Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VIRT) reported robust second quarter 2026 results on July 30, with total revenues climbing 19.0% year over year to $1,190.0 million, up from $999.6 million in the same period last year. The New York based market maker and execution services provider posted net income of $284.9 million for the quarter, slightly below the $293.0 million recorded in Q2 2025. Basic and diluted earnings per share came in at $1.63, compared to $1.65 a year earlier. On a normalized basis, Adjusted EPS rose to $1.82 from $1.53, while Normalized Adjusted Net Income increased 19.4% to $291.5 million. Trading income, net, was a standout performer, surging 31.2% to $856.7 million versus $652.8 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted Net Trading Income also grew, up 26.4% to $717.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose 18.2% to $436.8 million, with an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 60.8%. The company’s Market Making segment continued to drive performance, generating $1,009.2 million in total revenues, while Execution Services contributed $173.5 million. Virtu’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share, payable September 15, 2026 to shareholders of record as of September 1, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, Virtu held $1,133.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, alongside total long term debt of $2,051.1 million.The post Virtu Financial Posts Strong Q2 2026, Boosts Trading Income by 31% first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

BGC Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGC) has reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, posting record revenues of $845.5 million, up 7.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Sean Windeatt, Co-Chief Executive Officer, said the growth was broad-based across every asset class, reflecting what he described as the durability, diversification, and strength of the company’s global platform. Revenues for the first half of 2026 rose more than 24 percent to $1.8 billion, the highest total BGC has recorded through the first two quarters of any year. GAAP income from operations before income taxes climbed 31.4 percent to $98.9 million, while GAAP net income for fully diluted shares increased 26.2 percent to $69.6 million. Post-tax Adjusted Earnings rose 11.2 percent to $171.0 million, and Adjusted EBITDA grew 7.2 percent to $228.7 million. GAAP fully diluted earnings per share came in at $0.15, while Post-tax Adjusted Earnings per share reached $0.35. By asset class, Rates revenues increased 10.6 percent to $221.9 million, Foreign Exchange rose 9.4 percent to $118.7 million, ECS grew 5.3 percent to $275.5 million, Credit climbed 5.4 percent to $79.3 million, and Equities added 2.8 percent to reach $76.0 million. FMX continued to gain market share, with FMX UST reaching a record 42 percent share and average daily volume of $79.4 billion, up 17 percent year over year. FMX Futures Exchange average daily volume grew more than 16-fold to roughly 54,000 contracts. Earlier this week, BGC announced a partnership with Fanatics to build a prediction market ecosystem for retail and institutional participants. BGC’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, payable September 2, 2026, to shareholders of record as of August 19, 2026. For the third quarter, BGC guided revenues of $775 million to $835 million and pre-tax Adjusted Earnings of $172 million to $190 million.The post BGC Group Posts Record Q2 Revenue of $846 Million first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Inside a single economy, moving money has become nearly cost-free and effectively instant. The moment a payment has to cross a border and a currency, the picture changes. It becomes slower, more expensive, and, in a growing number of corridors, harder to complete at all. For businesses trading between emerging markets and Europe, this is not a marginal inconvenience. It is a structural cost that shapes who they can pay, how quickly, and on what terms. The uncomfortable truth is that this problem has proved remarkably resistant to progress. Understanding why this happened and how liquidity providers such as FinchTrade are beginning to change it, matters for any payment service provider or treasury team that settles across borders. The problem: friction that has barely moved in 20 years The clearest measure of the problem is also the most stubborn. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the global average cost of sending 200 dollars in remittances was 12 dollars, or 6 per cent, in 2024. Twenty years earlier, it was 18 dollars, or 9 per cent. That is roughly three percentage points of improvement across two decades, a pace of change that would be unremarkable in almost any other area of financial technology. The mechanism behind this stagnation is correspondent banking, the network of bilateral relationships through which banks settle payments in currencies and jurisdictions where they have no direct presence. It works, but it is slow, opaque, and increasingly reluctant to serve difficult markets. The BIS records that active correspondent banking relationships fell by between 20 and 45 per cent across regions between 2011 and 2022. Africa was among the hardest hit, with a decline of roughly 40 per cent. This retreat is not evenly distributed. As banks withdraw, the corridors they leave behind become more concentrated, more expensive, and more fragile. African corridors settled through correspondent banking commonly carry costs of 7 to 8 per cent, and settlement can take three to five days. For a European business paying a supplier in Lagos or Accra, that combination of cost and delay affects working capital, supplier relationships, and the basic question of whether a trade is worth doing. The market shift: why alternatives are emerging now Two things have changed at once, and together they make alternatives credible. The first is