ionStar Eases Zercatto's Entry Into the UK Trading Market

LONDON, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

ionStar, providers of compliance solutions to financial services companies, has completed a review of the UK regulatory environment on behalf of Zercatto.com, a Portuguese investment technology platform.

Zercatto engaged ionStar to advise whether the FCA requires technology platforms offering the relatively new 'mirror trading' services to be regulated.  

Mirror trading allows investors to duplicate other investors' trades, thereby potentially replicating highly profitable trading strategies. Mirror trading has been the vanguard of technological innovation in the online broking space in recent years reflecting an increasing sophistication in how the products are traded.

As a result, Zercatto can now confidently enter the UK, a potentially large and lucrative market for international mirror trading services, and one where there is no clear market leader.

With new clarity on the regulatory environment, Zercatto is better placed to attract partner firms in the FX, spread betting and CFD broking space to its platform, who will take comfort from ionStar's conclusions.

Tim Hughes, Managing Director of ionStar, commented: 

"As mirror trading is still a relatively new service in this country, Zercatto wanted to make absolutely sure of its regulatory position as a trading technology firm looking to offer this service to brokers and FX firms in the UK.

"Our extensive network means that we could engage experienced compliance professionals with firsthand experience of new tech offerings in the broking space and we were able to assure Zercatto that it is correctly configured to enter the UK."

Gaspar D'Orey, Co-Founder and CEO of Zercatto.com, said: 

"We wanted to be absolutely clear that none of our potential UK partner firms would need costly additional regulatory permissions when integrating the Zercatto platform.

"ionStar's professionals were able to assure us that potential new partners would not require additional regulatory permissions to use our trading platform. We were delighted by the review, which is a major tick in the box when it comes to attracting new firms to the Zercatto platform."

About ionStar 

Launched in 2014, ionStar offers compliance advice and support to financial services companies, with a particular focus on FX, CFD and spread betting firms. Its services include one-off advice on technical questions, assistance with FCA application, and advice and support setting up compliance and risk frameworks.

ionStar delivers its services through its talented pool of experienced compliance professionals, all of whom have previously worked in-house at leading City firms or with regulators.

It is now looking to expand its network of compliance and risk consultants, offering committed and experienced professionals the chance to work collaboratively from home on mentally engaging projects without the burden of set and rigid hours in a supportive and engaging environment.

Further information, please contact:
Tim Hughes
MD, ionStar
Tel: +44(0)203-753-5389
tim@ionstar.co.uk
http://www.ionstar.co.uk

Neil Boom
MD, Gresham PR Ltd.
Tel: +44(0)7866-805-108
http://www.greshampr.co.uk