GFT throws a bomb - pulls out of the US forex market (Updated)

(Update: Post updated with message of CEO detailing that GFT is also exiting Japan along with cooperation with TD Waterhouse)

NFA did reveal that there's an American broker (after Advanced Markets) who is going to leave the US market soon but we didn't see this one coming. We did see GFT cutting down jobs in America on several occasions but only thought this was restructuring and adapting to current tough market similarly to other brokers. GFT however just now announced on its website that it is pulling out of the US market altogether.

Once again US brokers can thank the NFA for killing their market.

Update: In an update of GFT's announcement on their website, Gary Tilkin, CEO of GFT responded to an inquiry from Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term Magnates with additional information which shows that the broker is also leaving the Japan market as well. From Tilken:

"GFT launches strategic repositioning for US and Japan retail markets. We’ve decided to reposition our retail United States and retail Japan businesses this weekend. We are moving to a far more focused approach on our institutional relationships in the U.S, Japan and our other important operations around the world. We are moving our US retail forex business to our longtime trusted partner, TD Ameritrade and the Japan retail forex business to a partner in Japan. GFT services several partners around the world so these moves for our customers should be fairly seamless as our ability to service institutional partners is certainly one of our strong suits. We are working on the arrangements in both the US and Japan to deploy seamless transitions for the retail accounts affected by this decision. We have notified our accounts in each region and will update them as needed on progress regarding the transition. We are deeply grateful for the trust and faith shown by our retail accounts in opening with GFT and look forward to transferring them quickly to their new homes. We are obviously disappointed to be leaving any markets where we compete and certainly are thankful for the time and resources invested by our teams globally to build them to this point. After careful evaluation of the global markets and the challenges our industry is facing today we made the strategic decision to change how we compete in these two retail markets. I want to assure everyone around the world that GFT is focused on growing an efficient sustainable business, and committed to serving our accounts at the highest level. For regions outside of the US and Japan we maintain a 'business as usual' approach for retail and institutional operations. We have aggressive growth goals and look forward to growing market share and expanding our business. GFT is extremely grateful to the many thousands of customers who have opened accounts with us over the past years and we reaffirm our commitment to operating with “Above all Integrity” to those who we will continue to serve. For many of the accounts we will stop serving directly we will still continue to serve them through some of the many institutional partners we provide forex services for and of course we look forward to even more growth of our business all around the world!"

As mentioned by Tilken, US accounts are being transferred to multi-asset discount broker TD Waterhouse. Currently, TD Waterhouse offers Forex Trading Forex Trading Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Read this Term through its thinkorswim platform. Since thinkorswim is better known as a futures trading product, it remains to be seen if TD Waterhouse will also move to incorporate GFT's technologies within their forex offering going forward.

Important Announcement

GFT has made the difficult business decision to cease supporting U.S. retail forex trading; rather, we are focusing on our institutional relationships which exist in the U.S and globally. As part of this decision, all U.S. retail forex customers have been placed on a position closing only basis as of 7 PM EST, Sunday December 2, 2012. We understand that this is an inconvenience for you, so we are working to make arrangements with one of our high quality institutional partners to accept the GFT U.S. retail forex accounts. We expect that your forex account will return to its normal status soon so that you can continue trading forex markets normally.

Please note that your forex trading experience will remain the same after this transition. Account holders will receive additional communications from GFT in the future to continue to provide more information to you about this transition. Please contact GFT Customer Service at: 800 465-4363 or 616 956-9273 with any questions.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you this evening, but we believe this is the best course of action for both you, our customer, and GFT.

Account holders who wish to access funds in their accounts can do so here.

Early in 2012 we speculated that at least 2 brokers will leave the American market but with December still to go - it's already three: Forex Club, Advanced Markets and GFT.