The bottom line is if you go with an american broker, you are really looking for trouble. Think about it. As far as I am concerned: NEVER, EVER AGAIN
dandxg In-depth look into Refco's case (including how account segregation works in practice): http://www.futuresindustry.org/fimagazi-1929.asp?a=1093 FCM financial data: http://www.cftc.gov/tm/tmfcm.htm
Thanks Jayford and W99 for that info. I was aware of the Tranact TM issues, but since I wouldn't use TM I am not concerned.
It looks bad. Your fx retailer, Refcofx, says it is 86 million dollars short of what it owes its own customers, plus owes another billion -- yes, billion -- as guarantor of its parent company's debt. That's the scoop from four days ago, June 27th. It pretty much shows that the cash Refcofx has never was going to make it back to its customers, regardless of the circumstances. Here's part of the notice posted June 27th on the Refcofx website: "At present, it is not expected that RFXA will have sufficient assets to pay its creditors in full. In addition to customer and trade liabilities, which exceed $140 million, RFXA is a guarantor of Refcoâs secured bank debt and unsecured bonds, which total in excess of $1 billion. RFXA has approximately $54 million of cash and securities, much of which is claimed as collateral by Refcoâs secured lenders. RFXA is also owed money by some Refco affiliates, but the timing and amount of those recoveries is uncertain; Refcoâs lenders also assert claims to those receivables."
Whether we will get some or all of our money back is a good question. We have formed a group that is acting on behalf of RefcoFX customers. I am one. We are fighting to recover our money. You can join us and together we have more of a chance. Robert http://www.refcofxaccountholders.com
If you want complete safety of funds, you have to have your funds backed not by a company's financial strength, and not even by a company who is overseen by a government agency, but by the government itself. No one has any qualms about putting money in a bank account thanks to the FDIC, no one has qualms about opening a stock brokerage account thanks to the SIPC. The problem is that for futures and forex traders, there is no such body in the US that protects clients' funds in the event of bankruptcy on the part of the market maker or broker (regardless of their registration with the CFTC and the NFA). That is why looking outside the US for a forex market maker makes the most sense. The only one I'm aware of is manfinancialfx.ca. Luckily, canada has some protections not offered by the US government, in the form of up to 1 million in protection by the CIPF.
Yes and Man Financial Canada is really just a reformed version of Refco Canada. Refco Canada customers came out of this who debacle smelling like a rose. Not a bump in the road, unlike their US cousins to the south. I am a RefcoFX US customer and fighting to get my money back. We have a group of RefcoFX US customers where we are contributing to a legal fund to try to protect our interest. Legal action is imminent. Also, I have opened an account with Man Financial Canada specifically because of the protection afforded to customers in Canada by being members of the http://www.CIPF.ca Robert moderator www.refcofxaccountholders.com
Take a look at the post in the forum of refcofxaccoutholders. Drew admitted that even US regulated FCMs don't offer absolute clear protection in the event of bankruptcy. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/refcofxaccountholders/message/2987 Re: Safety of Funds. BEWARE FXCM is just as unsafe as REFCOFX. Hello Guys, You are correct when you say that even US regulated FCMs dont offer absolute clear protection in the event of bankruptcy and that has to do with quirks in US law that will hopefully be fixed in the future. Where FXCM offers higher levels of protection is that it has regulated subsidiaries in various countries were the customer segregation laws allow FX funds to also be completely safe from bankruptcy. Most of these choices are battle tested from the refco affair to withstand a bankruptcy filing by parent company so would be very applicable in putting your fears to rest. choice #1: FXCM Asia www.fxcmasia.com our Hong Kong subsidiary offers a jurisdiction where customer funds are traeted with the proper respect. Refco Hong Kong limited which was a similarly regulated FX dealer never had its customer funds frozen and All funds were recovered by clients 100%. in fact they never had any interruption whatsoever. Choice #2: FXCM UK, www.fxcm.co.uk here there are traditionally choices between segregated and non segregated accounts. We have been working on offering segregated funds and will by next month have that option avalable to any client of the UK entity. Choice #3: FXCM has a relationship with Man Financial Canada which offers two levels of protection. The first one is segregtaion of funds which under Canadian law exempts those funds from bankruptcy. Refco Canada which was also a regulated entity had the same protections also was able to secure all funds for its clients and all of them recovered 100% of their funds with no delay. The second level of protection is CIPF insurance which is offered to all IDA member firms in Canada up to one million dollars per account. If you would like to open an accopunt through them contact Michael Yun myun@... and he can take care of that for you. Hopefully this helps, and as FXCM is a global firm you can contact our US customer service to help you with any of these options, there is no need to actually call the actual subsidiary. Sincerely Yours Drew Niv CEO/FXCM
Is that you Kurt? You seem to have a bone to pick with Drew Niv and FXCM. Drew Nivs post looks very honest and it's very rare for a CEO to post to a public forum.