Spotware Systems, developers of the FX platforms cTrader and cAlgo, have released details about their upcoming open API called Spotware Connect. The project will help third-party application developers easily build their own cTrader systems, and integrate existing FX related products into the cTrader platform.

Brian Martin, Vice President EMEA at Spotware Systems,  said that the open API will allow for the creation and access of API capabilities as they are added. "We know that, just like any other software business, we need to be open to third-party integrations. There will be certain times at which users may want extra platform or analytic functionality, and Spotware Connect is about putting that power in their hands.

"We had 3 main principles in mind when we started this project. The first was that it should be open to absolutely everybody. You don't need to be a customer of a broker or anything like that. Secondly, we've made it extremely simple to start using, as we want to encourage people to really get going with this."

Finally, says Mr. Martin, once you do get going, Spotware Connect is relatively simple for even novices to grasp. "That was the point really, to make it as simple and user-friendly as a third-party developer application can be."

FX platforms and third party plugins have been making FX news recently, with platform developers and third party technology providers often in disagreement over the legality of plugins and platform modifications.

Stefanos Economides at Spotware Systems said that the company wanted to avoid such misunderstandings. "Our terms of service will as open as possible to encourage use. The important emphasis we want to place on this is that for the first time, a genuine direct-access FX platform will be opened up to creativity, experimentation and new possibilities for the people who care most about FX trading."

The highly coveted FX Person of the Year Award, conferred annually by FXstreet.com to the most deserving game-changers in institutional and retail FX, has been awarded to the influential co-founders of Spotware Systems Ltd, developers of the rising star of FX trading platforms, cTrader. The award has gone to Andrey Pavlov and Ilya Holeu.

On how cTrader is setting new industry standards, FXstreet.com notes that the platform “doesn’t constrain the trader and force them to adopt all-in all-out or over-leveraged strategies. Other advantages of the product are direct market access, mobile access, cloud hosting for algorithmic trading and the fact it is C# programmable.”

The emphasis on transparency was underlined by co-founder Ilya Holeu: “Alignment of interests between trader and broker is just one of the beauties of agency model... where finally the market maker becomes a broker. The more profitable a trader is, the more volume he or she generates, the better for brokers and in the majority of cases even for price makers – banks.”

40+ brokers worldwide have adopted cTrader, one of several platforms developed and in the works for Spotware that include web and mobile interfaces for cTrader, and cAlgo, an enormously powerful algorithmic trading platform. Brokers who now offer cTrader and cAlgo have experienced  volume growth that is driven by more sophisticated (and therefore higher volume) traders. In certain instances, cTrader has gone on to overtake the key 50% mark for total trading volumes.

Indeed, Andrey Pavlov, CEO of Spotware, puts the volume factor down as an important milestone in the company’s short but effectual history.  When asked about some of the key events that determined the fast-paced propulsion of cTrader, Andrey Pavlov said, “Surpassing 50% of some of our largest brokers’ monthly volumes; releasing numerous charting and cloud features that the other platform can’t even dream about; cTrader Web (our HTML5 front end) surpassing 30% of overall volumes; cAlgo’s developer community growing to thousands of dedicated evangelists; the fact that we signed 40+ great brokers globally and the Spotware team growing to 70 exceptional experts whom I love and respect enormously.”

Quite a long list for such a young venture. It’s an indication of just how far this platform, and this company, have come in the short time they have been around. cTrader is an NDD trading application that prides itself on complete transparency of no dealing desk execution, faster order fills, and a host of features that extend trading possibilities for end-users (such as 3 depth of market types, click-and-drag order modifications, and continuous cloud-feature development).

Details of what’s in store for cTrader apart, it seems there is no stopping the ambition of this single-minded enterprise. Asked about the immediate future of cTrader and Spotware Systems, Andrey Pavlov said, “We are far beyond the other platform in terms of the feature-set, usability and philosophical appeal. And we intend to strengthen that further in 2013.”

Andrey and Ilya said they would like to express the highest gratitude to their clients, who have been rewarded for the trust they placed in Spotware, and their talented team of developers and FX industry experts.

Read the FXstreet.com news story here: http://about.fxstreet.com/forex-person-of-the-year-2012-ctrader/

cTrader ID
Create your individual cTrader ID to receive email alerts and store your favorites in the Cloud.

You can create and log in to cTrader ID using a Facebook account, or you can create a new cTrader ID account by using the Log In button at the top right of the platform.

