This again is wrong. A Prime brokergae account is not as grand as it sounds and to trade through any of the ECNs it is required and is fairly easy to set one up, providing you do reasonable size. In the UK RBS seems the best bank to use.
I know RBS is pretty much one of the most lenient as far as credit terms go, but I don't think even they would extend a prime brokerage line (margin account maybe) very readily to an individual unless that individual had significant funds (over 1 mio GBP in my experience) and/or was FSA registered. It is quite easy to get a PB if you are an institution, but a private individual without significant funds I would believe to be another matter. Of course I would like to be proven wrong.
I've been watching the Currenex feed - very tight spreads. However, Oanda is not much wider. So - why go w/Currenex where you have to deposit $25,000 (or whatever it is) when you can get virtually the same spreads w/Oanda w/o having to a deposit a minimum amount? Anyone have an answer?
fyi am getting live feeds from fxcmpro/currenex, hotspotfxi and demo feed only from refcofxpro(currenex) but i've asked for their actual quotes & sizes on the bid/ask over the phone while monitoring the other 2 (ldn morning trading time). did that a couple of times for a few hours or so over a few days. hsfxi and refco's quotes are supposed to be 'pure' (comm. charged separetely based on volume), fxcm's include their comm. result was, on most major pairs & crosses except cable, the spreads were all the same most of the time (which gives a slight advantage to fxcmpro on that particular aspect... now the fact that their platform went down twice this week, once just before yest's US IJC figure, is another matter for consideration...), with hsfxi being off by 1 pip slightly more often than the others (but they offer 1/2piping on many pairs, fxcm says they will too starting from sept, dunno for refco...). on cable fxcmpro is 1pip pricier than the others (before comms for refco and hsfxi, typically 1/2 to 1pip per RT depending on volume / nego), therefore they r pretty much all the same. all 3 showed good (similar) liquidity on major pairs (hsfxi seemed slightly less on average, but that cld be just an impression, need to monitor further...). also checked liquidity today on fxcmpro around gbp cpi figures, there was no surprise, but i was comforted to see that the spreads didn't widen at any time on cable nor eurgbp and the liq. was same as usual (ldn day) now i have yet to click on the button in a fast mkt situation on these platforms to get a feel for their actual execution capabilities... any inputs greatly appreciated!