London and Prague, 9 February 2010— The collaboration combines FXCM’s established technology with Patria’s expertise in capital markets and professional, customer-focused service.

Patria Direct required a solid platform with fast execution, and chose FXCM’s No Dealing Desk technology to provide clients the opportunity to trade forex with transparent pricing, fair execution and tight bid/ask spreads. Patria aims to become the leading forex and CFD provider in the Czech and Slovak Republics.

Using FXCM’s award winning platform (named Best Retail FX Platform by FX Week’s 2009 e-FX Awards), clients of Patria Forex will have access to a wide range of forex pairs, including USD/CZK and EUR/CZK, as well as popular CFDs on equity indices and commodities. 

Individuals interested in learning more about Patria Forex are welcome to visit www.patria-forex.cz, and to contact the Patria Forex team at info@patria-forex.cz, or at +420 221 424 221.

The launch of Patria Forex is a perfect fit with Patria’s aim to increase its product range, and with FXCM’s focus on expanding its geographic presence. FXCM expects to have branches or white label partners in most major European markets by the middle of 2010.

Patria Direct is fully licensed by the Czech National Bank for trading domestic and international securities. As a result of this cooperation, Czech and Slovak forex traders can trade with the same FXCM technology they may have used before, but with a local market leader under local regulation.

 “Patria Forex is an excellent means of broadening our offerings, particularly to active traders,” said Oldřich Pavlovský, Managing Director of Patria Direct. “Cooperation with FXCM ensures top quality trading conditions for our clients, so overall it is a superb match with both our firm-wide standards and long-term strategy.”

 “Patria’s selection is further evidence of the growing appeal of FXCM’s business model and technology,” said Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM. “We are very pleased to be cooperating with such a well-regarded institution.”

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About Patria Direct

Patria Direct, a.s. is part of the Patria Finance, a.s. group. Patria Finance was founded in 1994 as the first Czech full-service investment bank, and is wholly owned by the KBC Group, through its subsidiary KBC Securities. Patria Direct provides individual investors with access to the leading local and global capital markets, and has more than 13,000 clients trading with assets of over $1 billion.

About FXCM

Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) is a leading global forex broker that caters to both retail and institutional clients. Founded in 1999, FXCM is one of the largest brokers, regulated by several of the world’s most respected financial authorities. Over 150,000 live accounts trade on platforms offered by FXCM. FXCM Holdings LLC has over $100 million in capital.

Trading FX, CFDs and Spread Betting on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors.

Media Contacts: Jaclyn Sales, jsales@fxcm.com and Martin Kodýdek, kodydek@patria.cz