Weekly Review: IG Seeks UK Gambling Licence; Plus500 to Acquire Brazilian Broker

The retail trading industry delivered a busy week of licensing, acquisition and market-access news, with IG Group and Plus500 both extending their reach beyond traditional leveraged products and Google revising its advertising rules for contracts for difference in two markets.

IG Group has filed for a UK gambling licence to offer prediction markets covering sports, politics and entertainment, targeting a launch in early 2027. The application was submitted through its London subsidiary, IG View Limited, which appears on the Gambling Commission register under the trading name ig prediction markets. The application is still pending and no licence has been granted. Separately, the company plans to roll out financial event contracts to UK professional clients in the fourth quarter of 2026. The push follows its agreement to acquire US fantasy sports and prediction markets operator Underdog for up to roughly $1.3 billion, a deal expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.

Google reopens two markets

Plus500, meanwhile, has conditionally agreed to acquire full ownership of Guru Corretora de Títulos e Valores Mobiliários Ltd, a regulated Brazilian broker-dealer, using existing cash resources that exceed $860 million. The deal hands the London-listed group licences from Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Brazil, which would let it broaden its local offering to Brazilian shares, futures, options and fixed-income securities. Chief Executive David Zruia said the transaction supplies the licences, local team and regulatory framework needed to operate in the market. It follows Plus500's purchase of US broker-dealer Hedge, intended to support a planned multi-asset platform in the United States.

Google has updated its policy on complex speculative financial products to permit advertising for CFDs, rolling spot forex and similar instruments in Denmark and Chile, effective in October at an unspecified date. Danish advertisers must hold authorisation from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, while Chilean providers must be registered with and authorised by the Financial Market Commission or the Central Bank of Chile. Google certification and local legal compliance are also required, and violations trigger a warning at least seven days before any account suspension.

On the data front, Capital.com reported that UAE clients traded $1.06 trillion in the first half of 2026, more than two-fifths of its $2.45 trillion global volume, with closed trades up 48% to 80.9 million. However, only 18.3% of UAE trades carried a stop-loss, the lowest of seven markets, against 34.1% in Germany and 32.8% in the Netherlands. Elsewhere, Kalshi's Head of Institutional, Andy Ross, outlined plans to distribute its event contracts through brokerages, with Tastytrade the first to go live via an API service built with Apex Fintech Solutions.