FP Markets business development has a new global head: Haris Sergiou, a former Doo Group director with deep roots in the MENA and Asian broker markets, takes charge of the CFD broker’s worldwide expansion strategy. His appointment, confirmed by the company, comes fewer than nine months after his predecessor left the role.
FP Markets Business Development Strategy Shifts Toward MENA and Asia
Sergiou most recently served as Business Development Director at Doo Group in Dubai, a position he held from January 2024. There he managed sales teams and strategies across MENA and several Asian markets, including Japan, the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as introducing broker relationships (partnerships where third parties refer clients to the broker in exchange for a fee share).
Before Doo Group, Sergiou spent three years at XM as Country Manager for Business Development in Dubai, from March 2020 to February 2023. He also had a brief spell as Business Development Director at Faraday EVCS, a Cyprus-based electric-vehicle charging company, before returning to retail trading.
‘A lot to build, a lot to achieve, and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead,’ Sergiou wrote on LinkedIn when announcing the move.
His predecessor in the role, Elias Aaraj, was appointed in December 2025 and appears to have left in July, according to his LinkedIn profile, giving him a tenure of less than nine months. FP Markets’ announcement made no reference to his departure. Aaraj brought a different profile to the job: he spent nearly eight years at Tickmill, reaching a C-level position, and three years at Saxo Bank before joining FP Markets.
The shift from Aaraj to Sergiou points to a possible reorientation of regional priorities. Aaraj’s background was built largely within established European and institutional broker networks; Sergiou’s is grounded in the faster-growing MENA and Asian retail markets, where FP Markets has been pushing for a larger footprint. The broker secured a UAE CMA Category 5 Licence to operate in the Emirates, adding to its existing licences from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
A Wave of Senior Hires Signals Broader Restructuring
Sergiou’s appointment is part of a wider hiring push that has reshaped FP Markets’ leadership in a short period. Alongside his arrival, the broker also brought in Andreas Neophytou as Global Business Development Coordinator. Neophytou previously served as Regional Head of Southeast Asia at TopFX Global from March to October 2025.
The technology side of the business has also seen change. Nikolay Nikolaev, a former Skilling executive, joined as Chief Technology Officer, while Geo Nicolaidis, previously head of Deriv.com’s Cyprus office, was appointed to lead FP Markets’ artificial intelligence transformation. Separately, Panagiotis Nikolaou was promoted to Head of Banking and Treasury, with responsibility for infrastructure build-out and scaling global operations.
That is at least four senior appointments or promotions in a concentrated window, covering business development, technology leadership, AI strategy and treasury operations.
The context for all of this is a broker in active transition. In January, FP Markets said it planned to enter new regions and emerging markets while broadening its fintech tools and product range. In April, it confirmed a broader organisational review had affected fewer than 7% of its global workforce. Group Head of HR and People Culture Christina Koro said at the time that some roles had changed or been consolidated, though the firm kept hiring in areas tied to its strategic priorities.
Founded in Sydney in 2005 and regulated across multiple jurisdictions, FP Markets employed more than 300 people globally as of mid-2025, with over 100 based in Cyprus. The Cyprus headcount matters because the island acts as the broker’s European regulatory and operational base, and several of the recent hires, including Nicolaidis and Nikolaou, are linked to that hub.
For retail traders who use FP Markets as their CFD broker, the practical question is whether a more MENA-focused leadership team translates into new instruments, tighter spreads in regional markets, or improved support infrastructure. That answer will depend on how quickly Sergiou can build out the international teams he has pledged to strengthen. The UAE licence, now in place, gives him a regulated platform to work from in one of the region’s most active retail trading centres.
