I looking for a US Based Forex brokerage that accepts Ohio residents. I was all set to go with TD Ameritrade (I have other accounts with them) and then found out that TDA does not accept Ohio or Arizona for forex trading. Can anyone recommend a solid forex brokerage based in the USA that is trust worthy? I called TD Ameritrade to ask why and they could not give me an answer. Thanks for any input to this post.
Hello, Colt.
You’re right about the Ohio/Arizona restriction at TD Ameritrade. It’s a peculiar restriction, and I have no idea what the reasoning for it might be.
If you want a U.S.-domiciled broker, you have only three remaining choices: Forex.com (retail div. of Gain Capital), Oanda, and Interactive Brokers. Seven or eight years ago, there were dozens of U.S. brokers, but a lot of weeding-out has occurred since then – some of it reasonable, and some of it the result of heavy-handed over-regulation by the CFTC, which seems intent on destroying off-exchange retail forex trading as we know it. (I won’t get into a full rant on that subject, here in this post.)
Forex.com and Oanda are retail market-makers with fairly low account-opening requirements.
I have read, but cannot confirm, that Interactive Brokers (IB) is a true ECN broker, and that their account-opening requirements are much higher than either Forex.com or Oanda. I’ve read that it’s $10,000 minimum to open an account at IB, and that not every customer qualifies for leveraged forex trading. If you are interested in IB, you’ll have to verify this info as part of your due diligence.
Forex.com is forex only, although the parent company (Gain Capital) offers separate accounts for trading in futures, options and some other instruments.
Oanda is forex only.
Interactive Brokers is a multi-market online broker, offering trading in stocks, bonds, commodities, forex, etc. in one account. Overall, they are the largest online broker in the U.S., but not the largest forex broker. In fact, they are the smallest of the four remaining U.S. forex brokers, in terms of market share.
Forex.com is the largest (53.5% market share). Oanda is second (29.1%). TD Ameritrade is third (10.7%). And Interactive Brokers is fourth (6.6%). Market share is based on customer funds on deposit in actively-traded accounts.
I don’t have a specific recommendation for you. Due diligence is an extremely personal undertaking, and nobody can do it for you.
Good luck choosing from among the remaining three.
And welcome to this forum.
Colt Army Revolver, model 1860, .44-cal, single-action
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Clint,
Thanks for the great info. Love the pic 
I know Clint carried an 1851 but i love them both.I think im going to go with Forex.com. Thanks Again.
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I have the same issue with TD Ameritrade. I am in AZ. They will not allow forex accounts in AZ or OH. Since I have other accounts with them, I really was not looking forward to opening up an account with some other broker just so I could trade forex.
I contacted TD Ameritrade to figure out why only 2 states are restricted and they have stated that their forex division is an LLC and that OH and AZ would not approve such LLC. TD Ameritrade has no plans of ever offering forex in AZ or OH. Huge bummer. I had very good luck with their ThinkOrSwim practice account.
Does anyone here know a work around? If I have a friend receive my mail in another state, I don’t know for sure, but could I be required to file taxes for said state?
I also looked at Oanda, but, they seem to have high fees for withdrawals. Their platform is OK, in some ways even better than ToS, but it seems to me that the only way to get profits out is a wire transfer that has a $30 fee. Also, Oanda is a market maker while TD Ameritrade claims to be an ECN.
Also, I have seen some overseas brokers as being a possibility. Not sure what sort of tax consequence that would create.
Wow. New to the forums here. I had no idea that TD Ameritrade did not allow Forex trading in AZ or OH. That really sucks. I live in IN and have accounts with them for all my investment purposes, so it is very convenient to have everything under one roof. Now unless anyone knows for sure here, I am curious to know whether they are ECN STP or MM. I will likely ask to find out. I never really bothered in inquire before.
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When I spoke to TD Ameritrade, they told me that they were an ECN broker. Their fees seem to be very reasonable. I was able to do well in their practice account.
They have only locked out 2 states: OH and AZ. Question is, how in the world do I open a forex account with them if I live in AZ?
I spoke to their reps, they did not elaborate much but they did slip up and said that it can be done. But how, they would not tell me.
TD Ameritrade is huge and they are never going to bother with anything if the 2 states are the only ones that are being a problem. Opportunity loss is mine and not theirs. 2 states will not make any difference for them and from the way it sounds, whoever knows how, is able to trade forex with them and work around the restriction.
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With regard to Interactive Brokers, they no longer offer leveraged FX positions unless you specifically qualify. The absolute minimum was a $5 million account if you met some criteria, otherwise $10 million. Either way way above most people’s level.
This is right.
The only real choice is between forex.com and Oanda.
Out of those two, for myself I’d very strongly prefer Oanda.
Having used both, I regard forex.com as one of the very worst market-maker brokers and Oanda one of the best, even though they’re far from perfect.
Hi Charlie, what could we have done differently to have made your experience with us better?
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I found your spreads significantly worse than Oanda’s at the time, and had the feeling that (again compared with Oanda) when I was long I was being shown a bid/ask a couple of pips behind, and when I was short, I was fed a bid/ask a couple of pips ahead.
I ought to say, in fairness to you, that I’m talking about many years ago, and that the fact that you’ve replied so promptly to ask what you’ve asked maybe suggests that your overall customer service and experience have improved since then.
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Thanks for this additional feedback, Charlie. It is always our goal to improve, and we value your input.
It seems like you’re already trading with a broker you like. If so, that’s great, but if you’re ever in the market again, it’s worth noting FOREX.com has lower spreads than we did years ago when you traded with us. Furthermore, we offer further discounts to those spreads through our Active Trader program.
A wider spread at the time you were looking could explain why you thought our bid price was “behind”, and our ask price was “ahead”, which we interpret to mean you saw them as being lower and higher respectively.
For anyone using our MT4 platform, please note there is a technical limitation with the charts on this platform that affect all brokers who offer tiered pricing like we do. Depending on the pricing tier you’re on, the MT4 chart price may not match the Bid price in your Market Watch window. That’s because MT4 only allows one pricing tier to be displayed on the charts. However, the Bid and Ask prices in the Market Watch window of our MT4 platform will always reflect the spreads available to you on your pricing tier.
It’s our goal to provide excellent customer service. FOREX.com is available to answer your questions both here on this forum, and 24 hours a day during market hours via phone and live chat.
A small update. I have done more research on TD Ameritrade and ways that forex traded there with real money, they really did not offer a whole lot of advantage over other 2 available brokers. Another thing that is worth noting is that TD Ameritrade is a pass-through broker for Gain capital. While I have nothing negative to say about either one, if TD Ameritrade wants to exclude my state from FX accounts, they will lose me as a customer altogether.
So far, I went with Oanda, got real account, have participated in a few webinars. Have not made much profit because I trade small lots for now, but, I am learning so I won’t risk a lot at the moment.