Going offshore to escape the CFTC

Broker Discussion Forex Brokers
14098

When I first learned of the changes at FX Choice, I had an extended chat with Support. The person said they are not going out of business and will reassess their offerings, etc., next year. Since I wanted to keep open the possibility of trading with them in the future, I asked if I should leave some small amount in my account, like 25 USD, to keep it open. The rep advised me to withdraw all my funds (which I did); she said I would still have the possibility of trading with them in the future.

I had to go through a cumbersome KYC process for the withdrawal (involving acrobatics of taking a selfie while holding an ID plus a sign with language they provided—rather difficult getting everything right, in focus, without glare). Once I accomplished that (whew!), I think they said they would process the withdrawal within 24 hours. I don’t remember exactly, but I think it took them a few hours to review each selfie submission and then several hours to send the BTC.

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14099

@SmallPaul,

Their website lists, as you note, a whole lot of methods, but when you are in Back Office actually starting the withdrawal, there may be only one or two. The rep said I would need to use BTC. In making the withdrawal request in Back Office, I provided a BTC address, and they converted the USD to BTC (less their 1.5% conversion fee) and sent it. Online chat was very helpful with the details of the procedure.

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14100

Also, they said it depends on your country. For Americans, crypto is the only option, but for others, they have the other options. In any case, if crypto is taken away from American traders and the other options are not available to them, how will they deposit and withdraw money to or from their accounts?

14101

Don’t know. I think we just have to wait. In the meantime, I have opened accounts with ForexChief (which I found on my own) and LQDFX, which I found here.

Not sure how much energy to spend speculating about FX Choice, but I think it depends whether the prohibition against their accepting crypto deposits is interpreted narrowly, i.e., FX Choice cannot receive the funds in crypto, or whether crypto cannot be involved in the transfer process.

About a month ago, as it turned out, just before FX Choice announced the restrictions, I decided I would send them some funds and try trading with them again. I did not want to deal with the hassles of using crypto; it looked like the only ways to send USD were via Pay Redeem or Airtm. Their website said that Pay Redeem was temporarily unavailable. I went through quite a bit of hassle setting up an Airtm account. When I tried to send them USD using a credit card, the card issuer declined the transaction, because they thought I was buying crypto. I hadn’t realized it, but I was! Airtim converts USD to USDC and apparently back to USD. I emailed Pay Redeem and asked them if their services also involved crypto, and they said their processor also involved crypto in processing transactions. So I wonder whether the regulators will allow them to use such services.

(One of the processors which LMFX used to use for deposits via MasterCard first converted USD to CNY, which apparently got converted back to USD, at exorbitant rates.)

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14102

There is a lot of pressure being applied from the regulators to platform providers and payment methods, The purpose of this pressure is to prevent offshore brokers from accepting US citizens.

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14103

Another broker stopped supporting us today Dominion Markets… I used them a while ago one time…it was just a backup for me. Here is the email they sent me today…

Dear Dominion Markets Community,

We hope you’re doing well.

Today, we bring you an important update regarding changes to our services for USA and US Minor Islands residents.

Unfortunately, because of recent regulatory developments with MetaQuotes, SEC, and CFTC,

We must let you know that starting today, all trading activities for residents of Canada or the USA will cease.

To ensure compliance, your account will be placed in read-only mode, and all open positions will need to be closed today.

Please go ahead and withdraw your funds quickly from our secure payment section.

We understand the impact of this decision and appreciate your understanding.

If you have any questions or need help, you can contact our customer support team at [email protected] or chat with us through the Live chat section on our website.

Thank you for your trust and cooperation.

Best regards,

Team Dominion Markets

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14104

I didn’t receive SMS verification codes from FX Choice. FX Choice told me that some U.S. carriers block them.

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14105

Is anyone familiar with Citizenship by Investment programs? This might be a better way to go than Renouncing citizenship.

Citizenship by Investment Programs

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14106

Many of us are alrrady dual citizens. It doesn’t help. I you are a US citizen, most foreign financial institutions won’t do business with you.

