Weekly Roundup: iFOREX Cuts Outlook After Income Plunge; Who’s Liable When AI Trades?

Byexpertzeeshan

Artificial intelligence, changing regulation and shifting
business models shaped this week’s financial industry news. Brokers expanded
their technology offerings, while regulators continued to examine the risks
surrounding complex products and emerging forms of automated trading.

Elsewhere, ownership changed hands at London Capital Group,
a major payments deal emerged in Cyprus, and iFOREX cut its earnings outlook
after a sharp fall in July trading income. Crypto developments also remained
prominent, with Capital.com separating its UAE spot crypto business and OKX
reporting increased activity following Binance’s European retreat.

The rapid arrival of AI agents in trading is raising a
question that regulators have yet to answer clearly: who
is liable when an autonomous system makes a costly mistake?

Brokers have
begun connecting AI tools to client accounts, but rules governing agentic
trading remain limited. Robinhood told Finance Magnates that customers are
responsible for how their agents are built and the actions they take. However,
lawyers, brokers and regulatory experts expect firms to face greater
obligations as the technology develops.

Possible safeguards include kill
switches and circuit breakers, while future requirements could resemble
“Know Your Agent” rules. The issue is becoming more urgent as AI
agents gain greater access to trading platforms.

Scope Markets Adds Copy and Inverse Trading on MT5

John Murphy, Managing Director of Scope Markets

Scope Markets launched Scope Copy, a
new copy trading service for MetaTrader 5 that also allows clients to take
the opposite side of selected strategies. The service, powered by PLUGIT’s
YOONIT technology, went live after a beta period involving more than 500,000
replicated trades and launches with over 130 strategy providers.

Clients can
adjust risk and trade sizes, while providers can charge performance fees of
between 10% and 50%. The fee model uses a high-water mark, meaning providers
must recover previous losses before earning performance fees again. The
inverse-copying feature allows a provider’s buy order, for example, to become a
sell order in the client’s account.

Basi and Worsfold Take Ownership of London Capital Group

Charles Sabet

London Capital Group changed ownership after its
two senior executives, Matthew Basi and David Worsfold, acquired the stakes
previously linked to Charles Sabet. Basi, LCG’s managing director, and
Worsfold, its chief executive, now ultimately own the FCA-regulated business
through MBDW Holdings.

The stakes were acquired from Walder Wyss, acting on
behalf of creditors following the 2024 bankruptcy of FlowBank, the Swiss bank
founded by Sabet. Companies House filings confirmed the ownership change,
although the transaction value was not disclosed.

The deal places LCG directly
under the control of its current leadership. The company has operated as an
exclusive introducing broker for IG since changing its business model.

payabl. Reportedly Agrees €100 Million Deal for Half of
the Company

Ugnė Buračienė, Group CEO, payabl.

Cyprus-based payments company payabl. reportedly
agreed to sell a 50% stake to private equity firm ECM Partners in a
transaction exceeding €100 million. Group CEO Ugnė Buračienė will retain the
remaining half of the company and continue in her current role.

The transaction
would rank among the largest fintech deals in Cyprus by value. payabl. provides
payment processing and gateway services, including foreign exchange and digital
asset on- and off-ramps, and serves clients in the retail brokerage sector.

The
reported deal also highlights growing institutional interest in Cyprus’s
fintech industry, where several businesses have expanded beyond their original
founder-led structures as the sector has matured.

iFOREX Cuts EBITDA Outlook After July Income Falls 77%

Itai Sadeh, the CEO of the iForex Group

iFOREX cut its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA
outlook to between $0.5 million and $2.5 million after July trading income
fell sharply. The CFD broker reported about $720,000 in trading income for the
month, down 77% from approximately $3.1 million a year earlier.

It attributed
the decline partly to the sharp appreciation of the yen following coordinated
US-Japan currency intervention, which moved against its net client exposure.
Low market volatility also affected trading income in August.

New customers
still increased 40% year-on-year in July and deposits rose 8%, but these gains
did not offset the income decline. Net cash had fallen to about $10 million by
August 17.

KNF Keeps CFD Review Open as XTB Shares Decline

Jacek Barszczewski, KNF

Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority said its
review of how CFDs are offered remains ongoing, without providing a
timetable or details of potential restrictions. The review is significant for
XTB, where CFDs account for more than 95% of revenue, although the broker is
seeking to diversify through products including equities and spot crypto.

