Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Broker Discussion Forex Brokers
846

[B]Trader4Life[/B], we probably will not have to wait much longer for the answer to your question.

July 16 (exactly 2 weeks from today) is the date for implementation of the last batch of forex regulations. Some offshore brokers have already decided against U.S. clients, in anticipation of the July 16 regs (Dukascopy in Switzerland is a recent case). Others are standing pat, and have not made a decision (ACM in Switzerland is a notable example).

The latest issue of [I][B]FX Trader Magazine[/B][/I] contains interviews with Alain Broyon, CEO of Dukascopy, and with Marc Burki, CEO of Swissquote Bank (which has recently acquired ACM). Here are two excerpts:

From the Dukascopy interview:

[B]FX Trader Magazine:[/B] Following the recent US regulations, will Dukascopy Bank still be able to accept US clients from 16 July onwards?

[B]Alain Broyon:[/B] Pursuant to a change in US regulation, Dukascopy Bank has decided to provide its technology in the USA via US Brokers with effect after 15th of July 2011. To satisfy its clients, Dukascopy Bank is developing partnerships with some of the most famous and reputable US Brokers, in order to allow clients to continue trading with Dukascopy Bankā€™s technology.

From the ACM/Swissquote interview:

[B]FX Trader Magazine:[/B] About the new US regulation: will ACM/Swissquote still be able to accept clients who are resident in the US from July onwards?

[B]Marc Burki:[/B] This is an important question ā€“ we are still evaluating the situation in order to find a solution which fits best to all involved parties.

Note: I have changed the name of ACM to [B]ACM/Swissquote[/B] in our List, to reflect the recent acquisition.

ACM/Swissquote is still on our list of offshore brokers who [B]will[/B] accept new U.S. clients, and I hope they remain so.

To access [I][B]FX Trader Magazine[/B][/I], go to:

Forex Trading Magazine | Learning Forex Trading | Forex Currency Market | Online Currency Trading

847

FYI

Look like citibankfxpro here in the us pretty much can get around CFTC regs like no hedging and fifo 'cause they are a bank. 50:1 leverage though. Sorry if this is duplicate info.

848

Investors Europe - Offshore Stock Brokers Gibraltar online trading platforms FX Futures Stocks CFDs: U.S. Persons
says:

For MiFID Products :

A ā€˜U.S. Personā€™ is defined as one who is permanently resident inside the USA.

The SECā€™s interpretation of U.S. federal securities laws limits Non U.S. Broker-Dealers to working with those permanently resident outside the USA. Non U.S. broker-dealers cannot approach and/ or solicit U.S. resident persons because an Internet Web site is interpreted by the SEC as being the same as a telephone call to a client.

Non U.S. broker-dealers maintaining an Internet Web site can thus only accept a U.S. person if he or she has not been solicited either directly or indirectly through accessing their web sites under the ā€˜unsolicitedā€™ exemption Rule 15a-6. U.S. customers wanting to work with Non U.S. broker-dealers can thus only approach Non U.S. broker-dealers under Rule 15a-6 if they have not been to their web sites and should be prepared to certify this fact in writing to ensure compliance with applicable law.

So maybe some of these brokers might take you if you call and offer to certify in writing that you have never seen their web siteā€¦I think that that is what they are hinting at in this text.

By the way on closer examination the above only applies to Mifid products (stocks etc.). it looks as if they will take U.S. forex customers without limitation if they only want to deal in cash Forex.

See also

Investors Europe - Offshore Stock Brokers Gibraltar online trading platforms FX Futures Stocks CFDs: Offshore Stockbrokers

849

Wouldnā€™t it be cool if forex brokers around the world would band together, and tell the little tin-horn dictators running the regulatory agencies in this country to go pound sand?

All the offshore brokers on our List should sign a MEMO something like this one:

[B]MEMO to CFTC, NFA, SEC, FINRA, FRB, IRS, and all other U.S. regulatory agencies

From: The Offshore Brokers of the World[/B]

We would like to suggest that you people in the Nanny States of America consult a map of the world, and take note of where your country ends and the rest of the world begins.

You can do any dumb thing you care to do inside your own country. But, outside your country, you are nothing ā€” you have no jurisdiction. Your silly antics ā€” pretending to rule the world ā€” are becoming really tiresome.

In the future, stick to harassing brokers inside your own borders, and stay the hell OUT of our business.

850

Shouldnā€™t that be done by the United States people first??

If that is in their interest of course.

Because they are the ones who Pay Taxesā€¦ join the Militaryā€¦ etcā€¦

851

Thank you as always for great information and wonderful work, Clint.

You know, most Americans celebrated July 4th. I wasnā€™t in that much of a celebratory mood, however, and itā€™s not because I donā€™t love this country - I do. Itā€™s hard for me to celebrate our liberty when weā€™re being deprived of our liberty in so many different ways, on so many different fronts.

