FXCM Discussion

They are not protecting us , they are tying our hands , and protecting the ole boys club . With the internet the little guy had a chance to get in and attempt to make it big starting with a little , The markets have always been a play ground for elite and rich and they dont like the common person having a chance , all these banks and big institutions have went right along with it fat dumb and happy because they dont like it either , but thats who the gov and regulaters are looking out for , notice the final version what the banks and big institutions do really hasent been affected all that much they made sure of that . Its a crock construed by a bunch of thugs and crooks with the so called regulating agencies in their pockets .

The issue there stopping is, money in the billion of us $'s is being lost to over seas account, ie Billions are leaving the USA which isn't good for the USA's economy.

As long as the money stays and moves around the USA then there happy, nothing is really lost, it just moves from retail traders to there brokers I guess.

And 100,000 people losing $1000 per year = 1Bil, you see how the maths soon builds up.

Jason - When is the CFTC going to clarify its position regarding the required timing of account repatriation?

Hi Marc,

Thanks for your patience. We have received clarification:

When will accounts for US residents be repatriated back to the United States?
All forex accounts for US residents trading overseas will be repatriated back to the US by October 18, 2010.

For US residents with FXCM UK, the switch back to FXCM US will most likely occur the weekend of October 15. The switch will occur over the weekend so that there is no disruption to your trading. The existing username and password you use to login to your account will also remain the same. US residents will receive information very early next week by email confirming the timeline.

What happens to non-US entities accepting US residents after October 18?
I’m sure there will be lots of different versions of what the regulations mean and the question has been asked by traders concerning what authority does the US government have restricting US residents from trading overseas. I can’t discuss the legal merits of these questions and I’m sure some traders may test this in the courts; however, considering the reach of US law and disputes, we are not about to illegally accept US residents in violation of CFTC rules going into effect October 18th. We are going by what the CFTC has outlined and clarified as the rules for operating as a forex broker and accepting US residents, and we will be in compliance with US law and regulations.

There are countless examples of the US government going after offshore entities whether it be for offshore gambling operations or the impact of the US government laws affecting Swiss banking. And for another example, British Columbia Securities Commission already restricts foreign entities not registered with the BCSC from soliciting and accepting BC residents (which they enforce). Plus why do you think UK brokers won’t allow US residents to trade CFD contracts even though they don’t have a presence in the US? If other brokers want to take the risk of allowing US residents to trade through offshore entities after October 18th then that’s a risk they’re willing to take despite possible legal action and speaks to their own business practices.

For non-US residents…FXCM is an international company regulated in 6 jurisdictions with offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, and Dubai and affiliates in Athens, Milan, Instanbul, Santiago, and Tel-Aviv. Non-US residents can continue to open through FXCM UK or any other regional entity as local regulations permit.

I understand you may have feelings strongly against the CFTC rules and you are entitled to that. Personally as a trader myself, I won’t argue that some of the rules are inconvenient, but as of October 18th the rules are the rules. No matter what my opinion may be, the Dodd-Frank Bill has been passed by Congress and the CTFC rules have been released. As mentioned previously, some traders may test this in the courts as many bills are, but operating illegally is not an option in the meantime. We are happy that 10:1 leverage was not put into place, and your comments went a long way towards making a difference.

Please feel free to ask any questions, and I’ll do my best to help answer them where I’m able to.

-Jason

Jason - Thank you for the clarification. Some questions:
1. Do US traders have to explicitly fill out a new application form for a new FXCM US account? Or will this "account repatriation" process all be done by FXCM so that trader won't have to do anything?

2. What about IRA accounts? I received a communication from Millennium Trust stating that they will help streamline the process on their end, ie they will not require that traders wire the money back to Millennium first. Has FXCM had conversations with Millennium so that everyone is on the same page? What exactly will happen with IRA accounts? Millennium seems to think that a new account at FXCM US needs to be available first, which means that Millennium still expects traders to have to fill out new FXCM US application forms.

