Embattled US currency broker FXCM Inc said on Tuesday it has changed its company name to Global Brokerage Inc, two weeks after it had been ordered by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to cease operations in the United States for fraud. In a statement, FXCM said it will also change its ticker symbol to GLBR. The change in the company name and ticker is effective February 27.
The company also announced the promotion of Brendan Callan to interim chief executive officer, replacing Drew Niv, who resigned from the firm. Niv also resigned as director of FXCM Group. FXCM was banned earlier this month by the CFTC from doing business in the United States for betting against its customers in trades. The commission also ordered Forex Capital Markets, its parent FXCM Holdings LLC and founding partners Drew Niv and William Ahdout to pay $7 million to settle charges it had defrauded retail foreign exchange customers. Niv and Ahdout were also banned from acting a principal, agent, officer, or employee of any person or firm that is required to be registered, or exempted from registration with the CFTC.
Ahdout has also resigned as director of the FXCM Group board. Callan, who joined in 2001, has been the CEO and president of the European operations since 2010, a period during which Forex Capital Markets Limited or FXCM UK became the group's largest operating subsidiary.
FXCM also announced Jimmy Halac has been appointed chairman of FXCM Group. Hallac is managing director of Leucadia National Corp, which rescued FXCM with a roughly $200 million loan after the Swiss National Bank unpegged the Swiss franc from the euro in January 2015. Leucadia holds a significant interest in FXCM Group.