I am looking at potentially opening accounts at these three brokers. If you are/were a member of one of these sites and would like to share your thoughts, I would love to hear some feedback and comparison on the three. I like that all three have MT4, but since I live in the US, I am wondering how much a part having MIG in Switzerland will matter. Thanks.
Hi there texwest2, I think I understand your dilema regarding whether opening in switzerland has its bonuses, well let me tell you how i came to my decission to open in that country. I had read far too many negative points on every FX broker out there, it is obviously impossible to please the whole world! With this in mind, I decided to carry out due diligence on all the major brokers prior to arriving at a decission. I had narrowed it down to Forex.com and ACM, with my final vote going to ACM. I found that the MT platforms were not as responsive as ACM’s platform, and my research also informed me that ACM created and maintain their own platform, a platform that has won numerous awards around the world. As a trader who is entering this market with the primary reason of making money, it is important for you to have a platform that is both reliable and quick, like a soldier going into battle, you stand a better chance of success if you have the best technology! I was impressed that they stood firm to their WYCIWYG promise (This is their moto: “What you click is what you get”). One of the criteria for winnig these various awards was “Speed of execution”, they really do offer the fastest out there, even accepting orders during volatile market periods and news events, something that most other platforms do not do. My due diligence also allowed me to discover that the MT platform is a “generic” one used by smaller brokers (many of which are known to be market makers) who do not have the capital to develop their own one. Speaking to many traders I also discovered also that regardless of where your broker is located, during any down-time they need to contact Russia were the main server is located, in other words your broker becomes a middle man!
Another point that helped me make my decission was that up till a few months back, being a broker in Switzerland was actually considered to be quite deceptive due to the slack regulation. The government have taken major steps to correct this by requiring that anyone wanting to be a currency broker on Swiss soil must now posess a bankers license, one requirement for this license is to have a minimum capital of 20 million CHF. Publicly available information (Etat de Gen�ve - DES - Registre du commerce) shows that ACM have that required amount whilst almost all other brokers have not, meaning that they will either fold completely or open up in Panama! I am happy to know that my money is with a broker who has the financial clout behind it and is well on its way to become a Swiss bank.
Finally! You do not even need to take the step of opening in Switzerland any more (unless the fact that you will not pay capital gains and benefit from the Swiss banking secrecy are important to you), ACM opened their NY office a couple of months back after recieving their NFA license, and as a US citizen, you are well aware that to recive this license you are required to have a minimum capital of �5 million. My account executive also informed me that the NY office has a total of $9 Million in anticipation of the NFA’s requirements for the required amount rising to $10 Million in september of this year.
I am hoping that this information arrives in time for you to make decission, Good Luck and happy Trading, whoever you decide to broker with.
I’ve been researching different Swiss brokers for a little while now and thought I should warn you about MIG.
Overall they do get good reviews online, as many will find it difficult to identify too many faults with them, however their service isn’t really the issue. Right on their website you’ll see that they use banks like UBS and Credit Suisse. The biggest write-downs of any bank right now is UBS. At last count they have write-downs of 40 billion dollars with Credit Suisse in similar trouble. Also, Swiss regulators have recently raised the capital requirements for both of these banks to over 20 billion dollars each. All of this amounts to the fact that if these banks don’t get enough capital they will be in serious trouble and your funds may be in jeopardy.
The mainstream media will have you believe in the United States that somehow the recent GSE bailout is a good thing and that the bottom is in for the housing markets but it is far from over if you look into it. The second wave of ARM resets hasn’t even hit yet. Considering it may be worse than the first one,it is definitely worth looking towards international brokers to trade at least part of your total equity.
Personally, I plan on trading with MB Trading in the US, Verangold in Germany and Saxobank in Switzerland. I split my equity across these three for a variety of a reason, but my primary account will be with Varengold while the other two will serve as backup accounts for longer term trades.
At the very least you should be looking in particular at how well capitalized the broker is and diligently search for reviews to see how often people have bad experiences with the broker. Remember, if the capital of any of these brokers drops too low and they become insolvent, your money is in jeopardy. I wouldn’t wait around hoping that whatever insurance these brokers have will protect you since we all remember what happened with Refco. I know people today who still can’t get their money back.