The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
FOREX.com is a retail online brokerage offering margin traded spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs) on currencies, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies. Clients trade through the company's own web and mobile platforms as well as third party platforms including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and TradingView, with charting access to more than 5,500 symbols on the TradingView integration. The brand was launched in 2004 by Mark Galant through GAIN Capital, a New Jersey firm founded in 1999 as one of the early developers of online forex trading; GAIN Capital itself listed on the NYSE under ticker GCAP in 2010. FOREX.com specialises in high leverage retail spot forex and CFD trading rather than long only investing. Its main differentiator against other retail FX brokers is the scale and regulatory reach inherited from its parent: since February 2020 it has operated as a subsidiary of StoneX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SNEX), a diversified global financial services network built around commercial hedging, physical commodities, securities, foreign exchange and clearing and execution services. That corporate backing gives FOREX.com licenses across more jurisdictions than most independent retail brokers, including the US CFTC and NFA, the UK FCA, Australia's ASIC, Canada's CIRO, Japan's FSA and Hong Kong's SFC. GAIN Capital grew mainly through acquisition before being absorbed itself. It bought UK spread betting and CFD firm City Index for about 118 million dollars in 2014, and in February 2017 it acquired FXCM's US customer accounts for 7.2 million dollars after FXCM was barred from the US retail forex market by regulators. StoneX completed an all cash, roughly 236 million dollar acquisition of GAIN Capital in February 2020, bringing FOREX.com and City Index under one parent. As of a 2023 company disclosure, FOREX.com reported more than 750,000 active clients globally and customer assets exceeding 8.5 billion dollars; crypto CFD trading was added to the platform in 2018. Since 2025, StoneX has been consolidating its retail brands worldwide under the single FOREX.com name. City Index's Singapore business transitioned to FOREX.com in April 2025, and City Index's Australian operation, which had traded under that name since 2006, was rebranded FOREX.com on 30 August 2025; client accounts, balances and open positions carried over automatically. FOREX.com also opened directly in Singapore in mid-2025 and added round the clock crypto CFD trading that September, extending weekend and after hours access to digital asset markets.
