IG Group Shuts South Africa Office Following Earlier Market Exit

IG Group has closed its South Africa office and laid off its remaining local staff. The exact number of affected employees has not been disclosed, though the broker previously employed around 90 people in the country.

The office closure comes roughly nine months after the London-headquartered broker ceased commercial operations under its South African entity. At the time of the exit, clients were offered the option to transfer their accounts to IG’s offshore entities.

Sources indicate that IG’s presence in South Africa had primarily functioned as a marketing hub rather than a full operational centre. The shutdown of the local office follows the company’s decision to relinquish its Over-the-Counter Derivative Provider (ODP) licence, now required for offering contracts for difference (CFD) trading in the country.

While IG declined to provide detailed comment on the closure, a company representative said the business had proposed shutting the office “for operational efficiency reasons” following its mid-2025 withdrawal from commercial activities. The representative added that “the consultation has placed all remaining roles in South Africa at risk,” noting that further details would only be confirmed after the consultation period concludes.

IG Group remains one of the larger global retail CFD brokers, operating under regulatory licences in markets including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Bermuda. In the United States, it provides derivatives trading through its subsidiary tastyfx.

The company has also scaled back several investments and operations in recent years, including Spectrum Markets, Brightpool, Raydius, BadTrader, and Small Exchange. At the same time, IG has been expanding its focus toward digital assets, introducing spot cryptocurrency trading through a third-party partnership and acquiring a crypto exchange. The broker has indicated plans to develop additional crypto offerings targeting markets in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.