Financial firms are navigating changes to regulation, customer access and trading services. FXOpen UK has applied to surrender its licence and is closing client accounts, while OANDA Japan has suspended withdrawals after a server hack. The FCA is considering changes to senior manager rules, and IG plans to enter prediction markets. Webull has extended options trading hours, Match-Prime has joined iSAM Securities Apex, and NAGA is contending with rising marketing costs alongside weaker profits.
FXOpen UK seeks licence cancellation; FCA weighs rule changes
FXOpen UK has applied to surrender its licence and is closing client accounts. No timetable for the licence cancellation or detailed account-closure arrangements has been disclosed, and there is no information on how client funds will be handled. Affected customers will be focused on account closure and withdrawal arrangements. The application should not be taken to mean that all related procedures have been completed.
Separately, the FCA is considering changes to rules for senior managers. Details of the proposed amendments, their scope and any implementation date have not been provided. It is therefore too early to assess how the changes might affect firms’ internal allocation of responsibilities or approval processes for personnel.
OANDA Japan suspends withdrawals after server attack
OANDA Japan has paused withdrawals following a hack involving its servers. The incident’s timing, the systems affected, the expected duration of the suspension and the status of client funds have not been disclosed. Nor has the firm provided details on when withdrawal services may resume. The confirmed information is that withdrawals are paused and the decision follows a server attack; further details of the response remain unavailable.
IG, meanwhile, plans to enter the prediction-market business and is seeking a UK gambling licence. No launch date, target markets or update on the application has been provided, so the move remains a business plan. Regulatory approval and how IG positions the product will be central to whether it can proceed.
Webull, Match-Prime and NAGA report business changes
Webull has extended its options trading hours, but details on the additional hours, eligible products and effective date have not been disclosed. The change could widen the period in which users can trade, though its effect on activity cannot be assessed without the specific schedule.
Match-Prime has joined iSAM Securities Apex in a development described as a business partnership or platform integration. Terms, service coverage and each party’s responsibilities have not been made public.
NAGA, meanwhile, is seeing profits decline as marketing costs rise. No reporting period, profit decline or marketing-spend figures were provided, so the impact of higher costs cannot be quantified. The reported issue is the combination of increased marketing investment and weaker profitability.
FMIQ adds natural-language market data searches
FM Intelligence Portal has launched FMIQ (FM Intelligence Quantitative), a tool that lets users ask questions in natural language and search market data. It covers seven datasets: trading volumes, traffic, trading platforms, market trends, regulation, fines and licences. Users can also ask follow-up questions on the same topic.
The product description says each query runs in real time, answers undergo an independent quality check, and results include figures, time ranges and source information. FMIQ is aimed at editorial, commercial, research and compliance teams, and operates in read-only mode without changing underlying data.
The platform brings several industry data searches into one interface. However, no information has been provided on historical coverage, the definitions used for individual datasets or the standards applied in the quality checks. Users will need to verify that the relevant data definitions and coverage match their requirements.