3. My accounts are actually through ATC Brokers, which is an IB for FXCM (although ATC has their own version of MT4). What happens to those of use who have accounts through ATCBrokers (or similar IBs) rather than directly through FXCM?

I wonder how long us NON US residents can continue to trade in "freedom"?

Is there any news that UK or Europe will follow the US with these draconian rules?

Jason,

I know fxcm must follow the rules made but in this country people can join forces legally to fight this. 50 to 1 leverage today. Fifo today. Pretty soon us govt can decide no forex at all. When does it stop? As a client of fxcm, I am really dissappointed FXCM does not step up and fight this with other forex brokers/Traders. Fighting this does not mean you do not follow rules and regulations while you are fighting it. As I mentioned there are legal and ethical ways to fight this. Remember how this country was founded. The English were taxing the american colony and the people here had enough. Well forex traders/brokers can not over throw a govt but we can join forces and fight these rules. Sooner or later they will most likely pass more restrictions such as where usa citizens can not trade the forex at all. If that happens how does fxcm make up for the loss of income from us traders as I am sure it gets a lot of income from us traders.

Regards,
Jeff

A lot of what I read here is people playing off the charts of FXCM and getting stopped out. You will for 2 reasons, firstly the price on the screen is usually about 2 pips from where the price can actually be. So never ever use the chart to set stops, you will lose.

Secondly, FXCM widen spread as prices move in effect triggering stops above the last high or low, but price never gets there.


Solution, use stops with a proper buffer. If you are trading with small stops the market will get you even if FXCM don't

FXCM metatrader platform is buggy, it will hang and not close orders,

Solution screen shot the platform and claim that the problem was their end. They will usually play fair if it is brought to their notice and credit you.

TRADING THE NEWS

even though you see a price level it does not mean that there are any sellers or buyers at a particular level, hence you are getting filled at a price where there are buyers and sellers. This can be miles from a price. However if your stop is at level X and so is a buyer order you can bet that they will fill one and not the other, this is the way it is, its unfair, so the simple solution is to trade the news in a better way or use another broker.

FXCM appear to have some issues with their platform and it will hang and not fill your orders. Thats like most brokers though.

Forex is a deregulated market, one bank may not show the same prices as another, so expect the prices to differ. If you want a regulated market trade another form of investment where there is a central exchange.

Most people trading lose because they trade incorrectly, if you want to start making money have a look at some of my calls on Precision Trading, (type it into the search box) you will see that I use large stops and go for many points as that is the way to make money trading. Trade small and go for big gains, trading big and going for small gains will lose you your account.

All the best


Mike

I know i wont be voting for any DEMOCRATS thats for sure !!!!!!

+1 here ....don't get me started

A. You clearly have never traded with FXCM
B. You clearly are a commercial member trying to sell your own system/service
C. You are clearly un-educated in the order flow dynamics of a NDD execution brokerage, with multi bank feeds.
D. You clearly have not been paying attention the last 20 or so pages of this thread as everyone is concerned with Dodd-frank, CFTC etc...

So go sell your crap somewhere else.

Agreed!

Regards,
Jeff

I am confused. please help.
sorry i dont have time to review 95 pages.

first off fxcm owns dailyfx forums but no topic has been brought up
while here is pages.

Why is that?
maybe not many traders have offshore accounts
but unfortunatly i do.
I have a fxcmuk account and to switch to
50:1 ratio sucks

confused about this part so any advice would be helpful

CFTC does not govern banks? right

like Dukascopy, SaxoBank, Citifx, DBfx


But some of them currently offer 100:1 ratio.
I read that there margin will stay the same.

can we start a account with these broker banks for at least a little higher margin without getting in trouble?

what about offshore banks like dbfx?


quote from before in other answer
"
I realize this is a long answer, but the upshot is, if your “foreign broker” is an unregistered affiliate of an FCM, as of October 18th, it will either have to be registered as an RFED or FCM, or transfer accounts to someone who is. If your “foreign broker” was a foreign bank, it can continue to serve as a forex counterparty to US retail customers until July of next year. Security deposit/leverage rules will apply to all registered entities doing business with US retail customers.

