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IG Group is preparing a UK prediction markets business, while Plus500 has agreed to acquire a regulated Brazilian broker. Alongside Google's advertising policy changes, the announcements bring new product, licensing and market-access work for brokers and their technology teams.
The week's other signals ranged from client trading and acquisition economics to institutional distribution for event contracts. Capital.com's UAE figures showed strong volume alongside relatively low stop-loss use; Kalshi is pursuing broker integrations, and tokenised real-world assets still show limited secondary-market trading, according to a report cited in the coverage.
Brokers add products and markets
IG Group has applied for a UK gambling licence for contracts tied to sports, politics and entertainment. Its application was filed by London subsidiary IG View Limited, listed on the Gambling Commission register as ig prediction markets.
The application is pending. IG also plans financial event contracts for UK professional clients in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the wider prediction markets launch planned for early 2027. The plans follow its agreement to buy US fantasy sports and prediction markets operator Underdog for up to approximately $1.3 billion. The transaction is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.
Plus500 has conditionally agreed to acquire all of Guru Corretora de Títulos e Valores Mobiliários Ltd. The London-listed company said it would use existing cash resources, which exceeded $860 million. Authorisations from Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission and Central Bank of Brazil would give Plus500 scope to add local equities, options, futures and fixed-income securities. David Zruia, the group's Chief Executive, said the transaction supplies the licences, local team and regulatory framework required to operate in Brazil. The deal follows its purchase of US broker-dealer Hedge, which is intended to support a planned US multi-asset platform.
Hantec Trader has adopted the name RZR Funded, with its operating company renamed from Hantec Trader Limited to RZR Funded Limited. It remains within Hantec Group and is powered by Hantec Markets Mauritius, the group's retail broker arm regulated by the Financial Services Commission. Director Bashaar Gokal said the firm is building out its executive team and plans to add asset classes and trading tools. He said the rebrand would not bring immediate operational changes for existing traders.
Kalshi is seeking brokerage distribution for its event contracts. Head of Institutional Andy Ross said a connection to the exchange's shared order book avoids the need for each broker to build an exchange and clearing infrastructure of its own. Kalshi has launched an API-based service with Apex Fintech Solutions, with Tastytrade the first broker to go live. Ross said firms that are onboarding to Kalshi or already trading there collectively manage more than $1 trillion in assets. The exchange is also preparing foreign exchange-linked perpetual futures and sells market data to firms that do not trade its contracts.
Eligibility and timing vary by market
Google's revised rules permit advertising for CFDs, rolling spot forex and comparable products in Denmark and Chile. The policy changes take effect in October, but Google has not given a specific day. Danish advertisers need authorisation from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. In Chile, providers must be registered with and authorised by the Financial Market Commission or the Central Bank of Chile, depending on the products.
Advertisers also need Google certification and must comply with local law. Google said it would issue a warning at least seven days before suspending an account for a violation.
Capital.com's H1 2026 Pulse Report put UAE client trading at $1.06 trillion in the first half of 2026, over two-fifths of its $2.45 trillion total. UAE volume rose 27.7% from the second half of 2025, while closed trades climbed 48% to 80.9 million. Stop-losses were set on 18.3% of UAE trades, the lowest share across the seven markets surveyed. Germany led at 34.1%, followed by the Netherlands at 32.8%. Across the broker, 22.4% of closed trades had a stop-loss set at entry. Trades closed after a stop-loss trigger showed 39% lower average losses, but the report described the relationship as a correlation, not proof of cause.
FinTop Consulting's 2026 salary surveys put Dubai Chief Compliance Officer pay at $310,000 to $425,000 a year, with the lower figure matching the top benchmark for Chief Technology Officers. London Heads of Compliance can earn up to $251,000, while regulatory specialists with additional duties receive premiums of 10% to 20%. Annual pay growth in Cyprus foreign exchange and fintech was 14%, compared with approximately 4% across UAE financial services. Dubai compliance pay also exceeds some commercial executive benchmarks, although certain technology and risk posts have higher maximum salaries.
Marketing economics remain a concern for forex and CFD brokers. BlackBull Markets Chief Business Development Officer Anish Lal said a broker may pay $800 for a customer whose initial deposit is $400 to $500, then depend on further deposits and trading over six to 12 months to recoup the cost. A customer leaving after one or two months can make the acquisition unprofitable. Lal said faster reporting, dependable monthly payments, dedicated support and retention can help attract introducing brokers without matching the highest CPA offers.
NAGA Senior Regional Director Alexandru Badea said replacing marketing staff may not fix weak results if brokers continue to work from incomplete data or old assumptions. He pointed to changes in Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn algorithms, and said firms should join campaign data to onboarding, verification, deposits and retention to find where prospective clients drop out.
Tokenised real-world assets have attracted holders without equivalent secondary-market activity, Anndy Lian argued. Pantera Capital's September 2026 report examined 671 tokenised assets worth $331.8 billion. Permissioned products represented 59% of market capitalisation but just 0.2% of spot trading volume, and more than half the market had no meaningful secondary trading. BNB Chain passed two million RWA holder addresses in early October, while only 29 of 110 major products met basic liquidity and distribution thresholds. Tokenised stocks had monthly turnover of 204.6%, against 0.1% for tokenised rate products. Lian said market makers, regulatory clarity and connected venues are needed to sustain trading. The wider collection of developments was reported by Finance Magnates.
What this means on the desk
For platform and operations teams, the immediate checks are product scope, permissions and data handling. For any prediction markets or event-contract launch, which instruments and client categories will be enabled, and what changes are required to onboarding, reporting and controls? For a market entry or acquisition, which licences cover each product, and which local processes will need to be supported?
For advertising teams, the open tasks are to confirm the applicable regulator authorisation, local requirements and Google certification before campaigns begin. The client and risk data also raise operational questions: can reporting connect acquisition source to verification, funding, retention and stop-loss behaviour? The announcements do not specify the integration work, reporting formats or operating costs, so those details remain for each firm to establish.
