Intro
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-
The company and its environment:
History, Founders, Customer base, Criticism and controversies, Competitors, Headquarters, News -
Our analysis and guides on Oanda:
Oanda review 2022 -
Legal background:
Countries served, Legal entities, Regulation, Frequently asked questions
Everything we consider important about Oanda is collected on this page. For a more in-depth explanation, click the links at the end of the paragraphs or see our assessment in the Oanda review for 2022.
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History
Oanda was co-founded by Dr. Michael Stumm, professor of Computer Engineering, and Dr. Richard Olsen, a leading economist of Olsen Ltd, in 1996. The company went live with its first data feed in 1997. It was one of the first companies to utilize the Internet as a technology to open up the markets for currency data and trading.
Oanda milestones:
- 1999: WAP service is live
- 2001: an internet-based trading platform is released for currency trading
- 2003: API is developed for the fxTrade platform
- 2007: Oanda enters the Asian markets
- 2010: Oanda’s mobile platform is released for iOS and Android
- 2011: Global expansion: London office and Oanda Japan debuted
- 2012: CFDs are added to the platform
- 2014: Oanda entered the Australian market
- 2018: Oanda is acquired by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm
- 2020: Oanda acquires TMS Brokers
Source: Oanda’s About Us section
Founders
Dr. Michael Stumm and Dr. Richard Olsen founded Oanda in 1996.
Dr. Michael Stumm was co-founder, president, and CEO until May 2012:
- He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Zurich
- He studied at Stanford at a post-doctorate program in Computer Science
- Since 1987, he has been Professor at the University of Toronto
- Since leaving Oanda, he worked as a consultant for various companies, including Facebook, and remained active in academic life
Dr. Richard Olsen was co-founder until 2013.
- He studied at the University of Zurich, earning his Ph.D. in Law
- He studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford
- He was the Chairman of Oanda until 2012
- Olsen stayed at Oanda until 2013
- Apart from his own quantitative asset management business Olsen Ltd, he’s the founder of Lykke Corp, which aims to create a global marketplace utilizing Blockchain tech pioneered by BTC.
Oanda’s current CEO is Gavin Bambury, who has been in office since 2019.
Sources: Dr. Michael Stumm and Dr. Richard Olsen’s LinkedIn pages, and Olsen’s VoxEU page
Customer base
The total number of accounts at Oanda was 47,384 in Q4 2020. The distribution of profitable and non-profitable accounts is 28.8% and 71.2%, respectively. The total number of users seems low in comparison to Robinhood’s more than 20 million clients. However, an 50,000-70,000 customer base is the average among forex brokers.
Source: Oanda’s public disclosure
Criticism and controversies
Oanda has not made the headlines in this respect, however, the lack of negative-balance protection outside the European Union is a source of some criticism among users.
Competitors
Oanda is a US forex broker. Its competitors and best alternatives are global CFD & Forex brokers.
Oanda has the following key competitors:
- Pepperstone - Australian forex and CFD broker
- FXCM - Global forex broker
- Forex.com - Global CFD and forex broker
- Tickmill - Global forex broker
More details are available in our Oanda alternatives article.
Headquarters
Oanda is a global company with branches in North America, Europe and Asia. The list of cities where Oanda is present is the following:
Asia:
- Singapore
- Sidney, Australia
- Tokyo, Japan
Europe:
- London, United Kingdom
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Krakow, Poland
- Gzira, Malta
North America
- New York, United States of America
- San Francisco, United States of America
- Toronto, Canada
Oanda's New York office is considered the company's headquarters. Their address is:
10 Times Square
New York
NY 10018
USA
Tel: 1 212 858 7690
Oanda news
Oanda has a news analysis section where the corporation provides commentary on recent market events. They provide multiple daily updates.
They also have a separate product called MarketPulse, which acts as a multimedia site featuring videos, analysis, market news, and an economic calendar.