The
regulatory uncertainty coincided with a sharp decline in XTB’s shares. The
stock fell 4.1% on Monday and another 2.7% by late Tuesday morning, leaving it
nearly 7% below the previous Friday’s close. There is no direct evidence
linking the sell-off to the regulator’s comments, and the shares had risen
strongly before the decline.

Oil Volatility Drives Growing Retail Trading Demand

Oil market volatility is drawing increased interest from
retail traders as geopolitical developments and supply concerns push prices
higher. Trading
activity has increased across a range of products, from CFDs and
exchange-traded funds to options and futures.

Micro WTI futures trading was up
317% year-on-year, while the United States Brent Oil Fund, BNO, attracted $419
million in inflows during 2026. Oil prices have been supported by uncertainty
surrounding the US-Iran conflict, disruption to shipping routes and Ukrainian
attacks on Russian refineries.

At the same time, OPEC and the International
Energy Agency have reduced their forecasts for global oil demand. The competing
forces underline the risks of trading a market increasingly driven by
geopolitical headlines.

Capital.com Separates UAE Crypto Business Under New
Licence

Capital.com will offer spot
crypto services to UAE clients through a separately regulated affiliate,
Capital Vault UAE, while keeping its existing CFD operations within the
broker’s current regulatory structure. Capital Vault secured a full federal
virtual-asset licence from the Capital Market Authority, allowing it to deal in
virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and provide custody services.

Once launched, clients will be able to buy virtual assets through the
Capital.com app, with execution, settlement and custody handled by the licensed
affiliate. The broker has not announced a launch date. The arrangement creates
separate regulatory and operational structures for crypto and CFDs, even though
clients will access both services through the same application.

OKX Reports Surge in Activity Following Binance’s MiCA
Retreat

Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe

OKX Europe reported a sharp increase in app downloads and
customer inflows after Binance
withdrew its MiCA licence application in Greece and stopped onboarding new
EU clients.

According to Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, downloads of the
exchange’s EU app rose almost 160% in the following 12 days, while inflows from
Binance-linked accounts increased more than eightfold. The scale of the migration
could not be independently confirmed from broader on-chain balance data.

Ghoos
also highlighted the continuing gap between licensed and offshore crypto
trading, estimating that 95% of European crypto derivatives volume remains
outside regulated EU venues.

Ghoos said pulling trading volume back onshore
would require regulators to enforce against offshore venues while licensed
platforms expand their product range to compete with them.

Artificial intelligence, changing regulation and shifting
business models shaped this week’s financial industry news. Brokers expanded
their technology offerings, while regulators continued to examine the risks
surrounding complex products and emerging forms of automated trading.

Elsewhere, ownership changed hands at London Capital Group,
a major payments deal emerged in Cyprus, and iFOREX cut its earnings outlook
after a sharp fall in July trading income. Crypto developments also remained
prominent, with Capital.com separating its UAE spot crypto business and OKX
reporting increased activity following Binance’s European retreat.

The rapid arrival of AI agents in trading is raising a
question that regulators have yet to answer clearly: who
is liable when an autonomous system makes a costly mistake?

Brokers have
begun connecting AI tools to client accounts, but rules governing agentic
trading remain limited. Robinhood told Finance Magnates that customers are
responsible for how their agents are built and the actions they take. However,
lawyers, brokers and regulatory experts expect firms to face greater
obligations as the technology develops.

Possible safeguards include kill
switches and circuit breakers, while future requirements could resemble
“Know Your Agent” rules. The issue is becoming more urgent as AI
agents gain greater access to trading platforms.

Scope Markets Adds Copy and Inverse Trading on MT5

John Murphy, Managing Director of Scope Markets

Scope Markets launched Scope Copy, a
new copy trading service for MetaTrader 5 that also allows clients to take
the opposite side of selected strategies. The service, powered by PLUGIT’s
YOONIT technology, went live after a beta period involving more than 500,000
replicated trades and launches with over 130 strategy providers.

Clients can
adjust risk and trade sizes, while providers can charge performance fees of
between 10% and 50%. The fee model uses a high-water mark, meaning providers
must recover previous losses before earning performance fees again. The
inverse-copying feature allows a provider’s buy order, for example, to become a
sell order in the client’s account.

Basi and Worsfold Take Ownership of London Capital Group

Charles Sabet

London Capital Group changed ownership after its
two senior executives, Matthew Basi and David Worsfold, acquired the stakes
previously linked to Charles Sabet. Basi, LCG’s managing director, and
Worsfold, its chief executive, now ultimately own the FCA-regulated business
through MBDW Holdings.