that the incumbent network is contracting while demand is not. As correspondent relationships thin out, the market has been actively searching for other ways to move value across borders. The BIS notes that public-sector cross-border and cross-currency initiatives nearly doubled between 2020 and 2024, rising from around 20 to roughly 40. Private infrastructure has moved in parallel. When a settlement method retreats from the markets that most need it, the incentive to build something more efficient becomes structural. The second force is regulatory. For much of the past decade, the obstacle to institutional adoption of blockchain-based settlement was not the technology but the absence of a clear legal framework around it. That is changing. The European Union Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, the emergence of dedicated stablecoin legislation in the United States, and established Swiss frameworks for virtual asset service providers have started to give institutions the thing they need most, which is regulatory certainty. Stablecoin settlement is no longer a grey area to be navigated cautiously. It is becoming a regulated activity that compliance teams can assess against known standards. Together, these forces reframe the question. It is no longer whether alternatives to correspondent banking are viable, but which model of alternative infrastructure an institution should rely on. The solution: liquidity is the foundation, settlement is the application It is tempting to describe the alternative simply as stablecoins, but that misses the point. A stablecoin is what moves between two parties. What actually determines whether a cross-border payment can be made quickly and at a fair price is the availability of liquidity in both the sending and the receiving currency, at the moment the payment needs to settle. Without deep liquidity, a fast rail is only theoretically fast. That is why the institutional liquidity desk sits at the centre of the model rather than at its edge. FinchTrade is a Swiss-regulated OTC desk and crypto-fiat liquidity provider, serving payment service providers, electronic money institutions, exchanges, and treasury teams. Its over-the-counter desk supplies the liquidity layer; its cross-border payments product, FinchRails, uses that liquidity to move value across borders. In practice, fiat converts to a stablecoin such as USDT or USDC for the transfer, then converts back to fiat on arrival, settling the same day. Local-currency payout runs through licensed partners in the destination market. FinchTrade covers cross-border rails across corridors, including the euro area with SEPA integration, Nigeria and Ghana, the United Arab Emirates as a MENA hub, and Latin American corridors – Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. The Africa-Europe corridor illustrates the logic most directly. Consider a European business paying a Nigerian or Ghanaian supplier. Through correspondent banking, that payment carries the familiar 7 to 8 per cent cost and a three to five day wait. Routed through institutional stablecoin rails, the same payment settles the same day at a substantially lower cost, because the desk supplies the liquidity that makes the conversion possible. The infrastructure around this is built to institutional standards. FinchTrade is licensed as a Swiss VASP. It operates a non-custodial trade execution, with rigorous onboarding-stage AML and KYB. The strategic implication: evaluate infrastructure, not just rails The most useful shift here is in how institutions frame the decision. For years, the question a treasury or payments team asked was narrow: which bank or which rail should carry this payment. As correspondent banking retreats and regulated alternatives mature, that question is becoming wider and more consequential; which liquidity infrastructure provider can support settlement across the corridors we actually operate in? A rail can be evaluated on speed and cost alone. Infrastructure has to be evaluated on the depth of liquidity behind it, the regulatory standing of the entity providing it, the security of its custody model, and the breadth of the corridors it can genuinely serve. Cross-border payments are unlikely to resolve themselves through the incumbent network. What is changing is that the combination of institutional liquidity and regulated stablecoin settlement now offers a coherent alternative, particularly on the Africa-Europe corridors, where the old model has retreated furthest and cost the most. For payment service providers and treasury teams, the practical task is no longer to accept those costs as fixed, but to assess the infrastructure that has begun to make them optional.The post Correspondent Banking Is Retreating. Institutional Stablecoin Rails Are Filling the Gap first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Regulator issued the licence on 2 July 2026 under Section 29 of the Securities Act 2005. Licence number GB26206419.  TabTrade (tabtrade.com), a global forex and CFD broker with raw spreads from 0.0 pips on major forex pairs, has announced that its Mauritius company, TabTrade (Mauritius) Ltd, has been granted an Investment Dealer (Full Service Dealer, excluding Underwriting) Licence by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius.The Commission issued the licence on 2 July 2026 under Section 29 of the Securities Act 2005, Rule 4 of the Securities (Licensing) Rules 2007 and the Financial Services (Consolidated Licensing and Fees) Rules 2008. The licence number is GB26206419 and the classification code is SEC-2.1B. On the same date the Commission granted a Global Business Licence under Section 72(6) of the Financial Services Act 2007.The Financial Services Commission is the regulator for non-bank financial services and global business in Mauritius. The licence requires the company to hold client funds separately from its own and to use them only for their stated purpose. It requires an annual reassessment