preview of qir3 2014

8/10/2019 Preview of QIR3 2014

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Editor's Note

Section 1 | Q3 2014 Forex Market Overview

Forex Market Quarterly Overview

Institutional FX Volumes' ReviewRetail Forex Volumes

Retail Forex Volumes By Accounts

Retail Forex Volumes By MT4 Usage

Exchanges Update

Regulations Update

Section 2 | Articles

The End of the Federal Reserves Tapering: A Revival for FX Volatility

Forex Brokers Go Global with Web TV

FX Blue: Apping the Trade Game

FX Options: Making Headways in Electronic Trading

Leaving Recession Behind: Dubai the Unstoppable

FX Funds: A Road Less Travelled or No Respite?

Forex Futures Markets: Catalysts for Emerging EU Economies

Reconstructing the U.S. Forex Industry: The Aftermath of Liquidity Constraints

Singapore: Creating Asia-Pacifics Financial Epicenter

CurrentBusiness: Streamlining and Automating a Brokerage

Nigeria: Africas New Economic Colossus

Third World Payments: Get Paid in BRICS

Meet the Experts: An Exclusive QIR Project

Section 3 | Detailed Broker Information

The Forex Industry's Biggest M&A and Investments

Section 4 | Major News For Q3 2014

Infographics Index

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22

24

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32

36

44

50

56

62

68

74

80

86

94

100

106

114

121

144

149

158

CONTENT

INDEX
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M A R K E T

O V E R V I E W

Section

01

Forex Market Quarterly Overview

Institutional FX Volumes Review Retail

Forex Volumes Retail Forex Volumes by

Account Retail Forex Volumes by MT4Usage Exchanges Update

Regulations Update


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OVERVIEW01

As we turn yet another quar-

ter and near the conclusion

of the year, the last month

of 2014s summer quarter marked

a newly juiced-up forex market.

Let The Roller Coaster Ride Begin

- FX Volatility Is Back

After a long delay, the Euro-

pean Central Bank (ECB) put its

money where its mouth is, and

in September, announced the

intention to flood the EuropeanAsset Backed Securities market

with newly printed cash, which

combined with the approach-

ing end of the Federal Reserves

tapering program, triggered a

long awaited bout of FX vola-

tility in the euro. In addition,

the British pound and Japanese

yen saw activity soar thanks to

speculations made ahead of the

Scottish Independence Refer-endum and renewed inflation-

stimulating activity from the

Bank of Japan.

While the month of July was

subdued, market activity started

picking up materially in August

and accelerated in September,

when on the day of the biggest

volatility event of the month,

ECB Presidents Mario Draghi's

press conference, several li-

quidity providers and foreign

exchange brokers marked their

highest trading volumes for

2014. More importantly, market

activity remained strong, whichwas in contrast to the quick fiz-

zling volatility bouts earlier in

the year.

Emerging Markets Worries

Emerging markets have had

their feathers ruffled again, this

time by a slew of factors im-

pacting volatility. The Russian

ruble set a multitude of all-time

lows; ongoing geopolitical ten-

sions in the Ukraine resulted

in further sanctions being im-

posed by the U.S. and EU. The

Chinese economy has shown

resilience, but just how longthe current growth trend will

persist is anyone's guess. The

abundance of speculations that

the country could suffer from

a material downturn were ill-

timed, just as the first wave of

serious pro-democracy protests

started in Hong Kong. Geopo-

litical turmoil could well be with

FOREX MARKET

QUARTERLY OVERVIEWus throughout the final quarter

of the year.

For retail brokers, emerging

markets have been constituting

a growth area for the last three

years with many firms opening

new offices to court local cus-tomers. Russia, for example,

outperformed during the sec-

ond half of 2013 while most re-

gions experienced a reduction

in trading. But consequential to

this years regional upheaval, it

trailed behind with brokers see-

ing a sharp decline in overall

domestic traded volumes. In

China and the Southeast Asia

(both recent growth drivers formany brokers), 2014 volumes

have remained strong to date

However, if the 1997-8 Asian fi-

nancial crisis is anything to go

by, an economic growth slow-

down could quickly trigger a

removal of foreign investment

which could potentially cripple

volumes in the region.

