The week saw brokers pursue acquisitions, regulatoryapprovals and expansion into new markets while adapting to evolvingregulations. Authorities in Europe and Australia stepped up oversight, as firmsalso accelerated AI adoption and platform upgrades to strengthen theircompetitive positions.IG Group Seeks Jersey Holding Company as Strategic ReviewContinuesIG Group asked shareholders to approvea new Jersey-incorporated holding company while reporting an 18% rise infirst-half revenue to about £643 million.The proposal forms part of thestrategic review launched in March and is intended to provide greater financialflexibility for a business that now generates around two-thirds of its revenueoutside the UK.The company said its London Stock Exchange listing, UK taxresidency and London operations would remain unchanged. IG also confirmed anorganisational overhaul, merging its regional consumer businesses into a singledivision led by Michael Healy. Meanwhile, the group reaffirmed its upgradedfull-year guidance despite much of its reported customer growth reflectingrecent acquisitions rather than organic expansion.J. Safra Sarasin Completes Takeover of Saxo BankBank J. Safra Sarasin agreed to acquire founder KimFournais' remaining indirect 28.69% stake in Saxo Holding AG, completingits move to full ownership of Saxo Bank. The transaction follows the Swissbanking group's acquisition of more than 70% of the business in 2025 andremains subject to regulatory approval. J. Safra Sarasin Increases Its Stake in Saxo: Just months after completing its majority acquisition of Saxo Holding, Bank J. Safra Sarasin has moved to acquire the remaining stake held by founder Kim Fournais, making it the sole sharehol... https://t.co/OKxTgl42Mi— finews.ch (@finews_ch) July 6, 2026Saxo Bank said it will continueoperating as an independent entity while benefiting from the financial backingof its new parent. Fournais will remain Chairman of the Board, providingcontinuity for clients and employees. The company also said it expects toreport its strongest first-half financial performance on record, driven bycontinued growth in client numbers and assets under management.Trade Nation Launches European Business Through PortugalTrade Nation formally entered the European Union by launchingregulated services through a new Portuguese entity authorised by theComissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários. The licence enables the broker topassport CFD products across the EU, covering forex, indices, commodities,shares and bonds through its proprietary platforms, TradingView and MetaTrader4. The move follows the opening of its Lisbon office last year and supports thecompany's broader international expansion strategy. Trade Nation has also beenconsolidating its business following the integration of TD365 into its mainbrand and rebuilding its senior management team, while its UK business hasreturned to profitability after several years of losses.Coinbase Expands UK Business Beyond CryptocurrencyCoinbase received UKauthorisation allowing it to offer traditional investment servicesalongside its existing cryptocurrency business. The approval enablesinstitutional clients to access derivatives, including crypto, equity andcommodity perpetual futures, while retail customers will be able to tradeequities on the platform for the first time. The expansion follows thecompany's earlier launch of regulated derivatives across Europe under itsCyprus MiFID II licence. Coinbase said the new authorisation supports itsstrategy of building a unified financial platform combining crypto trading withequities, derivatives, payments, savings and borrowing products ahead of theUK's planned crypto regulatory regime in 2027.Today marks our biggest ever expansion of Coinbase UK's product suite.We've now secured an investment services authorisation in the UK, enabling us to soon offer both equities and derivatives.Another step to bringing the everything exchange worldwide. pic.twitter.com/sns3IGRHHM— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) July 7, 2026ASIC Cancels Trive Australia's Financial Services LicenceAustralia's corporate regulator cancelled thefinancial services licence of Trive's local subsidiary after determining itwas no longer conducting financial services business. The broker stoppedonboarding new Australian clients in April 2025 before operations ceasedentirely, leading to the licence cancellation on 1 July after 14 years. Thedecision follows ASIC's broader review of the country's CFD industry, whichidentified widespread compliance deficiencies among brokers. The regulatorpreviously said more than 38,000 retail traders received around AU$40 millionin refunds following the review. ASIC also reported that Australian retail CFDtraders collectively lost more than AU$458 million during 2024, reinforcing itscontinued focus on the sector.eToro Adds AI Investing Tools as IC Markets PreparesWebsite MigrationElsewhere, platform development remained a priority as eToroand IC Markets announced separate technology updates. eTorointroduced a