This week’s news saw a very heavy dose of financial and operating results from a number of known names in the Retail FX industry, and highlighted the haves and have-nots dichotomy which has developed in the sector as overall volumes and broker revenues remain strong.

There were also a number of executive moves involving IG, HotForex, OANDA, Pepperstone, Saxo Bank, and others – with all the key moves reported first or exclusively here at FNG.

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

Exclusive: IC Markets signs sponsor deal with six Bundesliga clubs. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that leading Australia based Retail FX and CFDs broker IC Markets has inked a deal to sponsor six leading Bundesliga clubs, as part of a major move into European football. The transactions were brokered by France based sports marketing agency Sportfive. The agreement will see IC Markets become a sponsor of German football clubs Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin, FC Augsburg, Arminia Bielefeld, Greuther Furth and VfL Bochum. IC Markets will be granted LED perimeter advertising assets at each club, as well as logo and IP rights. The agreement is somewhat similar in structure to the agreement signed by IC Markets rival eToro, with eight Serie A clubs in Italy.

Exclusive: ADSS UK Revenues down 38% in 2020 amid management turnover. FNG Exclusive… During a year which saw many of its competitors report record trading volumes, revenues and profits, ADS Securities London Limited – the FCA regulated UK arm of UAE-based FX broker ADSS – went in the opposite direction. FNG has learned via regulatory filings that ADSS UK saw a 38% decline in Revenues in 2020, £3.09 million versus £4.99 million the prior year (and that was after a 44% decline in 2019). Net profit for 2020 amounted to £197,535, versus £729,388 in 2019. The company said that the decrease in revenues was a result of the pivot from an institutional led offering to that of one centered around Professional clients.

Exclusive: Lars Gottwik’s TRADANTS raises $1M seed funding from Sinus Ventures. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that financial gaming startup TRADANTS has completed a USD $1 million seed funding round lead by Sinus Ventures, a new German-based early-stage tech investor led by Thomas Waibel, who is also known for being a board member of BörseGo AG. P&S Investments, a business angel and seed investor in fintech and healthtech companies, also participated as a co-investor. TRADANTS, established by former JFD founder and longtime CEO Lars Gottwik, aims to gamify trading and create a new industry by merging the esports, skill-gaming and online trading sectors. The company is expected to deliver financial gaming innovations at scale and will soon launch its first project.

XTB rebounds in Q3 with Revenues up 256% QoQ to $49 million. Poland based Retail FX and CFDs brokerage group XTB (WSE:XTB) has reported its financial results for Q3-2021, indicating that the company bounced back nicely from what was a very disappointing Q2 at XTB. In Q3, XTB reported Revenues of PLN 196.6 million (USD $49 million) and Net Profit of PLN 101.5 million ($25 million) – much improved over the $14 million in Revenue and a loss of $6 million the company saw in Q2. This was in fact XTB’s best quarter since Q2-2020, where trading volumes expanded greatly at the outset of the global Covid-19 pandemic in the face of soaring financial market volatility.

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

Katherine Whitton