Acuity Trading, Kira Financial, Eightcap, and more: executive moves of the week. Saturday, 30/05/2026 | 21:00 GMT-7 by Jared Kirui * Bryn Newell was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne-headquartered broker Eightcap. * Acuity Trading's CEO has also taken on the same top role at MarketReader. Acuity Trading CEO takes top job at MarketReader. In the latest executive moves, Andrew Lane, the Chief Executive of London-based Acuity Trading, become the CEO of MarketReader. The latter is an AI startup that Acuity invested in two weeks ago. Co-founder Jens Nordvig, who has led MarketReader since 2021 and previously worked as a currency strategist at Goldman Sachs and Nomura, will move to a board role. Lane will retain his CEO position at Acuity and run both companies in parallel, with each business continuing to operate under its own brand. Acuity disclosed its investment in MarketReader earlier this month without sharing financial details or the size of its stake, and neither firm has said whether Acuity holds a majority. The deal was announced one day before Acuity revealed a separate co-integration agreement with US engagement firm WNSTN to plug third-party chatbot technology into its broker-focused intelligence stack. Kira Financial names ex-FP Markets exec head of global partnerships. At the same time, Kira Financial Brokers appointed Sophie Stabler as Head of Global Partnerships, adding an experienced executive to lead its introducing broker strategy. She joins the Dubai-based firm as it expands across regulated CFD markets and grows its global partner network. In her new role, Stabler will manage relationships with introducing brokers in multiple regions and work with business development teams to support partners and long-term growth. She brings more than ten years of experience in forex and CFD brokerage and most recently worked as a Strategic Planning and Operations Advisor, supporting regulated brokers on growth strategy and operational planning. Eightcap names new CEO. Bryn Newell was named the Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne-headquartered broker Eightcap, a role he took on at the beginning of 2026. The broker's UK CEO, Ollie Rosewell, has meanwhile announced his departure from the company after around eight months in the position. Newell's promotion comes only a few months after the departure of Alex Howard, who served as Eightcap CEO from early 2023 until about September 2024. It is not clear whether anyone else led the firm in the interim. Newell joined Eightcap in mid-2021 as Chief Technology Officer, later becoming Chief Information Officer before stepping up to CEO. He previously spent 14 years at National Australia Bank, leaving as Head of Technology. OKX hires former Bybit VIP exec to lead CIS region. In the crypto space, OKX brought former Bybit and Crypto.com executive Maxim Orlov to lead its operations in the CIS region, with a focus on institutional and VIP clients. Orlov brings more than 15 years of experience across traditional banking and crypto, including four years at Bybit managing high-value client operations across Western Europe, the CIS and Latin America. The exchange is building a regional VIP-focused team, including a Senior VIP Relationship Manager role for the CIS region that reports to Orlov and requires native Russian and frequent travel for in-person client meetings. VIP clients typically generate higher margins despite lower trading volume, and OKX's VIP tier starts at 100,000 dollars in balance or trading volume, supported by a revised fee structure introduced in March as competition for institutional flow intensifies among major exchanges. Kirill Chernikov returns to Spotware as chief of staff. Meanwhile, Kirill Chernikov returned to Spotware Systems as Chief of Staff, a move he describes as a homecoming. In a LinkedIn post, he said he is back "where a big part of my fintech story was written," and is rejoining the cTrader ecosystem to continue from where he left off. During his time away from cTrader, Chernikov spent a year as CEO of Markets CRM, a CRM platform focused on the needs of CFD and FX brokers. He said he was proud of what the team built there, highlighting a strong group of colleagues and core product features and services designed to make a real impact for brokers. Empire FX hires second Pepperstone Africa exec. In Africa, Empire FX enlisted Linda Muriuki as its new Head of Sales. She joins from Pepperstone, where she managed major client accounts and supported the broker's regional commercial efforts. She reports to Chief Operating Officer Sahil Patel, whom Empire FX hired from Pepperstone's Africa business last Thursday. Patel spent more than six years building Pepperstone's African operation, leading its Kenya entity from 2020 before finishing his tenure as Head of Africa. With both Patel and Muriuki now