US Brokers' Retail FX Deposits Resumed in May 2023, Only CHARLES SCHWAB Saw a Decline

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published its monthly report for May 2023, revealing a month-on-month rise of 2.77 percent in retail FX deposits compared with the prior month.

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 Trading.com Markets.

According to the CFTC dataset, the FX funds held at the six registered brokerages hit nearly $528 million in May 2023, a month-on-month rise of 2.77 percent compared with the $513.7 million reported in April 2023. Excluding Trading.com Markets, the retail FX deposits of the five established brokers reached $526.9 million.

The chart listed below summarizes all the data of the six brokers during the latest 12 months. 

Interactive Brokers' Retail FX Deposits Climbed for the Fourth Consecutive Month

In May 2023, only one of the six brokers listed notched a fall in Retail Forex Obligations. CHARLES SCHWAB saw a decrease of 1.87 percent to $65.9 million, compared to $67.2 million in the month prior. 

Interactive Brokers' retail FX deposits rose for the fourth consecutive month, experiencing an increase of 7.08 percent from $31.1 million in April 2023 to $33.3 million in May 2023. IG US saw an increase of $11.8 million to $69.8 million, compared to $58 million at the end of April 2023, or 20.4 percent higher month-over-month.

Gain Capital saw an increase of $509,669 to $197 million, compared to $196.5 million at the end of April 2023, or 0.26 percent higher month-over-month. OANDA experienced an increase of $797,043 to $160.8 million, compared to $160 million in the month prior, reflecting a slight 0.5 percent rise. Trading.com Markets’s retail FX deposits also experienced a 15.7 percent rise to $1.01 million from last month’s $879,428.

IG US Gained in Market Share While Other Three Brokers Lose

Looking at the market share, distribution of four brokers changed in May 2023 relative to the month prior. 

For the rise in retail forex obligation, IG US increased in market share of 2 percent with a current share of 13 percent.

Gain Capital lose 1 percent market share with a current share of 37 percent, remaining the leader in terms of market share. OANDA lose in market share of 1 percent with a current share of 30 percent. CHARLES SCHWAB also saw a decrease of 1 percent in its market share compared with the previous month, with a current share of 12 percent.

Interactive Brokers and Trading.com Markets’ market share kept unchanged from the last month, acquiring 6 percent and less than 1 percent share in this month respectively.