INFINOX Admirals acquisition talks are the lead story in retail trading this week, with INFINOX confirming it is in advanced discussions to buy the Estonian-headquartered multi-jurisdictional broker, though no agreement has been finalised.
INFINOX Admirals Acquisition Talks: What the Financials Reveal
An INFINOX representative confirmed the discussions are ongoing. No financial terms for the INFINOX Admirals acquisition talks have been disclosed, and any deal would still require definitive documents to be signed, customary closing conditions met, and regulatory approvals granted across the relevant jurisdictions. How much of Admirals’ business would transfer also remains unclear.
The financials give a sense of what INFINOX would be taking on. According to Admirals Group AS’s 2025 audited annual report, the group posted a net loss of EUR 18.5 million for the full year against net trading income of EUR 17.4 million, with total operating expenses down 18% to EUR 34.8 million.
The picture at the half-year stage was similar. Admirals’ H1 2025 unaudited results show net trading income of EUR 13.3 million, down from EUR 22.0 million in H1 2024, with operating expenses declining 20% over the same period. A business cutting costs as revenue falls is not automatically a distressed asset, but any acquirer will want to understand whether the revenue decline has bottomed.
Admirals operates eight licensed entities across Estonia, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Jordan, Kenya, and Seychelles. That regulatory footprint, particularly the UK and Cyprus licences, is likely central to INFINOX’s strategic thinking, especially as Cyprus sits inside the EU’s MiCA perimeter.
AvaTrade Eyes FXCM as Jefferies Looks to Move On
AvaTrade has made an offer to acquire Stratos, the holding company for FXCM and Tradu, from Jefferies Financial Group. A crypto exchange has also submitted a competing bid. Neither offer’s financial terms have been confirmed.
FXCM’s history explains why Jefferies owns it at all. The broker was founded in 1999 and became the largest retail forex operation in the US, listing on the NYSE in 2010. The Swiss franc shock of January 2015 wiped out $225 million in client equity overnight and forced a $300 million bailout from Jefferies. Jefferies later completed a foreclosure on Stratos on 14 September 2023, extinguishing a senior secured term loan of $39.2 million and acquiring 100% of outstanding interests after the prior owner defaulted.
For Jefferies, Stratos is a minor distraction. The group generated over $2.87 billion in revenue in the first three months of 2026, with net earnings of $159.3 million, according to Finance Magnates. The UK unit of Stratos generated roughly $103,000 in turnover in 2024, down from about $1.7 million the year before. The reported deal would transfer most of Stratos to AvaTrade, excluding FXCM Bullion Limited, the Hong Kong-based affiliate serving clients in China and Hong Kong.
Capital.com and XTB Push Into New Markets
Capital.com has entered South Africa with a dual regulatory authorisation from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). Its local entity, Capital Com South Africa (Pty) Ltd, holds FSCA Financial Services Provider licence number 55488 and received its Over-the-Counter Derivatives Provider authorisation on 12 May 2026, as set out in the Capital.com press release. The broker plans to offer access to CFDs across more than 5,000 markets, covering equities, commodities, indices, and foreign exchange.
Capital.com is already regulated by, among others, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, according to its PR Newswire announcement. The South Africa move follows a recent authorisation from the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya, with FX News Group noting the two African approvals arrived in close succession.
XTB is taking a different route to growth, committing more marketing spend to Germany this year than to its home market of Poland. CEO Omar Arnaout told Bankier.pl the goal is brand recognition in a market where XTB remains largely unknown, with the budget still below what larger global rivals deploy. Trade Republic is the obvious context: it entered Poland in September 2025 with over 10 million customers across 18 European markets and around €150 billion in assets, making the two firms direct competitors in each other’s core territory.
MiCA Takes Full Effect Across 30 Countries
From 1 July, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA), the legal framework governing crypto service providers across the European Economic Area, applies in full across all 30 EEA member states. Firms without authorisation must transfer clients to a licensed provider or shut down. Around 200 firms have secured licences, but only about 14 are approved to operate crypto trading platforms at scale.
Binance still lacks EU authorisation. Tether’s USDT has been removed from several regulated platforms. Regulators in France and the Netherlands are moving toward enforcement.
Admirals’ Cyprus licence sits squarely inside that regulatory perimeter. If the INFINOX Admirals acquisition talks conclude successfully, the combined entity would inherit access to EU markets at a moment when that authorisation is becoming harder and more expensive to obtain.
