No, hell no. Read my review. It's a total clusterfuck dealing with them. They don't even know how to follow simple instructions (ie depositing money into the correct account, when the acct number is written on the check...among other things) and then treat you like shit when you call after a week or two wondering where your deposit is. I wasn't even rude or angry but the guy acted like a teenager that just got grounded or something. Not trying to sensationalize things, but it was seriously shocking how this dude acted when I called. He was even watching TV in the background. It was outrageous. As if it were no big deal for my deposit check to just vanish for a couple weeks and that I was an asshole and impatient for bothering him about it. P.S. At the time, I worked at the bank I wrote the check from, so I know there were no processing errors or holds on my end. It was a cashier's draft as well, so nothing sketchy. In fact, the check was paid within a couple days of my sending it, so they were actually sitting on the money. There was actually a post around here somewhere if I remember correctly that actually explained that they actually were NOT an ECN, but they had set everything up to FUNCTION and give the IMPRESSION of being an ECN while still being somewhat of an MM. It was interesting, and I'll try to dig it up. I can't say with certainty at this point if they are an ECN or not, but hey are very fly-by-night and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that were true. They are the epitome of a shady FX broker. Not sure about their futures and stocks, as they are more regulated and MB probably can't get away with anywhere near as much shady BS on that side....but as far as FX goes, it's a nightmare.
Okay here we go, I found it. My boy riskarb/atticus busted MB's ass on this one. Just read riskarb's comments and the president of MB's responses to him. You'll see MB come apart pretty quick on their defense. Anyways, riskarb know his shit and we'll leave it at that, so read about MB and it's *cough* "ECN" model. http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthrea...&perpage=6&highlight=riskarb mbt&pagenumber=1 P.S. The thread is interesting enough in the first place, seems as if a lot of people have found malicious spyware on the MB platform. hmmmm..... And I still want to throat punch that asshole who copped an attitude with me at MB.
Well that thread was a waste of time. The argument seems to be they cant be a true ecn because they dont disclose their liquidity providers. By the same argument Hotspot and many currenex providers are no true ecn either. I use them for data/charting and their quotes are fine, inline with Hotspot and others. I dont trade with them because of their uncompetitive high commissions in fx. As a firm they are ok, a clean regulatory record since 10+ years. P.S. i got a screenshot from a while back, when there was a bug on their platform at the start of trading on sunday, disclosing their ctptys in the L2 windows for a short time (DB, BOA, UBS and others). I think that should settle that one. Ill see if i can dig it up.
Sure I'd love to see it. Thanks. Still doesn't make me feel any better regarding my personal experiences with them and their handling of funds. FX is already shady enough as far as customer funds security as it is. I don't need their help (in the form of flippant incompetence) to be suspicious.
Thanks for posting that, I appreciate the effort. However in the end it doesn't really matter. Not being accusatory, but a) I don't know you or your motivations (photoshop runs rampant here at ET) and b) hey maybe they engineered that shit themselves. Who knows. Again though, thanks for posting that.
Their counterparties (liquidity providers) are not necessarily the client's counterparty though. Why would I be particularly interested in where MB (or whoever) are hedging their exposure? I think the crux of the matter is who is taking the other side of my trade (counterparty) and do they have a vested interest in seeing me lose. If they do then do they also have the ability to manipulate quotes against me. I'm no expert in the way ECN's operate but on a genuine ECN aren't deals done directly between the client and the liquidity provider and other participants on that ECN, and to maintain anonymity identified only as 'client of xxx' where xxx is the broker?
Yep. That's what riskarb was pointing out during the thread and MBTSteve was dodging and weaving. Lots of obfuscation on MB's part. Thanks for clearing that up Cable. I need to stop watching charts while I type...my posts might be a little more clear that way. LOL
It's the same in other threads on other forums, when asked directly "who is counterparty to my trades" the answer is always deliberately evasive. This is what makes me distrust ECN-style non-dealing-desk brokers like MB even more, they try to pretend everything is a level playing field with no potential conflict of interest when in reality they're no different than a bucketshop in a lot of respects, it seems to me to be nothing more than just a clever marketing strategy. Hey, I see you've been busy overnight, damn you could have left some pips for us poor Europeans
LOL yeah man I'll email you some pips real quick to give you a headstart. But yeah I totally agree, that is why I think most of this ECN business is a load of crap. They really have no reason to go through that much effort for a forex trader. They are not regulated or anything like that. They have no incentive to give a shit. All they care about is talking the talk and making the sale/commission. It's not like they can get in trouble for sins of omission or obfuscation in the Wild West of Forex.