Going offshore to escape the CFTC

[whywescalp]

I am pretty sure ECN brokers do that too. This is just my opinion. Not a fact.
I never worked for a broker.

Maybe someone on this blog worked or know somebody that works for an ECN broker.
I think we all should know 100% facts how an ECN broker makes money.

Here is an excerpt from forex-central that gives details about all different types of broker types. FYI... An ECN broker makes money on commissions only. What you are refering to is a Dealing Desk Broker not an ECN broker.

DD - Dealing Desk: A dealing desk broker is a market maker. Market makers typically offer fixed spreads and may elect to quote above or below actual market prices at any time. Market makers are always the counterparty of the trader, who doesn't trade directly with the liquidity providers. Market makers get paid through the spreads, and they usually also take the opposite trades of their clients prior to covering themselves (or not) with regards to the liquidity providers.

NDD - No Dealing Desk: An NDD forex broker provides direct access to the interbank market; it can be an STP or STP+ECN broker (see below for STP and ECN broker definitions). With a genuine No Dealing Desk broker, there is no requoting of prices, which means that you can trade during economic announcements without any restrictions. The spreads offered are lower, but they are not fixed, so they can increase significantly when volatility is increasing during major economic announcements. An NDD broker can either charge a commission on each trade or choose to increase the spread.

STP - Straight Through Processing: In STP mode, transactions are fully computerised and are immediately processed on the interbank market without any broker intervention.

ECN - Electronic Communication Network: ECN brokers provide and display real-time order book information (featuring the orders that were processed and the prices offered by banks on the interbank market). They thereby improve market transparency by providing information to all market participants. ECN brokers usually make their money by charging a commission on the traded volume. With ECN brokers, all transactions are directly processed on the interbank market in No Dealing Desk mode.

MTF (Multilateral Trading Facilities): An MTF exchange ensures that buyers and sellers of financial instruments can come together according to non-discretionary rules. An MTF is not a regulated exchange, but it operates under the same rules. MTF rules are transparent and ensure a fair trading system. The broker guarantees price efficiency and the clearing of transactions. Compared to a traditional exchange, a multilateral trading facility provides greater discretion, faster order execution speed and reduced brokerage fees.

Hope this helps

[HyperScalper]

Very interesting.

Yes, I am using NJ4X.com from Java, but it also has a
C-Sharp API . It is compatible with the ubiquitous MT4
but somewhat "future proof" with an MT5 implementation
also. By creating local "pools" of MT4 terminal.exe
processes on Windows (or under WINE on Linux), it
uses fast interprocess communication to distribute
requests to the "servers" (each of which is an actual
MT4 terminal, whose user interface can be exposed,
but is normally hidden).

NJ4X is "thread safe" and very high performance, so
if you are looking for an infrastructure other than the one
you're using now, I can't think of a better one; if you
want to stay in the MT4/5 brokerage space, and are
not looking at FIX or other much more difficult and
expensive techiques.

NJ4X support is good, very responsive, and I have been
able to get quick answers to all of my questions. License
fees are very reasonable, when you consider the value.
Lifetime personal licenses are only $149, and "Pro"
licenses at $500 including source code access. Great.

hyperscalper

[MarcinFX]

No offense but I was not looking for a text book definition.

I think, most of the ECN brokers are HYBRID BROKERS.

​The brokers who directly pass on orders to the liquidity providers or to the real market are considered as A-booking (NDD Model) and when the trading orders of the customer are managed internally - this is known as B-booking (Dealing Desk – market making). The hybrid model is simply used as a tool in order to manage the risk of trading through traders’ classification. The hybrid model used to serve as hedging tool by placing certain traders in A-Book and placing the others on B-Book in order to minimize the risk and increasing the profit of brokers. The fact is that the vast majority of today's brokers are hybrids – they can promote their "fair ECN / STP" pricing, while still performing dirty practices at their b-books (Dealing Desks).

This is just my option.

Anybody besides HYPERSCALPER can comment on this. ( this would not make any sense to him, so no point of having his opinion on this matter)

I bet Paul from Tallinex would know, and he would not have any problems giving us 100% truth w/o omitting
any details.