Stay tuned for many great cTrader ID related features coming in the near future.

Email Alerts

You can now receive email alerts for important event and transactions.

1. Log in to your cTrader ID.
2. Click the bell icon from the QuickLinks toolbar.
3. Choose to receive email notifications for; Take profit hit, Stop loss hit, Pending order filled and Deposits/withdrawals.

Cloud Favorites

Your Favorites symbol list will now be stored in the cloud, so you can access it from any computer after logging in with your cTrader ID

Deal map

View your past trades in the chart. From the chart view options, select Deal Map. This will plot your entire trading history onto the Chart for that particular symbol.

Select a Trade from this History tab in TradeWatch to highlight the corresponding trade on the Chart.

Spotware Systems Awarded ISO 27001 Certification (Press Release)

Spotware Systems, a leading provider of eFX technologies and developer of the cTrader platform, today announced that it has successfully attained the International Organization for Standardization certification (ISO 27001), earning the prestigious accreditation after nearly a year of independent, external assessments.

The ISO 27001, the most stringent certification for information security controls, guarantees that ample information security controls and other forms of risk treatment are in place to prevent and defend against potential data system vulnerabilities. The certification also ensures that the information security controls continue to meet security needs on an ongoing basis.

Andrey Pavlov, Spotware Systems CEO, commented “Brokers and banks especially are looking for increased assurances over the high volumes of data they are entrusting to us and other partners. We’re proud to have achieved this independent certification, as it demonstrates our level of commitment to implementing the tightest security controls, and the emphasis we place on the confidentiality and security of our clients’ electronic data.

“We strive to achieve excellence in all of its operations and the ISO certification lays down a strong marker in our effort to deliver our clients the extra-mile levels of service and assurances they have come to expect from Spotware.”

Spotware has also recently received an ISAE 3402 report, issued by Deloitte in June 2012, which described and formalizes permanent control processes, their objectives and the procedures used when processing operations.

Spotware’s ISO 27001 was conducted under guidance from Deloitte for a period of one year from August 2011 to September 2012. The thorough assessment verified Spotware’s compliance with ISMS policies and procedures, and its institutionalization of ISO standard practices across the organization.

ISO 27001 requires that management:

• Systematically examine the organization's information security risks, taking account of the threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts;
• Design and implement a coherent and comprehensive suite of information security controls and/or other forms of risk treatment (such as risk avoidance or risk transfer) to address those risks that are deemed unacceptable; and
• Adopt an overarching management process to ensure that the information security controls continue to meet the organization's information security needs on an ongoing basis.

We are happy to announce the release of cTrader Web - a web-based version of cTrader which can be accessed from all major desktop browsers.

You can now access the features, transparent pricing and fast-execution of cTrader from anywhere in the world.

Visit our cTrader Web page to learn more, or try our demo to test FX's fastest, most responsive web-based platform. You can create a new account or use your current cTrader demo account details.

cTrader Web
cTrader Web is a newly launched, web-based version of cTrader that can be accessed using the latest Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer.

To open cTrader Web from cTrader, click on the "cT Web" button from the QuickLinks toolbar.

To open it directly from the browser use the URL provided by your broker.

Rearranging Charts
You can now rearrange chart windows in Multi-Chart mode. Just drag and drop the chart window form the dots in the upper left corner.

New Languages
Vietnamese (VI) and Arabic (AR) languages were added on cTrader and cAlgo.

cTrader

Change Password
You can now change your account’s password from the cTrader platform. You can find the Change Password option in the Accounts window.

Please note that you need to be logged in to the account for which you will change password.

News
The news tab will stream live fundamental news affecting the FX markets from your broker’s news provider.

cAlgo

Backtesting
cAlgo now features advanced backtesting capabilities that let you test your robot’s performance against historical data. You’ll be able to see detailed event logs, complete profit loss and trade reports, and graphs of your robots’ performance.

With an unerring focus on safety and quality assurance, cTrader has completed an audit of its controls, putting in place mature internal controls and measures to further enhance its position as the leader in robust FX STP solutions.

Andrey Pavlov, CEO cTrader Ltd, said “We’re delighted to have achieved this recognition of the highest-standard controls we implement to safeguard our clients’ data for the range of Spotware products. This serves to further strengthen our reputation for secure operational practice, and is another example of cTrader’s commitment to respect the trust placed in us by our clients.”