Itā€™s off topic, but a loved one of mine was murdered by the US government last decade. An innocent man who met a violent, unjust death, deprived of his Constitutional rights. Iā€™m not equating the loss of our liberty in the narrow area of forex to that, but there is a common thread. Both things were the result of enormous, unchecked, unconstitutional federal government that has been built up over the last 100 years. And everyone should know that our rights and liberties arenā€™t just being trampled on the Forex front.

852

I contacted both RVMarkets, and Smart Trade FX, and asked them:
1.) Do you accept US residents?
2.) Who is your regulatory body?
That was two weeks agoā€¦No answer from either. Doesnā€™t bode well, but I shall try again.
Another question for the forum folks: Does anyone have any information on traders that are operating under the new rules here in the US? In other words, how are they doing?
John

853

Update on TDFX, no longer accepting US Clients and any current U.S clients need their positions closed and funds withdrawn by Jul 8th. Plenty of notices eh?? Glad I pulled from them months ago. On LiteForex now. BTW, sry if this is old news. I just got this email today.

Dear Valued Client,

You might be aware of the recent changes in U.S. regulations regarding off-exchange retail foreign exchange. The new regulatory rules-implemented by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. government agency responsible for the regulation of retail foreign exchange-apply to retail forex transactions that are offered or entered into by entities registered with CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

Tadawul FX Ltd. is regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) and complies with all applicable European Union laws and regulations, including those under the European Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). Although, Tadawul FX does not have any offices or operations in the US and is not subject directly to the licensing laws of U.S. regulators, further to our compliance checks it appears that the CFTC does not allow retail forex transactions to be provided to U.S. clients by entities not registered with the CFTC.

Due to the regulatory restrictions in the U.S., it is with great regret we inform you that Tadawul FX will no longer be able to accept any transactions from U.S. residents from 8th July 2011.

Procedure for USA resident clients

By 8th of July 2011 (22:00 CET) all open positions and all pending orders must be closed. Any positions left open will be automatically closed at the last available price, and all pending orders will be cancelled.

All funds in the trading account must be withdrawn to the original source. To collect all remaining balances from your trading accounts, you are kindly requested to send a withdrawal form, which will be processed once it is received. If you have recently sent funds to your trading account, the funds will be sent back to your original source, as soon as these are received. As of Wednesday 6th July 2011, no deposits will be processed from U.S. residents.

The status of the trading account will be changed to ā€œRead Only,ā€ allowing you to access your account with your existing login details, just to view history and generate reports as you require.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, but unfortunately changes in U.S. regulations are beyond our control. Nonetheless, we will continue to reevaluate the U.S. laws and would be happy to accept U.S. residents in the future, should the laws and regulations change. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with you and would like to thank you for your business. Please feel free to seek independent legal advice to further determine how the regulations affect you or your company.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and will be very glad to help you.

Best Regards,
Tadawul FX

854

here is an email I received from one of the dealers thought to be a ā€œsafe havenā€ for retail residents of the USA.

Dear Valued Client,

You might be aware of the recent changes in U.S. regulations regarding off-exchange retail foreign exchange. The new regulatory rules-implemented by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. government agency responsible for the regulation of retail foreign exchange-apply to retail forex transactions that are offered or entered into by entities registered with CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

Tadawul FX Ltd. is regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) and complies with all applicable European Union laws and regulations, including those under the European Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). Although, Tadawul FX does not have any offices or operations in the US and is not subject directly to the licensing laws of U.S. regulators, further to our compliance checks it appears that the CFTC does not allow retail forex transactions to be provided to U.S. clients by entities not registered with the CFTC.

Due to the regulatory restrictions in the U.S., it is with great regret we inform you that Tadawul FX will no longer be able to accept any transactions from U.S. residents from 8th July 2011.

Procedure for USA resident clients

By 8th of July 2011 (22:00 CET) all open positions and all pending orders must be closed. Any positions left open will be automatically closed at the last available price, and all pending orders will be cancelled.

All funds in the trading account must be withdrawn to the original source. To collect all remaining balances from your trading accounts, you are kindly requested to send a withdrawal form, which will be processed once it is received. If you have recently sent funds to your trading account, the funds will be sent back to your original source, as soon as these are received. As of Wednesday 6th July 2011, no deposits will be processed from U.S. residents.

The status of the trading account will be changed to ā€œRead Only,ā€ allowing you to access your account with your existing login details, just to view history and generate reports as you require.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, but unfortunately changes in U.S. regulations are beyond our control. Nonetheless, we will continue to reevaluate the U.S. laws and would be happy to accept U.S. residents in the future, should the laws and regulations change. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with you and would like to thank you for your business. Please feel free to seek independent legal advice to further determine how the regulations affect you or your company.

855

I had a high hopes for Tadawul. Iā€™m sad to see them cave in to CFTC intimidation.

Later tonight, I will move Tadawul to page 3 of our List.

In a matter of weeks (or, at most, possibly months), our List will be boiled down to those few offshore brokers with the stones to stand up to the bully-tactics of the CFTC.

