(Back from my 2 week vacation/cruise to Amsterdam, Russia, Germany, Finland, Sweden etc. - whew, talk about exhausting, but fun).
I can't say too much at this point, but the basic premise is that there is extreme pressure (so much that some "competitors" chose to just stop accepting new traders) to assure that we (and the other major GS firms) are "true prop" in that they don't have 100% payout traders).
Reference: FINRA 10-18 - as previously discussed
Our Accountant in Chicago who handles dozens of trading firms informs us that many are already changing policies too.
Knowing that this was coming, we set up our JVC program where traders can qualify for a second account, no downside risk, and keep at least 50% of the profits. Read previous posts or feel free to call me discuss this.
Our current traders have been advised of this upcoming event, and we suggested that those with adequate capital, take a $million or so and use IB for certain trades, keep a smaller amount to use the leverage here. We will help them with this.
We are extremely comfortable that with the other major benefits we offer that most firms don't, and that the other major firms have already adopted this, that overall this will not have a big effect for most traders.