In the financial segment, innovative trading platforms, in one way or another related to brokerage or trading activities, are increasingly gaining large market shares. However, based on years of historical experience, this type of financial institution has always been a catalyst for cash flow based on the era’s trends. And that is precisely how the story of FXCM began, as one of the largest financial institutions in the late ’90s, evolving into a retail currency trading business. With a core team of top-notch financiers, managers, and a targeted plan to scale, FXCM easily outperformed its trading volume target of $250,000,000 a month. Founded in 1999, Forex Capital Markets initially relied on the expertise of critical developers of the unique Forex trading system. Then Drew Niv took the reins and became one of the key players in the history of world trading. But first things first.
Entering the new millennium with growing numbers and continued momentum, FXCM became one of the largest retail foreign exchange trading companies. In early 2003, the New York giant merged with one of the largest U.S. futures brokers, Refco Group. This merger later became one of the most correct and profitable decisions of Drew Niv. Refco became full owners of 35% of FXCM, licensing the unique software to their clients and making it available to all partners. However, the steep coup in the partnership’s history came in 2017 – that’s when charges were filed against FXCM and subsidiary FXCM Holdings by the CFTC regulator affecting Drew Niv personally. In the lawsuit, information was provided that, between early September 2009 and early 2014, FXCM issued personal false insider information to its clients, concealing a true partnership with a significant shadow market maker.
Subsequently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined FXCM $7,000,000, accompanied by an order prohibiting it from continuing to operate and provide services. The lawsuit alleged that the actions of Drew Niv were in direct violation of the regulations and violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. Besides the litigation, Drew Niv lost its license from the regulator and agreed to the requirement to leave the CFTC jurisdiction.
The process had a considerable effect on the merger’s life, shattering the monolithic mechanism into small pieces – FXCM broke away and began the reorganization process, Drew Niv continued to look for areas of application of their skills in new regions. He looked at fast-growing sectors without much internal control and the presence of specialized regulators. Taking up ambitious start-ups in the USA, Russia, and China, Drew quickly adapted and continued his triumphant march as an executive. One of the prominent companies created by Drew after the FXCM scandal was Magic Trading. Armed with like-minded people, with whom he had come a long way, he built a promising project in a short period, based on the top trader’s associations from all over the world. MT quickly seized the market of China and Eastern Europe, but the most popular was on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Exactly in this region, the company was able to open more than 20 official representative offices and attract a depository totaling more than $430.000.000. The shady management of Drew was bearing fruit, but soon, bureaucratic problems caught up with our hero again. Toward the end of 2021, the international MT platform was officially blocked throughout Russia, citing dubious reasons. We suspect that it was the corruption component of this region that played a cruel joke on Drew Niv because similar cases occur on the territory of the Russian Federation with enviable consistency. On this basis, we can draw a kind of parallel between the history of FXCM and MT, only in Russia, the role of the CFTC was played by Roskomnadzor, the Central Bank, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The histories of the companies led by Drew Niv copy each other, changing only points on the map and time intervals. Whether Drew is preparing something new is instead a question of only time, whether the new story will repeat old mistakes – the question remains open.
