October US Retail FX Deposits Review: OANDA Catches up with Gain Capital in Market Share

Retail FX deposits at brokerages in the US, one of the most developed investment markets worldwide, recovered in October 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) date showed.

The CFTC has published its monthly report, 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, namely Gain Capital Group LLC, IG US LLC, Interactive Brokers LLC, OANDA Corporation, CHARLES SCHWAB Futures & Forex LLC and the newest comer Trading.com Markets.

According to the CFTC dataset, the FX funds held at the six registered brokerages hit over $504.1 million in October 2022. Excluding Trading.com Markets, the retail FX deposits of the five established brokers reached $503.6 million, a month-on-month increase of 2.9 percent compared with the $490 million reported in September 2022.

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

Three of the six FX firms listed notched decreases in Retail Forex Obligations, this time was Interactive Brokers, CHARLES SCHWAB and Trading.com Markets.

Interactive Brokers' retail FX deposits experienced a 4.68 percent decline to $26.4 million. CHARLES SCHWAB also saw a decrease of $4.9 million to $67.9 million, compared to $72.8 million in the month prior, reflecting a 6.7 percent decline. In addition, Trading.com Markets saw its clients' assets decreased by 8.9 percent month-over-month.

In October, Gain Capital saw an increase of $4.4 million to $182.4 million, compared to $178 million at the end of September, or 2.49 percent higher month-over-month. IG US also reported a rise of $5.5 million to $54.5 million, which is 11.16 percent higher over a monthly basis. 

Oanda reported an increase of $10.3 million to $172.3 million, which is 6.33 percent higher over a monthly basis.

IG US and OANDA Gained in Market Share

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

For the rise in retail forex obligation, IG US increased in market share of 1 percent with a current share of 11 percent. OANDA gained in market share of 1 percent with a current share of 34 percent. The gap between OANDA and Gain Capital narrowed as Gain Capital's market share kept unchanged this month, remaining 36 percent.

The remaining two brokers' market share both declined. CHARLES SCHWAB acquired 13 percent share in this month, 2 percent lower compared the the last month. Interactive Brokers retained the last one of 5 percent, 1 percent lower compared the the last month.