With respect to Oanda-related events, the company lists its major milestones on its About page.
For the latest updates on Oanda, check their Media Center.
Oanda review
Oanda is a US forex broker. We tested their services and put down the experience and their performance scorecard based on our proprietary analysis database in the full Oanda review for 2022. It is a powerful and objective analysis based on 500 data points. Check it out, it will help you crunch the numbers.
Services offered
Oanda’s main concept is to provide low-cost brokerage services for all its customers. Not just for securities, but for derivatives and forex, too.
Their product portfolio includes CFDs (commodity CFDs, stock index CFDs, ETF CFDs), forex, stocks, ETFs, indices.
Legal entities
Oanda has multiple entities serving customers based on their country of residence:
|
Client country |
Investor protection amount |
Regulator |
Legal entity |
|
UK |
£85,000 (FSCS) |
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) |
OANDA Europe Ltd |
|
EU |
€20,000 |
Malta Financial Services Authority |
OANDA Europe Markets Ltd |
|
US |
No protection |
Commodity Trading Futures Commission and National Futures Association |
OANDA Corporation |
|
Canada |
CAD 1,000,000 |
Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) |
OANDA (Canada) Corporation |
|
Australia |
No protection |
Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) |
OANDA Australia Pty Ltd |
|
Singapore |
No protection |
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) |
OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd |
|
Other countries |
No protection |
British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission |
OANDA Global Markets Ltd |
Regulation
Oanda has seven entities: OANDA Europe Ltd (UK), OANDA Europe Markets Ltd (EU), OANDA Corporation (US), OANDA (Canada) Corporation, OANDA Australia Pty Ltd (Australia), OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Singapore), OANDA Global Markets Ltd (for all other countries).
OANDA Europe Ltd serves clients from the United Kingdom, and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, license number No: 542574. Users onboarded under this entity are protected up to £85,000 by the FSCS.
OANDA Europe Markets Ltd serves all residents of the European Union. It is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), registration number: C95813. European clients are protected up to €20,000.
Residents of the United States are onboarded under OANDA Corporation (US). This entity is regulated by the Commodity Trading Futures Commission (CTFC) and the National Futures Association (NFA). Clients from the United States are not protected. The registration number is NFA #032582.
As the name suggests, residents of Canada are onboarded under OANDA (Canada) Corporation. The branch is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). Deposits are insured by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), up to 1,000,000 CAD.
OANDA Australia Pty Ltd, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), serves Australian clients. There is no investment protection. The registration number is AFSL No. 412981.
OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, overseen by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), serves clients from Singapore. There are no investor protection schemes for clients in Singapore.
Residents from countries not listed above are served by OANDA Global Markets Ltd, which is regulated by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission. These clients are not covered with any financial protection schemes.
Frequently asked questions
There are plenty of popular questions and topics out there about Oanda. Head over here to see them listed and answered by BrokerChooser.
What are Oanda’s holiday hours?
Oanda’s market holiday schedules are reglarly updated on their Oanda holiday hours and maintenance times page. Generally, most major pairs are traded at regular hours regardless of holidays, except when Oanda’s having a maintenance session.
Is Oanda a market maker?
Yes, Oanda is a market maker (Dealing Desk) broker.
Tax forms and taxes at Oanda
When it comes to taxation you have to be familiar with the tax requirements in your country of residence. Be sure to consult with a taxation expert in your area, to get to know what taxation requirements you need to meet when trading at Oanda.
Does Oanda have a Reddit community?
No, Oanda does not have a separate Reddit community, however there are some posts that refer to the broker on r/Forex.
Oanda used to have a Forex Forum, but this has been closed since 2020.
Oanda sign in: how to sign in
It’s fairly easy to sign in to your Oanda account once it is set up. Simply follow these steps:
- Go to https://oanda.com
- From the menu next to Oanda’s logo, choose CFD trading
- You’ll be redirected to another page which has a ‘Sign in’ button in the top right corner.
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