I have been trading with Interactive Brokers for over a year. I love the platform and the service. Unfortunately, they abruptly instituted some regulatory changes requiring leveraged forex traders to be "eligible contract participants." This is loosely defined as an individual or entity worth in excess of $10mm. I am in search of a new broker. I am a very active, high volume day trader and maintain a relatively large account (around $250k). I do well over $3 billion notional on average per month so commission schedule is important. I am looking for reliability and dependability. Can the experienced FX traders on the board please suggest an alternative to IB. I would rather not pursue the prime of prime route. Thanks very much in advance!
Please recommend a broker
- Thread starter Jackthepipper
- Start date
I've seen this recently even among the larger brokers. It seems that several people even with several million dollar accounts have gotten shut out of their trade because they were suddenly required to be an ECP. IB might have been the last place standing.
If it's a stable, scalable trade with a good risk profile I might be interested in taking in on. I wouldn't do it for less than 70% (to me). Otherwise, you might find someone who will basically rent you their balance sheet for some monthly fee. Not sure who would do that. But someone might.
I don't know what caused this sudden shift. At least the ECP thing is pretty simple. You just declare and show a balance sheet. Whatever you do, don't lie.
If it's a stable, scalable trade with a good risk profile I might be interested in taking in on. I wouldn't do it for less than 70% (to me). Otherwise, you might find someone who will basically rent you their balance sheet for some monthly fee. Not sure who would do that. But someone might.
I don't know what caused this sudden shift. At least the ECP thing is pretty simple. You just declare and show a balance sheet. Whatever you do, don't lie.
I'm still in shock. FX is all I do and it's been a real nice little gravy train. No way I'm going to a bucket shop. Everything I do is integrated with TWS. I always said if ib ever quits fx I will quit trading. I know of no other vehicle that even comes close to fx. And I've traded all of them. What's corn doing today? No, this has to be just a bad dream. My trade will only be half way through by Sep1.
TWS is IB's trading software.
I am in the same boat... I'm very disheartened by the news. They are a great company. Being a US resident really does not help either, or I would switch to Lmax in a heart beat. I have opened a OANDA account for the mean time, but looking for something that isn't a market maker, has lower commissions, and better setup for larger volumes.
I am currently weighing my options:
1. As I am a dual citizen (US and UK) I am thinking of either moving back there (I still have an old bank account there).
2. Look into gaining the ECP title. I have heard some people say you can setup an offshore private trust to for a few thousand to gain it. Or state that a 200k account at 50:1 leverage makes you eligible for the 10M clause. I don't know validity of these statements however.
3. And my least favorite is using some sketchy offshore brokers that take US residents, put a tenth of my account in and use the high leverage.
Any more information you find out please share, I will as well. Hopefully we can find a suitable replacement or solution.
I am in the same boat... I'm very disheartened by the news. They are a great company. Being a US resident really does not help either, or I would switch to Lmax in a heart beat. I have opened a OANDA account for the mean time, but looking for something that isn't a market maker, has lower commissions, and better setup for larger volumes.
I am currently weighing my options:
1. As I am a dual citizen (US and UK) I am thinking of either moving back there (I still have an old bank account there).
2. Look into gaining the ECP title. I have heard some people say you can setup an offshore private trust to for a few thousand to gain it. Or state that a 200k account at 50:1 leverage makes you eligible for the 10M clause. I don't know validity of these statements however.
3. And my least favorite is using some sketchy offshore brokers that take US residents, put a tenth of my account in and use the high leverage.
Any more information you find out please share, I will as well. Hopefully we can find a suitable replacement or solution.
Jason Rogers
ET Sponsor
FXCM is regulated by the CFTC to offer forex trading in the US and will continue to do so. In fact, latest financial data from the CFTC show traders have more money on deposit with FXCM than any other US-regulated forex broker.
On the No Dealing Desk (NDD) forex execution we provide to all Standard accounts (5k minimum) and Active Trader accounts (25k minimum), we offset each client order one-for-one with the best prices from competing liquidity providers.
That means we don't take the market risk on the other side of your trades, or profit from your losses, or lose from your profits. Instead, we profit from your trading volume and even provide commission discounts for high volume traders.
As high volume traders yourselves, you might be especially interested in a trial of our new Market Depth indicator. (free to all Standard and Active Trader account holders)
Last edited:
Jason Rogers
ET Sponsor
Hi Aetrade,
The terms ECN and DMA are often used interchangeably in retail forex. Could you clarify what exactly you are looking for when you ask whether we are ECN or DMA?
As mentioned above, FXCM uses the term NDD to describe the No Dealing Desk forex execution we provide to all Standard and Active Trader accounts, where each client order is offset one-for-one with the best prices from competing liquidity providers. On the NDD model, we don't profit from client losses or lose from client profits. Instead, we profit from client trading volume. Therefore, we want you to be profitable, so you will trade more.
Please let me know if you have additional questions about FXCM's trade execution.