“The UK market is not saturated, rather it’s desaturated,” believes Matthew Smith, the CEO of EC Markets. His argument is based on the fact that none of the European contracts for differences (CFD) brokers sought UK approval following Brexit. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier revealed that the number of such brokers was 100.
Smith discussed a array of topics, including the present regulatory scene in the UK, the opportunities for brokers in the emerging markets, while playing it safe when it comes to prop trading and tokenisation.
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“Tight Regulation Is Prohibitive.”
The UK is still considered one of the hardest markets for CFD brokers to operate in.
“There are very few new players coming into the market,” Smith continued, adding that he thinks the reason “isn’t saturation, but tight regulation. It’s prohibitive.”
“Internalising trades that are dramatically impacted by leverage restrictions makes a traditional model very difficult to maintain in the UK,” he added, “because the cost of acquiring clients is high.”
“Then there’s also the cost of building your brand,” he continued. “The UK is a very brand-centric market. It requires trust. A new firm just starting up that has an offshore licence and then suddenly has a UK one is not going to get a lot of UK customers.”
EC Markets booth at FMLS24
EC Markets itself operates in the UK and has also established its headquarters there. The broker’s push towards brand building also surfaced when it signed a sponsorship deal with Liverpool FC, one of the top football clubs in the country.
The growth of EC Markets’ UK business is also visible from its numbers – its revenue and profits from the country almost doubled in 2024.
“As a firm, we focus on longevity,” Smith said on EC Markets’ UK plans. “We want to be here for a long time, but with what we’ve built, our goal is to be recognised as an wealth manager in the future.”
Read more broker-related new on FinanceMagnates.com:
Many companies also acquire and maintain FCA licences for the sheer prestige associated with them. The regulator revealed late last year that 20 per cent of the FCA-regulated CFD brokers were inactive. “Some of these firms appear to exist purely to provide an FCA ‘halo’ to wider ‘groups’,” the regulator then stated. “This gives false comfort to global retail clients who see the FCA association but contract with an offshore ‘group’ entity rather than the UK-authorised firm, without UK regulatory protection.”
Smith also tends to agree with the prestige effect of FCA licences, but highlighted that “it is very hard to measure.”
“Some companies make money by rating brokers on behalf of clients, often scoring them based on their regulatory standing,” he added. “Since many customers rely on such trust-score platforms when making decisions, they undoubtedly add credibility. While you can’t always pinpoint whether a rating directly led to a client conversion, it almost certainly played a role in their consideration.”
“Southeast Asia Still Offers Plenty of Opportunities”
EC Markets, meanwhile, has a massive presence outside the UK. It is also regulated in Australia, Seychelles, Mauritius, New Zealand and South Africa.
Smith revealed that Southeast Asia is EC Markets’ biggest market right now, but avoids specifying which country in the region. “In terms of growth, while Southeast Asia still offers plenty of opportunities, we are also seeing strong momentum in our LATAM business. The MENA region is set to be another key growth driver for us.”
Related: 52% of Capital.com’s H1 Trading Volume Came from MENA, UAE Traders Lead
The broker secured a Category 5 licence from Dubai’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). That is a promotional licence, meaning the broker can promote its products and services to UAE traders, but cannot take client money or issue contracts locally.
Other broker to gain Dubai licenses are XM, RoboMarkets, Exinity, VT Markets, Plus500, XTB and many more.
“Gaining a full brokerage licence in the UAE does not have a huge benefit,” Smith said. “Some local clients may prefer their funds to be held with a UAE broker, but in a broad group like ours, with multiple credible entities, there are plenty of options for account opening. The Dubai team can guide clients to the entity that best fits their needs.”
According to Finance Magnates Intelligence, EC Markets handled over $2.3 trillion in trading volume between April and July 2025.
The CEO also revealed that the broker witnessed a record month in August, without giving any figures. This is interesting because August is usually treated as a slow month in the industry due to the summer holidays in many regions.
EC Markets, with already around 500 staff globally, is now planning to double its headcount in the next 18 months. “The majority of the hirings will be in sales and business development,” Smith said, “which we see as a faster growth strategy for us.”