[HyperScalper]

MarcinFX,

Let's just stipulate that the entire market is "legally dishonest"
since markets are manipulated. It is the job of the trader to
predict the direction and timing of that manipulation.

But the brokers themselves are not the primary source of
this dishonesty and manipulation. Having said that, I do think
you've got a good point distinguishing these so-called A and
B book approaches. The broker does a great service to smaller
traders by "bridging the gap" between the penny ante traders
with lotsize 0.01 and those who can trade 1.0 and higher.

It may be the case that brokers make a relatively small amount
aggregating small trades. If they did not do that, then smaller
traders would have no market.

My point of view is that brokers perform a great service to
traders, and they are certainly not the enemy. The enemy is,
of course, the "800 pound gorillas" which are the Banks
and other Liquidity Providers. They most definitely move the
markets against Retail players; and they are the entities who
are the real enemies, who definltely take the opposite side of
every Retail trade, and who can move markets according
to a plan, which guarantees their profits.

Get inside their heads, and you are a Winning Trader !

hyperscalper

[MarcinFX]

We found the answer. Great video about brokers.

Former city trader reveals TRUTH behind Forex brokers.

Ok Mr HyperScalper, is there a chance you will agree with this video. I doubt it.

[sknight1]

I received a questionable email this morning from Capital city markets. Due to recent increase in spam / junk mail, I fear my email may have been hacked.

Debit card deposits have been offline for the past ten days or so when I log into the client area / back office. But I’m wondering if this also isn’t part of the hack.

Has anyone else received a similar email from CCM broker ??? Notice there’s no advisory warning re forex trading at the bottom.

I asked if they could provide specific dates & dollar amounts of the deposits & they did.

Still… wouldn’t a problem with their debit card processor be their issue & not mine…?? The money was transferred from my account.

——>>

Dear ——-

Regretfully, we have to inform you that difficulties have arisen with the payment service provider that accepted your debit/credit card deposit on our behalf, and the funds have not been passed through to us. As a result, we have no option but request that you to contact your card issuer and dispute the deposit for non-delivery.

Since your deposit was never completed, we will need to set your account to read-only until new funds have been deposited.

If you wish to continue trading then you will need to re-deposit by bank wire or Bitcoin such that funds have been received by Capital City Markets no later than 27/10/2017.

If you do not wish to re-deposit (or fail to do so by 27/10/2017) then please be aware that your account will be suspended and any open trades closed at market on that date.

If you have made deposits into your trading account using other payment options (such as wires and BTC deposits) in addition to card deposits, please inform us as soon as possible so we can work towards a solution together.

Regards,

Capital City Markets

[HyperScalper]

I watched this video and have seen many on similar topics.

If I get accurate executions, and I see that this broker’s price does
not deviate from a “reference broker” such as Dukascopy, then I
know they are not giving me false pricing.

The guy starts the video stating that most of these broker details
are unlikely to affect a trader’s success or failure.

Just use a “quality” ECN/STP broker with accurate Order Entry
who makes Commission only, and you can be assured you
can’t blame your Trading Failures on the broker ! LOL

What else can I say?

hyperscalper

[foreverforex2]

Yes. I awoke to this same email this morning. Funds were processed and charged by my CC company so don’t see how this is our problem. Can you share their reply to your inquries? I have yet to get a response to my reply to them. Very disturbing.

[sknight1]

Thanks for the response ! Nice to know I’m not alone in this issue.

I agree. CCM is the one responsible for vetting their card processor. That’s why I’m wondering if this is a hack email & not actually from CCM.

Will you do me a favor? Will you log into the back office & click “funding (card)” & tell me if you get the pop up that states “debit card processing facilities are temporarily unavailable” (or something similar)…???

I’m just curious if you’re seeing the same thing that I’m seeing.

I have not responded to their email any further. I wanted to post here & see if I was the only one receiving this email or if there were others.

Maybe Clint will have an idea as to how we should proceed.

[MarcinFX]

Yes I agree.
I also think, even with oanda you can make money.
We raised the lots slightly with Oanda. So far so good.
Lots of peolpe think if there is conflict of interest you can not make money. I think you can.