of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.The TabTrade Edge account runs raw spreads from 0.0 pips with a flat $3.50 commission per side and no markup on the spread. Datalyst measured the account at an average of 0.04 pips across the major currency pairs over May 2026, with the tightest reading at 0.02 pips on AUD/USD. Benjamin Boulter CEO & FounderBenjamin Boulter CEO & Founder“We wanted a regulator with a public register anyone can search, Clients should not have to take our word for how their money is held or who answers for us. Now there is somewhere they can go and check.” The licence record can be found by searching the company name on the FSC Online Public Register at https://opr.fscmauritius.org/. About TabTradeTabTrade is a global forex and CFD broker with raw spreads from 0.0 pips on major forex pairs. Clients trade forex, indices, commodities, metals, and shares on MetaTrader 5, with a $0 minimum deposit and institutional-grade execution through Equinix LD5 data centres. TabTrade (Mauritius) Ltd is licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius as an Investment Dealer (Full Service Dealer, excluding Underwriting) under Section 29 of the Securities Act 2005, licence number GB26206419. TabTrade Ltd is incorporated and registered in Saint Lucia under the International Business Companies Act (Registration Number 2025-00919). Client funds are held in segregated accounts. Markets made simple. *Trading CFDs and margin forex carries a high level of risk and can result in losses that exceed deposits. A licence does not reduce that risk. The post TabTrade granted Investment Dealer licence by Mauritius FSC first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Bloomberg said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Canoe Intelligence, an AI-powered data management platform that automates the collection and delivery of private markets data, in what the company described as a defining step in its effort to transform private markets investing. The acquisition builds on Bloomberg’s multi-year push to extend the public markets intelligence long delivered through its Terminal into private assets. It already provides data on more than three million private companies, 50,000 private funds and 16,000 private direct loans, and launched a certified integration with Canoe earlier this year that connected permissioned private fund data to Bloomberg PORT Enterprise. Canoe acts as a link between general partners and limited partners, processing more than 1.5 million documents a month across over 44,000 funds. It delivers structured insights to more than 500 institutional clients representing over $11 trillion in assets under service, spanning large institutional investors, fund servicers, wealth managers and family offices. Bloomberg believes the deal will help address the long-standing fragmentation of data across the private markets investment journey, unlocking capabilities such as a fully integrated total portfolio view, enhanced pre-investment intelligence, and a converged data infrastructure. “Today, private markets are primed to undergo a similar transformation as investors seek the same kind of structured, timely insights across private assets,” said Bloomberg Chief Executive Vlad Kliatchko. Canoe Chief Executive Jason Eiswerth said joining Bloomberg would let the firm build on its earlier PORT integration “at scale, with more resources, more reach, and more data behind Canoe.” Jefferies acted as exclusive financial adviser to Canoe, with Cooley as legal adviser.The post Bloomberg to Acquire Canoe Intelligence in Push into Private Markets first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) reported record second-quarter 2026 results on Tuesday, with total net revenues climbing 32% year-over-year to $1.31 billion and diluted earnings per share up 48% to $0.62, as the trading platform continued its aggressive push into new business lines. The Menlo Park-based firm now counts 13 business lines generating $100 million or more in annualized revenue, with Robinhood Legend and its Credit Card business the latest to cross that threshold. Net income rose 48% to $573 million, though the figure included $129 million in gains tied to the deconsolidation of Robinhood Ventures Fund I. Transaction-based revenues were the standout performer, up 44% to $776 million, fueled by event contracts revenue that surged more than tenfold to $156 million and equities revenue that nearly doubled to $129 million. Options revenue grew 29% to $342 million, while cryptocurrency revenue fell 38% to $100 million. “The business is firing on all cylinders,” said CFO Shiv Verma, pointing to record volumes across equities, options and event contracts. Net deposits hit a record $22 billion, and Robinhood Gold subscribers reached 4.8 million, up 39% year-over-year. Total platform assets grew 32% to $369 billion, while funded customers rose 7% to 28.4 million. The quarter also saw major expansion milestones: Trump Accounts topped 7 million sign-ups following their July 4 launch, the Robinhood Chain public mainnet went live, and the company closed its acquisition of Canadian crypto firm WonderFi, marking its entry into that market. CEO Vlad Tenev tied the results to the company’s broader mission, stating that “broad ownership is essential to a free, stable, and prosperous society,” citing the Robinhood Chain, Robinhood Ventures, and Trump Accounts as key product pillars. Robinhood also tightened its full-year 2026 expense outlook to $2.675-$2.775 billion in Adjusted Operating Expenses and SBC, citing efficiency gains partially reinvested into new ventures Rothera and WonderFi.The post Robinhood Posts Record $1.31 Billion Revenue in Q2 2026 as Product Diversification Pays Off first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Bloomberg has announced that dtcpay, a Singapore headquartered payment company, has adopted its flagship real time market data feed, B-PIPE, to support treasury foreign exchange spot trading. The tool gives