 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 2010 (2010) |
| Founder | Owen Kerr Joe Davenport |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people |
|
| Services | Financial Markets AccessForex Brokerage,MetaTrader 4,Contract For Difference(CFDs),cTrader |
Number of employees | 450 (FY 2024)[citation needed] |
| Website | pepperstone |
Pepperstone is an Australian forex andCFDs broker providing trading services with forex, stocks, commodities and other asset classes in multiple jurisdictions. The company was founded in 2010 inMelbourne,Australia, by Owen Kerr and Joe Davenport. The group operates internationally through subsidiaries in theUK,Germany,Cyprus,Kenya,Bahamas, and theUAE.
Pepperstone was founded in 2010 by Owen Kerr and Joe Davenport[1][2] but it did not receive its Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) from theAustralian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) until February 2013.[3]
In 2014, the firm was ranked #1 onBRW Fast Starters, with reported revenues of $60m and 66% growth.[4] In 2015, it secured a license under theFinancial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. By that time the company had already obtained licenses in the UAE with theDubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and inthe Bahamas under theSecurities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).[5]
In 2016, Pepperstone sold a majority of its business to Champ Private Equity.[6] The equity firm later exited the company, selling its stake in 2018 to Tamas Szabo CEO and Fiona Lock.[7] In February 2017, to comply with its FCA obligations, the firm temporarily suspend trading for its UK clients.[8]
AfterBrexit, Pepperstone could no longer operate inEuropean Union under its UK FCA license.[9] To continue operations Pepperstone secured additional licenses fromBaFin inGermany andCySEC inCyprus by 2020.[5]
In June 2022, Pepperstone became an Approved Broker Member of the Financial Commission, a self-regulatory organization in the financial services space.[10]
In 2022, the UK subsidiary increased net profit by 36% to over £10 million. However, it failed to break above the broker's revenue of £12.7 million in 2020.[11] The client funds decreased to £25.16 mln below the previous year's £28.9 mln. Pepperstone reduced employee and legal expenses and tripled marketing expenses instead.[12]
In June 2024, Pepperstone introduced 24-hour CFD trading on US shares on itstrading platforms cTrader, MetaTrader, andTradingView.[13]
AfterBrexit, to remain operational in EU, Pepperstone secured regulatory licenses in Germany and Cyprus. The company also expanded toKenya and theUAE.[14][15][16] The company is authorized and regulated by several financial authorities: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), theFCA in the United Kingdom,CySEC Cyprus, DFSA Dubai, CMA Kenya, SCB Bahamas, and BaFin Germany.[17]
Pepperstone has offices inMelbourne,London,Düsseldorf,Dubai,Limassol,Nassau, andNairobi.[17][18]
In May 2022, Pepperstone entered into a global sponsorship deal with theAssociation of Tennis Professionals (ATP), gaining naming rights to the officialATP rankings.[19] After February 2024, the naming rights were transferred to theSaudi ArabianPublic Investment Fund.[20]
In 2024, Pepperstone announced a partnership with theAsian Football Confederation,[21] hiredJohn McEnroe as a Global Tennis Ambassador, and established partnerships with theGeelong Football Club and theAdelaide Strikers.[22] In November 2024, the company became a sponsor of theUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Asia.[23]
In January 2025, Pepperstone signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with theAston Martin Aramco F1 Team.[23]
 | This article's"criticism" or "controversy" sectionmay compromise the article'sneutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sectionsthrough discussion on thetalk page.(March 2025) |
In October 2014, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) discovered that Pepperstone had been operating inJapan without a license from the JapaneseFinancial Services Agency. It was only after the ASIC report that Pepperstone notified its Japanese clients via email about the lack of a license and informed them that they could only withdraw their funds until 31 December 2014.[3]
In February 2023, Peter Spanos, Pepperstone's head of market risk, left the company to take a similar role at GO Markets, a rival brokerage firm. Spanos remarked that he was pleased to join a company with a supportive culture.[24] A company he has since left.[25]
In 2014, theHerald Sun reported that Pepperstone's head of sales, Joel Murphy, was dismissed after blowing the whistle on a $7 million insider trade scam. Murphy uncovered a scheme carried out by Lukas Kamay and Chris Hill, who gained 20,000% in profits, and informed his boss as well as theAustralian Securities and Investments Commission. Murphy was dismissed on the day of their arrest and was denied bonuses exceeding $1 million.[26][27][28]
The story was later covered in the press under the headline "Pepperstone helped the Australian Securities and Investments Commission andAustralian Federal Police uncover Australia's largest insider trading case in history," without revealing that the person who initially discovered the fraud had been dismissed without receiving his due compensation. Murphy later founded a brokerage company and eventually hired one of the convicted fraudsters, Chris Hill, as a risk analyst, giving him a chance to recover from the incident and rebuild his career.[29][30]
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