[foreverforex2]

I do get the unavailable message as well.

[sknight1]

Okay, thank you. We’re definitely seeing the same thing. Only difference is you used a credit card & I used my bank debit card.

Let’s see if Clint comes in & offers some suggestions this weekend.

I’m going to start researching US based futures brokers. I’ve done some good trading over the past few months but these off shore brokers & their shenanigans are getting on my nerves. I’m considering trading currencies as futures contracts & other futures markets as well.

I won’t be surprised if Capital City markets refuses to process a withdrawal of my account balance as long as they think I owe them money. Just another good reason to not leave a large balance with a broker.

[foreverforex2]

Here is reply I got from CCM - seems like it’s not a hack, but I still don’t see how this falls on me to sort out with my CC company. I don’t know that CC company is going to go for it. Anyone else have thoughts?:

Dear xxxxxxx,

You, as the client, got charged almost immediately and our payment provider confirmed that. But to avoid several days/weeks worth of delays, deposits are “credited” by us to begin with - even before we receive the actual funds from your deposit.

Since we have never received the funds then please dispute all the card deposits you made to CCM and re-deposit disputed amount by bank wire transfer or bitcoin. Please let us know once you have done it.

xxxx Card deposit (xxxxx) 2017/09/15 18:34:39 Deposit USD - US Dollar xxxx
xxxx Card fee (xxxx) 2017/09/15 18:34:39 Withdrawal USD - US Dollar -xxxx

We are very sorry for the inconveniences.

—

Client Support

Capital City Markets Limited
Vantu House, 133 Santina Parade
Elluk, Port Vila, Efate
Vanuatu

t: +44-207-442-5903
e: info@capitalcitymarkets.com

[sknight1]

Thank you for posting that. I’ve been trying to get in touch with someone I know in the accounting dept at my bank but they seem to be out of the office today. I don’t think my bank is going to go for it either. Which would mean, I assume, it will be me who’s on the hook to wire them the dollar amount in question.

I agree with you, it’s not right. I never had this problem with Tallinex. And I have a difficult time believing that it takes “days / weeks” for a transaction to be processed in this day & age. We are in a global economy… banks / CC companies know that & have the technology to process those transactions quickly. This is still very suspicious to me. The earliest transaction that they are questioning for me, is dated in July. That’s absurd.

Clint, any thoughts ?

[foreverforex2]

wow - july! that’s crazy, mine was sept, which could almost make sense.

[sknight1]

Yep, July, August, & September. Three deposits. July is the oldest one in question. Which is ridiculous… like I said, global economy. Money can be moved almost instaneously these days. That’s why I’m very suspicious of the emails from CCM.

[sknight1]

I just received another email from Capital City Markets. It looks as tho they might have someone reading this thread. Or, others are voicing the same complaints that we are.

Again, this email does not contain their contact information & advisory warning at the bottom. Which also makes me suspicious.

This is not the “complicated situation” that they are saying it is. It is their job to to vet & do due dilligence in choosing a payment processor.

——->>>

We apologize for the inconvenience, confusion and frustration that our earlier email and card dispute request may have caused, but our number-one priority always has to be the safety of client funds.

Sadly, recent actions by the payment service provider that processed your deposit has caused us to question their integrity - forcing us to ask affected clients to dispute their transaction via their card issuer (bank/financial institution).

To do so, please reach out to your card issuer (bank/financial institution) and explain that you wish to dispute a charge due to Services not provided - you will be able to find details of affected transactions on the Funding > Ledgers page of your Client Area.

** This ONLY affects card deposits made to CCM accounts

If your card issuer has follow-up questions (or is unwilling to process the dispute) then please let us know immediately - our prime objective is the safe return of your funds, and we will do whatever is required to ensure that. Please remember that we are available 24 hours per day (UCT) from Monday to Friday, and will be extending support hours this weekend to ensure that all clients get timely responses to their questions.

We particularly wish to thank those clients who have already been in touch and were so understanding of the situation.

