There are already a lot better brokerages in Australia, regulated by the ASIC - such as GoMarkets and VantageFX (the latter even accepts US customers). Moreover, they’ve never had any issues with any country’s regulators, unlike FXOpen with the US CFTC.
I must say that up to now I am very pleased with their service and would like to stay with them.
I trade over their ECN MT4 platform.
Their execution is superb, they never tried to manipulate prices (I always have at least one other ECN reputable broker platform online) and their customer service is reasonably fast with no-nonsense feedback to all my questions.
That is why I am hoping for this sue to be positively solved in their favor, and having an ASIC regulation would give me complete peace of mind for trading with them.
I also think that if this CFTC sue fails not for FXOpen but for all sued brokers that would be good for all forex community.
First I think their new rules are total nonsense and have nothing to do with real protection of forex traders and second think that CFTC is reaching their claws a way beyond their real jurisdiction.
Therefore in this case I am not rooting only for for FXOpen but for all other sued brokers.
However, while they are not regulated with anyone and with that sue over their head, I admit I am reluctant to send them really serious money despite all my good experience with them.
Unfortunately I cannot comment on an ongoing legal case. When the case is resolved, comment will be made here.
Thanks for your patience.
Dear fxfrench,
thank you for your reply.
Do you know when (roughly of course) that will be?
Also, are there any news regarding possible FXOpen’s ASIC or any other regulation?
I’m sorry I can’t give exact timing for these issues to be answered. I am bound to wait for the lawyers to clear any responses and at this time I cannot comment.
As you wish.
However, I can’t see why so much mystery regarding applying for ASIC regulation, unless of course that info was false and you never applied for it, or your application has already been rejected but you don’t want that to be known.
In any case, with your policy of non-transparency in things like that you sure are not helping yourself to be percepted as a serious and trustworthy broker by general traders community.
I am also very sure that is not doing any good to your business too.
Our application status “pending” is clear to see on the ASIC website. How much more transparent do you need?
ASIC regulation is not easy to get for a reason. They are one of the toughest if not THE toughest regulator in the world so it is not uncommon for applications to take a long time to completion.
Can you please send the link where is your status pending?
When I enter “FXopen” on ASIC’s website search engine I don’t get any results?
You should search for AFS licensees on the ASIC website
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
I must admit I am totally confused now.
On ASIC website is stated that FXOpen is already registered with them since 17/5/2010 ?!?
And you claim FXOpen is in pending status with them, while on FXOpen’s website is not stated any regulation?
Can you please explain this confusing situation?
That’s just the business registration details. We cannot state regulatory status on our site until the application is complete.
Australian company registration which is a requirement of the application to ASIC is different to the actual regulation itself.
fxfrech good l uck on your case hope things get resolved quickly (well as quickly as possible) and everything can return to business. I live in the us and can say though the cftc is important to have here they need a size 12 shoe shoved right up there A**.
Just received this:
Dear Client
On January 26, 2011, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) filed a Complaint against FXOpen Investments Inc. (“FXOpen”) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (“District Court”). The Complaint alleges that FXOpen failed to register with the CFTC as a retail foreign exchange dealer prior to engaging in certain forex transactions, as is required by certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and its Regulations.
FXOpen has consented to an Order of the District Court not to conduct such business regulated by the Commodity Exchange Act and its regulations, without properly registering with the CFTC… This requires, among other things, that FXOpen liquidate your open positions and close your account.
Therefore, in 10 days (“Liquidation Date”), FXOpen will liquidate all open positions in your account at closing prices on the Liquidation Date as determined by FX Open’s current pricing platform, and immediately thereafter close your account, unless you liquidate your open positions and close your account prior to the Liquidation Date.
This sucks…
There must be something that we can do they supposedly making these rules to protect us from not good brokers let see now Oanda a US broker always plays with the spread when there is a news break FXCM and gains capital spreads are much higher then the average broker out there and lets not forget the stupid FIFO rule. Can someone please explain to me how does CFTC help the average trader by treat us like kids?.
RELEASE: PR6164-12
January 5, 2012
[B]Illinois Federal Court Imposes $140,000 Civil Monetary Penalty on Foreign Currency Firm, FXOpen Investments Inc., for Acting as an Unregistered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer[/B]
Action part of CFTC’s nationwide sweep against foreign currency firms for failure to register under the 2008 Farm Bill, the Dodd-Frank Act, and CFTC regulations
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a federal court consent order requiring defendant FXOpen Investments Inc. (FXOpen), a foreign firm, to pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty to settle CFTC charges that it illegally solicited members of the public to engage in foreign currency (forex) transactions and operated as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) without being registered with the CFTC (see CFTC Press Release 5974-11, January 26, 2011).
The order, entered on December 22, 2011 by Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, also orders FXOpen to close all U.S. customer accounts and return U.S. customer funds. The order also permanently bars FXOpen from engaging in any conduct that violates the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
Specifically, the order finds that between October 18, 2010, and January 26, 2011, FXOpen acted as an RFED by taking or offering to take the opposite side of customers’ forex transactions without being registered as an RFED, which is in violation of CFTC regulations. The order also finds that during the same time period, FXOpen solicited or accepted customer orders to place forex trades without being registered, which is in violation of the CEA.
In the forex market, entities known as RFEDs or Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) may buy forex contracts from, or sell forex contracts to, individual investors. Under the CEA and CFTC regulations, an entity acting as an RFED or FCM must register with the CFTC and abide by rules and regulations designed for investor protection, including those relating to minimum capital requirements, recordkeeping, and compliance. Further, with a few exceptions, such an entity also must be registered with the CFTC if it solicits or accepts orders from U.S. investors in connection with forex transactions conducted at an RFED or FCM.
The CFTC strongly urges the public to check whether a company is registered before investing funds. If a company is not registered, an investor should be wary of providing funds to that company.
A company’s registration status can be found at: BASIC Search.
The CFTC also strongly urges members of the public to visit the CFTC Consumer Protection websites below before investing money in the forex market:
CFTC Consumer Advisory: Forex Fraud
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Fraud Advisory from the CFTC: Foreign Currency Trading (Forex) Fraud
Foreign Exchange Currency Fraud: CFTC/NASAA Investor Alert
The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Stephanie Reinhart, Joseph Konizeski, Judith McCorkle, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner.
Media Contacts
Dennis Holden
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