redesigned mobile application centred on its AI assistant,Tori, alongside new active trading tools, AI-powered portfolios, desktoptrading capabilities and expanded crypto self-custody services. The companyalso unveiled refreshed branding featuring a new logo and tagline. Separately,IC Markets confirmed it will migrate its website from icmarkets.com to ic.comas part of a wider branding initiative. The broker said temporary serviceinterruptions may occur during the migration but advised that client accountsand partner referral links would remain unaffected.Governance, Rather Than New Rules, Seen as Key to AITradingArtificial intelligence continued to feature prominentlyacross the brokerage industry, promptingrenewed debate over regulation. In an opinion piece for Finance Magnates,it was argued that AI-powered trading products should generally be governedunder existing financial services rules rather than through a new AI-specificregulatory framework.The focus, the article suggested, should remain ongovernance, operational resilience and accountability instead of the underlyingtechnology. As brokers introduce conversational trading interfaces andAI-assisted execution tools, firms were urged to ensure robust audit trails,clear client permissions and effective risk controls. The distinction betweenexecution tools and products providing investment advice was identified as akey regulatory consideration.Tradeify Outlines Growth Strategy as Futures Prop TradingExpandsTradeify's founders said thefutures prop trading firm has grown sevenfold over the past year to more than100,000 active traders, positioning it among the sector's fastest-growingfirms. During an interview with Finance Magnates, the company outlinedplans to expand through a newly launched introducing broker business, broadermulti-asset offerings and prediction markets. The founders also explained whyTradeify abandoned subscription-based evaluation accounts in favour of one-timepayments after internal data showed little impact on revenue.Alongside growthinitiatives, the firm highlighted fraud prevention as its biggest operationalchallenge and said artificial intelligence now plays an increasing role indetecting suspicious trading activity and improving customer support.Organic Short-Form Video Gains Ground in FinancialMarketingAnother opinion piece examined how organicshort-form video is reshaping marketing strategies across financial services.The article argued that platforms such as Instagram Reels and TikTok candeliver significantly greater reach than traditional paid press or advertisingat a lower cost, particularly for business-to-consumer brands. While paid mediaremains valuable for credibility and search visibility, organic content waspresented as an increasingly important channel for customer acquisition andlong-term audience engagement. The piece suggested many financial firmscontinue to underinvest in creator-led and founder-driven content despitegrowing evidence that organic social media generates stronger engagement andbetter returns than conventional digital advertising.Industry Faces Pressure on Fees, Financial Education andWorkforce SkillsSeparately, this week's MarketWatch column highlighted several broader industry trends. New research frominvestment consultancy bfinance pointed to continued pressure on active assetmanagement fees, although pricing benefits remain uneven across differentmarkets and investor groups. The column also revisited concerns surroundingfinancial influencers, arguing that improving financial education and strongerplatform oversight may prove more effective than regulating content creatorsdirectly. Meanwhile, a survey by the CFA Institute found communication,collaboration and other soft skills are increasingly valued by financeemployers. Management respondents ranked these attributes ahead of artificialintelligence capabilities when assessing career progression and leadershippotential.LATEST: ⚡ MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins grew 128% in market cap to $673.9M in the year before Europe’s MiCA transition period ended, according to Decta. pic.twitter.com/DHPQwoFNxS— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) July 7, 2026EU Lawmakers Turn Attention to DeFi, Staking andTokenised AssetsRounding out the week's developments, Europeanlawmakers signalled that further crypto regulation could follow shortlyafter the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) became fully applicable.The European Parliament called on the European Commission to examine whetherdecentralised finance, staking, lending, NFTs and tokenised assets requireadditional oversight under existing financial market rules. The report alsoexpressed stronger support for regulated euro-denominated stablecoins as partof Europe's broader competitiveness strategy. For brokers, fintechs andinstitutional firms, the review indicates that areas currently outside MiCA'sscope may become the next focus of EU regulatory policy as digital assetmarkets continue to evolve.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.