“We Never Say Never to Prop Trading”
While brokers like EC Markets are growing their footprint in the industry, prop trading firms are attracting a lot of traders, a service that has gained popularity only over the past few years.
According to Smith, there is a “crossover” between brokers and prop firms. “The prop industry essentially offers a step up: trading with someone else’s capital and earning from it. The downside risk is relatively low compared to using your own funds.”
“Brokers now view prop as a marketing tool—less about profitability from the prop itself, and more about generating leads. If those leads come in at a lower cost than other marketing channels, prop becomes an extension of their marketing strategy. That said, it can still be a strong product when sold responsibly, delivered properly, with solid payouts and well-backed firms.”
Read more: Why Prop Firms Are Winning Over CFD Brokers
Addressing EC Markets’ plans around prop trading, he said: “We never say never, but our current international expansion is already running at full pace. When it comes to prop, we’re still in observation mode, partly because of the regulatory question marks. I’d prefer those issues to be clarified before we commit—but the door isn’t closed.”
The threat to the existing CFD industry appears to be coming from elsewhere. “We’re seeing a cross-pollination—crypto firms moving into our space, and our industry exploring theirs—and that trend will only continue,” Smith said.
“Crypto operators, in particular, have had a huge boost over the past 12 months, both in terms of capital and reach, and they now pose a significant challenge to the established hierarchy of our sector. These firms have built enormous client bases—often by operating with little or no regulation—and can now channel that appeal into products we offer.”
Another ongoing trend in the retail trading industry is the introduction of tokenised assets. “Education has to come first with products like these,” Smith added. “The more firms that begin offering them, the more marketing materials will be created to explain how they work and what their advantages are. Once adoption reaches critical mass, awareness tends to spread organically.”
“I do believe tokenisation has value, though I’m unsure if it will resonate with individual retail users or remain more suitable for funds. Realistically, most retail clients don’t have the time or inclination to evaluate tokenised securities in unlisted assets. Professional investors, on the other hand, can package these into baskets and present them as investable opportunities. I remain interested, but I think its growth path may be more institutional than retail.”
“The UK market is not saturated, rather it’s desaturated,” believes Matthew Smith, the CEO of EC Markets. His argument is based on the fact that none of the European contracts for differences (CFD) brokers sought UK approval following Brexit. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier revealed that the number of such brokers was 100.
Smith discussed a array of topics, including the present regulatory scene in the UK, the opportunities for brokers in the emerging markets, while playing it safe when it comes to prop trading and tokenisation.
Join IG, CMC, and Robinhood in London’s leading trading industry event!
“Tight Regulation Is Prohibitive.”
The UK is still considered one of the hardest markets for CFD brokers to operate in.
“There are very few new players coming into the market,” Smith continued, adding that he thinks the reason “isn’t saturation, but tight regulation. It’s prohibitive.”
“Internalising trades that are dramatically impacted by leverage restrictions makes a traditional model very difficult to maintain in the UK,” he added, “because the cost of acquiring clients is high.”
“Then there’s also the cost of building your brand,” he continued. “The UK is a very brand-centric market. It requires trust. A new firm just starting up that has an offshore licence and then suddenly has a UK one is not going to get a lot of UK customers.”
EC Markets booth at FMLS24
EC Markets itself operates in the UK and has also established its headquarters there. The broker’s push towards brand building also surfaced when it signed a sponsorship deal with Liverpool FC, one of the top football clubs in the country.
The growth of EC Markets’ UK business is also visible from its numbers – its revenue and profits from the country almost doubled in 2024.
“As a firm, we focus on longevity,” Smith said on EC Markets’ UK plans. “We want to be here for a long time, but with what we’ve built, our goal is to be recognised as an wealth manager in the future.”
Read more broker-related new on FinanceMagnates.com:
Many companies also acquire and maintain FCA licences for the sheer prestige associated with them. The regulator revealed late last year that 20 per cent of the FCA-regulated CFD brokers were inactive. “Some of these firms appear to exist purely to provide an FCA ‘halo’ to wider ‘groups’,” the regulator then stated. “This gives false comfort to global retail clients who see the FCA association but contract with an offshore ‘group’ entity rather than the UK-authorised firm, without UK regulatory protection.”
