Dukascopy has been working with clients in such a way for a while now. You use a local Swiss bank branch (includes names like Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and Liechtensteinische Landesbank) and interlink it with Dukas with a bank guarantee. Your daily P/L is netted with the bank, and Dukas bases your buying power on your bank balance. Here: http://www.dukascopy.com/swiss/english/forex/custodian/ (Dukas is the same broker that Lakai from tradeitdontdateit used to trade FX... don't think he used the custodian bank services like this, but Dukas is a more trusted broker for higher account balances as such.)
hello guys, a quick search came up with Macquarie Bank in Australia. I do know a little about them as I was looking for a broker when I lived in Australia. It is an investment bank with offices in 28 countries around the globe. they do broking as well, Australian stock, cfd~s and futures are on the menu and they are a member of CME, Liffe etc. as far as I know, you can open a bank account in your name at one of the big banks of your choice and you authorize them to withdraw funds for your purchases and they will deposit into your bank account when you sell. you can open accounts on the internet. I will look into this in detail myself and if I`m happy with the results I dont think you can get it any safer. ps: thanks Jack for your research
life support? dont know what you`re talking about. can you give me all the details please? aha, just searched on the internet: 24.6% profit fall and has shed 1300 jobs worldwide, but still made 730 million full-year profit. still quite good for a small to medium sized company in world standards and hardly in need of life support I would say.
Jack, the only problem with Dukascopy is that you can only trade spot forex, so if the business goes bust, you`re just a creditor. I think your account size needs to be quite high, 100k?, to be able to open a bank account in your own name. Macquarie Bank offers forex futures and other futures and your cash is safe in a bank account (not Macquarie) in your own name.
He was shown to be a fake who was trading on SIM. Search around this forum, & you can find the screenshot evidence of fake limit orders of 50+ lots in his DOM, when there are only 19-20 showing at that price level in the actual order book. Nothing against Dukas - I just wouldn't point to that guy if I were trying to build credibility . .
Err.. just to back up a tad. You're right about spot in the sense that there's no 'industry wide' regulation on how funds are kept (like in futures and such,) but that doesn't mean you're unprotected in all cases. You have to go on a broker by broker basis when assessing this, and atop of that, there's regulators and standards in different areas of the world that will add funds protection. For instance: Some brokers use segregated accounts, while this claim on its own won't protect you from illegal transfers (MFGlobal,) in a few regulated areas the claim of segregated accounts means the local regulator gets to make sure they are following through on it. Then there's the local government's insurance programs: I do some business with Oanda here in Canada, and my accounts are CIPF protected up to $1million. If Oanda goes under, CIPF will make sure my funds are transferred to a new institution (whoever buys up their old account base) or back to myself if I request it. It's a fast process too, we're talking weeks, not years... (I got to witness a co-worker's transfer from MFGlobal to RBC Securities.. within a few days his entire account was available at RBC to do with as he pleased. Not a dollar lost.) For Dukas, they are a registered bank, and thus covered under the Swiss government's investment protection plan: http://www.einlagensicherung.ch/en So if you keep your funds directly with Dukas, and they go under, you're covered up to 100,000CHF. All this is moot though, since the context was a broker who'll work with a 3rd party bank account instead of keeping funds directly with themselves. If you go the custodian banking method I described earlier, and Dukas goes under, your funds aren't touched since they are sitting at another bank in your name.
I lost all of my funds in my accounts with several dealers. My Demo accounts are all zero...if not they eventually get drained...What to do about it? but seriously..I am beginning to think that if they want your money it doesn't matter if you are offshore or in the States...Its all a gamble at this point in our history. For someone to put up their life, their earnings, their savings and their time fooling themselves into thinking that it is safe...well...oh nevermind. ElectricSucksAtTradingSavant
Electric, I think its foolish to join the first broker who meets your trading needs. I realize that nothing can be 100% safe, but like trading you`re looking to minimizing risk. and its not as if it is such a big job to research for the best broker available for your needs. once I have my "safe" broker, be it in the US or abroad, I just know I did the best I could. it will be a relief to know that, if you hear horror stories from other brokers over the years. I certainly dont want the attitude of: she`ll be right mate! Jack, thank you for your detailed research. I think having a bank account in your own name will be much better than one segregated account. any unauthorized withdrawels will be spotted immediately.
Well..in the light of that...wouldn't it be safer to diversify? I think its foolish to join the first broker who meets your trading needs. I realize that nothing can be 100% safe, but like trading you`re looking to minimizing risk. and its not as if it is such a big job to research for the best broker available for your needs. once I have my "safe" broker, be it in the US or abroad, I just know I did the best I could. it will be a relief to know that, if you hear horror stories from other brokers over the years.