The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
Charles Schwab Futures and Forex LLC is the CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and NFA forex dealer member subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. It provides exchange-listed futures, futures options, and spot foreign exchange trading, executed exclusively through the thinkorswim desktop, web, and mobile platform suite rather than Schwab's standard brokerage platforms. Futures and futures options trades are priced at $2.25 per contract per side plus applicable exchange and regulatory fees, while forex trades are commission-free and priced through the bid-ask spread. The entity is legally distinct from Schwab's securities broker-dealer, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., a structure typical of how futures commission merchants and forex dealer members are kept separate from equities brokerages under U.S. regulation. Its forex offering is restricted to U.S. residents and available only on thinkorswim, not on Schwab.com or Schwab's other retail apps; it marked the first time Schwab offered spot currency trading to clients at all. That positions the desk as an extension of Schwab's existing self directed trading base rather than a dedicated FX specialist competing head to head with standalone forex brokers. The entity's regulatory lineage runs through Schwab's 2020 acquisition of TD Ameritrade: it operated as TD Ameritrade Futures & Forex LLC until the CFTC recorded its rename to Charles Schwab Futures & Forex LLC around November 2021, about a year after the roughly $22 billion TD Ameritrade deal closed. The thinkorswim platform itself dates to 1999, founded by Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan as an options focused online brokerage; it passed through Investools in 2007 and a 2009 TD Ameritrade acquisition valued near $749 million (225 million dollars cash plus 28 million TD Ameritrade shares, covering roughly 250,000 accounts) before landing at Schwab. Futures, forex, and portfolio margin went live together on thinkorswim on April 11, 2024, with more than 65 currency pairs available at launch; the entity's NFA membership is recorded under NFA ID 477394, with the NFA as its designated self-regulatory organization. Independent broker-comparison research measured Schwab's average EUR/USD spread at 1.27 pips in October 2025, toward the higher end of the retail forex industry, and noted the desk lacks dedicated FX research content, copy trading, or trading signals relative to specialized currency brokers. That is consistent with its role as an add-on to Schwab's broader multi-asset platform for existing self-directed clients, rather than a primary destination built to compete with standalone forex brokers.
