Outside US Forex firms follow different accounting procedures than what is dictated by regulators here, not to mention other compliance issues that are related to funds, segregation, etc. if you are based in the USA, as suggested above, use Currency Futures on the CME regulated exchange and a reputable firm for execution.
So, what if I want to trade other pairs like EURGBP, GBPJPY, or AUDJPY with a bid/ask spread that's actually suitable for daytrading? What if I want to be like Goldman Sachs and take a longer term currency basket position in the GBP? How do I do that on CME?
CME is no substitute for forex trading. It doesn't offer the pairs I want with reasonable spreads. And many other pairs it doesn't have.
CME knows it can't force commercials out of the Interbank market which is much more liquid, so they go after retail forex traders like myself to restrict us instead. Guess it makes CME feel big and powerful. CFTC is happy to help...revolving door and all that.
In 2009, regulators began a 2-pronged attack against the Forex industry. First, NFA inserted language in Dodd-Frank to ban US residents from trading with overseas Forex brokers. I had opened an account with FXCM UK in 2008 because the spreads were better. Thanks to Dodd-Frank, I was forced to close the account.
Next they went after domestic Forex brokers here in the US, mostly by raising broker capital/liquidity requirements way above what would actually be needed by retail traders. I mean you never know when Bill Gates might want to call a random retail Forex broker and put a $1,000,000,000 trade on the Aussie. Yeah, got to be ready for that!
In 2009, there were probably two dozen Forex brokers in the USA. Now there are only 2 remaining -- Forex.com (Gain Capital Holdings) and Oanda. Of the two, Gain Capital is the largest, with total assets of $1.4B. The company's stock trades on the NYSE (GCAP).
Sometime over the next couple years, expect the CFTC to find some "irregularity" in their business practices. Any excuse will suffice to get them both booted out of the country.
...and the CFTC's task to destroy the retail Forex industry in the United States will finally be complete...revolving door here I come. I'm already a Gov't SES with a gold plated pension, but hey that's just not enough. GIMME ONE OF THEM 7-FIGURE WALL STREET EXECUTIVE PAY CHECKS...YEAH BABY!!!
Thus concludes today's civics lesson.