FX with SIPC protection

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by Kicking, Oct 6, 2009.

  1. Besides IB which really sucks for FX because of the ill designed (and overcomplicated) interface and unorthodox accounting -not to mention the trading hours-, is there another broker that's as good as for ex, OANDA (fair prices under all conditions ) also with low or zero commissions ?
     
  2. MTE

    MTE

    No broker would offer SIPC protection on FX accounts, SIPC doesn't cover it. In addition, spot FX is an OTC market, which means that even the account segregation (as in futures) doesn't apply.
     
  3. No true . There are a number of brokers such as IB who sweeps the funds into an SIPC insured account. MB trading I believe offers FX and Tradestation as well . How good are they ? Any others ?
     
  4. MTE

    MTE

    OK, if they sweep free cash then that works, but if they don't then it's not insured.
     
  5. cstfx

    cstfx

    Neither Tradestation or MBT sweep cash into their securities account. MBT keeps funds separate and if you want to move funds from fx to stocks to cover a margin call (for example) it has to be done manually by contacting customer service since equity and futures are cleared thru Penson. Penson does not clear/settle cash fx transactions - their own fx platform is just rebranded Saxobank.

    Tradestation's fx client is just an ib for Gain Capital's forex platform and not settled thru Tradestation Securities.

    CitiFX has FDIC insurance for their cash deposit accounts:

    http://www.citifxpro.com/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=CLbllo3uqZ0CFZJM5QodzReMiw

    As far as I know, only IB has cash sweep for forex.

    Aslo, I believe there are a few Canadian brokers that offer CIPF protection for forex traders.
     
  6. OK then I was mistaken, rebranded saxo and gain capital, that's horror ! So essentially you trade with Saxo when you are with MB ? I hear Saxo are a crooked bunch.

    OK this Citi account looks good, they currently have an ad campaign all over, I willcheck them out.
    Anyone has experience with them ?
     
  7. cstfx

    cstfx

    No, I wasn't clear enough - the Penson fx platform is Saxo rebrand. Penson clears MBT equity trades but not fx trades otherwise MBT would use that platform. MBT has their own ECN type platform for fx trading. Point I was makng was that MBT's back office is 2 different worlds so funds are not co-mingled like IB's.

    Most brokers who offer multiple asset classes keep the funds separate, like what MBT does with their futures/equity/fx transactions. Same goes for Tradestation.

    Be advised also that Citi uses Saxo platform for their fx trading. Don't have deep experience with them so don't know if it is lie DBFX and FXCM where DB claims that they just license the technology but trading is separate from FXCM's trading. Point was that Citi claims funds are FDIC protected.