Here are answers to some common questions:

Q: How do I know which card(s) / transactions are affected?
A: If in doubt, please email us (info@capitalcitymarkets.com) right away - we will be able to provide any transaction details you may need, but you should be able to find the information you require by looking on the Funding > Ledgers page of your Client Area.

Q: I deposited months ago! You said the funds the funds were on my account!
A: Yes, but this is a complicated situation. Payment service providers accept payments on behalf of a merchant (i.e. CCM), but the funds charged to a card are not instantly deposited with the merchant. Instead, they are held by the payment service provider for a period of time in case of later disputes between the client and the merchant. It is perfectly normal for payment service providers to hold a large rolling reserve which merchants are forced to accept, and the perceived risk (Forex is considered high risk) determines the percentage and hold time of that rolling reserve. In order to offer faster transaction times, merchants take the word of the payment service provider that the transaction was successful and treat the payment as received before they physically have the cash in their own bank account. In the case of brokers, that involves crediting a client’s trading account and allowing trading to begin long before the broker actually receives those deposit funds.

Q: My card issuer is saying that I cannot dispute the charge because it took place more than X days ago - what should I do?
A: That time limit does not apply in cases of fraudulent activity, and we (as the merchant) are asking you to dispute the transaction due to the fraudulent activity of the payment service provider involved - ensuring that your funds are safely returned to you.

Q: My card issuer said this may take longer than a week - what should I do?
A: We would ask you to re-deposit in good time (so that funds are on your account by the 27th), but if that is not possible then please contact us urgently so we can work out a solution and try to speed up the process.

Q: I have deposited using a wire transfer AND a card - what should I do?
A: Please reach out to info@capitalcitymarkets.com so that your specific case can be reviewed and we can formulate a solution.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us - we appreciate your understanding and are here to help resolve this difficult situation.

Regards,

Capital City Markets

[Clint]

@sknight1 and @foreverforex2

I’ve read your posts regarding the CCM fubar.

I have never experienced an issue like this, in which a middle-man in the funds-transfer chain is withholding (or has stolen) the funds, so I can only guess at how you might proceed going forward.

Let me start by saying that the emails you have received look authentic. They repeatedly reference the correct email address for CCM (info@capitalcitymarkets.com). I don’t think a hack has occurred here.

If I were in your situation, I would begin by contacting my bank (or credit card issuer, as the case may be). I would give the bank/issuer all the information received from CCM, and I would ask two questions: (1) is CCM handling this matter in the proper fashion, and (2) does the bank/issuer have the name and contact information of the payment processor alleged to have stolen the funds – if the bank/issuer does not have that information, I would demand it from CCM.

In the case of a deposit made by bank debit card (@sknight1), these questions will probably have to wait until Monday. In the case of a credit card deposit (@foreverforex2), the card issuer’s customer service department should be available over the weekend.

CCM’s allegation that payments are routinely delayed for weeks or months seems suspicious to me, and I would discuss this issue with my bank or card issuer, as well. Also, CCM’s statement that the relatively risky nature of the forex brokerage business is somehow a factor in all of this makes no sense to me – none of that so-called risk involves the payment processor.

Finally, I would not rush to make additional (duplicate) deposits to CCM. I, for one, would require more information, before I would be willing to continue my relationship with this broker.

Please keep us updated on this matter.

[sknight1]

Thanks for your response Clint. You’ve given me some good info to go on when I visit with my bank on Monday. I had the same thought about their comment that forex was risky when the problem is with the payment processor.

I think the whole situation may be grounds to remove them from the approved brokers list. Unless that’s already happened… it’s been a while since I’ve checked in on this thread.

[Clint]

[quote=“sknight1, post:4732, topic:35612, full:true”]

I think the whole situation may be grounds to remove them from the approved brokers list. Unless that’s already happened… it’s been a while since I’ve checked in on this thread.[/quote]

There has been no change to CCM’s listing in Group 1.

And if a change is to be made, it will only be made after the dust has settled on this funding issue, and everyone has had a chance to weigh in on how to proceed.

The only change I would consider making unilaterally, without the advice and consent of the members, would be a “warning label” added to the CCM listing. But, that would be a little premature, at this point.