Stratos Markets Limited, which runs FXCM's UK business, lost $2.24 million in 2025, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The loss compares with $2.02 million a year earlier, as administrative expenses rose 28.6% to $12.03 million.The accounts cover the entity whose UK client book Trade Nation agreed to buy on October 6, with the transfer due to complete in late November. Client money held by the firm rose 24.3% to $110.34 million at the end of 2025, from $88.77 million a year earlier.London's trading industry is coming home!Three days later, AvaTrade agreed to acquire the majority of FXCM Group's business and brand rights from Stratos, which Jefferies Financial Group has owned outright since late 2023. Terms of neither deal were disclosed.Commission Climbs 73% Before Group ChargesThe UK firm hedges all client trades with Stratos Group affiliates and is paid a commission for passing on that market risk. The commission rose 73.1% to $10.82 million from $6.25 million, according to the filing, as retail trading volume climbed 40% to $340 billion from $243 billion.Reported turnover was $4.82 million after a $6 million transfer pricing adjustment, which allocates expenses of Stratos Global LLC to the firm. A $6.15 million charge in 2024 had left turnover at $103,606, a figure FinanceMagnates.com reported in August 2025.Matthew Wright, chief strategy officer and UK chief executive at Trade Nation, told FinanceMagnates.com last week that the FXCM book "has a lot of FX business [and] longevity."Interest income on cash balances fell 39.6% to $2.98 million. The directors attributed the losses in both years mainly to lower trading activity in 2024 and to Stratos Group's spending on product and technology development.Volume trends split among UK brokers that have filed 2025 accounts. Acetop's UK arm reported a 21% slide in trading volume to $9.5 billion and swung to a loss.Staff Costs Nearly DoubleStaff costs rose 92.5% to $5.50 million from $2.86 million, with wages and salaries up to $4.09 million from $1.52 million. Average headcount rose to 48 from 43. Of those, 29 worked in management and administration.The increase came in the year Stratos was preparing to lay off more than 100 employees across FXCM and Tradu, as FinanceMagnates.com reported in December 2025. Legal, management and professional fees reached $3.57 million, and directors' pay totaled $1.58 million.Smaller UK firms also added staff last year. EC Markets' UK unit doubled its revenue and grew to 18 employees from 11, according to its own filing.Stratos Group planned to move retail FX and CFD trading onto a single new platform in 2026, with the foundation due in the second quarter, the accounts said. They called it a "deliberate shift away from incremental feature delivery on legacy infrastructure."An e-wallet product offered through a third-party provider since 2024 was discontinued at the end of 2025. Sister brand Tradu has since halted new onboarding and is moving users back to FXCM. That followed reports in May that Jefferies was considering a sale of Stratos.Group Receivables Reach $45 MillionAmounts owed to the UK firm by group companies rose to $45.04 million from $17.12 million. The filing says they cover intra-group recharges, profit sharing and trading margin, and are repayable on demand.The firm's own cash fell to $18.73 million from $48.44 million, while total cash, including segregated client money, slipped 5.9% to $129.07 million from $137.20 million.Regulatory own funds stood at $58.78 million against a requirement of $5.89 million under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) prudential regime, about 10 times the minimum. No dividend was paid.The going concern assessment relies in part on a written letter of support from Jefferies covering at least 12 months from April 24, when the board approved the accounts. The filing lists no events after the balance sheet date.The 2025 result is the third annual loss in a row for the firm, which lost more than $2.5 million in 2023 after a profit of $860,500 in 2022.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.