Hello all, I need some help about the pro status and exchange regulations... I'm a French trader and used to trade only the local markets. I recently started to trade the US stocks markets in intraday. So I hold an account with an American brokerage firm. The firm supplied me with live quotes but I was not happy with the platform's charting capabilities. So I requested extension of data coverage to the US markets to my regular datafeed provider. I was informed that something like 200$/mo would be paid to the exchanges in my name because I had to buy quotes under a pro status. So I have two unsolved questions : -was I in my right when I used the brokerage firm's live quotes w/out paying pro fees ? (in the negative, what's the risk ?) -since I am not registered as a pro in the US, will I be asked to do so when the exchanges will receive the monthly dues paid ? (how much would this cost to me ?) Thanks for advance for any help. I might seem to be a bit too concerned about this, but one of my short term goals is to get to trade remote w/ a pro firm. So I don't want to do something wrong with the exchanges that could end up in an impossibility to be pro later... C2
You shouldn't be charged any "professional fees" since you are a customer of a brokerage firm. You need to make that clear with your data provider.
If you have an account at a firm you should not have to pay those fees. Since it is included in your account features it comes free if it doesn't something is wrong. As a French trader you are not registered and should not have to worry about that. If the Software platform is independent from the account platform they can call the shots. If you trade remote with a prop then that firm should allow you to qualify for their platform. SInce you are not with a firm yet you are really a individual investor. If you have any problems look at my profile and visit my site you will find more info there. Remember that platforms have the right to charge whatever fees they want so be careful not to try to circumvent the rules. You can always change platforms to another. but if you violate the rules the sting could really hurt. Hope this helps.
Thanx MO and Cartm, Unfortunately, it appears that I will have to pay these fees... According to the data provider, the fact that I also manage a part of a company portfolio classify me as "pro", even on the US markets ... Not so illogical since I already am "professionnel" for the Euro markets. Still checking the validity of this C2
If you have an account registered in the company name (the exchange defines a pro as a "non-individual"), then you will likely have to pay the fees to get the quotes...at least that's how the exchange rules read. I am currently fighting with IB here in the states because they have taken this a step further and decided that they WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO TRADE ON THE EXCHANGE unless I pay the quote fees. All of my orders for NYSE/AMEX issues are now being forced to ECNs, where the fills are horrendous for these stocks. I have to believe that this is some kind of programming mistake. It would be ridiculous for the exchanges to force customers of B/Ds to pay exchange fees simply for the privelege to trade on the exchange. This counters everything they have been trying to do for the last 50 years. They want more liquidity - not to drive traders away with exorbitant fees. I have another thread going over in the retail section with the ongoing details.
If you are with a firm they normally charge you a fee to trade right? and I believe that should include the exchange fees. If the account you are trading is a brokerage firm's account you have to pay the fees. If it is just a corporation whose money you are trading then if that corporation allows you to trade its account you should have all access to the resources which come with that account. Looks like a lot of posters are with IB and TS so maybe you could ask them if you would have to pay with their systems the extra fee. I still say that don is right. You shouldn't have to pay those fees.
That's ridiculous!!! What are those guys at IB thinking? The professional status only has to do with what you pay for quotes, not what exchange you can trade on. You might want to consider another broker. As a Series 7 holder, Datek and E-Trade want me to pay for RT quotes. I don't, so I don't get them but I can still trade on the NYSE.
I'm trying to find out now whether it's legal for IB to do this. I can't imagine the exchanges want pros denied access because they don't pay to receive their data.