The stakes were acquired from Walder Wyss, acting on
behalf of creditors following the 2024 bankruptcy of FlowBank, the Swiss bank
founded by Sabet. Companies House filings confirmed the ownership change,
although the transaction value was not disclosed.

The deal places LCG directly
under the control of its current leadership. The company has operated as an
exclusive introducing broker for IG since changing its business model.

payabl. Reportedly Agrees €100 Million Deal for Half of
the Company

Ugnė Buračienė, Group CEO, payabl.

Cyprus-based payments company payabl. reportedly
agreed to sell a 50% stake to private equity firm ECM Partners in a
transaction exceeding €100 million. Group CEO Ugnė Buračienė will retain the
remaining half of the company and continue in her current role.

The transaction
would rank among the largest fintech deals in Cyprus by value. payabl. provides
payment processing and gateway services, including foreign exchange and digital
asset on- and off-ramps, and serves clients in the retail brokerage sector.

The
reported deal also highlights growing institutional interest in Cyprus’s
fintech industry, where several businesses have expanded beyond their original
founder-led structures as the sector has matured.

iFOREX Cuts EBITDA Outlook After July Income Falls 77%

Itai Sadeh, the CEO of the iForex Group

iFOREX cut its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA
outlook to between $0.5 million and $2.5 million after July trading income
fell sharply. The CFD broker reported about $720,000 in trading income for the
month, down 77% from approximately $3.1 million a year earlier.

It attributed
the decline partly to the sharp appreciation of the yen following coordinated
US-Japan currency intervention, which moved against its net client exposure.
Low market volatility also affected trading income in August.

New customers
still increased 40% year-on-year in July and deposits rose 8%, but these gains
did not offset the income decline. Net cash had fallen to about $10 million by
August 17.

KNF Keeps CFD Review Open as XTB Shares Decline

Jacek Barszczewski, KNF

Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority said its
review of how CFDs are offered remains ongoing, without providing a
timetable or details of potential restrictions. The review is significant for
XTB, where CFDs account for more than 95% of revenue, although the broker is
seeking to diversify through products including equities and spot crypto.

The
regulatory uncertainty coincided with a sharp decline in XTB’s shares. The
stock fell 4.1% on Monday and another 2.7% by late Tuesday morning, leaving it
nearly 7% below the previous Friday’s close. There is no direct evidence
linking the sell-off to the regulator’s comments, and the shares had risen
strongly before the decline.

Oil Volatility Drives Growing Retail Trading Demand

Oil market volatility is drawing increased interest from
retail traders as geopolitical developments and supply concerns push prices
higher. Trading
activity has increased across a range of products, from CFDs and
exchange-traded funds to options and futures.

Micro WTI futures trading was up
317% year-on-year, while the United States Brent Oil Fund, BNO, attracted $419
million in inflows during 2026. Oil prices have been supported by uncertainty
surrounding the US-Iran conflict, disruption to shipping routes and Ukrainian
attacks on Russian refineries.

At the same time, OPEC and the International
Energy Agency have reduced their forecasts for global oil demand. The competing
forces underline the risks of trading a market increasingly driven by
geopolitical headlines.

Capital.com Separates UAE Crypto Business Under New
Licence

Capital.com will offer spot
crypto services to UAE clients through a separately regulated affiliate,
Capital Vault UAE, while keeping its existing CFD operations within the
broker’s current regulatory structure. Capital Vault secured a full federal
virtual-asset licence from the Capital Market Authority, allowing it to deal in
virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and provide custody services.

Once launched, clients will be able to buy virtual assets through the
Capital.com app, with execution, settlement and custody handled by the licensed
affiliate. The broker has not announced a launch date. The arrangement creates
separate regulatory and operational structures for crypto and CFDs, even though
clients will access both services through the same application.

OKX Reports Surge in Activity Following Binance’s MiCA
Retreat

Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe

OKX Europe reported a sharp increase in app downloads and
customer inflows after Binance
withdrew its MiCA licence application in Greece and stopped onboarding new
EU clients.

According to Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, downloads of the
exchange’s EU app rose almost 160% in the following 12 days, while inflows from
Binance-linked accounts increased more than eightfold. The scale of the migration
could not be independently confirmed from broader on-chain balance data.

Ghoos
also highlighted the continuing gap between licensed and offshore crypto
trading, estimating that 95% of European crypto derivatives volume remains
outside regulated EU venues.

Ghoos said pulling trading volume back onshore
would require regulators to enforce against offshore venues while licensed
platforms expand their product range to compete with them.

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