Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
US forex broker Forex Capital Markets, aka FXCM, remains the largest forex broker in the US in terms of retail client deposits, according to the latest monthly data published on Wednesday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Its retail forex obligations exceeded $168.2 million in March 2016, posting a decline of below 5% on both a monthly and yearly basis.
In comparison, the broker’s client deposits amounted to $176.6 million in February and $176.9 million in March last year.
Meanwhile, FXCM’s adjusted net capital stood at some $56.7 million at the end of March, up from $54.7 million a month earlier, CFTC’s data indicated. The broker exceeded by $24.8 million the required minimum net capital of nearly $32 million.
The US regulator also published the same data for all six forex brokers on the local retail market. More details about FXCM follow (as at 31 March 2016):
FXCM continues to lead the US retail forex market by trading volume, as well, despite a slight slowdown. In the first quarter of 2016, the broker posted a volume of $931 billion. In April it had a trading volume of $287 billion and its active retail clients numbered 140,286, which represents a monthly drop of 1% and an increase of 1% on the month, respectively. In comparison, the retail forex volme of Gain Capital, which is next in the ranking, was $255.8 billion in April. Meanwhile, FXCM’s institutional trading volume amounted to $163.2% last month. The data is based on the broker’s monthly reports.
Worldwide, FXCM is steadily ranked as the retail forex broker with the second largest trading volume, outperformed only by Japanese peer GMO Click Securities, part of GMO Click group.
In March, FXCM announced it has extended its credit agreement with lender Leucadia National Corporation by one year to January 2018, aiming to win more time to optimize remaining asset sales. The news was not accepted very positively by investors. The broker owed $192.7 million outstanding payment to the lender as at end-March this year.
Despite needing to extend its liabilities payment, FXCM showed strong financial performance for the first quarter of 2016. The broker’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped by an annual 173% to $9.3 million in January-March, over a revenue of $71.5 million, posting a one-digit growth on both monthly and yearly basis.
The broker has been developing its product range, as well. The most notable addition is the launch of FXCMPro.com, a new website for institutional trading.
FXCM offers both retail and wholesale trading services. It is a registered futures commission merchant (FCM) and a retail foreign exchange dealer (RFED) with the US 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.
