CMC launched its institutional business in 2016 after hiring Elston.
Richard Elston has left CMC Markets after spending a little over ten years with the company, FinanceMagnates.com has learned. Before his departure, he was the Head of CMC's DIFC-based Middle East business.
Join IG, CMC, and Robinhood in London's leading trading industry event!
A Separation after a Decade
Over the years at the London-listed broker, he was Head of the revamped Institutional team and the Connect brand from July 2015. He later moved to become Head of CMC Markets Middle East, a role based in Dubai, at the beginning of 2025.
Read FinanceMagnates.com's last interview with Richard Elston: CMC Connect Breaks Down CFDs Deal with Revolut
CMC launched its institutional business in 2016 after onboarding Elston.
The company has yet to announce if there will be a replacement for Elston in the DIFC-based role. His next move also remains unclear.
Elston is an industry veteran with about 30 years of experience. Before joining CMC, he briefly headed the institutional sales unit of IG Group. He also spent about eight years at Saxo - first as Senior Sales Manager of the LatAm & North American Desk and later as Head of Institutional Sales.
During his long career, he also worked at SuperDerivatives, CQG and a few other firms.
CMC's Expansion in APAC
Meanwhile, CMC Markets is also expanding. The broker recently partnered with Westpac in Australia to provide white-label trading platforms for the bank's retail share trading services. Although the integration work will take roughly 12 months to complete, CMC expects the partnership to boost its Australian customer base by about 40 per cent and increase domestic trading volumes by around 45 per cent.
Australia is already CMC's top market, strengthened by its previous white-label stockbroking partnership with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).
Although CMC operated retail and institutional divisions for years, it launched a third segment, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Web 3.0 capabilities, earlier this year. The broker is also considering launching stock tokenisation services.
FinanceMagnates.com also reported that Apex Group took over a 3 per cent stake in CMC Markets through its Jersey-based trust entity.