Question I am trying to answer is why would some props be members of an exchange and FINRA while others are only members of an exchange? I am still doing some research, thus retracting what I have said until I complete my research, here is what I have found so far from FINRA website... Who regulates them: With few exceptions, broker-dealers must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and be members of FINRA. Individual registered representatives must register with FINRA, pass a qualifying examination, and be licensed by your state securities regulator before they can do business with you. You can obtain background information on broker-dealers and registered representativesâincluding registration, licensing, and disciplinary historyâby using FINRA BrokerCheck or calling us toll-free (800) 289-9999. You can also contact your state securities regulator. To find your regulator, check the government listing of your phone book or contact the North American Securities Administrators Association at www.nasaa.org or (202) 737-0900.
Back on track. My prediction: 1 - this is not a buyout. Evo, that is beyond naive to think that capital traders group had anything of value to anyone. a series 56 manual and a website do not have value. 2 - ctg will not show up as a broker dealer. what a joke. if they can't hack it while letting WTS do all the compliance work, mooching off WTS office space, then how are they going to do it alone. 3 - clearing switch - 100% related. (see 4) - business is bad, doing less volume, more trouble for less money for the clearer, its related. 4 - WTS is in trouble (again, a prediction). If their branches are failing, what do you think that says about them? their branches websites were clones of each other, and as far as i could understand they all were just teaching rebate trading and suckering new people in. now their clearing firm is pushing them out (that's another way of saying you are being thrown out). So much for that 'capped clearing' someone mentioned at the top of the thread. So in the reading tea leaves category, put together, 'best' branch fails/disintegrates/collapses into parent, clearing firm raises prices on them and they need to switch to the only firm left that will tade them, and scary financials on Sec website. Also add in that their competitors overseas got hit with multimillion dollar fines and bans (swift and Hold) for what is very possibly the same business type. My gut says we will be seeing more defections and similar firmwide notifications on not so happy topics. of course tomorrow is monday so someone who trades there (EVO) can just call and ask what the story is and see if you get a straight story.
Any informed CTG trader or CTG manager on board to let us know what really is going on? Was there any disagreement between CTG managers and WTS?
I called WTS and asked 2 different people over the last few days. The response I got was that the managers from CTG were reassigned to a private fund within WTS and that all the services and educational offerings they had were still available through WTS directly. It almost sounded like a sales pitch trying to convince me that the service CTG offered didn't disappear with them (WTS's customer service sucks - well known fact amongst the traders) It appears as though the CTG folks developed and ran the entire series 56 class but moved on to something else now that the clearing/routing options are slimming down. The clearing switch is definitely related. The emails appear to have been sent out one after the other. Now, there are no series 56 classes scheduled at WTS in the immediate future. It will remain to be seen what happens in the future. Maybe, as SgtSlotter implied, we will look back and see this as a fallout between the larger ones. I disagree that groups can not start their own broker-dealers. It's been done plenty of times before. I don't see the logic behind Slotter's assumption that it is somehow a lot cheaper to be registered with someone like WTS. The costs are always passed on at the end of the day. What I can tell you is that this is the nail in the coffin for the firms like CTG that offered a lot of bang for the buck. They were giving a free series 56 training, free midpoint training for 400 bucks registration fees (it's over $700 everywhere else now) and a $1500 deposit with 30:1 leverage. Those days are gone. The HFT stuff is dying off and we're heading back to more well-capitalized momentum-based prop accounts rather than these internalized strategies.
As far as I can recall capped clearing means the b/d like wts pays one flat fee per day for the whole firm to trade csco or goog. Its like $2 per symbol per day. is that correct? I remember yrs ago when looking at firms at $1/1000 they'd always ask how many different symbols a day do you trade. So that's how some firms give out 20 cent/1000. if you trade 50k of same symbol that's $10 commish and they pay $2 and also take 30% of your profit
I heard that CTG were moving to Brooklyn. They sent me a contract which I haven't signed yet and I went to the office on Broadway a couple of weeks ago expecting to meet with CTG but ended up talking with the guys from WTS. CTG were moving out that day. Anyone have any more details ? Seems strange
It outlines terms and conditions, payout split, fees, registration details etc. Do you work for a prop firm ? I chose CGT based on great reviews. I have heard WTS customer service leaves alot to be desired and their payout split isn't as good. Which other prop firms are there to consider ?