I-K-O-N must have gotten banned. They always get blanked out whenever I try to list their cap number. strange indeed.
NFA Strikes Again Just when you thought $20 million would be the final line of demarcation for U.S. based forex brokers the National Futures Association has announced that capital requirements will be going even higher: http://www.nfa.futures.org/news/PDF/CFTC/FRSec11_IntNotc021909.pdf Wow. So unless a forex firm hands off every trade to a bank they have to pay this whopping 5% tax on their customer liabilities. Only a handful of firms offer STP execution. It appears the NFA is trying to encourage more firms to go in that direction.
I think this is great news for the forex industry and the NFA is trying really hard to protect the small trader. Do you know which firms now offer STP execution?
I know that Hotspot did - but now that they are bought by FXCM Im skeptical. I believe that GFS Forex & futures, and MB Trading do as well - but read the part of the customer account app in capital letters to find out - if it says all transactions are immediately offset then you know. if it says they take the opposite side, may from time to time take the opposite side, or offer different prices to different clients, then my guess would be they'll be responsible for the 5% surcharge.
Breaking News: Crown Forex to be Liquidated The dangers of trading in Switzerland were revealed once again as Crown Forex is to be shuttered according to Francesc over at FX Street: http://blogs.fxstreet.com/francesc/...-forex-is-to-liquidate-but-not-yet-effective/ Crown was an unregulated Swiss broker and thus their demise is certainly not a surprise. This is always the chance customers take when they open an account with an unregulated broker. Nevertheless, traders need to beware trading with any Swiss brokers unless they have a banking license. Let the corpse of Crown Forex be all the proof you need.
Crown Forex â An Autopsy Now that Swiss Regulators have pulled the sheet up over Crown Forexâs rigamortis racked cadaver it is time to ascertain the cause of death. Was it fraud? Was it incompetent management? Was it a complete lack of regulatory oversight? Was it a faulty business model? Or was it all of the above? A good place to start is a thread that was started over at FX Fisherman by a former customer of Crown Forex in March of 2007, back when Crown Forex was strutting through the snow capped valleys of Switzerland with the cocky assurance that they had the world in the palm of their hand. http://www.fxfisherman.com/forums/f...forms/1467-crown-forex-don-t-believe-1-a.html Any firm that is promising a guaranteed one point spread should automatically be written off for suspicion of fraud. It just isnât possible in the forex market. Something has to give. And in Crown Forexâs case they reneged on their promise by constantly requoting their customers and refusing to allow them to deal on their phantom one point spreads. But this wasnât the only fraudulent marketing tactic of Crown Forex. Go to their own website and you can see a variety of bogus promises, such as, âSecured Funds.â Secured Funds? This is a company that hasnât allowed it customers to withdraw their funds for months! If that is security I hate to see what their idea of ânon-securedâ funds is. So in determining cause of death it does appear fraud is one likely cause. But another likely cause is incompetent management and employing a faulty business model. If you are serious about being a long-term forex dealer you simply donât operate without a legitimate license. Yet, Crown Forex set up its base of operations in the notorious Swiss forex market, which over the years has become a haven for fraud and corporate malfeasance. They were never subject to audits, capital requirements or basic financial standards that other brokers around the world are subject too. This allowed their management team to get sloppy and cut corners, which they are now paying dearly for. In the end Crown Forex got what it deserved. Sadly, too many innocent customers are being hurt in the process. Once again, traders should beware trading with any firm that doesnât have a license. In Switzerland, that means a banking license for anyone offering forex. Not a pending license, or a pending application, but AN ACTUAL LICENSE. And right now there are no major Swiss brokers who have actually gotten a banking license to date.
"In the end Crown Forex got what it deserved." There have now been quite a few Swiss MT4 shops that went bankrupt over the last few years (or were forced to by the Swiss banking commission), some of them operated by the same people. They are making money of this, so i don't think the people behind Crown got what they deserved. Fortunately, the Swiss are putting an end to this now. Although I can't commiserate too much with their clients either, there ought to be some punishment for gullibility - so in a way its them who got what they deserve.
January Net Capital Report The CFTC has just released their latest net capital figures. AMIFX saw its net capital double. And with their new website it looks like they have gotten an injection of cash from somewhere. Forex Clubâs net capital also jumped by over 50%. Our final pool of contestants is beginning to take shape. http://www.cftc.gov/marketreports/f...rfcms/index.htm The following firms have net capital below $20 million MB Trading $15,227,000 Easy Forex $15,544,000 GFS Forex $15,957,000 I Trade FX $16,088,000 Ikkon Royal $16,548,000 Alpari $19,690,000 Advanced Markets $19,873,000 The following firms have net capital above $20 million Forex Club $22,409,000 PFG $26,005,000 CMS Forex $29,255,000 Interbank FX $39,945,000 FX Solutions $43,785,000 GFT Forex $76,055,000 FXCM $98,456,000 Gain Capital $107,390,000 Oanda $169,501,000 As always conduct your due diligence and make sure the firm you are trading with will be able to comply with the new $20 million capital requirement going into effect in the months ahead.
Intersting numbers. Advanced Markets, who I am not very familair with seem to be a real STP broker as well - pretty evident from their NFA required notice disclosure which clearly says - ALTHOUGH AMI IS THE COUNTERPARTY TO EACH OF YOUR TRADES, AMI LIMITS RISK TO ITSELF BY INSTANTANEOUSLY OFFSETTING THE TRADES AND POSITIONS IT ENTERS INTO WITH YOU WITH A BANK OR INSTITUTIONAL MARKET MAKER. AS A RESULT, AMI DOES NOT PROFIT WHEN YOU LOSE MONEY ON A TRADE. RATHER, AMI IS COMPENSATED BY MARKING UP THE PRICE IT RECEIVES FROM THE BANK OR INSTITUTIONAL MARKET MAKER.