FXCM Introduces Raw Spreads

After IBFX Accounts Acquisition

September was a big month for


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M&A activity. FXCM took center

stage, drawing market attention

with several key announce-

ments. Early on in the month,

the company publicized its ac-

quisition of the U.S. and Austra-lian MT4 retail IBFX customer

base. This was followed by the

broker introducing a new pric-

ing model offering raw spreads,

which reduced trading costs for

its U.S. customers by an aver-

age of 50% on the top 14 cur-

rency pairs via tighter spreads

and commission-based pricing.

As such, the spread reduction is

expected to allow FXCM greater

flexibility when competing on

cost with other U.S. brokers.

Arguably, this business model

shift could evolve into a whole

new trend for the industry, with

brokers starting to offer normal-

ized spreads and turning into

a commission-based model.

As market volatility increases,

some brokers can still take ad-

vantage of the ongoing marketwave, but in the long run many

more can enter the ball game

too, which would expose them

to a very different type of com-

petition, and on a whole new

level. Technological differences

will become a major factor, es-

pecially with the ever growing

trend of mobile trading.

Both publicly listed U.S. forexbrokerages, FXCM and GAIN

Capital, reported dwindling rev-

enues in the second quarter,

after the lowest FX volatility in

21 years have tangibly affected

both companies revenues. Their

individual shares hit multi-

month lows before stabilizing,

amid signs of volatility being

re-introduced to the market.

Mergers & Acquisitions

The multi-decade low in FX vol-

atility led to a whole new world

of M&A market activity. During

the quarter, Boston Technolo-

gies were officially acquired by

Forexware, a move widely an-

ticipated across the market since

Forex Magnates broke the storyin May. The deal was sealed de-

spite alleged ownership irregu-

larities in the corporate structure

of BT Prime and Boston Prime.

Meanwhile, Charles Henry-

Sabbet and GLIO Holdings

made a financing proposal to

LCG Capital, which the com-

pany accepted before part-

ing ways with CEO KevinAshby, making Charles Henri-

Sabet Executive Chairman as

part of the financing agreement.

Another M&A deal was completed

this summer with UK-based CFD

brokerage, ETX Capital, acquir-

ing Ariel Communications. The

deal was based on close coop-

eration as before the acquisition,

ETX Capital was believed to have

been Ariels largest customer. The

brokerage set foot into the tech-

nology space, with a focus on de-

livering superior client services.

Ariels multi-asset trading plat-

form sits in well with ETX Capitals

global spread betting, leveraged

FX and CFD trading business.

This next bout of FX volatil-

ity should serve many brokerages

which haven't yet embarked on

diversification strategies by transi-

tioning into the multi-asset arena

In a move which marked its

first technology acquisition,

the FxPro Group, announced its

purchase of spot FX aggrega-

tor Quotix. In addition to im-

proved pricing for its clients,

the deal has enabled the firm to

expand its services to a broader

range, including the provision

of prime-of-prime services.

Meanwhile, after its foray into

the Japanese market, Traden-

cy entered into a strategic al-

liance with Japanese Broker

Invast with the latter acquiring

15% of the company. The Mir-

ror Trader platform developer

and Invast Securities are aim-

ing to elevate the cooperation

between the companies for the

deployment of Mirror Trader

While with the proceeds ob-tained from the equity deal,

Tradency stated that it will

strengthen and extend its prod-

uct line and business activities


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ARTICLES

The End of the FeDs Tapering: ARevival for FX Volatility ForexBrokers Go Global with Web TVFX Blue: Apping the Trade GameFX Options: Making Headwaysin Electronic Trading Dubai theUnstoppable FX Funds ForexFutures Markets Reconstructingthe U.S. Forex Industry: TheAftermath of Liquidity ConstraintsSingapore: Creating Asia-PacifcsFinancial Epicenter CurrentBusinessNigeria: Africas New Economic

Colossus Third World Payments:Get Paid in BRICS Meet theExperts: An Exclusive QIR Project

Section

02


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87

Source: Department of Statisticsof Singapore

Singapore's Estimated Shareof Assets Traded

Fig 27.

