i am not sure if there are any Uk-based traders here, but here goes... I have been trading my own money profitably for the last couple of years in the US stock markets... Recently a friend has asked me to manage his account for him, in return he will pay me a small portion of the profits that i generate in his account. Now, I am living in London and am UK resident. This friend of mine is however non-UK resident. He has nothing whatsoever to do with the UK. Furthermore, the markets that will be traded are the US markets, and the account will be with a small US brokerage, which have no links to the UK. In such an event, Would i need to be FSA registered? I would really prefer not to be registered. If there are any ways around it, can anyone please advise? this would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Basically, yes. You can be authorised as a Sole Trader member firm if you can fulfill the requirements. Authorisation cost of around (all found) c £20,000 plus a minimum of Euro50,000 deposit (can't be touched) plus your annual overheads. Grant.
Seems quite steep... Anything to reduce the initial fee? Any other way a Brit can trade on behalf of others?
A key consideration is whether you are operating a collective investment scheme. This requires authorisation and operating such a scheme without authorisation is a criminal offence. The law surrounding collective investment schemes and the exemptions within the FSMA is a grey area. If you are planning to operate a business you will need to seek expert legal advice which will likely be expensive. It is also possible to run an unregulated collective investment scheme provided it has an authorised operator. There are companies that offer operator services or 'umbrellas' but they are also expensive. If it is a single friend and the amounts of money are small such that you are really running it as a hobby then the FSA are unlikely to be interested in you. However, if you are planning to run this as a business and or promote your services then you need to make sure you are doing things properly and are on the right side o the law. I recommend you phone the FSA and ask for guidance. They are generally quite helpful and will tell you if you need to seek further legal advice or council.
what about a joint account ? you place a small amount of money into the account - that'd get around regulations wouldn't it ?
open an account on IB, you are the advisor... 2nd: Account on IB, trade with ZeroLineTrader as frontend, you can trade different accounts at the same time (single click)...
What about when one wishes to trade for more than 15 clients... On IB, one would need to be a 'Professional Advisor', which in the UK, entails FSA registration - very pricey! Any options/ideas...?
open 2 or 3 advisor accounts (under different names/companies, maby its possible also under same name)each with 15 clients.... with zerolinetrader you can trade xxx accounts at the same time with one single click