We have interviewed Stavros Zenonos, executive director of BCM Begin Capital Markets, about the turbulent times at financial markets and up-to-date behaviour patterns of investors. We have also discussed trends in investment and trading services, as well as in regulation of the markets in the EU.
Since 2020, markets have been rather volatile. As the top representative of a long-established company that can make comparisons throughout decades, how would you characterize the running twenties from the investor’s perspective?
It is true that pandemics and then the war in Ukraine have influenced the world of assets in a way that the declines and peaks are deeper/higher in their value and more frequent than before. On the other hand, volatility is an everlasting ingredient of financial and capital markets, and any investor or trader must be ready for ups and downs.
If I may simply characterize the current era from the broker’s perspective, I have one word for it: mobile. What meant “to be online” for traders in the last two decades, that is “to go mobile” now. That not only expresses the ability to trade anytime from anywhere. That also means the boom in applications that try to make things as simple as small is the touchscreen of the device.
So, there are also new threats and risks for the users.
Exactly. We put a great emphasis on education. Not only about all the risks of investments and online trading tools or how to operate the trading app. It is essential that clients realize the vulnerability of their device. A smartphone should be treated in the same way as a “big computer”, which means, for instance, having adequate antivirus protection or downloading apps from verified providers only.
How is the regulation following the dynamic development?
From the principle, regulation follows the technological development. In the EU, there is a strong sense for consumers protection, so the market regulation is also rather strict in the investment area. As a Cyprus investment firm (CIF) we are regulated and supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and can provide our services across the EU.
“In our analytical service, we pay special attention to technology companies in Europe.”
There was news about your settlement with the regulator. What is the reason, and what market does it concern?
Our company, BCM Begin Capital Markets, signed a settlement agreement with CySEC. This agreement includes paying a fee and improve in areas where there were concerns by CySEC. It concerns solely our activities in Greece.
What did CySEC fine BCM for?
At first, let me explain that the settlement is no fine, on the contrary, it is a voluntary agreement between the licensed company and the regulator. As a result, the company agreed to the settlement with the regulator to improve its processes and activities so that there is no doubt on the regulator’s side.
There is no consequence for clients, apart from more security of the clients that not only all the regulations will be met, but also the client service will improve.
Thank you for your clarification. What are BCM’s plans for the rest of the turbulent year?
To keep up with our award for The Best European Forex Broker, we aim to stay on top in the EU among the leading brokers. That requires leadership both in technical parameters, such as the reliability and the speed of orders execution, and in excellency of personal client services in local languages everywhere we are active.
Besides enriching our online educational programs, we are also inviting our clients to seminars where they can discuss in person both the technical aspects of trading and fundamental factors that move the markets up or down.
In our analytical service, we pay special attention to technology companies in Europe. You might have noticed we started to post regularly our chart of TOP 10 European Technology Companies. The audience will see the new update around the turn of the year 2022/23.
