IG US Review – IG Group to relaunch broker brand in United States.
On 1 February 2019, the UK-based IG Group officially announced the launch of its United States subsidiary, IG US. IG stated they would head back into the US market last year, and will be the first broker to enter the US market since 2009.
IG Group is no stranger to US trades, as it currently owns and operates Nadex, the binary options exchange, and also operated IG Markets in the United States until 2011, when regulatory changes and high capital requirements forced its withdrawal.
About IG US
The primary focus of IG US will be forex trading, although it will be interesting to see whether the new broker also moves into other markets, such as shares, commodities or cryptocurrencies.
June Felix, the CEO of IG Group, commented: “We see this initiative as a significant growth opportunity and we’re excited about IG’s future in the US.”
By 2011, a number of US-based forex brokers had withdrawn from the market, including Ikon GM, CMS Forex, Easy Forex, ODL, Hotspot and GFS. This means that IG US will not face too much competition when it launches. There are just two main forex brokers at present, GAIN Capital and OANDA, and two discount brokers, Interactive Brokers and TD Ameritrade.
Markets, Products And Services
IG US plans to offer access to more than 80 currency pairs and an aggressive pricing strategy is proposed, in order to build immediate market share.
There are currently no plans to charge new clients any commissions, indicating that IG US will make its own market. The broker intends to offer lower spreads than its two existing rivals.
Certain clients were allowed access to the IG US trading platform from February 1st and trading has officially commenced. The US brand will open to the entire US forex trading market over the next couple of weeks.
In September 2016, IG Group purchased the US-based DailyFX from FXCM, a move which was queried by analysts. However, this acquisition is likely to prove a valuable asset for onboarding US clients for IG US.
IG US Regulation
Rupert Osbourne has been appointed to the role of CEO for IG US and stated: “The US forex market has been fairly stagnant and underserved.” He added that IG US will deliver a totally new style of platform to US customers providing excellent user experience.
The new IG US brokerage is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). All usual regulatory guarantees are also offered by way of its status as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) and Forex Dealer Member (FDM) of the National Futures Association (NFA).
Trading Platform
Early indications suggest the look and feel of the European IG brand, and Nadex, have been retained in the new IG US platform release. With ESMA restrictions pinching the margins on IG Group they will be pushing the new US brand quite hard to try and plug the gap, or possibly even drive growth.