmag.com info@gchangersmag.com