"


does that mean for now we are still allowed to open a account with a foreign bank like DBFX and get a little better margin until its officialy changed
july 18?

Among banks offering retail FX, CitiFx does offer US-based FX accounts (with a $10K minimum starting deposit) for US citizens/residents (I recently confirmed this with CitiFx). These US accounts are FDIC-insured (an advantage over FXCM US). But for retail customers, CitiFx already imposes the 50:1 leverage (by CitiFx's own decision, it appears) and higher spreads than FXCM.

The only MT4 platform currently available for CitiFx (as far as I know) is through Boston Technologies (which doesn't support partial closes of trades, a big disadvantage for me, but does support a minimum trade size of 0.01--microlot--for CitiFx). I'm trying to decide between FXCM US (through ATC Brokers MT4, with a minimum trade size of 0.1 lot but supporting partial closes) or CitiFx. It appears ATC Brokers will switch over to FXCM US from FXCM UK by October 18th for its US clients.

As for the offsore banks offering retail FX such as DBFX, I guess it depends on whether they'll let you open an account with them, and yeah, the CFTC letter does make it clear using offshore banks as FX counterparties will become illegal in July of 2011 (not by CFTC decision, but because of the Frank-Dodd financial reform law).

THANKS,

I also noticed citifx is 50:1 leverage
but when you look
at i think dbfx or Dukascopy they offer 100:1

and

I think mig bank offers 400:1 but i think offshore banks dont offer FDIC security.

So whats the point of having fxcm 50:1 when you can go to a citifx FDIC for security?

wont all these places close down or go out of business.
If i had a choice between
50:1 FDIC security and
50:1 no security i would choose citibank.
All they can maybe offer is smaller spreads

They have no advantage over these banks


ANYONE
please let me know what you are planning to do, if anything.
Lets see peoples options if any

You are a pair of low lifes for sure, Jeff I already had issues with you and Pilotui you must be Jeffs boy ;-) Certainly I am not selling anything to anyone just offering good advice, as to trading with FXCM well your comments prove you know jack about who I trade with. Sadly its ignorant people like the pair of you that degrade this forum for others.

In fact I think I will report the pair of you for aggressive comments, you pair of school boys.

:-)

Some people never learn. Your on ignore. Best of luck to you in the future.

I've made 36trades over the last week or so, using a 8 + Spread SL (11 area total ), I've only had 1 stop out, which was justified totally and no other SL's hit, been within 1pip a few times.

I use a Meta Chart + FXGame chart and see no discrepancy between FXCM's prices and theres.

The chart ( I don't use ), is likely showing the ask, so with a long your SL hits at the bid ~3pips lower maybe there not factoring that in.



No issue here, move on, FXCM have been spot on since my return I'm happy to say.

So in my case, it depends on how much initial capital I'm willing to invest when I relocate back to a US broker from an offshore broker. Starting with $10,000 (CitiFx's minimum starting deposit) or greater is not a good idea for those traders who are not yet making consistent profits. FDIC insurance is useless if most of the capital is lost to bad trades.

At the same time, if I was a professional trader making good profits, I would definitely not risk depositing tens of thousands of dollars with FXCM US only to lose all of that to a FXCM bankruptcy. And it seems to me that current US law prevents FXCM US from acting to ensure client funds are protected in the event of bankruptcy. Or does the CFTC have the power to require that US client funds are segregated/protected?

Never leave in any 1 account more than your prepared to lose after all it's gambling money in escense, the broker giving back your profits is definately a gamble.

Not a slur on FXCM here, not got to the stage of taking money out as yet just my own personal lack of trust.