Windsor Cyprus targets new clients from Far East

— Offering 24-hour market in FX, commodities, CFDs

 

Windsor Brokers Ltd., one of Cyprus’ largest privately held financial services companies offering non-stop market in foreign exchange, commodities and CFDs is now targeting new clients from the Far East in addition to its core client base in the Middle East, Gulf and North Africa.

Hanna (Johny) Abuaitah, Windsor Brokers Managing Director, told the Financial Mirror in an exclusive interview that plans are underway for the Group’s expansion into the Far East with emphasis on mainland China.

Windsor was established in Limassol in 1988 with only three employees and an office space of around 100 sq. metres. In 19 years, it has become a powerhouse employing 65 people and in earlier this month, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris was the guest of honour at the inauguration of the company’s new headquarters in Limassol.

Abuaitah said that initially Windsor relied on consultants and introducing brokers for business, which was channelled to counterparts in other countries.

In 2004, when Cyprus became a full EU member, the supervisory authority was transferred from the Central Bank of Cyprus to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and the firm started operating as a Cypriot Investment Firm, applying mainly European Directives, while only last year Windsor obtained its EEA Authorization from the FSA (UK).

“It was not easy as we were bombarded with tens of new rules and regulations, but this gave us an opportunity to restructure all our operations including hiring qualified and specialized staff, invest in advanced IT systems and proceed with a thorough restructuring of our operational procedures”, said Abuaitah, adding that the changeover, though costly, brought new business as serious investors were attracted to Windsor.

At the same time, the firm invested heavily in the purchase and development of its 24-hour online dealing system, Windsor Direct, which has been instrumental in offering a high quality service to clients.

“Our state-of-the-art online system and our authorization from the CySEC and FSA helped us attract new business from Europe and North America in addition to our core base in the Middle East, Gulf and North Africa.

Windsor Brokers is now a primary dealer offering non-stop prices in FX, commodities and CFDs trading on U.S. exchanges. Windsor currently executes around 540,000 transactions per year compared to 19,000 in 2002.

“We have grown and now we are an internationally recognized financial institution, offering 24-hour service in 12 languages,” said Abuaitah.