The best solution I have seen is to register as an “Eligible Contract Participant”. It requires 10 million dollars. If you can join that club, then Dodd Frank and “FATCA” (supposedly named to go after FATCATS?) do not stop you from doing business and you can trade with IC Markets, Dukascopy, etc.

It’s truly shocking, but it seems like Obama and friends were not going after the rich! :smiley:

14107

-I think, there are still many options for non-us traders. If they decide that they want to continue accepting US traders, then maybe they can find a go-between/middleman service that will work with US citizens. I can only speculate, though.

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14108

-Or rather, the real purpose is to try to pressure these businesses into their pay-to-play game.

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14109

After becoming a citizen of another country, why bother to bring up your US citizenship? It is better to get all government identification from that country once you have become a citizen of that country

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14110

-Yes. In my opinion, it might be better to consider renouncing, though, simply because holding a US passport will make you toxic. Many have renounced and are really happy about their decision; they can live, work, get banking, do business etc. without all of the red tape and restrictions.

There are services available that will help you with the citizenship-by-investment programs and walk you through the process, but it’s probably not required in most cases. The services can help you to determine a best fit, based on your criteria; needs and preferences etc… Some even have advisors in business, tax, real estate etc… Many of the services that I have seen have a minimum net worth requirement, though, and the services are not cheap.

Going after multiple citizenships is the best option, if you can do it. You can certainly get just as much (or greater) benefit than you would with a US passport, in terms of visa-free travel and the like. You can still enter the US, especially depending on the type of passport(s) that you get. It’s really no problem at all.

In fact, depending on the route that you take, you can literally set things up so that you no longer legally have to pay taxes ever again, and you can live wherever you want (i.e. you do not always need to live in the country that is giving you the passport).

For those that are serious, you should consider doing it soon, because things are always changing (prices increasing, programs going away etc.). There are also many countries (governments) that do not like the fact that these programs exist (because they want to keep you at home, so that they can keep taxing you etc…).

Even already, some countries have even started blocking certain passports (where these programs exist), and claiming national security as the reasoning (because someone from a non-friendly country could obtain a friendly passport through one of these programs and easily enter their country).

The usual nonsense, of course.

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14111

-Probably, this can work in many cases (such as trading with a broker), but not with banking. But renouncing solves all of this because once you renounce, the US no longer has any claim over you and you are no longer toxic, so the banks do not have to comply with all of the nonsense that is grossly-imposed by US regulatory bodies.

14112

Ok help me out here, If I become a citizen of another country and get all their government I.D cards how would anyone know I’m a citizen of another country?

14113

Residence is #1

If you are dual citizen and live abroad, brokers might not know you are dual citizen. Many top tier brokers will ask if you are a US citizen when you apply for an account. I do not know if they check or not.

14114

-I think, it may depend on the bank. With some banks, you might be able to sneak by, but I really cannot answer your question definitively. I suspect that banks have more stringent reporting requirements, communicate with each and can get more access in terms of identity verification etc., but I am no expert in that area. They may be able to see how long you have been a citizen, and then find out which country you came from etc…

With a broker, it’s probably much easier in most cases, but you still might have to use crypto deposits/withdrawals unless you can set up a foreign bank account.

There are actually foreign banks that will still accept US citizens, and not all of them may require you to be wealthy. But they may be smaller, lesser-known banks (riskier, probably, too). You can find information about these banks online, as many youtubers have done it. I believe that you would need to have your feet on the ground in order to be successful with it, though. But without the proper ID, you’re still going to struggle when a broker asks for KYC.

14115

My American I.D states that I’m a United States citizen when I’m in a foreign country, It would be the same if I had another country’s ID and passport.

14116

Another Friday another “fried”. This will continue! It’s not MQ to blame but in the end MQ will loose to other platforms, question is who get the pie :pie:

14117

As a forex trader in America, I am only doing the Citizenship by Investment to get around the limitations that we have as Traders

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