Markets.com Parent Safecap Names Andreas Kyriacou CEO; Giorgos Stylianou Head of Compliance

The final week of January brought a wave of personnel changes across the online trading industry, with liquidity providers, brokers and fintech firms strengthening their regional and compliance divisions.

Match-Prime Liquidity appointed Dubai-based executive Kareem Harras as Head of MENA. In the role, Harras will oversee regional operations, drive client acquisition and deepen relationships with brokers and institutional clients using Match-Prime's liquidity offering. He will be based in Dubai, a key hub for FX and CFD firms serving the Gulf and wider Middle East and North Africa markets.

BridgeWise named Thomas Kareklas Director for CFD Brokers. Kareklas joins from TeamForce Technologies, where he served as Chief Sales Officer. The appointment comes as CFD brokers increase adoption of AI-powered analytics and decision-support tools to improve client engagement and retention amid competitive margin pressures.

Markets.com appointed Giorgos Stylianou as Head of Compliance. The move follows the naming of Andreas Kyriacou as Managing Director and CEO of Safecap Investments, the Cyprus entity behind the Markets.com brand. Safecap holds authorisations in Cyprus, South Africa and St Vincent and the Grenadines; the company has yet to confirm leadership for its non-Cyprus operations.

GCEX tapped Carmen Tan as Managing Director for its Middle East and North Africa operations. Tan, previously at CoinW Exchange, will be based in Dubai and manage GCEX's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)-regulated entity while supporting the firm's expansion in Asia.

IC Markets appointed Jaser Mahmoud as Chief Technology Officer. Mahmoud, a blockchain technology specialist with more than two decades in technology and financial services, will lead the broker's technology strategy and development of core trading systems.

Capital.com named Prishani Maheeph-Moonsamy Head of Compliance for South Africa. The appointment follows IG Group's decision last year to wind down its onshore South African operations, closing rand-denominated domestic accounts while leaving offshore accounts available.

Elsewhere, Andrew Mreana departed Xoala, the London-based neobank and institutional payments provider, after just over a year as Head of Growth. During his tenure he focused on expanding Xoala's presence among Cyprus-based brokers. He previously held the same title at Spotware Systems, the cTrader platform developer.