OANDA

What is OANDA?

OANDA is a New York-headquartered forex and CFD (Contract for Difference) broker founded in 1996 by computer scientist Michael Stumm and economist Richard Olsen. The firm built one of the earliest internet-based currency conversion tools before launching its retail trading service in 2001. It operates as a market maker, meaning it takes the other side of client trades rather than passing them straight to an interbank pool.

Ownership changed hands twice in seven years. CVC Capital Partners Asia Fund IV acquired the group in October 2018 from its founding shareholders. On December 2, 2025, Czech proprietary-trading firm FTMO completed its purchase of OANDA Global Corporation from CVC. FTMO has stated the broker will run as a standalone business under its existing brand and management.

The group operates through seven licensed subsidiaries: OANDA Corporation (US), OANDA Europe Limited (UK), OANDA Australia Pty Ltd, OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Singapore), OANDA Japan Co. Ltd, OANDA (Canada) Corporation ULC, and the holding company in the British Virgin Islands. Each entity is licensed locally and serves residents of its own jurisdiction.

Which regulators license OANDA?

OANDA holds seven Tier-1 licenses, one of the broadest regulatory footprints in retail forex. Every disclosed entity verifies in the corresponding public register as of this scan date.

• NFA (US National Futures Association) and CFTC (US Commodity Futures Trading Commission): OANDA Corporation, NFA ID 0325821, registered as a Futures Commission Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer.
• FCA (UK Financial Conduct Authority): OANDA Europe Limited, FRN 542574, authorised since May 2011. Eligible UK retail clients are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person.
• ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission): OANDA Australia Pty Ltd, AFSL 412981.
• MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore): OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Capital Markets Services Licence.
• JFSA (Japan Financial Services Agency): OANDA Japan Co. Ltd, Type I Financial Instruments Business registration.
• CIRO (Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization): OANDA (Canada) Corporation ULC, with eligible Canadian client assets covered by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund up to CAD 1 million.

On May 29, 2025, the NFA's Business Conduct Committee accepted a settlement in which OANDA Corporation neither admitted nor denied findings of net capital, pricing display, and supervisory violations. The firm paid a USD 600,000 fine and agreed to restitution of approximately USD 428,592 to roughly 3,900 US clients affected by a third-party platform pricing error (source: NFA Decision, May 29, 2025). No active warning list entries appear at the FCA, ASIC, CySEC, or IOSCO as of this scan date.

Trading platforms

OANDA supports three platforms, with availability varying by region. The proprietary OANDA Trade client runs in browser, desktop, and mobile form. MT4 (MetaTrader 4) is available to UK, EU, Australian, and Singapore clients but not to US residents. TradingView integration lets traders execute through OANDA accounts directly from TradingView charts in supported regions.

OANDA Trade

The in-house platform handles charting, order management, currency conversion tools, and the firm's premium analytics package. The desktop version exposes the API for algorithmic trading via REST and FIX protocols.

MetaTrader 4

MT4 is offered with Expert Advisor (EA) support and OANDA-hosted server connectivity. The broker does not currently support MT5 or cTrader on any entity.

Account types

Account structure differs sharply between the US entity and the international entities. US clients choose between two pricing models on one underlying account; international entities offer additional tiers including premium service levels.

Standard account

Spreads start from 0.6 pip on EUR/USD with no commission. Available across every OANDA entity. This is the default account type for retail clients.

Core (Elite Trader) account

Raw spreads from 0.0 pip on EUR/USD plus a commission of USD 50 per million traded (USD 5 per standard lot per side). Available to US, UK, EU, and Australian clients. Pricing suits high-frequency and volume-sensitive strategies.

Demo account

Unlimited duration with USD 100,000 in virtual funds. No registration restrictions and no automatic conversion to a live account.

Minimum deposit

The required minimum deposit is USD 0 across every entity. The broker imposes no initial funding threshold, which removes a typical barrier present at brokers using a USD 100 to USD 250 minimum. Position sizing is constrained instead by the standard margin rules of the regulator covering the account.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

Funding options depend on the regulating entity. US clients use ACH bank transfer, wire transfer, and Visa or Mastercard debit cards. International clients add PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and local bank transfer rails where supported.

Withdrawals back to a card or e-wallet typically clear within one business day after internal processing. Bank wires take two to five business days depending on the corridor. The firm waives its own withdrawal fee on most methods, although intermediary bank charges on international wires apply.

Tradeable instruments

Retail clients can trade roughly 70 forex pairs, precious metals (gold and silver), and a curated list of CFDs covering global indices, energy and soft commodities, and bonds in the entities that allow CFD trading. The US entity offers only spot forex and metals; US regulations bar retail equity index, commodity, and crypto CFD trading. No retail crypto product is available at any OANDA entity for residents whose regulator restricts it.

Spread and commission structure

Pricing splits cleanly along the account choice. On the Standard account, the typical EUR/USD spread (the gap between bid and ask price) sits around 0.8 to 1.2 pip with no commission. On the Core or Elite Trader account, raw spreads from 0.0 pip carry the USD 50 per million commission, which translates to roughly 0.5 pip all-in on EUR/USD at retail size.

Overnight swap (the funding charge for holding a position past 5pm New York time) is calculated daily and published per pair. Swap-free accounts are not offered on the main US, UK, or AU entities; the Asia-Pacific entity provides an Islamic option subject to eligibility review.

Leverage and margin requirements

Maximum leverage, the multiple of capital a trader can control, follows each regulator's retail cap.

• US (NFA/CFTC): 1:50 on major pairs, 1:20 on minors and metals.
• UK (FCA) and EU: 1:30 on major pairs, 1:20 on minor pairs and gold, 1:10 on other commodities, 1:5 on individual equities, 1:2 on crypto where available.
• Australia (ASIC): same retail caps as the UK and EU since the 2021 ASIC product intervention.
• Professional and wholesale clients in non-US jurisdictions can apply for higher leverage subject to eligibility tests.

Margin close-out occurs when account equity falls below 50% of margin used for retail accounts under FCA, ASIC, and ESMA rules, the standard regulatory level.

Customer support

Support runs by phone, email, and live chat. Phone hours follow each regional office. The website lists more than ten language interfaces across the group, with US support delivered in English and Spanish. The 2025 NFA action included findings on supervisory procedures, which the firm has committed to remediate within the settlement period.

Mobile app and trading experience

The OANDA Trade mobile app is available on iOS and Android. App store user ratings have generally tracked above 4.4 out of 5 across both stores in recent scans, with a user-aggregate rating in the 4.4 to 4.6 band from a combined review count above 30,000 (scan date 2026-05-24). The TradingView mobile app also offers OANDA execution where regional rules allow.

Fees beyond the spread

Two additional charges apply on most accounts. An inactivity fee of USD 10 (or local currency equivalent) applies monthly after twelve consecutive months without account activity. A currency conversion fee of up to 0.5% applies when realized profit and loss is converted between non-account currencies. There is no account opening fee and no withdrawal fee for most methods.

OANDA bottom line

Seven Tier-1 licenses with verified active status at every checked regulator make this one of the most heavily supervised retail forex brokers operating today. The zero-minimum deposit and the Core account's 0.0 pip plus USD 50 per million pricing remove two common access barriers for smaller and high-frequency traders respectively.

Three trade-offs sit against that profile. The absence of MT5 and cTrader limits platform choice for traders committed to those clients. The US product set is restricted to spot forex and metals, with no equity, commodity, or crypto CFDs available. The May 2025 NFA action and the USD 600,000 fine are recent enough to factor into a current assessment, although the firm has paid the fine and committed to client restitution.

Forex and derivative products carry high leverage; some or all invested capital may be lost. This content is for information only, not investment advice. Verify the broker's current regulation status with the relevant authority's official site before any investment decision.