Weekly Review: AvaTrade and Trade Nation Acquire FXCM; Nasdaq Backs 24/7 Trading

AvaTrade has agreed to acquire the majority of FXCM Group's business and brand rights, the two established CFD brokers said this week. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The agreement came days after Trade Nation acquired FXCM's UK client book, leaving the retail forex brand's operations divided between separate buyers.

Broker Consolidation

Trade Nation's purchase of FXCM's UK client book was confirmed on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum. 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 firm to the portfolio. AvaTrade's deal follows Jefferies' decade-long ownership of Stratos, FXCM's parent, which the investment bank took control of after providing a liquidity rescue in the wake of the 2015 Swiss franc crisis. Finance Magnates reported in June that AvaTrade was pursuing Stratos, which also owns Tradu. Rather than buying the whole business at once, AvaTrade is taking the majority of its remaining operations.

The FXCM transactions were the standout ownership change in a busy week for the industry. IG Group cut its revenue outlook on 2 October, sending its shares down as much as 27% during the session. CMC Markets and Plus500 fell by up to 9% and 14%, respectively. Rival brokers moved to reassure investors about their own trading performance, and analysts suggested part of the sell-off was overdone. The episode also underlined competitive pressures such as rising advertising costs and competition from Revolut, which has drawn 68 million users to its retail platform.

In trading infrastructure, Axi has migrated more than 60% of its customers to MetaTrader 5 and started deploying Ultency, MetaQuotes' order-matching engine for MT5 brokers, according to a MetaQuotes case study. Axi had previously used an order-management system from Your Bourse, adopted in 2025. Trading 212 Group invested £44 million in its overseas subsidiaries in 2025, including £21.1 million in its German operation, though the UK still generated 80% of total revenue. Germany, acquired as FXFlat Bank for about €4 million, recorded £2.7 million in revenue.

Nasdaq Ventures made an undisclosed strategic investment in One Trading to support discussions on round-the-clock trading infrastructure and potential joint initiatives. The two will examine how to extend One Trading's 24/7 capabilities into traditional derivatives. New York-based prop trading firm Vest Labs raised $13 million in pre-seed funding led by Portal Ventures, with angel investments from senior executives at Citadel Securities, BlackRock and KKR. FTMO said it distributed more than $14.4 million to roughly 7,100 traders in September, pushing cumulative payouts above $650 million, while Hola Prime reported paying over $10 million to funded traders.

iFX EXPO Asia 2026 opened its main programme at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday, with organisers expecting more than 5,000 attendees from over 130 countries, 150 exhibitors and more than 120 speakers. The three-day agenda includes artificial intelligence, stablecoins, tokenisation, prediction markets and trading technology.