10%Stock

Indices &

Energy

70%FX

20%Precious

Metals

SINGAPORE'S ECONOMY & FINANCIAL MARKET

Fig 29.

Number of Retail FXTraders in Singapore

2418,000

SINGAPORE'S LOCAL FX MARKET 2014

Number of RegulatedFX Brokerages

Source: Department of Statistics of Singapore

MajorRegulated

Retail Brokersin Singapore

City Index Asia | CMC MarketsSingapore | GFT Global Markets(GAIN Capital) | IG Asia

OANDA Asia Pacifc | Saxo CapitalMarkets

Fig 28.

Source: Department of Statisticsof Singapore

Singapore GDP, Billions of $USFig 26.

50

0

100

150

200

250

300

2006

2005

2007

2008

2009

2011

2012

2013

2010

114.19

192.23

192.41

274.07

297.94

286.91

236.42

127.42

147.79

Source: Department of Statistics of Singapore

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

2003

2004

2005

2006

2013

2014

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

3.5

4.0

Singapore's Unemployment Rate (%)Fig 30.

Source: Singapore Ministry of Manpower


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ARTICLES02

44

In the realm of forex, brokerage

firms utilize a number of tactics

and strategies to collectively

market their product, report rele-

vant news and advertise their brand

name. In recent years, the inbuilt

dynamic nature of the forex indus-try, coupled with the ever-shifting

interests of traders has coalesced

into a new form of marketing and

exposure for brokers Web TV.

At its core, Web TV is simply a vi-

sual conduit for facilitating infor-

mation, whether it be via a desktop

computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Web TV is not an entirely new or

novel concept; much of the fi-nancial industry has been domi-

nated by household names such

as CNBC, Reuters and Bloomberg.

However, many large brokers have

opted to circumvent these tradi-

tional news outlets and publicize

their own niche reports, which are

often focused on forex trading and

the industry at large.

As the trading community is nowtruly global, forex brokers are

prompted to follow suit with more

universal means of reaching their

clientele. Web TV in the forex indus-

try is largely dominated by players

such as Dukascopy Bank (Dukasco-

py TV), FXCM (DirectFX), and Saxo

Bank (Saxo TV), although there are

myriad others as the popularity

FOREX BROKERS GO

GLOBAL WITH WEB TVfor videos and these outlets grow

The Impetus Behind Web TV

Videos have been a staple for fi-

nancial viewers since the advent ofthe smartphone in the late 2000s

With improvements in technology

and the mounting use of mobile

devices and tablets, many traders

now exclusively rely on these as

a means for trading, staying in-

formed, and ultimately learning.

There are several rationales that

support the use of Web TV, which

correspond to brokers and tradersalike. In its most basic form, a vid-

eo can help publicize or perme-

ate exposure of a specific brand,

which coupled with social shar-

ing outlets such as Twitter, You-

Tube, and Facebook, can reach

millions of viewers in a short win-

dow of time. In addition to brand

exposure and marketing, Web TV

can also be used as an outlet for

learning and education, specif-ic points of emphases for many

forex brokers. Finally, Web TV

has proven itself as a viable me-

dium for the reporting of news,

whether it is restricted to forex

or any other financial institution

According to Luis Sanchez, First

Vice President and Head of Institu-

Web TV has opened

up new marketing and

brand-building horizons

for the forex industry,

providing real time con-tent and services.

Forex Magnates takes a

deeper look into how-

some of the biggest

players integrate Web TV

into their product, ex-

ploring its effectiveness,

costs and future.

By Jeffery Patterson


10/18


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ARTICLES02

74

The introduction of Forex

derivative products in 2013

by two leading derivatives

powerhouses, Eurex and CME, was

going to mark a turning point for

the regulated European forex mar-

ket. Both, however, got off to an un-

lucky start: Eurex initially planned

to introduce its forex futures and

options product line in October

2013, but did so only in July, 2014.