dtcpay access to high quality FX data, enabling transparent pricing and improved cost management as the firm handles FX exposures stemming from multi currency payment flows. Bloomberg’s data will also help dtcpay’s treasury team independently verify counterparty pricing, support informed execution decisions, and strengthen internal FX valuation controls. Alongside B-PIPE, dtcpay uses the Bloomberg Terminal, including ASKB, a conversational AI interface designed to change how financial professionals engage with market and risk data. ASKB allows dtcpay’s treasury and risk teams to use natural language queries to surface economic data, central bank updates, and market insights, with transparent source attribution and underlying Bloomberg Query Language code included in responses. Candice Zhang, CEO of dtcpay Hong Kong, said managing foreign exchange exposure efficiently is critical for payment firms operating across multiple currencies, adding that Bloomberg’s real time data and analytics give the company greater pricing transparency and stronger control over trading costs. Tania Badran, Head of Enterprise Data Sales, South APAC at Bloomberg, said that as payment companies expand across markets and currencies, trusted real time FX data becomes essential for managing complex exposures. She noted Bloomberg is pleased to support dtcpay as it strengthens its FX exposure and cost management. dtcpay is a Singapore headquartered digital payments company licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, with additional licences in Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, and Canada.The post dtcpay Adopts Bloomberg’s B-PIPE to Bolster Treasury FX Trading first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

BMLL, the independent provider of harmonised historical market data and analytics for capital markets, has appointed Brad Hunt as Chairman of the Board, the company announced on 29 July 2026. The move is aimed at accelerating global growth following Nordic Capital’s acquisition of the firm in October 2025. Hunt brings 30 years of experience building and transforming financial data businesses. He most recently served as CEO of Rimes Technologies, where he expanded the company from benchmark data management into enterprise data management and investment solutions before its sale in 2024. He previously held senior roles at Bank of New York Mellon, IHS Markit and Goldman Sachs International. Hunt succeeds Lee Hodgkinson, who will stay on the board as an independent Non-Executive Director. Hodgkinson currently serves as Group Chief Strategy Officer at Saudi Tadawul Group and previously led Euronext London. The board has also welcomed Spiros Giannaros, US-based independent NED and current CEO of Gresham Technologies, who brings decades of fintech scaling experience. Other directors include BMLL CEO Paul Humphrey, CFO and COO Nigel Medhurst, Nordic Capital’s David Samuelson and Dan Rosenberg, and Optiver representative Hilde Kaemingk. Humphrey said Hunt’s “deep industry expertise will be invaluable” as BMLL scales globally, while thanking Hodgkinson for his stewardship as outgoing Chairman. Hunt said he was “incredibly excited” to join at a pivotal moment, citing BMLL’s reputation for high quality historical data and growing market demand for deep insight without heavy operational overhead. BMLL was founded in 2014 out of the University of Cambridge’s machine learning laboratories and had previously raised $83 million across seed, Series A and B rounds, including backing from Optiver.The post BMLL Names Brad Hunt Chairman as Nordic Capital-Backed Growth Push Continues first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

FINRA has censured and fined RBC Capital Markets, LLC $275,000 after finding that the firm failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering compliance program for more than seven years. According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent published by FINRA, RBC’s Wealth Management division did not properly implement policies and procedures capable of detecting and reporting suspicious transactions between February 2016 and September 2023, in breach of FINRA Rules 3310(a), 3310(f)(ii) and 2010. The regulator found that RBC introduced three new transaction monitoring rules in February 2016 designed to flag suspicious money movements but configured them so poorly that they largely failed to work as intended. One rule meant to catch accounts moving funds without securities trading activity was based on margin balances rather than account balances, meaning it rarely triggered. Another rule set credit thresholds too high to catch matching debit and credit patterns, while a third generated excessive false positives from routine internal transfers. FINRA said RBC split oversight of these monitoring rules between two internal groups without establishing a process for coordination or escalation, allowing the flawed rules to remain in place for years without correction. RBC neither admitted nor denied the findings but agreed to the sanctions. The firm updated its procedures in September 2023 to require periodic reviews of automated monitoring rules. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in New York, RBC Capital Markets currently employs roughly 6,500 registered representatives across 400 branch offices. The case stemmed from a routine FINRA cycle examination rather than a specific enforcement referral.The post FINRA fines RBC Capital Markets $275,000 over AML compliance failures first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Standard Chartered PLC announced on Wednesday that it will commence a new share buyback programme worth up to $1 billion, alongside the submission of its 2026 Half Year Report to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. The London-listed bank confirmed it has entered into a non-discretionary agreement with Goldman Sachs International to execute the buyback on its behalf. Under the arrangement, Goldman Sachs will purchase ordinary shares as principal, acting independently of Standard Chartered in its trading decisions, starting 30 July 2026 and running until no later than 29 January 2027, subject to there being no regulatory objections. The programme caps purchases at $1 billion in aggregate value or a maximum of 201,451,712 ordinary shares, whichever limit is reached first, and remains bound by the bank’s existing shareholder-approved buyback authority. Standard Chartered stated the purpose of the exercise is to reduce its share capital, a move that will see all repurchased shares cancelled once acquired. Purchases will take place on the London Stock Exchange and Cboe Europe’s BXE and CXE order books, or other approved UK exchanges, in line with FCA Listing Rules, UK market abuse regulations, and Hong Kong’s listing and takeover codes. The bank specified that no shares will be bought on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong itself. Separately, Standard Chartered confirmed its 2026 Half Year Report has been lodged with the FCA and will soon be viewable via the National Storage Mechanism as well as the bank’s investor relations website. Shareholders can expect hard copies to be posted by 19 August 2026. The buyback signals continued capital return efforts by the emerging markets-focused lender as it manages excess capital positions heading into the second half of 2026.The post Standard Chartered Launches $1 Billion Share Buyback, Files Half Year Report first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

How Oscar Cabrera built trust in trading by showing the entire story. Many trading personalities build audiences by showing success. Oscar Cabrera built his audience by showing the parts of trading that are usually left out: the risk, the losses, the hesitation, and the discipline required when a trade does not go as planned. Based in LATAM, Oscar is a self-taught trader, educator, and content creator whose story began with bitcoin in 2018. At the time, he was studying accounting and working in university administration. Over time, trading became his full-time focus and the basis of the community he has built around transparent trading education. For Oscar, trust is earned by showing the whole process. Sustainable trading, in his view is built on discipline, risk management, and the ability to stay rational when the market becomes difficult. Learning the hard way Oscar’s first steps into trading came through bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Early results encouraged him to keep learning, but they also showed him how much he still had to understand. Without a clear mentor, he had to build his approach through market experience, observation, and mistakes. “I had to learn a lot by myself,” Oscar says. Over time, he became more careful about the voices he trusted online, especially after realizing that some people were building a business around the image of being a trader rather than showing the work behind it. That realization changed the way he approached education. He became more selective about who he followed and more focused on developing a process that fit his personality. The lesson extended beyond the chart. Oscar also learned that making money and managing money are different skills. Earlier in his journey, he took profits from the market and tried to put them into more tangible assets, including businesses and property. Some of those decisions did not work out, and the experience changed how he thought about discipline outside trading. “Making money in the markets became one part of the process,The harder part was learning how to use that money correctly.”  he says. Transparency as a competitive advantage Oscar began creating content because he saw too much trading content built around image. Many online personalities showed the lifestyle around trading, but not the pressure, decision-making, risk, and losses behind each position. “I see many people selling an image,” he says. “They show cars and a perfect life, but they were not showing real trading.” His response was to make the process visible. Oscar started sharing live trades, market commentary, gain, and losses. The goal was not to impress his audience. It was to help them understand what trading involves in practice. “With me, you follow the process of a real trader,” he says. “You see my trades and my entire thought and risk management process. Everything is transparent.” That transparency became central to his relationship with his community. A losing trade is not something he tries to hide. It is part of trading, and it can teach traders how to respond when the market does not move in their favor. “Losses are part of trading,” he says. “The important thing is how you manage the risk and what you do after the loss.” Discipline is the real edge Oscar’s trading today is mainly focused on swing trading, especially bitcoin. While he can analyze other markets such as gold, the NASDAQ, or other major instruments, bitcoin remains the market he knows best. “My strategy is based on technical analysis, price action, and timing,” he says. With bitcoin, that understanding has been built over years of watching how it moves,  reacts, and behaves across different cycles. Swing trading became the right fit because it gives him time to think. Day trading required faster decisions and created more pressure, while longer-term setups allow him to plan, wait, and manage positions with more control.  “I tried day trading, but it was not for me,” he says. “Swing trading gives me more time to process the trade and manage the risk.” That discipline matters most when the market becomes unclear. Oscar knows that volatility can create opportunity, but it can also lead to emotional decisions. When market conditions become unclear, his response is not to force more trades. “When that happens, I try to step away from the charts,” he says. “If you made money in good months, you cannot lose it all in one bad month.” For Oscar, risk management is also psychological. Cutting losses, stepping away, and staying emotionally detached help him protect both capital and confidence. “I always try to cut my losses fast,” he says. Why trust matters beyond the trade The same focus on trust shaped Oscar’s decision to join Exness Team Pro. In an industry where brands often approach traders, he believes a partnership has to be based on direct experience. “If I speak to my community about a broker, I need to know that it is something I believe in myself,” he says. Before aligning with Exness, Oscar wanted to understand the trading environment for himself. Trust in a broker depends on the full trading experience: how the platform behaves, how execution feels in practice, how trading conditions hold up, and whether withdrawals work as traders expect. “When traders put their money with a broker, they need to feel secure,” he says. “That is why the platform behind the trader matters.” For Oscar, becoming part of Exness Team Pro is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It gives him a larger platform, but it also connects his name to the broker he represents. “Being part of Exness Team Pro means responsibility,” he says. “The values have to be aligned: transparency, reliability, and education.” Conclusion  Oscar Cabrera’s mission is not to make trading look easier than it is. It is to help traders see the profession more clearly: the discipline before the trade, the patience during the trade, and the accountability after the result.  His partnership with Exness reflects the same principle that has guided his career from the beginning. Trust cannot be claimed. It has to be earned through consistency, transparency, and the willingness to show the whole story.The post The transparency edge:Oscar Cabrera first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Options Technology revealed Tuesday that it has expanded its New York office, citing rising client growth and increased demand across North America for its trading infrastructure and market data services. The provider of IT infrastructure to financial institutions said the 34,000-square-foot office, in the city’s Financial District, deepens its footprint and brings it closer to clients and partners, including several Tier 1 banks and exchanges. The move follows a series of regional developments for the firm, including offering immediate access to the Texas Stock Exchange and delivering what it described as the first commercially accessible quantum computing capability for New York’s capital markets. “From when we opened the doors of our first New York office in 2006, we have gone from strength to strength,” said Tim Yockel, senior vice president of global sales.  “This new office is not only key in further establishing our presence in New York, but it also marks how much we have grown as a company over the past 20 years.” Danny Moore, president and chief executive, said the opening at 28 Liberty Street was “a direct result of our success in this region,” adding that growing demand established the firm “as the leading partner for top financial firms in New York but globally.” The expansion follows other growth initiatives, including office openings in Cambridge, London and Hong Kong early last year and the recent acquisition of Crossvale. Options serves clients globally from offices spanning New York, London, Paris, Belfast, Tokyo, Singapore, Dubai and Sydney, among others.The post Options Technology Expands New York Office in the Financial District first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Corpay said Tuesday that it has introduced Agent Card, a capability that allows AI agents to generate controlled virtual cards for approved business transactions. The move marks the latest step in the corporate payments group’s artificial intelligence roadmap. The company explained in a press release that the tool enables secure virtual card creation for AI-driven commerce workflows, extending an approach it began in April when it added an AI Virtual Assistant to its Corpay Complete platform.  Agent Card allows AI agents to act on a business’s behalf within the same controls that govern its existing payments. As AI agents increasingly assist with purchasing, procurement, travel and advertising, Corpay said companies need payment infrastructure that is secure, flexible and built for automation. “Agentic commerce is creating a new frontier for business payments,” commented Danny Martucci, president and general manager of commercial card at Corpay.  “With Agent Card, Corpay is enabling trusted AI agents to initiate secure, controlled payment workflows using the same principles that make virtual cards such a powerful tool for businesses today: authorization, control, visibility, and security.” The capability is said to support both user-directed and machine-to-machine payment workflows, incorporating authentication, spend intent authorisation and open standards for AI connectivity.  Corpay added that it is designed to support applications including supplier payments, digital advertising purchases, travel bookings and procurement. “Virtual cards are uniquely suited for agentic commerce because they can be issued with precise controls for a specific purpose,” said Tom Pierce, chief AI officer at Corpay. He said that made them an ideal payment method for workflows where businesses need automation without giving up governance.The post Corpay Launches Agent Card to Power AI-Driven Payments first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Liquidnet announced Tuesday an expansion of its Latin America equities business, aimed at improving liquidity access and execution capabilities for institutional investors trading Brazilian and Mexican equities. The enhanced offering allows Members to source institutional-sized block liquidity while simultaneously running algorithmic strategies across the wider market. Liquidnet says this combined approach gives investors a way to pursue liquidity discreetly and efficiently without giving up