One-sided and extremely unfair agreements are, regrettably, the norm in the retail financial industry.
We, as small traders, lack the bargaining power to extract fair or reasonable written agreements from our brokers. We must, therefore, look elsewhere for protection of our interests. One source of protection are some laws which apply, to some extent, even when agreements attempt to get around those laws. Another source of protection is that of market discipline. A broker which desires to build and to maintain a good reputation, among knowledgeable customers, must do business with some level of honor and integrity. If such a broker fails to maintain honor and integrity, then it will be punished by the market, because its customers will tend to go elsewhere.
IB has a strong reputation for honor and integrity in the most important aspects of how it does business. If IB fails, too severely, to do business honorably, it will lose that reputation. This threat, that IB might lose its reputation if it does not behave honorably, is an important source of protection to IB customers. It is protection borne of market discipline, rather than legal discipline. This is the most important source of protection to which traders must look when they establish relationships with brokers.
We, as small traders, lack the bargaining power to extract fair or reasonable written agreements from our brokers. We must, therefore, look elsewhere for protection of our interests. One source of protection are some laws which apply, to some extent, even when agreements attempt to get around those laws. Another source of protection is that of market discipline. A broker which desires to build and to maintain a good reputation, among knowledgeable customers, must do business with some level of honor and integrity. If such a broker fails to maintain honor and integrity, then it will be punished by the market, because its customers will tend to go elsewhere.
IB has a strong reputation for honor and integrity in the most important aspects of how it does business. If IB fails, too severely, to do business honorably, it will lose that reputation. This threat, that IB might lose its reputation if it does not behave honorably, is an important source of protection to IB customers. It is protection borne of market discipline, rather than legal discipline. This is the most important source of protection to which traders must look when they establish relationships with brokers.