The delay resulted from the third

party bank providing access to the

CLS (Continuous Linked Settle-

ment) system required to reinforce

the banks controls. CME Europe,

which put down roots in London,

had originally planned to intro-

duce its forex derivatives product

line in September 2013, but failed

to apply for approval with the Bankof England. As a result, the FCA was

unable to greenlight the project.

New Prospects for Europe

Despite these early hitches, the

establishment of two new trad-

ing venues for forex derivatives

FOREX FUTURES

MARKETS: CATALYSTSFOR EMERGINGEU ECONOMIES

is significant. The premise for

CMEs European market plan

which was revealed back in 2012

was that the larger share of the

global forex volume is generated

during European trading hours

In a press release dated August 20

2012, Terry Duffy, CME Group Ex-

ecutive Chairman and President

said: "We continue to see an in-crease in business coming from

our diverse set of customers in Eu-

rope, with more than 20 percent of

our volume now originating from

the region." Meanwhile, Peter Re-

itz, member of the Eurex Executive

Board, explained the logic behind

the launch in an official statement

With this step, we are again con-

tributing to increasing the trans-

parency and safety of financialmarkets. The large majority of forex

derivatives is currently traded off-

exchange. With our listed contracts

we are offering an alternative in

which we bring the advantages of

exchange trading, including clear-

ing, to a market that has so far been

organized bilaterally for the greater

part. According to a Bank for Inter-

Despite an early run of

bad luck, derivatives

powerhouses Eurex

and CME are setting off

emerging EU FX futures

markets full throttle.

Moscow has also come

into play with a surge inforex sales.

Forex Magnates looks

into what makes these

smaller European-reg-

ulated FX markets tick,

focusing on smart policy

challenges and the in-

tegrity that singles themout.

By Sylwester Majewski


12/18

75

cial crisis in response to systemic

risks in Over-the-Counter (OTC)

derivatives markets.

Regulations such as the Dodd-

Frank Act in the U.S. and the Eu-ropean Market Infrastructure

Regulation (EMIR) compelled OTC

derivative trading to shift to cen-

tralized clearing systems, creating

a situation in which exchanges

had to monetize this specific area

of the forex market. As for the OTC

derivatives market, the BIS report

for 2014 listed forex derivatives as

constituting 10% of the total OTC

market, and the notional amount of

foreign exchange contracts totalled

USD 71 trillion by the end of 2013.

Complementing the Big Players

The objective of the European

Union FX futures markets is to ful-

fill specific market needs created

by local determinants rather than

battle it out for the leading position.

Understanding the importance

of these somewhat out-of-view

exchanges, Forex Magnates con-

ducted a research study of 32 main

exchanges in 30 countries. The

study revealed that exchange FX

derivatives trading was taking placein only 8 countries and in 6 ex-

changes, as Belgium, France, Neth-

erlands and Portugal form a single

market the Euronext exchange.

So as to highlight these smaller-

scale markets, the biggest Euro-

pean derivatives markets EUREX

and Euronext were excluded

from the research. That leaves four

exchanges in three EU countries

Hungary, Poland and Romania.

The Moscow Exchange has also

been checked off the list, due to

its geographical (non-EU) posi-tion and its being a home to one of

the most heavily traded FX futures

in the world, the USD/RUB, with

373 MN contracts traded in 2013.

Although some of these markets

have historic roots in the 19th cen-

tury, Europes emerging economy

exchanges are relatively new, hav-

ing been established after the Iron

national Settlements' (BIS) statisti-

cal report published in April 2013

(updated in December), the daily

average global forex market turn-

over totalled USD 5.13 trillion. The

BIS conducts the survey every threeyears and the 2010 survey found

daily turnover was about $4 trillion.

As the forex market grew, a relative

market share of major currency

pairs decreased, while other pairs

such as the Chinese CNY and Rus-

sian RUB began taking the stage.