reach or control. A key differentiator, according to the firm, is its network model, which connects Members to more than 1,200 institutional counterparties worldwide. Rather than depending on external dark pools, Liquidnet operates a single liquidity network intended to build transparency and encourage genuine block interaction among buy side participants. Eric Blake, Head of LatAm at Liquidnet, said the expanded capabilities give Members access to block liquidity, region-specific algorithms for Brazil and Mexico, and support from the firm’s Americas high-touch trading desk, all delivered through a non-conflictive agency model. Liquidnet’s local market expertise is designed to help clients navigate regulatory considerations and liquidity dynamics in both markets, functioning as a single point of contact for execution needs. Alan Polo, Co-Head of Equities Sales and Trading, Americas, said the move reflects growing investor interest in Latin America for diversification and growth, adding that the expansion reinforces Liquidnet’s commitment to institutional-grade execution across the region. Liquidnet is owned by TP ICAP Group.The post Liquidnet Deepens Latin America Push With Upgraded Brazil and Mexico Equities Trading first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) has announced two senior leadership appointments as the digital infrastructure company looks to sharpen product innovation and strengthen growth across its international markets. Chris Audie is joining the company as Chief Product Officer, taking charge of the global products and services organization, which spans interconnection, infrastructure, network operations and ecosystem partnerships. Meanwhile, Bruce Owen, a 16 year veteran of Equinix, has been named Executive Vice President, Global Markets. In this role, Owen will oversee the company’s regional businesses across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Both executives will report directly to CEO and President Adaire Fox Martin. Audie arrives with a background in enterprise software, infrastructure automation and AI. He most recently served as Chief Product and Technology Officer for Infrastructure and AI at HashiCorp, which IBM acquired in 2025. Earlier in his career, he led product management for Generative AI and cloud platform capabilities at Google Cloud, and held senior product roles at SAP. Fox Martin praised Audie’s technical depth and customer focus, saying he would help build the next generation of Equinix products for an increasingly complex technology landscape. Owen, who previously served as President of Equinix’s EMEA region and Managing Director for the UK, has held a wide range of positions within the company, including Chief of Staff to the CEO and President of the Equinix Foundation. Fox Martin called him one of the company’s most accomplished leaders, citing his operational credibility and strategic experience.The post Equinix Names New Chief Product Officer and Global Markets Chief first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

NinjaTrader Group has launched CME Group Single Stock futures on its platform, allowing eligible users to trade futures contracts tied to individual U.S. companies including Nvidia, Tesla, Apple and Amazon. The rollout marks one of the first major integrations of these new contracts in the retail trading space. CME Group is phasing in the launch across more than 50 companies drawn from the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Russell 1000 indices, expanding NinjaTrader’s existing equity index offering. Martin Franchi, CEO of NinjaTrader Group, said the launch reflects a shift in how retail traders operate. “Retail traders today are more active, informed, and focused on high-conviction opportunities than ever before,” he said, adding that Single Stock futures offer speed and capital efficiency “without the complexity of options.” Tim McCourt, CME Group’s Global Head of Equities, FX and Alternative Products, said the partnership extends access to “centrally cleared, financially settled contracts” that bring near round-the-clock trading to major U.S. stocks. Unlike options, Single Stock futures do not require traders to manage time decay, Greeks or multi-leg strategies, and they carry no stock borrowing requirements for bearish positions. They also trade nearly 24 hours during the trading week, giving traders a way to react to earnings, geopolitical news and other market events outside standard hours. Franchi said the product could draw new participants into futures trading. “Single Stock futures have the potential to dramatically expand and reshape investor participation in futures trading,” he said. NinjaTrader serves close to 3.9 million users through its cloud-based platform, alongside its clearing and technology divisions supporting institutional and proprietary trading firms.The post NinjaTrader Adds CME Group Single Stock Futures, Giving Traders Direct Access to Nvidia, Tesla and Apple first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Luk Fook Securities (HK) Limited (LFSHK) $2.1 million after finding the firm failed to implement adequate cybersecurity controls, a lapse that may have contributed to its inability to withstand a ransomware attack in 2022. The attack, which struck on 19 September 2022, hit LFSHK’s critical IT infrastructure across the board, disrupting file servers, domain controllers, email servers, trading application servers and accounting servers. The firm did not fully restore its systems until 7 October, nearly three weeks later. During that period, clients were locked out of the firm’s mobile trading app and internet platform, forced instead to place orders through account executives. Following LFSHK’s self-report, the SFC launched an investigation and uncovered a string of deficiencies. These included a lack of firewall protection, outdated operating systems and antivirus software, weak controls over user access, poor password management practices such as storing credentials in unencrypted files, insufficient oversight of remote access and external devices, no regular cybersecurity training for staff, and inadequate data backup arrangements. The regulator concluded that LFSHK had breached cybersecurity requirements tied to its regulated activities, calling the failures systemic and damaging to both client interests and the integrity of its operations. In setting the penalty, the SFC noted mitigating factors, including LFSHK’s cooperation, its clean disciplinary record, remedial steps taken since the incident, an independent review of the breach, and the absence of evidence that clients suffered financial losses as a result.The post SFC Fines Luk Fook Securities Over Cybersecurity Failures Tied to Ransomware Attack first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

