Going offshore to escape the CFTC

I have confirmed your information. — Thanks for bringing this info to us.

And welcome to the forum, and to this thread. I hope you will continue to participate.

I tried to open a live account with [B]ProfiForex[/B] this morning, but my application failed.

“USA” is still listed as one of the available choices in their drop-down menu for “country” — but, [I][B]after[/B][/I] you fill in the first screen and click to continue, you get the message circled below.

Several members of this thread (presumably all U.S. residents) trade through ProfiForex.

I would like to hear from you guys, about whether your accounts are being forcibly closed.

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So, what does that leave us with ? TradersWay and Tallinex ? Any others ?

This is depressing to see so many off-shore brokers dumping US clients due to being “pinched” by US regulations. :frowning:

u should try Berndale capital in Australia they are really excellent . no issues at all .

We’re left with 3 Trusted Brokers — [B]Tallinex, Trader’s Way,[/B] and [B]FX Choice[/B] — plus 10 good, vetted and recommended brokers who haven’t (yet) been designated as Trusted Brokers — for a total of 13, in a List that [I]continues to shrink.[/I]

• We need to find new candidates for our List.

• And we need to resolve the issues surrounding two of the brokers already on our List: ForexMetal (Panama) and SmartTradeFX (SVG). Both of these brokers have been listed with WARNINGS on page 1 for some time now.

We need to determine one of two outcomes: either (1) the issues that prompted the warnings have been resolved, and the warnings can now be removed, or (2) one or both of these brokers should be removed from our List.

I’m asking for suggestions and comments regarding these decisions. If you are trading (or have traded) with either of these brokers, or if you have pertinent information about either of them, please weigh in here and help us make informed decisions regarding both of them.

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If you’re going offshore, avoid working with CommexFX. They recently got fined by CySEC for submitting documents with false information regarding the company’s finances.

We should add Finpro Trading to the list they allow U.S residents to sign up with them. I have used them only in demo trading so far but may open live account with them in the future. There is also Nova Fx Trading broker, Forex.ee,iforex, and Forex Optimum that allow U.S clients to join I have demo traded and opened up small live account with Forex.ee.

Thanks for your input, John.

Welcome to this forum, and welcome to this thread.

I will take a look at the brokers you have suggested.

And I hope that other members of this thread will do that, as well.

(We can’t perform due diligence for each other, but we can share information as we uncover it.)

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Paul,

It’s been about 5 months since you’ve posted the above about the possibility of Tallinex having a Daily candle that opens each day at 5:00pm EST. What is the situation now with it?

I will be honest and say I will have to stop using Tallinex and go with another broker that DOES use 5:00pm EST (my trading system depends on it). It is widely known that the time of 5:00pm EST - the close of the New York session - is the unofficial start of the Daily candle and I just don’t understand why Tallinex hasn’t switched to that time.

Some preliminary findings regarding the 6 brokers that john81az recommended for our List:

FinPro (UK)Finpro Trading | A Leading Broker for Forex and CFD with over 1000 instruments

Chat

Hello, how may I help you?

Me: FinPro was recommended to me by a friend. I am a U.S. resident. Do you accept U.S. clients?

yes sir we accept us clients

Me: Thank you. I will continue my reading of your website, and submit my application.

Sure sir take you own time. mean while buzz me if you need any assistence regarding opening account with us

Me: Thanks again.

NovaFX (Panama)https://novafxtrading.com/

(did not contact)

Forex.ee (Estonia)https://www.forex.ee/en_US/ — see screen shot of McAfee warning (below)*

Chat

Me: Good morning. A friend recommended Forex.ee, and I am looking at your website for the first time. I am a U.S. resident. Do you accept U.S. clients?

7:23
Please wait. All agents are busy right now, but soon someone will get free and help you!

Me: Thanks

7:24
Hello, welcome to Forex.ee support
In some conditions we can accept U.S. residents

Me: What are the conditions?

7:26
I’m not in position to discuss exact circumstances, but I advise you to fill in the registration form on our website. Compliance department will revise it and answer within one working day.

Me: Forex.ee is located in Estonia? Is that correct?

7:33
Yes, our main office is located in Estonia

Me: Thanks. I will contact you again shortly.

7:36
You are always welcome

iForex (Greece - registered in BVI) — Trade Shares, Commodities, Indices and Forex Online at iFOREX

Chat (no response from the broker)

Me: Good morning. A friend recommended iForex to me. I am a U.S. resident. Do you accept U.S. clients?

(no response)

Me: Are you there?

(no response)

Forex Optimum (Russia - registered in SVG) — Forex Optimum

Chat (no response from the broker)

Send us a message
Leave your message in the form below, and we will receive it by e-mail!

Me: A friend recommended Forex Optimum to me. I am a U.S. resident. Do you accept U.S. clients?

(no reply – chat, or email)

SFX Markets - SFX Global Ltd (SVG) — https://www.sfx-markets.com/

Chat

Maria Angelopoulos has joined the chat
08:23 - Maria Angelopoulos: Hello
08:23 - Maria Angelopoulos: How can I help you?

