You are wrong. It makes a lot more sense to check your facts before you post. Especially if you are posting something that you know nothing about.
You had said WTS is an SEC registered BD, I just went to SEC website there is a World Trade Financial out of San Diego and no WTS...
You are now on my ignore list since I can't deal with idiots. Please read the first line!!!!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Industry_Regulatory_Authority I guess WTS files audited reports to the SEC just for fun: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/vprr/11/9999999997-11-005262 Seriously dude, you are a moron.
WTS is a b/d. My license is registered with them so I would know. That has nothing to do with it. The issue at heart here is if WTS is operating all these branches as marketing fronts in order to create an illusion of competition. For example, you call JC, CTG, Philadelphia Trading, Wall Street Trading, and a few other groups that advertise and you always end back up at WTS. The claim is that "anyone can start a branch". That is not possible. broker-dealers do not open "independent branches". They hire managers and sponsor them for series 24 licensing that oversee the policies WTS has implemented. The argument that these firms are their own entities can't be held up. All their traders are registered with WTS. If these branches are "division of wts proprietary group" that means whatever they are guilty of, the parent company is guilty of. It's a bit incohesive to state "they're tough on compliance". Well, they are the parent company that owned these groups. Putting up a deposit and having licenses held means you can get paid out or have the ability to oversee a group with WTS policies. If in fact it is not consolidation, what were their traders doing that was improper? And since their traders were registered WTS traders, how did WTS not know of this and how then can WTS have "taken over" CTG unless they were acquired by them? Either way, none of that explains the "we are a division of" - Definition of Division: The action of separating something into parts, or the process of being separated. The distribution of something separated into parts: "the division of his estates between the two branches of his family". I have a tough time believing WTS's attorneys would promote that language and use of visual WTS logos if these were just groups signing up. It appears as though WTS is operating under several "fronts" or "marketing brands" to create the appearance of competing firms. Was WTS forced to claim ownership of these "branches" and therefore now citing these are "divisions"
Evo, You are mostly correct. "Branches" are merely trading floors ran by WTS managers. The managers of JC, Boston, etc are all licensed with WTS and (I assume) have supervisory licenses as well. I don't think they are hiding anything especially if they put the WTS logo right on their website. LPL Financial has a very similar setup. Try it, go ahead and call WTS and tell them you want to start a branch. They will explain the process. All compliance is done at the WTS level and all traders and managers must adhere to WTS Written Supervisory Rules, which all traders and managers sign a statement agreeing that they have read and understand them. If a manager or trader breaks a rule they deal with WTS management accordingly. You are right, there is consolidation in the prop trading world and the groups you have written about have all joined underneath the WTS umbrella. Nothing fishy or shady going on.
And also about FINRA not being an SRO, which you went back and deleted after I pointed that out as well. So basically all points you made were incorrect.
hm, both wtc and title leave wedbush one after the other. title gets hit with a fine for manipulation from their sro and gives up their b/d. both have a huge contingent of unlicensed foreign traders that makeup the bulk of their volume. orbixa got shut down last year, the owner stripped of his b/d, barred from the industry, and big fines for the same reasons. yea, cough, i'm sure it was because wb was raising prices. unless etc can drop the hammer on all the bs trading, or they can find an offshore clearer, you guys will all be out of business. this isn't consolidation. this is called purging.
You are 100% dead on calling it a purge. The clearing firm 'raised prices'? I thought WTS traded more volume than anyone on the street? Who would raise prices on them in this market? Don't forget about Hold Brothers getting fined 6 mill or whatever for their shenanigans. Add that to what scares Wedbush about Title and WTS. And ETC is the answer? ETC is known as the firm which will be the sketchiest. ETC is more like the last stop on the way to over and finished. Apparently they are being scrutinized by the regulators as well, so its only a matter of time before there is no place left for WTS to go.
This is the link to Hold Brothers: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/25/holdbrothers-fine-idINL1E8KPE3H20120925 WTS has more traders in China than Hold Brothers.