ESMA clips perpetual futures with CFD limits

Europe’s top securities regulator warned that perpetual futures and similar perpetual contracts popular in crypto trading are very likely covered by existing EU rules on contracts for differences (CFDs), no matter how firms brand them.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said investment firms must assess whether these products fall within the scope of the bloc’s CFD product intervention regime.

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If they do, firms must apply the full CFD rulebook, including leverage limits, standardized risk warnings, margin close-out rules, negative balance protection.

Can this latest directive kill crypto perpetuals contracts in the region altogether? European providers currently offer up to 10x leverage on perps, but if these products are classified as CFDs, the maximum leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term would drop to 2x.

Retail CFDs could rival US stocks by 2028

Meanwhile, retail traders are quietly taking a much bigger slice of the global FX pie. FMintel’s new analysis of more than 50 retail brokers worldwide finds that retail CFD trading now makes up about 14% of daily global FX turnover, up from just 2.7% five years ago.

The study builds on the Bank for International Settlements’ 2025 Triennial Survey, which put average daily over-the-counter FX turnover at 9.6 trillion dollars in April 2025, a 28% jump from 7.5 trillion dollars in 2022.

iFOREX debut on LSE main market

In London, a new name has joined the small group of listed retail CFD brokers. iFOREX, which is based in the British Virgin Islands, began trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market on Wednesday under the ticker IFRX. Its shares rose 6% to 207 pence in their market debut, signaling a warm welcome from investors.

The listing completes a process that began in May 2025 but was temporarily paused as the broker worked through regulatory compliance issues raised by authorities in the British Virgin Islands. With those concerns now resolved, iFOREX has secured approval for the admission of its full share capital, allowing around 22.2 million ordinary shares to trade freely in London.

IG set to join FTSE 100

Still in the UK, IG is expected to enter the FTSE 100 index, based on changes FTSE Russell published ahead of its March 2026 quarterly review. The preliminary list is based on market data as of February 20, with the formal review to use closing prices on March 3 and confirmed changes to be announced after the market closes on March 4.

If the move is confirmed, IG Group will shift from the FTSE 250 into the FTSE 100 as part of the regular rebalance. Index-tracking funds and ETFs tied to the FTSE 100 would then add the stock, while vehicles benchmarked to the FTSE 250 would remove it, typically triggering trading as passive investors adjust their portfolios.

In Africa, the story looks different for the London-listed broker. IG closed its South Africa office and laid off its remaining local staff, after previously employing around 90 people there. The move follows the broker’s decision to stop offering services under its South African unit, while allowing clients to transfer their accounts to offshore entities.

The broker had used the South Africa operation mainly as a marketing hub, making the closure a final step in its exit from the local market. IG also surrendered its South African ODP license, which is required to offer CFD trading in the country.

74% of Capital.com gold closed within an hour

Capital.com reported that 73.8% of gold trades executed on its platform in 2025 were closed within one hour, and 95.9% were completed within 24 hours. The broker noted that this concentration aligned with intraday trading behavior observed during a period of heightened market volatility.

The broker ended 2025 with a total trading volume of $3.42 trillion, a 92.1% increase from the $1.78 trillion recorded the previous year. Trading activity remained heavily concentrated in the Middle East, which accounted for about half of the platform’s annual volume. Europe, the broker’s second-largest market, also saw a 73% surge in volumes.

Deriv seeks banking licence in SVG

At the same time, Deriv is seeking a banking license from the Financial Services Authority in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Public records show the broker formed a separate entity on the island in June 2023, with its banking license application now listed as “pending approval.”

SVG’s regulator does not grant traditional brokerage licenses but allows firms to offer leveraged trading once they are incorporated locally. However, the authority recently required all forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFD companies based in SVG to verify their overseas licenses, effectively making external regulation a condition for operation from the jurisdiction.

XTB CEO targets spot crypto to lower CFD dominance

Also, eying diversification, Omar Arnaout, the CEO of Polish retail brokerage XTB, believes spot cryptocurrency trading could significantly rebalance the firm’s revenue mix within the next two to three years, provided regulatory barriers in Poland are eased.

Arnaout noted that about 95% of XTB’s income currently comes from CFD products, a concentration he said is increasingly frustrating. Arnaout’s goal is to reduce that share to around 70% by expanding into spot crypto and equity trading.

ASEAN's pivot from growth to dividends

ASEAN companies are drawing investors’ attention with rising dividend payouts. Equities are shifting from a pure growth narrative to a more income-oriented story as companies across the region deliver strong dividend payouts.

The London Stock Exchange Group’s Miko Huang noted that the FTSE ASEAN Index, which tracks large- and mid-cap firms from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines has recorded a 10-year average dividend yield of 3.57%.The region’s appeal for dividend-focused investors has strengthened as cash flow per share and dividend payout ratios have remained resilient in recent years.

Prediction markets take center stage

Online brokerages have long evolved through successive waves of innovation, from spot forex to CFDs, the rise of retail equity trading, and the expansion into digital assets. Each transition was initially met with scepticism before becoming an industry standard, shaping how brokers retained and competed for market share.

The latest shift appears to centre on prediction markets, which are moving beyond their reputation for political and sports forecasting. Industry observers note a growing institutional interest, with prediction markets increasingly viewed as potential macroeconomic instruments rather than niche products, signalling their gradual integration into the broader trading ecosystem.

The link between spreads and market

The bid-offer spread has long served as a key indicator of market risk, compensating liquidity providers for holding inventory, managing uncertainty, and bridging information gaps between buyers and sellers. Whether set through dealer negotiations, brokered transactions, or electronic trading, the spread traditionally widened during periods of volatility and narrowed as conditions stabilized, acting as a visible measure of market stress.

That relationship has weakened in recent years. Across asset classes and trading models, competitive pressure has compressed spreads to levels detached from underlying risk. What began as a push toward greater efficiency has, in many cases, produced distortion, with spreads no longer performing their original role as reliable shock absorbers for market uncertainty.

Wise reportedly curbs Coinbase transfers

Lastly, a LinkedIn post circulating online claims that Wise has started blocking payroll transfers from Coinbase to employees’ Wise accounts in the UK. According to the post, the move has disrupted some workers’ access to their wages and was described as “anti-competitive.”

Wise’s public Acceptable Use Policy prohibits customers from using its platform to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies directly. It also states that the company may block or return payments linked to crypto-related businesses based on its compliance checks and risk assessments.