08:24 - You: Good morning. A friend recommended SFX Markets. I am a U.S. resident. Do you accept U.S. clients?

08:25 - Maria Angelopoulos: We do not accept US citizens.
08:25 - Maria Angelopoulos: But we can accept residents
08:27 - Maria Angelopoulos: If you need more details I can recommend you to contact our customer relations department

08:27 - You: Thank you, Maria. I am both a resident and a citizen of the U.S. So, I guess we can’t do business. Thanks, anyway.

08:29 - Maria Angelopoulos: You can also open a company outside of US
08:29 - Maria Angelopoulos: And on the name of your company you can open a corporate account

08:31 - You: I see that your corporate address is in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But, your telephone number is in country code 357 which is Cyprus. Where are you located?

08:33 - Maria Angelopoulos: Our support team and partners are from Cyprus
08:34 - Maria Angelopoulos: The Company is registrated in ST.Vincet
08:42 - Maria Angelopoulos: Sir will you have other questions?

08:44 - You: Not at the present time, Maria. Thank you for your assistance.

08:44 - Maria Angelopoulos: Thank you, Sir and have a nice day!


  • More on Forex.ee

When I tried (several times) to access the webpage to open a live account, I got this disturbing warning from one of my security apps (I did not proceed to that webpage) —

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Strange when I go to the registration page I don’t get any warning messages from my antivirus program. I know when I used to have McAfee they would warn about sites that were trusted so most likely the case here too. They even have their own thread on Forex Factory along with other major forums.

Webroot and Malwarebytes did not give me any warning either. Both of these can be pretty touchy too, but no warnings here.
Thanks for all the work you do on this thread Clint! :slight_smile:

Hi. I’m opening a Live FinPro MetaTrader ECN account, with their minimum of $100.

They claim to have tight spreads, and I have software to measure that so I’ll report the
spreads over a 24 hour period on an hourly basis across the 28 major currency pairs.
I’ll also report that same info for Tradersway.

As a U.S. resident and citizen, so far no problems with the FinPro application, I’ll follow up…

My main reason for this is that I use Tradersway right now, and they have very good spreads,
better at times than Dukascopy. However, and I don’t want to pick any fights here, Tallinex
has spreads which are 2x wider than those of Tradersway so I’m looking for a narrow spread brokerage
with high performance; hence I want to evaluate FinPro live. And I want a “backup” brokerage…

I’m also hoping that leverages are negotiable.

hyperscalper

OK, wow, the FinPro MT4 ECN account shows spreads which are about
66% of Tradersway’s spreads, which I would already regard as OK. This is very
good news that FinPro spreads appear about 2/3 of those on Tradersway !!

For example, we’re seeing somewhere between 2.0 and 2.3 PIPs in NZD/JPY
on Tradersway, where FinPro MT4 is showing a remarkable 1.0 to 1.6 PIP
range.

So, for micro-scalping and price-sensitive trading, FinPro looks like a real “pro” !! :slight_smile:

BUT THERE’S MORE…
Also, the MT4 connection status shows the “direct connect” colors. :slight_smile: This means
much much faster executions.

And as a last test, it runs under Generic MetaTrader 4 (doesn’t need the broker’s version)
which is required for my usage of the NJ4X.com multi-terminal framework !!!

This isn’t the exhaustive study I promised (coming later), but just a first impression.

Only downside is FinPro offers 200:1 leverage and Tradersway is more generous
up to 500:1 or so… Again, I’d like to see whether leverages are privately negotiable…

Technically, this one appears to be a very definite “keeper” :slight_smile:

hyperscalper

I was only thinking the other day how quiet it’s been in this thread, so nice to have something I can respond to :slight_smile:

Yes - it has! Unfortunately, the approach we intended to use proved less resilient than anticipated, so we’ve been exploring alternative solutions. I’m hoping to provide a more complete answer over the coming days.

The main reason for NOT switching is pretty-much the same as your reason for us TO switch… we’ve got thousands of clients who base their strategies on our current server time and would be unhappy if we changed things… that’s why we were looking for a way to accommodate everyone.

No offence taken, but just to put things into perspective, our Pro spreads are pretty reasonable (if not excellent) compared with many brokers (even those who don’t accept US residents), and we charge a very reasonable commission on Pro accounts.

True, our Micro spreads aren’t razor-thin, but that needs to be put in perspective…

  1. Tallinex is ECN-STP, not 50/50 like many brokers
  2. there aren’t many (actually, almost no) Liquidity Providers that accept micro lots
  3. those that will don’t offer the keenest spreads

Rather than follow in the footsteps of many brokers and simply trade against micro account clients (which is how narrow micro spreads are usually achieved), Tallinex passes all trades into the market because it hands off the risk (good for us), and it’s ultimately fairer to clients (good for them).

