The trading industry saw a major ownership change this week as AvaTrade agreed to acquire the majority of FXCM Group’s business and brand rights. The deal followed Trade Nation’s acquisition of FXCM’s UK client book, marking another step in the restructuring of one of the industry’s established retail forex brands.

London's trading industry is coming home!

Elsewhere, brokers continued to invest in trading infrastructure and overseas operations, while Nasdaq backed a European platform pursuing round-the-clock trading.

The week also brought new funding for a proprietary trading firm, fresh payout figures from established prop firms, and renewed discussion about how extended trading hours could change the industry.

AvaTrade Agrees to Acquire Majority of FXCM Business

AvaTrade has agreed to acquire the majority of FXCM Group’s business and brand rights, bringing the two established CFD brokers under the same corporate group. The financial terms were not disclosed. Finance Magnates had reported in June that AvaTrade was seeking to acquire Stratos, the parent of FXCM and Tradu, from investment bank Jefferies.

The transaction follows Jefferies’ decade-long control of Stratos after providing a liquidity rescue following the 2015 Swiss franc crisis. Rather than acquiring the entire business in one transaction, AvaTrade is taking the majority of its remaining operations.

The agreement came days after Trade Nation acquired FXCM’s UK client book, leaving the brand’s operations divided between separate buyers.

Trade Nation Acquires FXCM’s UK Client Book

Trade Nation acquired FXCM’s UK client book for an undisclosed sum. Finance Magnates confirmed the deal on Tuesday.

Matthew Wright, Trade Nation’s chief strategy officer and UK CEO, said the longevity of FXCM’s client base was among the factors that attracted the company to the portfolio.

Round-the-Clock Markets Raise Questions About Traders’ Working Hours

Paul Golden examines the expansion of 24-hour trading and its effect on market infrastructure. CME Group reported that its first six weekends of cryptocurrency futures and options trading generated $1 billion in volume, while average daily volume in crypto derivatives rose 44% year on year in the first half to 280,000 contracts.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has noted that many market participants view extended trading as an inevitable, if unwelcome, complication, citing thinner order books, wider spreads and increased price volatility.

Golden writes that markets are moving towards a structure where different types of liquidity dominate at different times, highlighting the importance of knowing when and where liquidity is available.

CME is winding down its plan for 24/7 markets over weekend staffing. @lighter_xyz founder & CEO @vnovakovski says that back in traditional finance, his friends looked forward to weekends while he just wanted the markets open. That impatience, he says, is part of why people love onchain finance: markets that never close have always been part of the ethos.

— The Rollup (@therollupco) October 7, 2026

Brokers Reassure Investors After IG Group’s Share Price Slump

IG Group’s decision to cut its revenue outlook triggered a sharp share-price decline on 2 October, with its stock falling as much as 27% during the session. The sell-off also affected competitors, sending CMC Markets and Plus500 shares down by as much as 9% and 14%, respectively.

Rival brokers subsequently sought to distinguish their trading performance from IG’s outlook, presenting their own businesses as operating normally. Analysts viewed some of the market reaction as excessive, suggesting that part of the valuation discount could reverse if IG delivered improved results.

However, the episode also highlighted competitive pressures facing online brokers, including rising advertising costs and competition from Revolut, whose retail platform has attracted 68 million users.

Most Axi Clients Move to MetaTrader 5 as Broker Deploys Ultency

More than 60% of Axi’s customers now use MetaTrader 5, according to a case study published by MetaQuotes. The broker has migrated the majority of its clients to MetaTrader 5 and has also started deploying Ultency, MetaQuotes' order-matching engine for MT5 brokers.

The rollout adds another component to Axi’s trading infrastructure as it continues to develop its execution systems. Previously, Axi had used a competing order-management system from Your Bourse, which it adopted in 2025.

MetaQuotes’ case study also noted that earlier users of Ultency were largely liquidity providers. Axi’s adoption therefore extends the engine’s use within a retail brokerage operation, alongside the migration of most of its customers to MT5.