in key commercial roles at Empire FX, the broker has hired two senior executives from the same competitor, each with direct experience in the African market, to anchor its commercial leadership. Trading 212 product chief departs. Trading 212 Head of Product Sergei Riabov left his role six months after joining the brokerage from Revolut. He confirmed his departure in a LinkedIn update, saying he plans to focus on artificial intelligence. Riabov joined Trading 212 in December and worked on product development, platform improvements, and AI-related initiatives. He described the company as moving quickly and relying heavily on data to guide decisions. Jared Kirui is an Editor at Finance Magnates with more than five years of experience in financial journalism. He covers online trading, fintech, payments, and crypto industries with a focus on companies, regulation and compliance, executive moves, trading technology, and market analysis. His work has been featured in other media outlets, including Benzinga, ZyCrypto, The Distributed, and The Daily Hodl. Education: Bachelor of Commerce degree (Finance option), University of Nairobi * 2825 Articles * 54 Followers

Focus Markets unveils strategic growth transformation; appoints Industry veteran Martin Doepke as CEO. Melbourne, Australia, April 16th, 2026, FinanceWire * Industry veteran Martin Doepke appointed CEO to spearhead strategic transformation and a partner-led global growth strategy. * New brand identity and bespoke trading platforms engineered to differentiate and capture unique fintech segments. * High-performance infrastructure designed to accelerate the expansion of world-leading crypto offerings. Focus Markets, a global financial services provider, today announced a comprehensive strategic transformation designed to accelerate market expansion and scale its digital asset offering. Central to this new growth trajectory is a complete brand identity refresh and the appointment of Martin Doepke as Chief Executive Officer to lead the entity's next chapter. Strategic Differentiation and Technological Evolution The relaunch of Focus Markets represents a pivotal move by the Eightcap Group to increase market differentiation for Focus Markets from its "sister company". By establishing a distinct identity, Focus Markets is positioned to capture unique segments of the fintech landscape through specialized technology opportunities. The platform's evolution introduces new trading platforms engineered to target different markets than Eightcap, providing a bespoke experience for the modern trader. This strategic timing allows Focus Markets to aggressively leverage world-leading crypto assets, which continue to see surging global demand. Future growth will be anchored in a partner-driven acquisition model, utilizing high-performance infrastructure to scale nationwide and internationally. Leadership to Drive Global Acquisition To spearhead this expansion, Martin Doepke transitions from his role as Global Head of Partners at Eightcap to become the CEO of Focus Markets. While remaining within the Eightcap Group, Doepke's move signals a commitment to aggressive brand growth and partner-led scaling. Doepke brings veteran acquisition and partnership expertise to the recently rebranded Focus Markets. His extensive career includes pivotal front-end and client-facing leadership roles, having served as Head of Payments, Head of Customer Experience, and Head of Partners at Pepperstone, and most recently, Global Head of Partners at Eightcap. "Focus Markets is at an inflection point," said Doepke. "By leveraging our unique technology stack and deepening our commitment to our partners, we are positioned to provide a trading experience that is not only competitive but transformative. We are here to lead the next generation of digital asset trading". With a proven track record of growing startups into mid-sized brokerages, Doepke is uniquely suited for this role. As the second employee at Pepperstone, he established an award-winning customer experience journey before building a significant revenue-contributing partner program. He repeated this success at Eightcap, driving rapid global expansion via the Eightcap Partners program since 2021. About Focus Markets Focus Markets is a premium multi-asset broker dedicated to providing traders with a competitive edge through advanced technology and superior liquidity. Driven by a mission to simplify the complexities of the global markets, Focus Markets offers access to a diverse range of instruments, including Forex, Commodities, Indices, and world-leading Crypto assets. With a focus on transparency, innovation, and partner-driven growth, Focus Markets empowers both retail and institutional clients to navigate the financial landscape with confidence. Chief Marketing OfficerCaroline RuddickFocus [email protected] No one has commented yet