Which well-known online trading figures are behind the launch of MetroTrade, the latest entrant in the retail futures trading space?

What were MultiBank Group’s (record) Revenue and Profit figures for 2024?

Why did Robinhood have to (once again) curtail somewhat its latest foray into offering Sports Betting via event contracts?

Who is the new majority owner of institutional trading platform provider smartTrade Technologies?

Who are the new CROs at SquaredFinancial and at NRDX? The new COO at XValley?

Who is the new Head of Marketing at Blueberry?

Some of the most read and commented-on FX/CFD industry news stories to appear over the past seven days on FNG included:

Top FX and CFDs industry news stories this week

Exclusive: David Klotz and Ingmar Mattus’ retail futures/options broker MetroTrade goes live. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that the new retail futures and options brokerage founded by two fairly well-known names in the online trading space – Tickmill co-founder Ingmar Mattus and former Crypto.com COO David Klotz – has gone live, nearly a year after MetroTrade secured NFA membership and CFTC registration as an Introducing Broker in April 2024.

MultiBank sees Revenues increase 18% in 2024 to $361 million. Dubai based Retail FX and CFDs broker MultiBank has announced that the company has achieved record-breaking financial performance in 2024, on both the top and bottom line, reinforcing its status as a global industry leader. Managing daily trading volume of over $25.6 billion, MultiBank Group serves a vast and diverse clientele of more than 2 million traders across 100 countries, and is licensed by 17 financial regulators globally.

IG closes acquisition of neobroker Freetrade. Leading UK online broker IG Group (LON:IGG) has announced that it has completed the £160 million acquisition of London based neobroker Freetrade, effective 1 April 2025. The IG-Freetrade transaction was first announced on 16 January 2025.

Robinhood pulls March Madness event contracts from NJ as Kalshi sues. Sports & Business news site Front Office Sports is reporting that US neobroker Robinhood had removed its “NCAA Tournament prediction markets” offering in New Jersey, under pressure (and a cease and desist letter it received) from state gaming regulators. We had reported earlier this month that Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) was launching what amounts to full fledged sports betting, via CFTC regulated event contacts offered by KalshiEX LLC, a CFTC regulated exchange.

TA Associates buys out Hg’s position in trading platform provider smartTrade. It looks like there has been a switch in private equity owners at smartTrade. Electronic trading and payments platforms provider smartTrade Technologies has announced a new strategic investment from TA Associates, a leading global private equity firm. David Vincent, CEO and Co-Founder of smartTrade, and the broader management team, will invest alongside TA at closing, reinforcing their shared commitment to the company’s future.

Top FX industry executive moves this week

❑ Exclusive: Blueberry hires Prospa / William Hill alum Nadav Linden to head Marketing.

❑ Exclusive: SquaredFinancial hires Key To Markets exec Marcos Tigsilema as CRO.

❑ CPT Markets’ back office head Veronika Thoma joins XValley as COO.

❑ BDSwiss and HF Markets alum Nicolas Morphitis joins startup CFDs broker NRDX as CRO.

❑ Tickmill hires Equiti exec Erhan Beyaz to head Data and Analytics.

❑ XTB’s Head of Risk Management Andrzej Przybylsk to step down.

❑ United Fintech appoints Anders Johansen as Chief People Officer.

❑ DIGITEC hires Fenics / 360T alum Darryl Hooker to head BizDev and Partnerships.