The number of deposits made by retail FX traders in the United States, which had grown slightly over the past few months, has cooled off in July as the summer’s low Volatility and prolonged strict regulations dampened enthusiasm.
According to the CFTC’s monthly report, the FX funds held at brokerages operating in the country, including FCMs that are registered as Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFEDs) and those included as broker-dealers, came in at $628 million. This figure is $24.3 million or four percent lower than the $652 million reported in June.
Data from the US securities regulator also showed that Interactive Brokers lost nearly $10 million in retail Forex deposits. The company’s loss was also the biggest on a percentage basis, as the broker lost more than 10 percent of its clients’ deposits.
The Connecticut-based company was the best performer over the last two months after recording an overall rise of nearly 30 percent. The largest US electronic brokerage firm, as measured by DARTs, has also managed to overtake TD Ameritrade as the US third-largest holder of retail FX funds.
Market shares remain stable
Only one of the four FX firms listed notched increases in Retail Forex Obligations, which was this time the newest comer to the US Retail FX industry, IG US. The US subsidiary of the London-based spread better has doubled its client’s assets to $8.1 million in July, compared to only $3.8 in the month prior.
Meanwhile, GAIN Capital saw a drop of $8.2 million, or nearly three percent month-over-month. Further, retail funds at OANDA Corporation slumped by nearly $4 million or two percent in July. TD Ameritrade also suffered a big drop in clients deposits, having fallen by $6.4 million or ten percent month-over-month.
Looking at the market share of different brokers, distribution changed in July relative to the month prior. GAIN Capital remained the leader in terms of market share, commanding a 39 percent share, virtually unchanged from June. OANDA also solidified its stance as the second largest in the US with 36 percent market share, while Interactive Brokers retained the third rank with 15 percent. TD Ameritrade and IG US acquired a nine and one percent share respectively.
The chart listed below outlines the full list of all FCMs that held Retail Forex Obligations in the month ending on July 31, 2019 – for purposes of comparison, the figures have been included against their June 2019 counterparts to illustrate disparities.
CFTC Data -July 2019