Their market share, especially that

of the CNY, is expanding and will

be continuing in this pattern. This

opened the way to a whole new

ballgame: The introduction of six

new Asian currency-based forexfutures by the Singapore Exchange

(SGX) last year comes across as a

smart decision, as it positions the

exchange as a future key gateway

to Asia. The growing interest of

large-scale exchanges in forex de-

rivatives came on the heels of the

global regulatory changes intro-

duced after the 2008 world finan-

Source: BIS, April 2013

Global Foreign Exchange Market Turnover, Participation by Currency PairFig 20.

34.5%Rest

33.2%Rest

31.2%Rest

1.5%USD / RUB

26.8%USD / EUR

27.7%USD / EUR

24.1%USD / EUR

13.2%USD / JPY

14.3%USD / JPY 18.3%

USD / JPY

11.6%USD / GBP

9.1%USD / GBP

8.8%USD / GBP

5.6%USD / AUD

6.3%USD / AUD

6.8%USD / AUD

3.8%USD / CAD 4.6%

USD / CAD3.7%USD / CAD

4.5%USD / CHF

0.8%USD / CNY

2.1%USD / CNF

4.2%USD / CHF 3.4%

USD / CHF

2007 2010 2013


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DETAILED BROKER

INFORMATIONLargest Brokers in

Terms of Volume

FXCM Saxo Bank Alpari OANDA IG GroupGAIN Capital CMC FxPro FXOpen DMM.com

GMO Click Securities

Section

03
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/DMM.comhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/DMM.com


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ARTICLES02

122

Shareholders and Funding: Publicly owned, list of shareholdershere

Investments and M&As: data at the end of the report

Reported Net Income in 2012: $9.0 million

Reported Net Income in 2013: $14.8million

Reported Net Income in Q2 2014: $3,078 million

Market Cap: $1.26 billion (as of June 18th, 2014)

Reported monthly retail volume: $272.3 billion (Average for June, July, and August)

Reported monthly institutional volume: $248.3 billion (Average for June, July, and August)

Number of active clients: 178,818 (As of August 2014)

Regulation: NFA/CFTC, UK FCA, HK SFC, ASIC, JFSA

Company Name:

FXCMStatus:Public (NYSE:FXCM)

News for the Past Quarter:

Year Established:1999

FXCM August Metrics Show Retail Volumes up 14% Read More Here

FXCM Acquires IBFXs US and Australian Retail MT4 Accounts Read More Here

FXCM Reduces Credit Facility to $150 Million, Cites Strong Balance Sheet Read More Here

FXCM Revenues down 30% YoY as Q2 Figures Reported Read More Here

FXCM Institutional Volumes at $262B in July, Nearly Equals Retail Read More Here

With FXDD Account Purchase, FXCM Retakes Total Account Lead in the US Read More Here

FXCM Faces $200,000 Fine for NFA Breaches Read More Here

FXCM Retail Volumes Dip 3% in June but Institutional Rises 23% Read More Here
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=FXCM+Major+Holdershttp://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=FXCM+Major+Holdershttp://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-august-retail-volumes-trade-in-the-green-up-14-mom-2/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-august-retail-volumes-trade-in-the-green-up-14-mom-2/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-acquires-63mln-in-client-equity-and-13000-accounts-from-ibfx-us-aus/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-reduces-its-credit-facility-to-150-million-cites-strong-balance-sheet/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-second-quarter-results-show-revenues-down-30-yoy/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-publishes-july-figures-retail-customer-trading-volume-jumps-3-5-mom/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-q2-2014-us-profitability-report-oanda-and-fxcm-knock-off-ib/http://forexmagnates.com/breaking-news-fxcm-faces-200000-fine-for-nfa-breaches/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcms-retail-volume-dips-3-in-june-as-institutional-figures-rocket-higher-by-22/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcms-retail-volume-dips-3-in-june-as-institutional-figures-rocket-higher-by-22/http://forexmagnates.com/breaking-news-fxcm-faces-200000-fine-for-nfa-breaches/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-q2-2014-us-profitability-report-oanda-and-fxcm-knock-off-ib/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-publishes-july-figures-retail-customer-trading-volume-jumps-3-5-mom/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-second-quarter-results-show-revenues-down-30-yoy/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-reduces-its-credit-facility-to-150-million-cites-strong-balance-sheet/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-acquires-63mln-in-client-equity-and-13000-accounts-from-ibfx-us-aus/http://forexmagnates.com/fxcm-august-retail-volumes-trade-in-the-green-up-14-mom-2/http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=FXCM+Major+Holders


