While 2023 year-to-date and the past year overall have been very good for a number of publicly traded brokers, it has been a different story for some others.

This past week FNG unveiled the share price drop to a new 52-week (and nearly 2-year) low at INV Inc, which operates the Invast Global brokerage brand.

The past seven days also included a mixed bag of new CFD trading regulations (in South Korea), an acquisition into a new area at Equiti Group, plus a number of interesting executive moves involving CFI, Scope Markets, Your Bourse, BidX Markets, and others.

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

South Korea CFD brokers halt new accounts amid regulatory clampdown. South Korea financial industry regulatory body Financial Services Commission (FSC) has announced that it will be taking steps towards “stamping out unfair trading activities in capital markets”, which will include looking at the rules and regulations surrounding CFD (contracts for difference) trading. CFD brokerage and trading is very active in South Korea, with the country’s mainly-domestic CFD brokers holding an estimated 3.5 trillion won (USD $2.6 billion) in client assets.

Exclusive: Invast Global operator INV Inc sees shares drop to 52-week low on poor 2023 results. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that shares of INV Inc (TYO:7338), the Japanese financial services company that operates institutional FX and CFDs broker Invast Global, have dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years, following release of the company’s 2023 financial results. (INV has a March 31 fiscal year end). INV generated negative operating cash flow for the year, at minus ¥976 million (USD $7.0 million).

Equiti Group acquires digital payment technology provider Cloud Invest. Equiti Group has announced its acquisition of Cloud Invest, a digital payment technology provider. Equiti Group CEO Iskandar Najjar: “As part of Equiti’s strategic expansion plans, we are excited to move into the digital payment and services space, allowing for operational efficiencies and new revenue segments. Synergies between both companies will allow for smooth integration into our Group.”

FXStreet spinoff FinancialMarkets.media opens Cyprus office. Digital marketing agency FinancialMarkets.media, which provides online advertising services for FX and CFD brokers (as well as other financial services concerns), has announced the opening of a new office in Limassol, Cyprus. FinancialMarkets.media, which was spun off from Barcelona based trader portal FXStreet last year, said that it aims to leverage this new presence to enhance its services, foster global collaborations, and bring financial marketing trends and insights closer to its partners and clients.

Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:

❑ CFI hires Exness/Capital.com alum Elena Kupriyanova as Head of Marketing.

❑ Exclusive: Scope Markets adds Eurotrader’s David Restrepo to head Sales.

❑ Exclusive: ATFX Head Of Market Research MENA Ramy Abouzaid departs.

❑ Exclusive: Capital.com BizDev head Evgenios Limniotes joins offshore broker PrimeXBT.

❑ Exclusive: Your Bourse hires Diana Ilchuk as Head of Marketing.

❑ SquaredFinancial promotes Philios Petrides to CPO.

❑ BidX Markets hires Britannia/Finalto alum Elizabeth Leskauskaite as Liquidity Manager.