The ISAE (formerly SAS 70) Type I report is granted to companies who demonstrate a level of “reasonable assurance” over the control integrity of the processing environment and embeds a strong control culture.

The report describes and formalizes the permanent control processes, their objectives and the procedures used when processing operations. Achieved under the guidance of Deloitte, ISAE 3402 Type I also offers an opinion that system controls are suitably designed and implemented.

Notes to Media

For further information, please contact:

Brian Martin
cTrader Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 207 743 8805
Email: brian.martin@ctrader.com

About Spotware Systems Ltd

Spotware Systems is a London based neutral financial technology provider focusing on e-FX STP solutions, offering comprehensive solutions for brokers, banks and their clients.

Spotware cTrader’s team of over 60 highly qualified financial and technology experts provide an easily integrated PaaS (Platform as a Service) solution to broker-dealers, banks, and other financial services firms looking to implement and offer manual and algorithmic NDD eFX trading and a complete back-end management system.

Custom Period Account Statements
Statements of your trading and transaction history can now be generated for a particular time period.

1. Click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the Statement button in the History  tab.
2. Select from a list of predefined time periods (Current Month, Last 3 Months, etc.) or define your own custom time period.

Your statements will be generated as an html file and the folder location will be opened as usual.

Vertical Chart Scaling
To vertically scale your chart, click anywhere within the Y axis of a chart and drag upwards or downwards. Double click anywhere on the Y axis to reset the chart to its default scale.

Highlighting Positions in Charts and TradeWatch
Moving your mouse over a position or order entry in TradeWatch will highlight the corresponding lines on your chart – and vice versa – moving your mouse over a position or order line on your chart will highlight the corresponding position / order in TradeWatch.

New Detach Chart Button
Charts can be detached by right clicking within the chart and selecting Detach Chart, or by clicking the detach icon from the window.

Keyboard Shortcuts
A full list of keyboard shortcuts can be access by clicking the Keyboard icon in the Quick Links toolbar.

More details in account list
The accounts list now shows more details beside each account: Leverage, Type (Demo or Live) and Currency.

Slow Connection Removes Market Depth
When cTrader detects that your internet connection is slow, you will be unsubscribed from all depth of market information for all currency pairs.

You can quickly resubscribe to specific currency pairs' depth by clicking Resubscribe.

cTrader will automatically resubscribe to depth of market for all currency pairs when your connection returns to normal speeds.

cTrader releases Chart Trading.

Chart Trading allows you to create and modify Stop Loss and Take Profit orders from directly within your charts. You can now mouse over your Position line or Order line on the chart and drag the Stop Loss or Take profit to the desired level.

Limit Orders and Stop Orders can be adjusted in the same way, by clicking and dragging the Order line to the desired entry rate.

Other release notes:

• ChartShots are now saved to your hard drive in the My Documents folder as .png images.
• ChartShot configuration options can now be set from the preferences menu at the top right of the platform.
  
  To change how you view your ChartShots:
  Select Show in Browser to have cTrader open the ChartShot URL
  or
  Show in Folder to open the folder containing your ChartShot on your local machine.
  
  An HTML file is created called ChartShot-List.html, indexing your locally saved files and ChartShots URLs. The file is stored in the My Documents folder on your computer, and you can also access the file by clicking Show List in the ChartShot Configuration menu.
   
• cAlgo: Your robot instance log now also records trade notifications generated by that instance of the robot.
• Hovering over a trend bar in your charts will change the Status Bar display, from current Trading Sessions to the Open, High, Low and Close prices of the trend bar,  as well as its Date and Time.

London, November 2011

cTrader announces today the expansion of its sales team with four new additions at Director level.

Steve Winters joins cTrader having spent his whole career in the FX industry, starting out at City Index. He was a founding member of GFT Global Markets UK, managing its institutional and retail sales for almost 5 years. Prior to joining cTrader Steve was the Managing Director of Currensee Ltd, one of the first players in the world of FX social networks.

Brian Martin has over 30 years experience within the banking industry. Brian started out as an FX trader working at Moscow Narodny Bank, Fidelity and JP Morgan before moving into Treasury Software at Misys. Brian has travelled extensively, living in New York and Moscow whilst managing teams based in the USA, UK, China, India and Singapore. Prior to joining cTrader Brian led a Global Treasury Team at Thomson Reuters focusing on the creation and distribution of high-value market data.

