[B]dragofx[/B] and [B]marionette[/B] — Thank you both, for the research you are doing.
[B]Shr1k[/B], [B]bravehoststamps[/B], [B]MerchantPrince[/B] and [B]sandpipper[/B] — Thanks for your participation in this conversation.
[B]o990l6mh[/B] — Thanks for the [I]Futures[/I] article, Magnus. It’s not off-topic, at all.
I found the following paragraphs to be especially chilling (I have added the red highlighting):
A second regulatory gap closed by the Dodd-Frank Act relates to the list of the types of otherwise regulated entities that can act as counterparties to retail customers in off-exchange forex futures. The list currently includes banks, insurance companies, investment bank holding companies, FCMs, broker-dealers and “financial institutions.” Financial institutions are defined to include a range of highly regulated types of businesses, including, for example, federal or state credit unions and depository institutions covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The definition of “financial institution” also includes “foreign banks” as defined in the International Banking Act of 1973, which covers any institution in any foreign country that engages in activities usually associated with banking in that particular jurisdiction.
The “foreign bank” exemption has become an increasingly popular means for forex counterparties to circumvent U.S. regulatory requirements designed to protect retail customers. The Dodd-Frank Act addresses this circumvention by providing that a financial institution only qualifies as an enumerated counterparty if it is a United States financial institution. This could dramatically impact U.S. retail customers who currently trade forex with entities located outside the U.S. When this provision becomes effective in mid-2011, it may be illegal for non-U.S. financial institutions to offer retail forex trading to U.S. customers. The Act also eliminates insurance companies and investment bank holding companies from the list of enumerated counterparties.
My comments: Notice the word “futures” in the first sentence above. Currency futures and spot forex are two entirely different markets. The word “futures” may have slipped into that sentence inadvertently. But, you would expect precision in the use of that word by a “senior vice president” at the National [B]Futures[/B] Association.
If that word “futures” is straight out of the legislation, then possibly it can be argued that this part of the law does not (yet) apply to the spot forex market. However, if such a loophole exists, it’s only a matter of time before it’s closed.
The handwriting is on the wall: people like Dodd and Frank, and agencies like the CFTC, are intent on making all U.S. residents hostages of financial institutions which they — the ruling class — regulate and control.
Senator Christopher Dodd and Representative Barney Frank — who are largely responsible for the Fanny Mae / Freddie Mac housing bubble and its worldwide consequences — have now inflicted their megalomania on the broader financial landscape.
These two moral reprobates represent everything that is wrong with American government.