Weekly Recap: Google Lifts IG France’s Ad Restrictions, XM Owner Buys Stake in a Cyprus Bank

Why brokers and prop firms are moving away from Discord

Although brokers and prop firms have managed communities of traders on publicly available platforms like Discord, new challenges related to compliance are driving them away from such platforms.

According to Desmond Leong, the CEO of Returning.AI, companies are facing a new era of community management, compliance awareness, and client retention strategies requiring stronger infrastructure and smarter engagement tools.

“Some of these prop firms built massive communities on Discord—30,000 members or more—only to realize they had none of their emails,” Leong said.

Event contracts and regulatory controversies

Although enthusiasts hail prediction markets or event contracts as the next revolution in retail trading, regulators are skeptical. Prediction markets boomed in 2025 as retail trading giant Robinhood added them to its platform; however, market watchdogs fear they're just a backdoor to gambling.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has formally requested that Robinhood Derivatives, LLC (RHD) “not permit customers to access” sports event contracts.

While we continue to work with the CFTC to understand their concerns, we are suspending the rollout of the Pro…

— Robinhood Comms (@RobinhoodComms) February 4, 2025

Although the CFTC CFTC The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss Read this Term approved their issuance a few years ago, the agency is now questioning whether it made the right decision. Despite the regulatory uncertainty, Robinhood is diversifying its operations with traditional bank-like savings accounts and prediction markets.

Plus 500, XTB, CFI, and Admirals UK's financial reports

Plus500 posted a 13% quarter-over-quarter revenue increase in Q1 2025, prompting the company to raise its full-year outlook above current market expectations.

However, revenue was down by 5% compared to the same period a year earlier. The pace of acquiring new customers and the number of active traders also declined.

Also posting strong performance, CFI Financial Group registered first-quarter 2025 trading volume of $1.28 trillion, a 13.5% increase from the previous quarter and a 129% rise compared to the same period in 2024.

Elsewhere, despite XTB posting nearly a 50% increase in client base, the publicly-listed Polish broker failed to offset the impact of declining quarterly net profit. The firm's net profit dropped by more than a quarter year-over-year, from PLN 302.7 million to PLN 193.9 million.

In what seems like a good year for most companies, London Capital Group posted a profit of £478,000 for 2024, a significant turnaround from the £6.03 million loss recorded in 2023.

However, the entity also plunged into losses again, posting a net loss of £502,633 at the year’s end, compared to a profit of £69,496 in 2023. The firm has reportedly migrated accounts held by clients resident in the European Union to another operating company in the bloc.

Google lifts IG France’s ad restrictions

Away from the numbers, Ambroise Lion, the Managing Director of IG Group’s French entity, revealed that monthly visibility and account openings have doubled after Google lifted an ad restriction against the online broker after 7 years.

After several attempts by the London-headquartered broker, Google finally lifted the ad campaign ban from its French entity earlier this year. And the results appeared soon enough, with “2x more visibility and 2x more account openings each month.”

XM owner buys stake in a Cyprus bank

In Cyprus, Costas Cleanthous, the co-founder and majority owner of contracts for differences (CFDs) broker XM, is acquiring a 55 percent stake in Cyprus’ Ancoria Bank.

The acquisition Acquisition Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Read this Term, however, will be made in a personal capacity, without XM's involvement. Apart from Cleanthous, businessman and banker Charalambos Panayiotou will also acquire 25 per cent of the bank. Ancoria Insurance will hold the remaining 20 per cent stake.

UPS dumps Amazon, cuts jobs

UPS cuts Amazon shipments, announces layoffs, and calls out tariffs. Amazon almost did the same, until Trump called Bezos. Trade tantrums, anyone?

#BREAKING: United Parcel Service (UPS) announced Tuesday that it plans to slash 20,000 jobs this year due to economic uncertainty and a potential pullback from Amazon, its largest customer. Details: https://t.co/2eUZPJXa5J pic.twitter.com/sW5ry8FtUe

— KTLA (@KTLA) April 29, 2025

Back in January, UPS decided it was time to break things off, at least a little. The company struck a deal with Amazon to slash its delivery volume by more than 50% starting in the second half of 2026. That’s not a typo. Half.

Kohl’s fires CEO for inappropriate vendor ties

In a move that feels like a very jaded screenwriter scripted it, Kohl’s announced the abrupt firing of CEO Ashley Buchanan for having inappropriate personal relationships with a vendor. And just like clockwork, the stock jumped around 8% because nothing says “corporate governance win” like sacking the boss and watching your market cap smile in return.

Kohl’s fires new CEO Ashley Buchanan after probe finds he violated conflict of interest policies https://t.co/80lPUqF5TG pic.twitter.com/ZgCnNkVUfz

— New York Post (@nypost) May 1, 2025

Ashley Buchanan is out at Kohl’s for ‘unethical’ relationships, but investors are just thrilled he's gone. Depressing? Yes. Surprising? Sadly not.