Smith also tends to agree with the prestige effect of FCA licences, but highlighted that “it is very hard to measure.”
“Some companies make money by rating brokers on behalf of clients, often scoring them based on their regulatory standing,” he added. “Since many customers rely on such trust-score platforms when making decisions, they undoubtedly add credibility. While you can’t always pinpoint whether a rating directly led to a client conversion, it almost certainly played a role in their consideration.”
“Southeast Asia Still Offers Plenty of Opportunities”
EC Markets, meanwhile, has a massive presence outside the UK. It is also regulated in Australia, Seychelles, Mauritius, New Zealand and South Africa.
Smith revealed that Southeast Asia is EC Markets’ biggest market right now, but avoids specifying which country in the region. “In terms of growth, while Southeast Asia still offers plenty of opportunities, we are also seeing strong momentum in our LATAM business. The MENA region is set to be another key growth driver for us.”
Related: 52% of Capital.com’s H1 Trading Volume Came from MENA, UAE Traders Lead
The broker secured a Category 5 licence from Dubai’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). That is a promotional licence, meaning the broker can promote its products and services to UAE traders, but cannot take client money or issue contracts locally.
Other broker to gain Dubai licenses are XM, RoboMarkets, Exinity, VT Markets, Plus500, XTB and many more.
“Gaining a full brokerage licence in the UAE does not have a huge benefit,” Smith said. “Some local clients may prefer their funds to be held with a UAE broker, but in a broad group like ours, with multiple credible entities, there are plenty of options for account opening. The Dubai team can guide clients to the entity that best fits their needs.”
According to Finance Magnates Intelligence, EC Markets handled over $2.3 trillion in trading volume between April and July 2025.
The CEO also revealed that the broker witnessed a record month in August, without giving any figures. This is interesting because August is usually treated as a slow month in the industry due to the summer holidays in many regions.
EC Markets, with already around 500 staff globally, is now planning to double its headcount in the next 18 months. “The majority of the hirings will be in sales and business development,” Smith said, “which we see as a faster growth strategy for us.”
“We Never Say Never to Prop Trading”
While brokers like EC Markets are growing their footprint in the industry, prop trading firms are attracting a lot of traders, a service that has gained popularity only over the past few years.
According to Smith, there is a “crossover” between brokers and prop firms. “The prop industry essentially offers a step up: trading with someone else’s capital and earning from it. The downside risk is relatively low compared to using your own funds.”
“Brokers now view prop as a marketing tool—less about profitability from the prop itself, and more about generating leads. If those leads come in at a lower cost than other marketing channels, prop becomes an extension of their marketing strategy. That said, it can still be a strong product when sold responsibly, delivered properly, with solid payouts and well-backed firms.”
Read more: Why Prop Firms Are Winning Over CFD Brokers
Addressing EC Markets’ plans around prop trading, he said: “We never say never, but our current international expansion is already running at full pace. When it comes to prop, we’re still in observation mode, partly because of the regulatory question marks. I’d prefer those issues to be clarified before we commit—but the door isn’t closed.”
The threat to the existing CFD industry appears to be coming from elsewhere. “We’re seeing a cross-pollination—crypto firms moving into our space, and our industry exploring theirs—and that trend will only continue,” Smith said.
“Crypto operators, in particular, have had a huge boost over the past 12 months, both in terms of capital and reach, and they now pose a significant challenge to the established hierarchy of our sector. These firms have built enormous client bases—often by operating with little or no regulation—and can now channel that appeal into products we offer.”
Another ongoing trend in the retail trading industry is the introduction of tokenised assets. “Education has to come first with products like these,” Smith added. “The more firms that begin offering them, the more marketing materials will be created to explain how they work and what their advantages are. Once adoption reaches critical mass, awareness tends to spread organically.”
“I do believe tokenisation has value, though I’m unsure if it will resonate with individual retail users or remain more suitable for funds. Realistically, most retail clients don’t have the time or inclination to evaluate tokenised securities in unlisted assets. Professional investors, on the other hand, can package these into baskets and present them as investable opportunities. I remain interested, but I think its growth path may be more institutional than retail.”