Deutsche Bank's dbFX - new FX broker option

Has anyone here tried to open an account and trade with dbFX?

 

dB FX is a white label FXCM, just read the docs and look where you send the application.

And Pabst, you are 100% correct. The only shops that aren't stockpiled with buckets are a pass-through ECN aka Non-dealing desk or agency desk.

 

i tried their demo a few months ago.
strange but it looked like I wasn't being paid any interest on my account even when I was long a carry-positive pair.

I could be wrong but please check out the demo if you get a chance.

 

when I checked out dB it looked like they had reasonably big spreads, like 3 pips on the EUR

 

That's because it's a front for FXCM so they have FXCM's spreads. When will people learn?

 

Yes. Customer funds are held by DB, but all the rest is nothing but a "FXCM clone".

 

Now that the big fish like Deutsche Bank has decided to accept small a/c of US $10000 ..they should also start spot gold with tight spread like 50 cents ..there are not much goold broker offering spot gold with tight spread and if DB start they will be flooded with clients..... and for sure me willl be there toooo

 

This looks like a "disclaimer"...

 

I would go further and call dbFX staff deliberately dishonest. I opened a live dbFX account and noticed that the platform was connecting directly to FXCM servers. How can dbFX staff not be aware of this? dbFX is just a front for FXCM, simple as that, but they don't want potential customers to know it. They can't lie outright and say "no, we are not linked to FXCM" so instead they give the bullshit response. Obviously I closed my account straight away.

 

It was posted in the Weekly FiX column.

What’s the score with dbFX and FXCM? Deutsche Bank’s decision to launch its dbFX platform for retail FX clients back in May seemed a well-timed move to capture business from what is a rapidly expanding and important market segment.


The bank certainly didn’t play down any suggestion that deals done on dbFX were linked into its highly regarded Autobahn FX platform. In an official press release, Jim Turley, the bank’s then global head of currencies and commodities, said: “When you trade with dbFX, you receive privileged access to the world’s foreign exchange market.”

So it probably comes as a surprise to many of the clients who opened accounts to trade on dbFX that the platform appears, for the time being at least, to be a white-labelled version of FXCM, a platform operated by the privately owned Forex Capital Markets. And while there is no doubt that FXCM has been extremely successful since it was established in 1999 – it claims to have ‘serviced’ over 78,000 clients – you do not have to spend too much time searching on the internet to find that it does not have an entirely whiter-than-white reputation.

One site, www.forexbastards.com, has a page rating the numerous retail FX platforms in existence. “If you have done business with the following forex companies, please submit your forex review as well,” it says.

There are numerous complaints about the way FXCM operates on www.forexbastards.com, as well as on another site called www.elitetrader.com. Perhaps the most frequent are that it shades its prices against clients or simply doesn’t quote when the market is moving. Unfortunately for Deutsche, dbFX has to a minor extent been tarnished by association.







Now, internet bulletin boards are always full of whingeing, especially when mug punters lose money. And the complaints about FXCM are from a tiny percentage of its stated client base. However, that does not mean the moans do not have merit – they just have to be taken with a pinch of salt at least.

Still, many operating in the retail sector are surprised Deutsche apparently chose FXCM to spearhead its push into the retail sector. Sources say that Deutsche actually looked at buying Refco’s defunct 35% stake in FXCM, which is up for sale after the broker’s demise. Talk is, Deutsche walked away after due diligence. Deutsche, FXCM and Refco have all declined to confirm this.

When questioned about dbFX, Zar Amrolia, managing director of global currencies and commodities at Deutsche, swiftly pointed out the following. “The blogs are not critical of Deutsche. The (retail) customers are dealing with Deutsche. The counterparty is Deutsche AG. Their collateral is held by Deutsche AG. The customers do receive prices and execution from Deutsche.”

Amrolia added: “But we are working with a vendor. There’s an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] in place, which prevents me from disclosing it. But there’s nothing to restrict Deutsche Bank from using other vendors. And that is perhaps the key point – that we are not restricted in having multiple vendors to access the retail space, and the likelihood is that Deutsche Bank will do that.”

A spokesman for FXCM also declined to not comment on whether or not the platform was the same as dbFX. As for the criticism posted on the internet, he said: “I won’t comment on anything on the chat rooms, but we do have tens of thousands of happy customers and we wouldn’t have them if we didn’t have a good service.”

Amrolia admits that the deal with the unnamed white-label partner appears strange. “Looking at this in isolation might seem odd. But dbExpress, which is the overall brand of our retail initiative, will look to work with different vendors,” he says.

Apparently, Deutsche is pleased and also surprised at how the initial arrangement has worked. Amrolia says that effectively Deutsche Bank has reclaimed clients, adding that while retail aggregators have done a great job in expanding the market, they have largely done so only as a result of prices from liquidity providers, such as Deutsche.

He makes another important point. “Many of the retail aggregators are being squeezed out by the increased capital requirements of the regulators. Deutsche Bank believes that participation by banks such as DB can only benefit the retail consumer by bringing in best practice and increased governance. This is part of our strategic move into retail, and it will develop,” he says.

Cynically, one has to wonder if Deutsche’s foray into the retail sector was rushed through to gain first-mover advantage. But having dipped its toe into the sector, Deutsche looks set to expand its offering. And to be honest, if your mum was punting her pension in FX, who would you want as her counterparty?