Quote from rolando87:
Are you referring to strictly brokers or also Prop firms?
Someone would have to ask the B.C. Securities Commission if they have a position on prop. firms. I do not know. I doubt that they do.
But the problem is that the prop. firm is going to have to have a futures account with some clearing broker and that clearing broker is probably going to ask for the residence of all participants in the account and run that against their check lists.
You might still find some prop. firm that will do it for you depending on their relationship with their broker.
Is there some way to circumvent the BC laws by opening a bank account in Alberta or Ontario then doing your business through that bank. I would like to avoid setting up a corporation or other entity in another province if I could. But I don't want to do anything shady.
An Alberta or Ontario corporation might be acceptable to U.S. brokers or prop firms. They might also look behind it. I do not know to that level of detail. If you call some of the U.S. brokers that do accept Ontario etc. accounts, they might be able to tell you if they accept Ontario corporations owned by B.C. residents. Ontario has always had a specific exemption for unsolicited accounts.
A bank account alone would not work because what counts is your residence.
I believe that there is no prohibition on you from opening a futures account in the U.S. *if* someone will accept it. The prohibition is on the *brokers* accepting accounts of B.C. residents, not on the residents themselves from opening them. So if you can find some prop. firm or broker that will do it, I would not worry on your own account, except that you may find they drop you later when the issue comes to their attention one way or another. This has happened in the past with a lot of forex firms kicking out B.C. residents. And a lot of European forex firms kicking out U.S. residents too because of a similar situation for them with the CFTC.