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123123

Fig 40. FXCMs share price for the past three months ($)

Fig 41. FXCM: Retail vs. Institutional Volume ($bln)

Source: NYSE

$0

$100

$300

$200

$600

$500

$400

7/12 8/12 9/12 10/12 11/12 12/12 1/13 2/13 3/13 4/13 5/13 6/13 7/13 8/13 9/13 10/13 11/13 12/13 1/14 2/14 3/14 4/14 5/14 6/14 7/14 8/14

Retail Institutional Total Source: Forex Magnates

Jul 14 Sep 14Aug 14

13

14

15

16


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149

MAJOR NEWS FOR

Q3 2014July

AugustSeptember

Section

04


17/18

SERVICES05

150

JULY

During June, the CLS Bank, reported that average daily trades submittedfor settlement at the group totaled $5.46 trillion. The figures were 13% aboveMays results, and second only to the CLS Banks all-time high of $5.58 tril-

lion achieved in June 2013. Providing reporting of trade settlements, CLSBank plays a central part in connecting parties within the decentralized FXindustry. CLS volumes are primarily composed of FX spot and swap tradessent to organizations by dealers to monitor cash settlement of transactionsWhile major centralized ECNs such as Thomson Reuters and EBS have re-ported declines in their volumes, CLS Bank volumes have stayed more orless consistent with 2013s activity. As most of CLS Banks trades are fromnon-ECN sources, it represents that direct trading with primary dealingbanks has remained strong despite the launch of numerous liquidity pro-viders which aggregate pricing from numerous sources in one central feed

Read the entire article

CLS Bank June Volumes

Reported Near All-Time

Highs

With its share price in a multi-year decline and revenues contracting, Lon-

don Capital Group (LCG) has found itself a takeover target since the begin-

ning of 2013, when it was announced that numerous firms were doing

due diligence. Ultimately, each firm dropped its intentions of making a

formal bid. However, with volatility and volumes falling again in 2014, it

has triggered consolidation talk again within the industry. In LCGs case

the broker once again found itself the target of M&A, having announced it

received an offer from GLIO Holdings of 17.1M in financing. This was fol-lowed up by revelations that privately held Spreadex had made an all cash

bid for the company. Shunning the acquisition, LCG shareholders voted

to accept the financing deal, despite it being dilutive and leading shares to

new lows for the year.


London Capital Group

Shuns Buyout from

Spreadex, Takes Financ-

ing from GLIO Holdings

Multi-Asset Brokers and

Venues Survive Q2 Forex

Contraction

Q2 was a period most brokers were happy to put in their rear view mir-

rors as historically low volatility dampened trader volumes. With several

firms reporting their Q2 results during July, one key trend was the ability

of brokers with multi-asset offerings to weather the storm. In the UK, CFD

and Forex brokers, IG Group and Plus500, both reported weakness in Q2

Specifically, forex trading was notably lower as traders were less active due

to falling volatility. Nonetheless, neither firms bottom line results failed

to meet expectations. In IGs case, they noted that trading of their non-FX

products remained ahead of last year. Similarly, Plus500s diverse product

base allowed them to achieve lower acquisition costs during the period. In

addition to brokers, the CME Group also attributed its line of multiple as-sets among its exchanges to sustain consistent trading, even with volatil-

ity and volumes decline in FX trading.

