Not comparable at all.
What law is for example Topstep breaking with what they are doing?
It's extremely easy to verify if someone is on an actual live funded account and if the orders go to the exchange in the futures market, CFTC would have caught on a long time ago if that wasn't the case. Other funding firms like OneUp etc have been around for much longer than MFF and it's much easier to verify than a OTC product.
1. Read the full complaint, especially:
Count V: Off-Exchange Retail Commodity Transactions in Violation of Section 4(a) of the Act, 7 U.S.C. § 6(a)
Against All Defendants
151. The allegations set forth in paragraphs 1 through 101 above are re- alleged and incorporated as if fully set forth herein.
152. Under Section 4(a) of the Act, 7 U.S.C. § 6(a), it shall be unlawful , subject to certain exceptions not applicable here, for any person to enter into, to execute, to confirm the execution of, or to conduct any office or business anywhere in the United States, for the purpose of soliciting or accepting any order for, or otherwise dealing in, any transaction in, or in connection with, a contract for the purchase or sale of a commodity for future delivery unless, inter alia: (a) such transaction is conducted on or subject to the rules of a board of trade which has been designated or registered by the Commission as a contract market or derivatives transaction execution facility for such commodity; and (b) such contract is executed or consummated by or through a contract market.
2. Be clear on the Express Funded Account and the terms.
https://www.topstep.com/terms-of-use/
“Simulated Account” means an account using real-time simulated Data and any accounts relating to tracking education courses provided by Topstep including those described in Section 7. Trades in a simulated account are not made in live markets and do not incur actual profits or losses.
The Sites and Services include access to tools for simulated exchange trading or trading with other instruments on other financial markets, the provision of analytical tools, training and educational materials, and other ancillary services. Financial market information is used in the simulated trading; however, you acknowledge that any trading that you perform through the Services is not real.
You also acknowledge that the funds provided to you for Simulated Trading are fictitious and that you have no right to possess those fictitious funds beyond the scope of their use within the Sites and Services, and in particular that they may not be used for any actual trading and that you are not entitled to the payment of those funds. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, you will not be paid any remuneration or profits based on the results of your fictitious trading, nor will you be required to pay any losses.
I would love for any of the principals of the trading evaluators to provide a clear explanation as to how their implementation of live sim for funded accounts that pays people based on their trading performance in sim, less commissions (sim commissions are also spoken to by the CFTC complaint) is compliant with Section 4(a) of the Act, 7 U.S.C. § 6(a)
