Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Broker Discussion Forex Brokers
2725

Great point adamco. As U.S. traders, we need to take a timeout from the negativity towards these welcoming offshore firms (at least the credible, non-scammers), and say thank you to them for a few things:

  1. Taking us on in the first place (just take a minute and look at the massive list of those firms saying “no way” to US clients). There is no doubt that telling the CFTC to pound sand by accepting us requires a brass pair.

  2. Offering what’s traditionally been an institutional liquidity environment to retail traders (ECN). As Tallinex and FX Choice have already stated - they ate the losses of poor trading/risk management decisions performed by clients during the CHF spike. Try and find other businesses in the world we live in that will do the same for you.

  3. Keep in mind, without their services, some of us due to our trading styles would forced be out of the game completely (myself included) until the abomination known as Dodd-Frank gets repealed in the States (if ever).

2726

Agreed, I think some people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Until Tallinex gives me a reason not to be their customer, I’m staying put.

2727

[QUOTE=Mopar08;682036]Great point adamco. As U.S. traders, we need to take a timeout from the negativity towards these welcoming offshore firms

I don’t see nothing negative said about them. As it stands there with drawl is a bit confusing KISS keep it simple stupid :slight_smile:

2728

+1 !!!

2729

I’ve been keeping up with all the threads on which way to turn as to a legit offshore broker.
Last week I made my choice, FXChoice, no less…

So far, so good. Their spreads are exceptional, although they do charge a commission.

At first, I had trouble with getting started with them, but after a chat session, and a telephone call I got set up, and am now back trading forex. Time will tell if FXChoice is the right broker.

I hope this might be of help to some who are still in the dark as to what broker to choose.

JoseKanuc

2730

Same here - sent FX Choice a wire to fund my live account tonight. Hopefully should be back up and and trading soon.

2731

I’d be interested to know why you prefer FXCoice to Tallinex.

2732

I would like to know why not many people have been talking about Profiforex?

I’ve been watching this thread about a month or two, been through most of the broker’s demo accounts including Tallinex, and Profiforex seems to beat all the other brokers regarding spread and fees.

Just would like to know why not many people are talking about Profiforex as they seem to ask for the lowest commissions and their customer support is pretty great as well…

I’m not advertising them, I just would like to know if there’s something I don’t see about them…

2733

I have been keeping an eye on this forum for a long time and the dedication of everyone involved especially Clint is extraordinary. I am currently using Tallinex and it is comforting to read others experiences with them. So far I am impressed with how quickly they respond to e-mails and have not seen any issues with order execution, it is quick. Right now the highest Leverage I was allowed in the micro account is 1:600 and Tallinex has said they would allow more in the future based on balance size, and other factors. Happy so far but can’t wait to be allowed 1:1000.

TimF - I have used Profiforex before and one thing that I found odd is when I asked them in live chat what documents after registering a live account would I need to upload or verify in the future and they said none. No ID or address document asked for at registration and they said they would not need any when I would withdraw. I only deposited and used $10 with them and did not get a chance to see the withdrawal process. Also, with only $10 in my live account with them, I had a margin call and even after 3 weeks, the balance, equity, and Free margin say -$15.

I have become much more serious about using auto sl and tp to stay safe, will share as much as I can.

2734

Yes, I found this strange as well. I asked them in a live chat why they didn’t need any verification, and from what I remember, they said they just simply don’t require it, which I can understand under Seychelles jurisdiction. If they don’t need verification under their regulators, why bother requiring it right? I did go ahead and upload some verification to Profiforex and got approved in case of problems with my account, but I know it’s not a requirement. This is actually one of the reasons why I went with Profiforex, because I do not have a way of presenting ID at the moment due to some immigration issues, so that does help.

I want to go ahead and deposit $1000 in the coming weeks, I’m not 100 percent sure yet, Tallinex and Sensus also look appealing, but their spreads and commissions are almost double at times or just higher than Profiforex. Not sure how Profiforex gets away with such low spreads.

2735

As a US resident, I looked into setting up an offshore company so I could trade Forex more easily with foreign brokers, and Seychelles was one of the places I checked out. What the formation company told me is that anything “forex” is considered high risk in the Seychelles right now, and that their FSA is keen to show the world that it’s meeting “international standards”, so they’re stomping around with jackboots on. The formation company I spoke with even warned me against opening a bank account with a Seychelles bank (Barclays Seychelles included!) as the FSA was randomly freezing blocks of accounts until the owners could prove where all the funds came from.

So… hearing that a Seychelles broker doesn’t need any ID at all sounds very suspicious - especially when anti money laundering laws in all developed countries make it a requirement.

As for their low spreads, I’m guessing they can offer them because they’re trading against you and hoping that you’re part of the 95% that blow their accounts. I guess time will tell there.

Sadly, I think that FxChoice operates in a similar way - I was attracted by their low spreads (whichever way you look at it, 0.5 pips on a micro account is good for EURUSD) so I opened a live account a few months ago. Trading has been good, but what worried me was finding out that they pay up to 1 pip in rebates to affiliates who send clients to them … basic math says you can’t turn a profit when you pay out 2 times what you earn, so the only explanation I can come up with is that they also trade against you :frowning: I’ve still got my account with them but I won’t be adding more funds. Going to check out Tallinex this week - they do have wider spreads on micro, but I’d rather pay a bit more in spread and know that my broker isn’t waiting for (or helping) me to lose.