http://forexmagnates.com/cls-forex-volumes-rebound-in-june-jump-5-1-mom-after-a-forgettable-may/http://forexmagnates.com/london-capital-groups-board-accepts-financing-proposal-by-glio-holdings/http://forexmagnates.com/closer-look-at-ig-group-fy-2014-results-mobile-and-equities-up-forex-down/http://forexmagnates.com/closer-look-at-ig-group-fy-2014-results-mobile-and-equities-up-forex-down/http://forexmagnates.com/london-capital-groups-board-accepts-financing-proposal-by-glio-holdings/http://forexmagnates.com/cls-forex-volumes-rebound-in-june-jump-5-1-mom-after-a-forgettable-may/


18/18

IG and OANDA launch open API FIX Trading AddsFX Support on Its Trading Enablement Standard Ini-tiative (TESI) Forexware Completed its Purchaseof Boston Technologies BinaryStation Certified bythe Financial Commission FXCM and GAIN CapitalBoth Report Declining Retail Volumes But Rising In-stitutional Trading during June

The second quarter was notably quiet in terms of trading and volatility, bu

didnt seem to bother retail traders. During the quarter, 39.5% of US retai

forex customer accounts were profitable. The figure was a multi-year high

and a 1.9% increase from Q1. Also during the period, no brokers reported

declines in customer profitability, representing an overall advantageous

environment for retail forex traders to be involved in. Leading the way in

profitability was OANDA, with 45.5% of its US customers being in the black

during Q2, overtaking the top spot from InteractiveBrokers.

During the quarter, total active account in the US dropped by 2,164 to

92,718. The decline mostly represented the exit of ILQ and FXDD from the

US market. Among individual brokers, FXCM reclaimed the lead of activeUS traders after acquiring FXDDs retail customer book, of which most

continued to trade.


Exclusive: Q2 2014 US

Profitability Report,

OANDA and FXCM

Knock off IB

Q2 2014 Change from Q1 2014

% Proft % Loss Total AccountsProft %

chgAccounts

Accounts %chg

Interactive Brokers 44.1 55.9 25,056 1.0 1,021 4.2

OANDA 45.5 54.9 20,325 3.3 -16 -0.1Gain Capital 38.0 62.0 10,463 4.6 -356 -3.3

IBFX/TradeStation 37.5 62.5 7,531 2.9 -461 -5.8

FXCM 33.0 67.0 25,660 0.0 3434 -15.5

CitiFX 39.0 61.0 631 1.0 -14 -2.2

MB Trading 28.0 72.0 3,052 0.6 -222 -6.8

Total 37.9 92,718 (2.164) -2.3

US Broker Proftability Report

Source: Forex Magnates

Fig 50.

Catch up on more im-

portant stories from the

Forex Magnates news-

room:

Average proftability change 37.9%Change from Q1 2.4%Weighted profitability change 39.5%Change from Q1 1.9%Total number of accounts in the US 92,718

Change from Q1 2,164
http://forexmagnates.com/ig-opens-api-to-public-development-launches-ig-labs/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bfx-technology-giants-to-merge-boston-technologies-and-forexware-announce-merger/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bfx-technology-giants-to-merge-boston-technologies-and-forexware-announce-merger/http://forexmagnates.com/financial-commission-certifies-first-binary-options-firm-binarystation/http://forexmagnates.com/financial-commission-certifies-first-binary-options-firm-binarystation/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-q2-2014-us-profitability-report-oanda-and-fxcm-knock-off-ib/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-q2-2014-us-profitability-report-oanda-and-fxcm-knock-off-ib/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/june-retail-volumes-at-gain-capital-down-by-7-as-institutional-up-by-5/http://forexmagnates.com/financial-commission-certifies-first-binary-options-firm-binarystation/http://forexmagnates.com/financial-commission-certifies-first-binary-options-firm-binarystation/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bfx-technology-giants-to-merge-boston-technologies-and-forexware-announce-merger/http://forexmagnates.com/exclusive-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bfx-technology-giants-to-merge-boston-technologies-and-forexware-announce-merger/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/fix-trading-adds-fx-support-on-its-trading-enablement-standard-initiative-tesi/http://forexmagnates.com/ig-opens-api-to-public-development-launches-ig-labs/

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