The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published its anticipated monthly report for July 2018, which covers data for FCMs that are registered as Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFEDs) and those included as broker dealers that hold retail Forex obligations in the United States.
The latest data shows a total positive change month-over-month from June, though differences between brokers were more pronounced. With no major changes recently noted and only three months remaining in the year, the sector is tracking for a stable third quarter. However, the prospect of lighter regulations may soon revive interest in the US market among foreign brokers, or at least help brighten the outlook for a retail industry that has struggled for quite some time under the provisions of the Dodd-Frank legislation.
Retail forex deposits in the US have been largely skewed positively during July. The FX funds held at registered brokerages operating in the United States came in at $537.9 million in July 2018, which is 1 percent more than the $533.7 million reported in June.
According to the CFTC dataset, two of the four FX firms listed - Interactive Brokers and OANDA Corporation - notched increases in Retail Forex Obligations. The latter was the best performer for the month after recording an overall rise of $6.0 million to $190 million at the end of July 2018, compared to $184 million at the end of June, or an increase by 3 percent month-over-month.
Meanwhile, the single loss was made for the second consecutive month by TD AMERITRADE FUTURES & FOREX LLC, which saw a drop of $2.8 million, or nearly -4 percent month-over-month.
Looking at the market share of different brokers, distribution remained unchanged in July relative to the month prior. GAIN Capital remained the leader in terms of market share, commanding a 46.0 percent share. OANDA also solidified its stance as the second largest in the US with 35.0 percent market share – TD Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers retain a 12.0 and 6.0 percent share respectively.
The chart listed below outlines the full list of all FCMs that held Retail Forex Obligations in the month ending in July 31, 2018 – for purposes of comparison, the figures have been included against their June 2018 counterparts to illustrate disparities.
CFTC data
