Trading platforms

German trading app Trade Republic is giving all of its customers a yearly 2 percent interest on their cash balance. It is calculated in real time and deposited each month, enabling users to accrue compound interest. The interest applies to cash balances up to 50,000 euros.

Property lending platform Assetz Capital is stopping peer-to-peer lending to be funded by institutional investors only. Existing retail loans will be run off in a few years. Assetz Capital points to rising interest rates and lowering demand as the reason.

Dutch online broker Bux has acquired the retail arm of its Spanish rival Ninety Nine. Bux launched its mobile app in Spain last year and the acquisition will boost its presence. Ninety Nine will continue operating, but no longer covers the retail investor market.

Eight platforms are now approved for the new European licence for crowdfunding providers. Dutch platform NLInvesteert is the latest to receive the go-ahead. Crowdfunding platforms were supposed to be approved before November 10th, but the deadline has been pushed to next year.

US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Gemini has launched in five European countries this week. It is now operating in Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Liechtenstein. The expansion follows its launch in Ireland earlier this year.

Irish peer-to-peer lender Linked Finance has surpassed the milestone of 200 million euros worth of lending. More than 3,300 SMEs have received this funding since Linked Finance launched in 2013. The news comes 18 months after the platform reached its last milestone of 150 million euros in lending.

Estonian land investment platform LandEx is holding a seeding round on Seedrs, the goal is to raise at least 100,000 euros. The raised funds will be used to boost its capacities, which will generate more revenue. The platform also wants to become regulated by the Financial Supervisory Authority in Estonia with this capital injection.

The British financial regulator FCA has released stricter rules on the marketing of high-risk investments to consumers. Peer-to-peer and equity crowdfunding platforms will need to give clear warnings and ban some investing incentives.

Lightyear, a new investment platform from the United Kingdom, raised 25 million dollars in growth capital. Today it is launching in 19 countries in Europe. The company is also eyeing future launches in non-Euro countries.

Iuvo, a peer-to-peer lending platform from Estonia, is moving its registration to Bulgaria. The move is meant to achieve growth and lower platform maintenance costs. In addition, the company wants to be in the top-3 of invested funds.