2736

Been trading with these guys for 18 months with no issues. I use 4 offshore brokers, all on the list. You are correct, commission is .3 pips round turn and spreads are tight. I have watch price go within .001 of my stop several times and not get hit, so I’m pretty convinced they are STP. Withdrawals are quick, usually have next business day. I also use Forex Broker inc for 18 months, trust them more than any of the options here in the US, I withdrawal by wire free of charge (over $500). I have just recently added FX Choice and Assets FX as I believe diversifying my capital is a top priority just in case.

2737

Because of my forced move to Tallinex, which is going pretty well so far, (I will update after running a few RT’s) I noticed in my research that there are several brokers in Estonia. Does anyone here know why Estonia is a FX broker hot spot?

2738

You might be correct, but I’ll take the other side for a moment. Consider:

  • Affiliates are only a percentage of their total accounts. They could write this down as a marketing expense.
  • They only bucket order from affiliates?
  • Other pairs traded have a larger spread (profit)
  • They have revenue from commissions

I’ve seen mostly positive comments about FxChoice. Since you have an account, maybe you could just ask them directly if they bucket orders from affiliates? It would be interesting to see their answer. I’m considering them and appreciate your post. I’ve noted that Tallinex spreads are wider than several other brokers which makes scalping more of a challenge. I’m still tuning my EA’s to deal with their wider spreads.

2739

Estonia was an ideal location for brokers - an EU country that allowed US-resident clients and offered a great regulatory and tax framework for businesses.

Sadly, they decided to make spot Forex a securities product last year and instituted quite unworkable regulatory requirements. Tallinex were able to relocate, but other brokers have either closed their Estonian offices, or remained but registered as securities dealers in more flexible jurisdictions (though they’ve had to terminate US clients as a consequence).

2740

I have also had good experience with the ForexBrokerInc. They withdrew a big profit withdrawal fairly quickly for me in December. However, thus far I find Tallinex website much more responsive. For example Tallinex was unable to accept credit card deposits, the back office website had a notice that popped up saying ability to accept credit cards was down and they would refund any wiring fees while it was down. Proactive in that sense. However I am glad you shared your experience with these brokers and glad your ForexBrokerInc experience has been similar to mine. I hope others can come out and also share, and help us reward brokers trying to give us what we want despite discouraging regulatory pressure.

2741

I’ve been sitting back, reading your posts in this thread, and staying out of the discussion. Lately, I’ve noticed some pretty positive comments about several of the brokers in our List, and I’m wondering —

Are we, as a group, ready to designate certain brokers as “Recommended” in our Offshore Broker List?

And, if so, how would you guys suggest that we choose which brokers to designate?

I’m thinking about re-formatting the List, to make it neater and easier to read. If you agree that the new format improves the appearance, they I’ll go ahead with it, whether you want to start designating “Recommended brokers”, or not.

In the sample new format shown below, I’ve incorporated a tentative “Recommended broker” label, just to see how it might look. Note that AssetsFX is being used simply as an example, because they follow directly after the “Europe” heading in our List.

If you want to designate one or more of the brokers in our List as “Recommended brokers”, but you don’t like the smiley-face emoticon — well then, old smiley will get kicked to the curb.

This is the current format (using the “Europe” heading and the AssetsFX listing as an example):

Europe

• AssetsFX (Finland) — ECN/STP broker — see posts #2078, #2380, #2381, #2392, and #2490 for more info
Platform: MT4. – Min. initial deposit: 200 USD. – Max. leverage: 200:1. – Min. position size: micro lot (0.01 std lot)
– Spreads: variable (from 0 pips) plus commission (5.20 USD round-turn per std lot, or 0.052 USD round-turn per micro lot)Website: AssetsFX
Email: Contact Us � AssetsFX – Tel: +358-40-324-4839

• Renesource Capital (Latvia) —

(etc)

This is the suggested new format (assuming we designate AssetsFX as “recommended”):

Europe

• AssetsFX (Finland) — Recommended broker :57:

Type: ECN/STP broker. – Regulator: not regulated. – Parent company: Oy Nettico Ltd (Finland). – Est: 2002
Platform: MT4. – Min. initial deposit: 200 USD. – Max. leverage: 200:1. – Min. position size: micro lot (0.01 std lot)
Spreads: variable (from 0 pips) plus commission (5.20 USD round-turn per std lot, or 0.052 USD round-turn per micro lot)Website: AssetsFX
Email: Contact Us � AssetsFX – Tel: +358-40-324-4839
For more info, see posts #2078, #2380, #2381, #2392, and #2490

• Renesource Capital (Latvia) —

(etc)

.

2742

21 minutes worth of chart freeze from Tallinex tonight !!!

First image was when the freeze started, note the time stamp on the vertical line…
Second image is when charts unfroze, note the time stamp on the second vertical line.

Ridiculous !



2743

I have been frozen out on my charts too, this is the first of three times this has happened to me. I do NOT like this at all~

2744

And a second 15 minute freeze just came to an end (see attached charts and the vertical line time stamps).

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