Location of Broker?

Hello to everyone who is a part of Babypips. An amazing education reading posts,blogs and going to school here. Thank you.

I have done my time in school and now looking to start demo trading.
A question on choosing a broker.
I assume that it is better to choose a broker that is based in your own location/country; but at the same time this may restrict your choice esp if not based in US or UK or any other large economy.

So my question is:
as a rule of thumb should your broker be from your own country or is this not really a factor?

And why?

Well it depends on the broker you want to use; you will need to check all the features it has to offer. Also remember that if you decide to go with a broker not located at the US or UK you better check the regulations with the NFA, I will be checking for you other entities that are supposed to regulate them. So first try to check what broker you like the most, maybe you can contact them and check if they can help you on wherever country you are at.

Where are you? Here at the states we have a large list of good brokers with very special benefits. Brokers in other countries can deduct taxes or other quantities of money you�ll never know why, that�s their system.
I guess you checked brokers section in this web, but it will take time to review all of them.

I�m interest to know also the regulation entities for other countries.

The question you need to ask yourself is

1 Does my country have a regulatory body such as NFA or FIA?

2 If yes which brokers fall into this catagory?

3 If no you will need to look outside of your country.

I use a broker from Panama, At first I was hesitant and had my doubts, but all seems to be working well.

Does the NFA or FIA also regulate the spreads on their brokers? What would be a moderate spread, I mean what is the lower spread allowed by these institutions (if they regulate them). I have been looking through the web and I have not found answers to my questions, hopefully you can answer them for me.

Well I’m not familiarized with how are broker regulated, I mean the exact procedure. Bu I once saw that a broker offered for the pair EUR/USD a spread of 0.9, isn’t that amazing? And another that offered 5 for the same pair, way to high my friend. If you get to find, or anyone here, information about that regulation please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks

As far I know the spreads depends always in brokers. That�s why we all need to be careful with that election. Taking about spreads is better if you choose one with fractional pip pricing. I know some if you�re interested.

The basic answer is no the NFA or FIA cannot regulate spread.

It is up to you to find a broker who falls within the confines of
a regulatory body, then find a broker with the best spreads.

This can only be done with due diligence, a good place to start
would be in this post below, take a look at some of the brokers
there.

http://forums.babypips.com/rate-my-broker/3900-your-funds-safe-nfa-shut-down-small-forex-fcms-35.html#post75963

& the regulatory body for Panama is who?

Well I really appreciate your reply the link helped me a lot to clear some of my doubts. And while I was trying to figure it out I stumbled with a broker, I believe I will stick with. As far as my concern goes with regulations, they are doing a good job, so I just want to thank you for the useful information.

Are you that confident with your broker huh:cool: I would like to know which one are you using, perhaps yours is better I could migrate to it.

Find a broker with the best spread is not always easy. Those spreads aren�t the same all the time in the same pairs and they change depending and the demand? Are they established? Checking in websites I found fractional pips pricing give you little savings in that subject, but it is true we need to make an exhaustive research to find one.
Aren�t you happy with the one you have cuttie? Tell me why.

I’m quite happy, you see the broker I’m with right now, doesn’t have a spread established, which is good and bad at the same time, however I’ve never seen the spread rise from 3. I’ve read that most brokers work with an specific spread and I guess that is regulated but by the broker itself. I don’t think the NFA regulates that, from what I’ve read so far.

Spread is for me all matter of trading terms, my current broker spread varies depending on the pair as well as volatility on markets, however they are well supported. They are regulated, and as far as I can say, the spread has not been a problem for me at all, despite I am mostly a scalper (is not the same the spread for several trades or just for 1 on a long time frame). Besides you can always use spread filter that help you to avoid trades when the spread is too high.

Hello there, I’m also a scalper, I use the 5M time frame, I’m also curious about the spread rates, now I’ve been working just fine with my broker on the spread thing, however as soon as I read your response to Cuttie Annie, I wondered what is that “spread filter” you talk about, where can I find more information about it?

I’m impressed that this has evolved into a much more sophisticated discussion than my original query.

I am based in UK, and recently there ihas been some anxiety raised by the media in regards where it is safe to deposit money, as the failure of Icelandic banks has cost a lot of peoplea lot of money. I wondered would someone say for example, from UK with a US broker get the same regulation cover as a US customer. Is there any legal quirks from using a foreign broker or any other issues that people should consider.

From what I gather from the posts below, it does not seem to be much of an issue with experienced traders - as long as its not somewhere like Panama or Nigeria (no offence to anyone intended) and that the reputation of the broker itself should be of paramount consideration regardless of its location.

I believe researching on regulation entities sites you will find all the answers you are looking for. Go to Forex Regulation and National Futures Association - NFA is a regulatory service provider for the derivatives markets.

G�day! I�m new to the forum, I guess this is the right thread to ask my first question. I�ve been demoing for a while now and I�m ready to go real, but the process of choosing a broker is getting on my nerves because I don�t live in the same place for too long, I�m Australian and currently traveling the world as a backpacker (that�s why I wanna make more money) so I don�t really know where my broker should be located and if that really does make any difference. I see it might make different when it comes to regulation and that, but I don�t know what to think in my particular condition. Heeeelp!

Can you tell me please which broker you found? Spreads as you say are very important also regulations. I have a demo and opened it with the money it�s supposed I�ll put with the real one, 1000 dollars, also I trade intraday and little movements always for now so spreads are huge for me.