Cameron Kim has spent over 10 years in various sectors of the financial industry, from convertible bond research to business development in retail and institutional FX. He covered wide geographic regions from Asia to North America. Multi-lingual and multi-cultural, Cameron developed Asian markets for MIG Bank in Switzerland. Prior to joining cTrader he successfully created a North Asian institutional sales strategy for CMC Markets.

Andrey Pavlov, CEO, cTrader, commented: “cTrader is delighted to welcome these new appointments to our Business Development team at a time of exciting growth for our business. These senior and high calibre appointments demonstrate our intent to ensure that  cTrader is the first choice for any brokers looking to offer their clients a direct-access STP platform. With our cAlgo, cBroker and cServer options we offer an innovative and full-spectrum STP trading solution.”

Notes to Media

For further information, please contact:

Steve Winters
cTrader Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 207 743 8803
Email: steve.winters@ctrader.com

Brian Martin
cTrader Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 207 743 8805
Email: brian.martin@ctrader.com

Cameron Kim
cTrader Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7743 8806
Email: cameron.kim@ctrader.com

cTrader is proud to announce the launch of cAlgo, our new algorithmic trading platform for developing and trading with robots and custom technical analysis indicators.

cAlgo’s STP foreign exchange algorithmic trading platform offers powerful, fast and reliable automated trading in an easy to use, coding friendly environment.

The trend is unmistakable: traders are moving away from outdated and discredited dealing-desk brokers into next generation direct STP exchanges in search of increased market transparency and liquidity.

cAlgo offers that transparency as well as distinct technological and advantages:

• Write indicators and robots using C# and leverage the power of the .NET platform.
• Use the integrated editor or Visual Studio to develop your code.
• Code on top of a simple, yet efficient API.
• Get started in hours not days using an intuitive UI.

More information on cAlgo is available on our website.

July 2011, cTrader Platform Updates

• Traders will be able to take opposite sides of the trade for one currency pair at the same time (Hedging). The minimum trade volume size has been minimized to 10k.
• Chart template feature introduced. Users can save and load their chart configuration (colors, indicators etc.)
• ChartShot – screenshot of the active chart window will be immediately uploaded to a dedicated webpage, with unique URL, allowing easily share the image on social networks, by email, or by sharing the link.
• Stop Loss and Take Profit now can be easily attached to Limit/Stop order creation screen.
• A possibility to configure manually Proxy setting will allow users to connect from corporate networks.
• Market Depth window height is adjustable to ensure, there’s no hidden liquidity.
• Modify Indicators more easily, by clicking on the indicator name in the ‘Indicator & Object list’ on right click menu or chart preferences menu.

These updates were mostly based on user feedback and discussion. To share your opinions and ideas with us, click the Feedback in your cTrader console.

May 2011, cTrader Platform Updates

In response to user feedback, cTrader is issuing the following releases:

• All chart settings and layouts are saved and appear unchanged upon cTrader client restart. Settings include: indicators, charts, time frames, chart types, layout, zoom level, viewing mode, colors, detached charts, position and objects.
• Users can now generate statements of their past transactions (Deals) in html using the statement button located in the History station.
• cTrader has two new viewing layouts, Chart Trading Layout and Charts Only Layout. Users can cycle through layouts by clicking the layout change button on the cTrader preferences menu, or by pressing F11.
• Chart data is now cached in cTrader's Cache folder. Chart loading times have decreased.
• Refresh chart option is available, when right-clicked on the chart.
• It's possible to remove a saved account from the account list. To remove an account, mouse over the account on the drop down list of the accounts bar and click the x button. The account will be removed from the list after a confirmation is provided. Removing the account does not result in the account's deletion. It's still possible for users to log in using a “removed” accounts credentials.
• Added a "Help F1" main menu option. When F1 is pressed or this option is clicked in the main menu, cTrader help file will appear on the user’s browser.
• Users can see depth of market for multiple symbols that are saved in their "Favorites".
• Minimize button now minimizes detached charts to the taskbar. The x button of a detached chart will attach the chart back to cTrader's main console.

Please continue sending your valuable feedback.

cTrader is proud to announce a new partnership with FxPro.

FxPro cTrader clients will enjoy

Removed conflict of interest.
Market depth with Level II Pricing for powerful insight into liquidity.
Lightning-fast execution speeds, even in volatile market conditions.
User-friendly platform interface.

cTrader has taken all the advantages enjoyed by financial institutions and made them available for the first time to traders like you. 

cTrader will be exclusive to FxPro clients until December 2011.