Furthermore, part of that spread (or commission, in the case of Pro accounts) goes towards funding:

a) the ‘sub-1ms latency’ VPSs that Tallinex offers free to all live-account clients
b) the most genuine and transparent deposit bonus offered by any broker, anywhere

Please also remember that we offer leverage up to 1:1000 - quite unusual for a true ECN-STP broker.

So, for someone who truly needs ultra-thin Micro spreads (and those who just can’t see the big picture and only fixate on spreads), Tallinex probably isn’t the right initial choice.

However, for traders seeking the safety (if anyone can even use that word these days!) of a solid brokerage that’s been a magnet for large-account clients and money managers from around the world since day 1 (and for those who eventually learn the hard way that narrow spreads come at a cost), Tallinex could be exactly what your looking for.

Just sayin’

Okay, yes, that does make sense. I didn’t think about the dilemma your company has in regards to your current clients with your current sever time versus clients that want the 5:00pm EST time. I do see the problem you are having with the 2 different server times.

It is just too bad Tallinex didn’t think ahead and from the beginning have your Daily candle start at the 5:00pm EST time (sorry, I don’t know what it is in gmt time). I just think that, given a choice, the majority of people in forex would prefer the unofficial Daily opening candle of 5:00pm EST.

I have had an account with Profiforex for about 3 or 4 years but have used it very little in the past year. I only have about 10 bucks in the account, which still appears on their trading station. According to a chat with them today it looks like the accounts of existing US traders will remain intact and continue to be tradable. Below is my copy of the chat transcript:

Operator Juliet has joined the chat.
Juliet: Dear compounder, welcome to Profiforex! My name is Juliet and I am happy to assist you. How may I help you?
Ticket S60222-T12721 is created. The chat transcript will be attached to this ticket after the transcript is saved by system.
compounder: What will happen to the accounts of US traders you already have?
compounder: Are you no longer accepting US traders?
compounder: The bottom of your website says that American traders will not be serviced.
Juliet: One moment please
Juliet: Thank you for your patience compounder
Juliet: We do appreciate it
Juliet: Our US clients get to keep their account with us
compounder: So you no longer accept new US traders but existing US traders can continue to trade with you?
Juliet: Yes compounder
compounder: Okay, that is good news for your present US traders. Thanks. Goodbye.
compounder: Wait.
Juliet: You are most welcomed compounder, okay
compounder: Why are you no longer accepting US traders?
compounder: New restrictions from the United States authorities?
Juliet: Yes, US regulations
compounder: I understand. Please send a copy of this chat to me by email. Thanks. Goodbye.
Juliet: You are welcomed once again compounder
Juliet: Sure
Juliet: Thank you for coming on Live Chat.
Should you have further questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact us again via live chat or e-mail: <[email protected]>.
Juliet: Enjoy the rest of your day ,bye
Operator Juliet has left the chat.

Hopefully Trump or another Republican will get elected and then finally put an end to this Dodd-Frankenstein nightmare that continues to actually stifle the American economy.

Re: [B]Profiforex (Seychelles)[/B]

Thanks for that update, compounder.

Re: [B]LMFX (Macedonia)[/B]

I received an email from LMFX (the sender was not identified by name) asking how LMFX can gain the Trusted Broker designation in our List. Here’s a copy-and-paste of the email:

Hello Clint,

I’m writing you in regards of the trusted broker status at the topic that you manage at babypips.
Please let me know what is the procedure of becoming one of the trusted brokers. We do our business in a transparent way and will do our best to fit in the trusted brokers category.
Looking forward for your reply!

I will send a reply to LMFX today, acknowledging receipt of their email. I will also refer them to THIS POST in which I outlined the history of Trusted Broker designations in this thread.

And finally, I will commit to getting a conversation started in this thread about awarding the Trusted Broker designation to LMFX, and I will encourage qualified representatives from LMFX to participate in that conversation.

I can’t have a conversation with myself, so I need you guys to weigh in on this question:

Should we designate [B]LMFX (Macedonia)[/B] as a Trusted Broker in the Offshore Broker List?

Re: [B]SmartTradeFX (SVG)[/B]

I’m trying to gather more information on the issues that prompted the WARNING which currently appears on the SmartTradeFX listing on page 1. I started by attempting to open a live account with SmartTradeFX, and got stymied at the very first step — on their application, USA is not listed in the drop-down menu for country of residence.

I sent an email to SmartTradeFX, asking for information. Their Live Chat was offline at the time (it was 3am in SVG when I sent it), so I’m waiting for a reply. When I know more, I’ll report it here.

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Hello Clint,

I would like to apologize for not entering my name in the email sent to you. My name is Maria Bachvarova and I am an official representative of LMFX.

Thanks for the given opportunity of becoming designed as a Trusted Broker in case of a positive decision of the thread participants. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have and we will remain at your disposal.

Kind Regards,
Maria Bachvarova
Official LMFX Representative

Thanks, Maria.

While you were submitting your post (which I am just now reading for the first time), I was composing a reply to your email, which I addressed simply to “LMFX”.

From now on, I shall address you by name.

Thanks for your participation in our thread.

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