CME Secures $7 Billion Credit Line "In Case Of Clearing Member Default"
- Thread starter Primal Trader
- Start date
CME Group has 66 clearing firms across all divisions. The CME division has 51 clearing firms.
As of 29 FEB 2020 the CFTC shows only 63 FCMs. I can remember when there were more than 100 FCMs.
Does industry consolidation into fewer larger FCMs make things safer or more dangerous?
An interesting question. Getting rid of bad apples in the barrel has made it safer. Good riddance to poor risk managers and/or crooks! On the other hand, monopolies can be hazardous, if a huge firm like ABN-Amro were to go down it would be catastrophic. Hopefully they have gotten that large by being truly excellent at what they do. It wouldn't hurt to share the risk over a larger number of firms, but only if they are top notch and survive volatility and increased risk. I noticed my former firm AMP is on the list; they are quite small, but their margin policies really tighten up during very volatile times. I would guess they are likely to survive the tougher times upon us, and not lose 88 million dollars.
I was a PFG client. No way to tell by looking at their financials they were cooking the books with fraudulence and forgery. Anyone of these clearing firms could go at it, especially in times like this.
Might we ask: Are you "pulling out" your $ now?
With whom are you with now and why did you leave AMP, if you don't mind us asking?
In terms of FCMs, I am now with Advantage and Transact. We all have our different priorities. With AMP their tech support was fine, but I found other aspects of customer service/contactability inadequate to my standards and needs. From now on I will stick to introducing brokers who provide a high level of customer service, with an assigned personal broker who knows me and can work quickly to resolve a problem. AMP has cut-rate prices, but I personally would rather pay a little more instead of feeling like just an account number.
I agree that in some cases it can be quite difficult. One of my sisters was an internal auditor for a large university for years, and she had plenty of stories. Sometimes there are clues, but one has to be a good detective, or maybe even some inside information about character issues, etc. Lets hope that there is not another MF lurking in this already volatile environment!
I'm with Amp now and i've called them at least 4 times and they've answered quick every time and there platform is great . I thought if a broker goes under the other member firms make the accounts whole? Has anyone ever lost a penny in a futures account? I thought mf global clients go their money back ?
No. I subsequently spoke to my Intro Broker. He said the FCM I am at is solid.