Trading 212 Invests £44 Million in Overseas Subsidiaries

Trading 212 Group invested £44 million in its overseas subsidiaries in 2025, with £21.1 million directed to its German operation, according to a Finance Magnates Intelligence analysis of the group’s accounts. The German entity, acquired as FXFlat Bank for approximately €4 million, recorded £2.7 million in revenue during the year.

Despite the investment across international operations, the UK remained the group’s main revenue source, accounting for 80% of total revenue. The figures show how Trading 212 is allocating capital across its overseas business while retaining a strong dependence on its domestic operation.

Germany received nearly half of the subsidiary funding, making it the largest destination for the group’s overseas investment during the year.

Nasdaq Backs One Trading’s Plans for 24/7 European Markets

Nasdaq Ventures has made an undisclosed strategic investment in One Trading, supporting discussions on round-the-clock trading infrastructure and potential joint initiatives. The partnership will explore ways to extend One Trading’s 24/7 capabilities into traditional derivatives and broaden the products available through the platform.

One Trading has been developing infrastructure for continuous trading, including leveraged perpetual products that resemble contracts for difference. The Nasdaq partnership places the platform’s technology in discussions about how conventional financial markets could accommodate trading beyond standard exchange hours.

Both companies plan to assess potential areas of cooperation rather than announcing a completed integration. The investment comes as market operators examine how digital infrastructure and tokenisation could support trading across longer periods.

Vest Labs Raises $13 Million in Pre-Seed Funding

New York-based prop trading firm Vest Labs raised $13 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Portal Ventures, according to a report cited by Finance Magnates. The round closed in July and also attracted angel investments from senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR.

Vest Labs plans to use the funding to develop its own mobile application, expand its team and add more tradable assets. The size of the raise stands out in a prop trading sector where many firms rely on their own resources rather than venture capital.

For Portal Ventures, the investment also represents its first backing of a prop trading firm. The funding gives Vest Labs capital to develop its product offering and expand its operations.

FTMO Reports More Than $200 Million in Annual Trader Rewards

FTMO distributed more than $14.4 million in rewards to approximately 7,100 traders in September, taking its reported cumulative payouts above $650 million. The Prague-based proprietary trading firm said it had paid more than $200 million over the preceding 12 months, equivalent to an average of around $16 million per month.

7,100+ FTMO Rewards processed in September. ✅

— FTMO.com (@FTMO_com) October 8, 2026

September’s rewards were approximately 5% lower than August’s level, while the number of payouts implied an average payment of roughly $2,030. FTMO also reported more than 4.5 million registered traders worldwide.

The figures provide an update on the scale of its reward programme as the firm continues to report monthly distributions and cumulative payments to traders using its funded trading model.

Hola Prime Says Cumulative Trader Payouts Exceed $10 Million

Prop trading firm Hola Prime reported that it had paid more than $10 million to funded traders, more than tripling its cumulative total since April. The company put the average payout at approximately $1,800, down from around $4,500 when it reported distributing about $3.2 million earlier in the year.

The figures were disclosed by the firm and reflect its own tally of payments. Separately, a Deloitte review earlier in 2026 examined how quickly payouts were processed through mid-March; it did not verify the company’s subsequent cumulative total.

The latest announcement provides an update on Hola Prime’s reported distributions, while the lower average payout shows how the composition of payments has changed as the total has grown.

iFX EXPO Asia 2026 Opens in Hong Kong as Brokers Explore Sports Marketing

iFX EXPO Asia 2026 opened its main exhibition and conference programme at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday, bringing together companies from online trading, fintech and digital assets. Organisers expected more than 5,000 attendees from over 130 countries, alongside 150 exhibitors and more than 120 speakers.

The three-day programme covers artificial intelligence, stablecoins, tokenisation, prediction markets and trading technology. Discussions also include how brokers build their brands through sports, reflecting the marketing strategies used to reach customers beyond traditional financial advertising.

The event began with a welcome party on Wednesday before the main conference opened. Its programme brings brokers, liquidity providers, fintech businesses and crypto companies together for industry discussions and networking.

This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

Source: Finance Magnates