CME Group revealed on Monday that nearly 15,000 of its 1-Ounce Gold futures contracts traded during the opening weekend of its new round-the-clock schedule, representing about $60 million in notional value. The derivatives exchange operator launched the 24/7 trading format for the contract, allowing customers to trade regulated gold futures at any time of day, on any day of the week. “Gold is a global safe-haven asset, and global events don’t stop on weekends,” said Jin Hennig, managing director and global head of metals at CME Group.  He added that CME’s “launch demonstrates that retail traders were ready and waiting for always-on, regulated and right-sized products to manage their exposure to gold.” “24/7 Gold futures from CME Group offer our customers the ability to trade regulated futures contracts at any time of the day, any day of the week, from any timezone,” said Adam Hickerson, senior director and chief operating officer of Robinhood Derivatives. “This brings instant real-time digital access to the world’s oldest store of value.” CME Group said a record $125 billion in average notional has traded each day across its gold futures this year. The 1-Ounce Gold futures contract launched in January 2025 and recorded average daily volume of 87,000 contracts in the first half of 2026. The company’s metals business set a record in the first half of the year, with 1.3 million contracts traded daily on the back of precious metals activity, up 55% year on year.The post CME Group Sees Strong Demand in First Weekend of 24/7 Gold Futures first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Ant International’s Alipay+ said last week that it has added Hang Seng Bank as its first banking partner in Hong Kong, extending a network that already spans more than 50 digital wallets and financial institutions. The unified wallet gateway is said to be accepted in over 220 markets globally and lets banks offer cross-border payment services through a single integration.  Hang Seng Mobile App users can now make QR code payments in mainland China and overseas at more than 100 million merchants across over 55 countries and regions. Alipay+ said outbound cross-border payment demand from Asia Pacific is projected to grow faster than the global average. It cited estimates that consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-business outbound volume from the region could reach 3.7 trillion by 2032, almost doubling from 2024. The platform also partners with more than 10 national QR systems, including Malaysia’s DuitNow, Thailand’s PromptPay and Uzbekistan’s HUMO, allowing banks to scale mobile payment use without striking individual merchant agreements in target markets. Banks already connected to the network include Public Bank Berhad in Malaysia, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Asia United Bank in the Philippines, OCBC in Singapore, Kasikorn Bank and Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand, and Vietcombank in Vietnam. Beyond Alipay+, Ant International works with banks through other services, including its Falcon TST AI FX model, which it said makes long-term foreign exchange forecasts with up to 93% accuracy and is used by Citi and Barclays.  Its blockchain platform Whale, which enables round-the-clock cross-border liquidity transfer, is being integrated by Standard Chartered and HSBC.The post Alipay+ Adds Hang Seng Bank as Cross-Border Payments Demand Grows in Asia first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL) announced on July 27, 2026, that it has acquired fundamental assets from IBM’s blockchain patent portfolio, a move that positions the company as the leading holder of blockchain patents in the United States. The acquired portfolio is substantial, comprising more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents across the globe. Its scope extends well beyond core blockchain technology, covering banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification, and secure cloud operations. For Circle, the deal represents more than a defensive IP play. The company said the expanded patent position will directly support its broader mission of building what it calls the “internet financial system.” That includes existing products such as USDC and Circle Payments Network, as well as newer initiatives like Arc and an expanding lineup of onchain tools and agentic financial products. Notably, the transaction does not appear to be a one-time deal. Circle and IBM said they intend to explore further commercial opportunities together going forward, suggesting the relationship could extend beyond this patent transfer. Sarah Wilson, Circle’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, framed the acquisition as central to the company’s strategy. “Intellectual property is critical to advancing our mission and expanding adoption of onchain infrastructure,” Wilson said, adding that IBM’s history of technological innovation strengthens Circle’s capacity to build infrastructure for global, internet-native finance.The post Circle Acquires IBM Blockchain Patent Portfolio, Becomes Leading U.S. Patent Holder first appeared on LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis.