FXCM never took the other side of our clients' ruble positions, since we offer traders No Dealing Desk (NDD) forex execution where each of their orders is offset one-for-one with the best prices from 10+ competing liquidity providers. On this NDD model, we don't profit from client losses or lose from client profits. Instead, we make our money from client trading volume. However, most western banks have stopped pricing USD/RUB. As such, FXCM can no longer offer this instrument to our clients.
maybe not this time but you did FOR YEARS. * You manipulated your own price feeds for years, spiked prices to run stops because you knew where your clients had their stops sit and blatantly moved your price feeds to have those taken out. * I have evidence that you even manipulated different price feeds for different clients, for example, one client witnesses an up spike which takes out his protective stop while you yanked the price down for another client who had his stop sitting down there. * You built in massive slippage to kill any client who wanted to trade right after news releases and was stupid enough to submit market orders. (of course spreads are wider and liquidity lower right after market impacting events, but what your firm did was rape people by letting "prices slip" by maybe 10 times as much as comparable ECN spreads and liquidity would warrant). * You delayed price execution in order to benefit from knowledge gleaned between order arrival and order fill. * You rejected orders sometimes entirely if they went against your books or did not suit. => All that in the name of TRADING AGAINST YOUR CLIENTS. While there is no evidence that you have entirely ceased in doing so (I take your word for it because I actually do not care, never traded with your firm, never will). But this should be a reminder for all those who consider doing business with you. I mean, you won't entrust your kids to a previous child molester who claims he has come clean now right? Or entrust money to a previous con artist? What your firm has done was not only unethical but illegal and you used every available loophole to get by, including a huge legal team to fend off the uncountable lawsuits coming your way. Just a reminder of your not-so-distant past track record of serving your clients!!! And let's not go down the road of saying that such activities were "industry practice". No they were not, because prudent brokers like Interactive Brokers have offered a pure ECN access with tight spreads, minimal slippage, and DEFINITELY no price quote rigging FOR YEARS. What your firm did was taking FIDUCIARY DUTY to a new level.
Your accusations are false, which is understandable. You said yourself that you've never traded with FXCM. Despite what you believe, the growth in our client equity and accounts shows that traders continue to choose our No Dealing Desk (NDD) forex execution, because they know their orders are immediately offset with our liquidity providers eliminating the conflicts of interest that occur with dealing desk brokers. We recently acquired all of the MT4 accounts from IBFX, but that deal only increased our total client equity by 5%. That means FXCM's current client equity is over 20 times larger than the amount we acquired from IBFX. It's important to keep such relative size differences in mind when comparing us to other brokers. FXCM is many times larger than other brokers in the retail forex space. We've also been in business since 1999 which makes us one of the oldest firms in what is still a relatively young industry. If less than 1% of our clients or past clients express a grievance about something, while that may seem like a large number of traders compared to other brokers (again, it would be represent about 20% of the accounts we acquired from IBFX), it's not as large when you consider the percentages. That's not to say we don't take such feedback seriously. My role on forums is to answer questions about FXCM and address any potential concerns. This highlights how we dedicate a greater amount of resources to help new traders than most other brokers. That means more novice traders begin their forex journey with us. The flip side of this is that when they misunderstand something about how the market works, it can create confusion which you then see on the forum.
I have made substantiated claims about your previous business model and was honest enough in stating that I do not know how fairly you treat your customers now. Everything I said was 100% true and supported by facts that I am happy to supply backup for. (I will start doing so below, re MT4) By the way, I think we can all agree that a huge vast majority of "punters" in your client base are those that trade very small size, a client base that is discouraged to join the likes of LMAX, Dukascopy, Interactive Brokers, among others more reputable brokers. Just to remind you of the historic facts: * your initial "NDD" model was a ripoff and highly unethical. You bedded with your liquidity providers and received HUGE kickbacks from them for their wider spreads and other shenanigans they played on your client base. Again, I make no claims about your current business model as I am not informed about it. But I am very well informed about your prior dealings and I do not trust those who have uncountable times mislead and traded against their own clients. What others do is their own choice and if small time punters found a home with you then all the more power to them. * MT4 (the one you highlight and praised just now) secretly marketed a "plugin" that provided market makers with the ability to misquote, delay quoting and delay execution, all in the face of clients, especially profitable clients. MT4 is one of the shadiest interfaces and business setups I have every come across in the existence of anything in the currency world. Guys, do a search for "Boston Technologies and MT4" and dig a little deeper and you find all the support for my claims. * Not only 1% of your clients expressed grievances. Are you KIDDING US? You are the broker with one of the most lawsuits up your ass. Not just because you have more clients but because you are are at the forefront of shady and grey zone business practices. Really? Your role is hold hands of beginners and "That means more novice traders begin their forex journey with us" (I quote you)? With all respect, but you are here to bring in more business, that is your only job description. Keep the small size punter crowd happy so you can continue charging outrageously wide spreads on small size accounts. Maybe it works for some but fact remains you remain utterly uncompetitive when it comes to being the counterparty and relationship to anyone who is serious about entering this business. You charge way higher cost than any more reputable broker. I provided DETAILED numbers how even your ECN model is way more expensive than, for example, Interactive Brokers. Stop pulling wool over peoples' eyes.
I actually opened a one micro lot short on the ruble the other day. They did close me out at 12PM. The close price was consistent with the crazy market and 50-100 tick spreads at the time. $75 loss or something like that, no big deal. It was something that I shouldn't have been trading. I've never seen volatility like that, especially in a currency. I'll stick to the majors for now. I have traded FXCM's micro trading for years and have never had a problem with it. Considering the volume size, the spreads (and now commissions) are very competitive. People call forex a scam. I can put a couple hundred in a micro account and trade with .3 tick spreads and an 8 cent commission. I have never seen a quote or chart that was inconsistent with anybody else's. I put a few thousand in an option account and have to pay commissions, deal with 5 -10 - sometimes 50 cent or more spreads, executions at the market makers mercy, early assignments ($15 fee plus $5 commission to close and $1.50 commission to reopen) pay data and sec fees. Which one sounds like the scam to you? Not trying to defend them or anything, just stating my experience.
this is bullshit. Unless you had margin deficiencies (and no broker should go below 5:1 leverage in fx pairs) no broker should legally be allowed to close your positions without your consent. Simple as that. Those guys are in business and business sometimes means low risk, sometimes elevated risk. Ethical and customer respecting business decisions should entail to give sufficient prior notice that margin levels will be adjusted. A broker cant just close out a position and later on argue that they changed margin levels without notice. And I do not think this is the case here either. So either you overslept the margin adjustment announcement and/or did not have sufficient funds in your account to justify your trading position.
really? Please show us where you see .3 pip spreads in a micro account, either with fxcm or elsewhere. Please attach a link to the live updating bid/offers or spreads for everyone to see. I believe you are a little window dressing here.
Wow. Haters gonna hate. I guess it's not ET without a self righteous ego ruining what could be a decent conversation.