CFTC Releases Data: Interactive Brokers’ Retail Forex Obligation in August Rose the Most

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published its monthly report for August 2022, revealing a slight month-on-month increase of 0.51 percent in retail FX deposits compared with the $512.1 million reported in July 2022.

The report 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, namely Gain Capital Group LLC, IG US LLC, Interactive Brokers LLC, Oanda Corporation and CHARLES SCHWAB Futures & Forex LLC.

Interactive Brokers Saw Recovery in Amount of Retail Forex Obligation

The chart listed below summarizes all the data published in this year.

According to the CFTC dataset, the FX funds held at the five registered brokerages hit over $514.7 million in August 2022. For purposes of comparison, the month-on-month change of the recent months has been outlined to illustrate the disparities.

In August, Gain Capital saw a decrease of $2.7 million to $190.2 million, compared to $192.8 million at the end of July, or 1.38 percent lower month-over-month. Oanda also reported a decline of $1.3 million to $169.2 million, which is 0.77 percent lower over a monthly basis.

IG US reported a rise of $1.02 million to $52.4 million, which is 1.99 percent higher over a monthly basis. CHARLES SCHWAB also saw an overall increase of $2.7 million to $76.6 million, compared to $73.9 million in the month prior, reflecting a 3.7 percent increase month-over-month.

In addition, Interactive Brokers' retail FX deposits experienced a recovery during this month, increasing by 11.98 percent from $23.6 million in July 2022 to $26.4 million in August 2022.

CHARLES SCHWAB Gained in Market Share While Gain Capital Lose

Looking at the market share of these five brokers, distribution changed slightly in August relative to the month prior.

For the rise in retail forex obligation, CHARLES SCHWAB increased in market share of 1 percent with a current share of 15 percent. Gain Capital lose in market share of 1 percent but remained the leader in terms of market share.

OANDA also solidified its stance as the second largest in the US with 33 percent market share, unchanged from the last month.

The remaining brokers' market share also kept unchanged. IG US acquired 10 percent share in this month, Interactive Brokers retained the last one of 5 percent.