According to the latest retail foreign Exchange (FX) dealers (RFEDs) data released today by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in January, retail FX funds held at registered brokerages operating in the United States have decreased by double digits MoM compared with the month of December.
The monthly loss in January 2016 opens up a broader decline in total retail FX Obligations in conjunction with last month – December 2015 saw a net decrease of -4.7% for all brokerages operating in the United States.
For the month ending January 2016 however, total retail FX obligations decreased again, this time by a more muted interval of -1.1% MoM from December 2015. The notable exception during January 2016 was Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), which saw its FX funds plunge -15.7% MoM, though deposits at all of its major competitors in the U.S. market rose – the one exception was Wedbush Securities, having lost -3.5% MoM.
The best performer MoM was GAIN Capital in January, which saw a slight 1.9% growth MoM in retail funds from December 2015. FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) continued to be the biggest player in the US FX market with 32.8% of the market. GAIN Capital and OANDA Corporation were the next largest experiencing percentages of 25.1% and 18.0% respectively during January 2016.