Sorry shouldn't have mentioned guns as that gets people going.
My central point is why should american residents be denied the responsibility of choosing their trading provider?
FXCM may well be a bunch of muppets, there are probably far far better choices out there so why aren't american residents using them?
That's right the're prevented by rules to 'protect' them, ie protect the profits of the futures industry.
This article mentions it:
http://financefeeds.com/fxcm-leave-keys-table-op-ed/
'A senior industry figure in North America this morning explained to FinanceFeeds “In the end it is just the CFTC & NFA witch hunt against the industry in my view. GAIN & Oanda are last standing but the CME will win in the end and those guys will have to be an exchange soon or send the business to the CME. Never underestimate the power of the Chicago derivatives industry!”'
I agree FXCM should be fined but beyond that maybe a better route would be reform than a ban which further reduces competiton.