what are the key differences that resulted in fxcm being "rescued and other firms went under. did fxcm being a publicly traded firm make a difference?
FXCM has not just the retail business, but also owns Lucid Markets (institutional fx mm/hft) and Fastmatch. These two alone gotta be worth something. Lucid was pulling in >100mm profits in 2013(i think), and its only a 15 man operation. Also their retail business turned a profit, have established marketing networks and they were the biggest (1.3bn customer assets). They had a viable business. Alpari UK operated at a loss since years, and together with the new 40mm hole there was just no value there. They had no technology stack worth anything, only Metatrader licenses and Currenex. Also, russians. The other one that went bust was some small time NZ bookie, i havent heard about any other insolvency.
FXCM was rescued because they made tons of profit. People just don't get it was their customers who lost. I am sure FXCM is happy to play along as the victim so that no one will say they benefited from it all.
Of course it is. With everyone losing, have you wondered where the money went ? Did it disappear by magic ?
I'm sure other brokers were also hit but not so painfully as FXCM and Alpari. I'm wondering why these two - seemingly advanced brokers, highly regulated, true STP/ECN, etc. Poor risk management? Much more those problematic losers who were short on CHF? There must be some big hole in their operation..