Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Forex brokerage Gain Capital [NYSE:GCAP] announced it has completed the transfer of more than 47,000 accounts from the US branch of Forex Capital Markets (FXCM), which exited the market, to its own retail forex brand Forex.com. The total assets transferred amount to $142 million.
As a result, Forex.com’s customer base has grown to over 70,000 customer accounts, which makes it the new largest provider of retail forex in the US.
Earlier this month, Gain Capital said it would pay FXCM $500 per account of an active client who executes at least one new trade during the first 76 calendars days of a specified 153-day period, started with the closing date of the Asset Purchase Agreement, which the two brokers entered into on 7 February. For clients who execute at least one new trade during the period from the 77th day through the 153rd day of the 153-day period, Gain Capital said it would pay $250 per account.
The customer base transfer took place during the weekend. Gain Capital said it facilitated the process through the creation of a microsite dedicated to former FXCM customers with information regarding the transfer and training on Forex.com’s products and services, increasing customer service staffing levels and extending weekend support hours.
“We are very pleased with this weekend’s successful account migration,” said Glenn Stevens, CEO of GAIN Capital. “In a short period of time, and with the help of the National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), we successfully transferred over 47,000 accounts to Forex.com. Our focus during this process was to make the experience as seamless as possible and ensure incoming customers receive the support they need,” he added.
In addition to the new customer, Forex.com has also expanded its product and service offering. The broker now provides TradingView charts on its proprietary desktop platform and has migrated clients to a new third-party platform – NinjaTrader. In addition, Forex.com’s Active Trader program has bee extended to MetaTrader4 (MT4) customers.
Earlier in February, it became clear that FXCM it is exiting the US market after its local arm Forex Capital Markets LLC got banned by the NFA and agreed to withdraw from registration with the CFTC and never to seek to register with it. The broker was charged with taking positions against customers, concealing that a key market maker was tightly related to the broker, and misrepresenting its “No Dealing Desk” platform as providing no conflict of interest with customers. In addition, the broker’s principals made false statements to the NFA in regards to these practices. The brokerage neither admitted nor denied the allegations, but nevertheless agreed on a $7 million settlement.
FXCM Group operates via several other subsidiaries, including UK-licensed Forex Capital Markets Ltd. and Australia-regulated FXCM Australia Pty. Ltd. It is 50.1% majority owned by FXCM Inc. The rest of the group moved to the hands of US lender Leucadia National Corporation in 2016. Just recently, the broker renamed FXCM Inc. to Global Brokerage Inc. The changes aim “to avoid any possible confusion among customers or others”.
Gain Capital operates under the trading brands Forex.com and City Index for retail clients and GTX for institutional operations. It offers trading in forex, commodities, bonds, indices, and global equities, among others. The broker is regulated in the UK, the US, Australia, Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Japan.
