XTB hasagreed to sell its South African subsidiary for $645,000, closing out whatturned out to be an eight-year attempt to enter the African continent, one thatnever got off the ground.The Polishbroker disclosed the deal in its 2025annual report, filed this week, noting that a conditional sale agreementfor 100% of XTB Africa PTY Ltd. was signed on February 17, 2026, with a buyerit did not name. The transaction remains pending regulatory approval from SouthAfrica's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), which must sign off on thechange in ownership before the deal is finalized.Thesubsidiary, which received itsFSCA operating license in August 2021, never conducted any client-facing operations,according to the annual report. The company described the sale as resultingfrom "the subsidiary not commencing operational activities," offeringno further explanation.Eight Years, No Clients,One LicenseXTB firstestablished the South African entity in 2018 and spent more than two yearswaiting for the FSCA to approve its application before finally securing thelicense. In early 2022, the company said it planned tostart forex trading operations in South Africa in the second half of that year, calling the market a priority forits international expansion push. That timeline slipped, and then slippedagain, until the company made no further public commitments about the market.The annualreport's treatment of the sale is minimal. XTB Africa PTY Ltd. appears in thesubsidiary table with one line of description - that it holds an FSCA licenseand has never operated - and the sale itself is dispatched in two sentencesunder post-balance-sheet events.There is noexplanation from CEO Omar Arnaout, whose letter to shareholders discussesBrazil, Indonesia, Chile, and the UAE at length but does not mention Africa.Thecarrying value of XTB Africa on the company's books stood at PLN 2.34 millionas of December 31, 2025, roughly equivalent to the $645,000 sale price atcurrent exchange rates. XTB is selling the unit for approximately what it hason paper, recovering little from eight years of incorporation costs, legalfees, and license maintenance. The buyer,described only as "the purchasing party," is acquiring afully-licensed South African brokerage for a price well below what an FSCAlicense typically costs to obtain from scratch.A Pattern of RetreatsBeyond EuropeSouthAfrica is not the only market where XTB has pulled back. The company beganliquidating its Turkish subsidiary in September 2020, following regulatorychanges that gutted the country's leveraged trading market in 2017. Thatprocess remains incomplete more than five years later, with the Turkish entitystill listed in the annual report as undergoing liquidation.Morerecently, XTB halted newaccount registrations in Brazil after ending a local partnership, and the 2025 annual reportreveals the company is now weighing all options for that market, including afull exit, citing what it described as "local protectionism." A Brazilianspecial purpose vehicle was incorporated as recently as February 2026,suggesting the company has not yet made a final decision, but the language inthe report is cautious.“Due tolocal market conditions, we decided to temporarily suspend further developmentin that market [Brazil]," Arnaout commented in the newest report, “focusinginstead on growing our client base in Chile, while closely monitoring thelong-term potential of the Latin American region.”Thecontrast with XTB's European and Middle Eastern operations is sharp. XTB postedrecord revenues in 2025, with total operating income climbing to PLN 2.15 billion, drivenalmost entirely by its European client base and a surging Middle East business.Latin America and Asia contributed just PLN 33 million combined, roughly 1.5%of total revenues.Indonesia,where XTB injected additional capital in July 2025, remains on a short leash.XTB's CEO has previously described Indonesia as"a country with a question mark" that must prove itself, setting clear performancebenchmarks for the subsidiary.Legal Head Departs After16 YearsAlongsidethe Africa news, XTB disclosed that Jakub Kubacki, its head of legal affairsand a board member since 2018, submitted his resignation on March 3, 2026,citing "important personal reasons." His departure takes effect onJune 30, 2026, giving the company roughly four months to manage succession.Kubackijoined XTB in 2010 as a junior lawyer and rose to oversee the company'scompliance, legal management, and internal control systems. His 16 years at thefirm cover most of XTB's transformation from a mid-sized Polish broker into apublicly traded company with 15 regulated entities. No replacement has beennamed.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.