RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
The largest US forex broker
Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
US forex broker Forex Capital Markets, aka FXCM (NYSE:FXCM), posted total retail forex obligations of more than $176.5 in January 2016, according to data published on Thursday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The figure represents a slight increase of 0.5% from a month yearlier, when retail forex obligations exceeded $175.6 million, while on a yearly basis it represents a slight decline of 0.9% from more than $178 million in January 2015.
The broker retained its leader position within the US forex brokers in terms of highest client deposits.
At the end of January, FXCM’s adjusted net capital amounted to $61.1 million, exceeding the required capital by nearly $31.3 million.
The US regulator also published the same data for all six forex brokers on the local retail market. More details about the CFTC’s data regarding FXCM follows (as at 31 January, 2016):
FXCM offers both retail and wholesale trading services. In January, its active retail client accounts totaled 171,895, or down by 3% on the month, while those with enough funds in them to place a trade, went up by a monthly 1% to 162,636. The broker posted a trading volume from retail operations of $331 billion, which is 2% higher than a month earlier, but 13% down compared to the December 2015.
Meanwhile, in the wholesale segment, the broker saw its trading volume dropping 51% on the year to $36 billion, which is relatively unchanged from the preceding month.
FXCM handled 689,635 trades of retail clients last month, or up by 38% on the month and by 18% over the year. The average daily institutional client trades numbered 40,580 last month, posting an increase both over the month and on the year of 38% and 147%, respectively,
The US broker is expected to publish its monthly metrics for February later on Thursday.
Late last month it terminated trading in the USD/HKD currency pair, as reported by finance news provider Finance Magnates, over fears that if the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) gets unpegged from the US dollar (USD), this would result in customer losses. The broker said at the time it expected disruption and high volatility of the USD/HKD pair in the upcoming weeks.
In January 2015, FXCM suffered significant losses after the Swiss central bank unpegged the Swiss frank (CHF) from the Euro (EUR). The broker’s clients suffered heavy losses and generated negative equity balances of combined some $225 million, putting FXCM in breach of the regulatory capital requirements. To offset the losses, FXCM had to draw a cash credit of $300 million and to sell two of its subsidiaries – FXCM Japan Securities and FXCM Asia, aka FXCM Hong Kong.
FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) is a registered futures commission merchant (FCM) and a retail foreign exchange dealer (RFED) with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It has units registered and regulated with the relevant authorities in the US, the UK, Australia, and France.
The broker offers forex, contracts for difference (CFDs), and spread betting services. It offers 40 currency pairs on the Trading Station and MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platforms.
Source: CFTC