So, some Lloyd's syndicate got lucky when they were holding the bag? It's not viable from a risk management standpoint. Lloyd's has cracked down on systemic risks on a regulatory level lately...it doesn't mean they weren't placing an all-in bet. That said, it's clever if you consider that total financial collapse makes their policy worth as much as a drained account.
LOL, believe me, I hear you on that one brother, im sorry if i sounded frustrated, but i got frustrated because i got fucking killed, its a very humbling experience having to start over again when you think you made it, but like you said, it gets you back to the basics, and thats how i trade now, will never deal with a prop firm again.
Don't you dare get into a food discussion with me here on the retail broker forum. I will win, and Magma will kick my ass for letting it get too far. Vanz, into the corner with ye!!!
Dont tell anyone but i have heard from anonymous sources that both Vanzandt, and his dog like eating frozen weiners. I only know this to be true cause some russian dude told me it happened.
Is this the firm that you dealt with? https://brokercheck.finra.org/firm/summary/146122#disclosuresSection I think the crux of the problem here is really where your money ultimately resides. The reason why the prop firm was able to take advantage of the situation is they were able to make your money to reside with them BEFORE arriving at any clearing firms, introducing brokers, brokers, via that agreement that you sign which essentially gives them the permission to conmingle your money with theirs so you are no longer their customer but part-owner or partner of their firm. I think this is where most of the people are confused at. Since you are no longer their customer, they no longer have an obligation to segregate your funds with their company funds (and when they are not even regulated with anybody, they don't even have the obligation to separate your money from the company's funds to begin with), your money basically becomes theirs so at any time, when they want to take off, they will just take off with everything especially if you agree to be in the lowest class of shareholders that gets the money last. That is a major scam!! So sorry to hear about your loss, @Max E. So it doesn't matter where they in turn deposit their company money, they can deposit their money with the top top broker but your money is already hijacked by them in the first place. But if you have bypassed those unscrupulous prop firms and made sure your money ultimately resides with a reputable clearing firm like Wedbush even if it's through LightSpeed which is really just a referral agent, then you are fine. As long as you can get affirmation that your money is indeed in custody with Webush, a SIPC, FINRA registered and SEC regulated firm or any other top reputable trading firm then it's fine. So to answer your question, @yamin2000, yes you can trust LightSpeed as long as you make sure your money is REALLY sitting at the bank accounts owned by Wedbush and NOT anyone else.
I don't understand why they can't just give you the money as an interest-free loan with profit-sharing agreement and your money as the collateral so if you lose all of their money, they will get part of your capital for compensation. The reason why they make you sign this "Class C shareholder" agreement is just to make sure they can get their money out first in case of losses but this loan would've achieved the same thing if they were a legit prop trading firm seriously interested in investing their funds with traders with a winning trading system. I guess they were crooks to begin with. I mean the prop trading firm idea is not a bad one but the way that they structured everything is obviously questionable.
They invest in real estate, develop projects worldwide in mining, excavation, drilling, alternative energy, space travelling, restaurants, venture capital, wine-making, horse-breeding, politicians, basically spread their money around so as little as possible is put in one basket. They don't just have money in the banks; they own the banks by sitting on their board.
I think it is safe to assume that most any prop shop is a shady outlet and at best a high risk. Anyone engaging with them should be aware of them or should otherwise not even be allowed to hold a bank account. Hence @Max E. should have been aware and he willingly took the risk. Any of those funds should have never been wired to a prop firm but to their clearer. And if the prop firm disagrees or makes wiring to them directly a condition to conduct business then one should run not walk. Hence, I believe it was his own risk and he paid for it, end of story. That he injects his story into completely unrelated threads and on the way gets many of his claims completely wrong and then goes all nuts on those who disagree and that he otherwise is one of the worst sharp shooters in any of the Politics threads on this site is rather a reflection that he has not at all dealt with his loss and rather prefers to unleash his anger on everyone else rather than looking at fault on his side. I feel for his loss and feel sorry for him, I do not wish anyone to lose money by shady business men and outright frauds but then he is a grown up (so I hope) who had a choice. I would recommend him to point his energy at writing to regulators and law enforcement to point them to fraud rather than collecting scalps from others on this website with his hate tirades here and elsewhere in the politics forums. Hatred usually originates from poor self-reflection and the unwillingness to deal with one's own problems.