Those brokers will have earned my respect, and most probably my business.

I wonderā€¦

[B]ā€¦if[/B] the CFTC were to decree that, beginning July 16, they will impose a 50% tax on the gross profits of offshore forex brokers in places like Switzerland and Cyprus,

[B]ā€¦do you think[/B] that brokers like Dukascopy and Tadawul would just cave in and send the money to the CFTC?

856

How the bleep can a US regulatory agency impose a fee on a company that has absolutely no US presence???

God Bless America but thatā€™s going WAY too far.

This isnā€™t about money for Gov. This is about the Investment banks trying to stop the exodus of small investors moving to FX trading. When you canā€™t innovate - litigate.

Think of all the lost commissions since Net based FX trading took off in the last few years.

857

Hi Clint,
Can you specify just what the ā€˜bully-tacticsā€™ are that the CFTC is using? Veiled threats? Pressuring their regulatory agencies?
Does CFTC really stand for Criminals F***king The Citizens?.. LB (Laugh Bitterly).
Thank you for all the work you are putting in on this issue.
John

858

If youā€™re referring to my previous post, I was asking a hypothetical (and sarcastic) question. Fees (and taxes) are not at issue here.

The CFTC has entered into agreements with the regulatory agencies of certain other countries, by which the CFTC ā€” acting as sheriff ā€” essentially makes deputy sheriffs out of those agencies. These agreements are called [B]Memorandums of Understanding,[/B] and to a certain extent, they require those foreign regulatory agencies to adopt and enforce rules and regs dictated by the CFTC.

I have no idea what incentive the regulatory agencies of other countries have to enter into such agreements with the CFTC, and I have no idea why forex brokers in those countries did not fight these agreements.

I suspect that these Memorandums of Understanding are the cause of most of the problems encountered by offshore brokers [B]who otherwise have no presence whatsoever in the U.S.[/B]

The prosecution, several months ago, of 14 foreign brokers (who [B]did[/B] have some degree of ā€œpresenceā€ in the U.S.) was certainly meant to send a warning to every foreign broker in the world that the CFTC is not to be messed with.

Finally, the CFTC contends that any foreign broker having a website on the Worldwide Web which can be viewed by persons inside the borders of the U.S. has a U.S. ā€œpresenceā€ and is soliciting U.S. residents. This is, in my view, a gross abuse of CFTC power, and a clear example of bully-tactics. Itā€™s this sort of thing that leads me to call the CFTC the Commodity Futures Trading Gestapo.

859

I really like the clear way you expess your thoughts.

860

Hey Clint, you can add Accent Forex (Seychelles) to the list. Just finished chatting with them. They dont take clients from the USA anymore.

861

Thanks.

Iā€™ll hold off on this for 48 hours.

Anybody from Accent Forex want to weigh in on this?

862

FXCM is applying FIFO again, and Iā€™m really upset. It completely screws up stops and limits.

Guys, I think weā€™re going to eventually have to emigrate from the US. The CFTC is committed to destroying retail Forex, as far as I can see.

863

We unfortunately no longer accept applications from the US.

However we will keep your details on file and will contact you should anything change.

Thanks again for your interest in Vantage FX

Regards,

The Vantage FX Team
Support | Vantage FX

Suite 305, 15 Lime St.
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia

Thank you for your e-mail. We are sorry but we cannot accept U.S. clients.

Best regards,

Anna Gerardi
Compliance
HMS LUX S.A.
59, rue de Rollingergrund
L-2440 Luxembourg
Tel. +352 45 111 201

Unfortunately we canĀ“t open account for US citizens.

Kind regards,

Dominic Schorle

WH SelfInvest

LU : + 352 42 80 42 83

DE : + 49 69 271 39780

We donā€™t provide our service to the US residents.

Š” уŠ²Š°Š¶ŠµŠ½ŠøŠµŠ¼,

ŠŠ½Ń‚Š¾Š½

Š”Š»ŃƒŠ¶Š±Š° ŠæŠ¾Š“Š“ŠµŃ€Š¶ŠŗŠø
nordfx.com

I am sorry but i must wright you we doesnā€™t accept US Citizens as clients.

Kind regards

Hauke Mƶller

Broker

Varengold Wertpapierhandelsbank AG
Grosse Elbstrasse 27
22767 Hamburg

Those are just a couple more to add to the list.

Sorry if I have repeated any.

Rredhunter

865

Thanks, Redhunter

[B]VantageFX[/B] (Australia), [B]NordFX[/B] (Mauritius) and [B]Varengold[/B] (Germany) have been on our ā€œnoā€ list (page 3) for several months.

[B]HMS LUX[/B] (Luxembourg) is a new name, which you are mentioning for the first time on this thread. I will add them to the ā€œnoā€ list (later this weekend).

When I update the list, I will move it to the end of this thread, where it can be found more easily.

866

I was informed yesterday via email, that Migbank will no longer be accepting U.S Clients, and their current U.S. Clients accounts, will be closed out, by July15, 2011