As many forex dealers sent notice last week of potential conflicts in compliance with a new National Futures Association (NFA) rule that requires a "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) method of trading, GFT announced full compliance as well as a $200 account-opening bonus to traders seeking a compliant forex dealer.

The $200 bonus is available to new GFT customers who open a standard trading account with a minimum balance of $2,500. However, GFT President and CEO Gary L. Tilkin said traders who open larger accounts may be eligible for even more perks.

“Traders with accounts larger than $2,500 will be not only receive this limited-time account bonus, but could also be eligible for even more bonuses through our new account packages program,” he said. “It’s quite appealing given that you get free tools, news and other benefits.”

Traders who choose to open mini forex accounts, which start at $250, could be eligible for a $50 account bonus. Both account bonus offers from GFT are subject to terms and conditions, which can be read here.

“We’re pleased to offer this account bonus program as a way to help new customers put our services and award-winning trading platform the test,” said Tilkin.
GFT ranks among the top online trading companies in the world and offers a wide range of trading services, from forex trading services around the world, to market derivatives trading in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia.

GFT’s adjusted net capital is more than $80 million, according to the latest figures released by the CFTC, far exceeding the NFA’s requirement of $20 million.

Earlier this month, in preparation for the new rule, some forex dealers announced they will no longer offer stop-loss or limit orders as a way to exit an existing market position.

Although the new rule does not prohibit these orders, position-based trading systems to not comply with the new FIFO matching system, further limiting traders’ market strategies and risk-management techniques.

GFT’s award-winning DealBook® trading platform already complies with the new NFA rule, and offers a full range of entry and exit orders, including stops, limits, automated trailing stops, parent and contingent orders and order cancels order. The platform, which was created in 1998, is designed around a net-based system rather than a position-based system.

In a position-based system, it is possible for a trader to take multiple positions at different levels on the same market. For example, a trader could have three positions in the EUR/USD pair and then close out each position based on its individual performance, which would violate the FIFO rule.

In a net-based system such as GFT's, when a trader enters a new position in a market where he or she already holds a position, the new position is simply added to the old position and the price difference between the two is averaged. So it’s not possible to hold multiple positions in the same pair and therefore it is not possible to violate the FIFO rule. See an example here.
For more information, read our latest forex news.

Interbank FX (IBFX.com), a worldwide provider of online foreign currency (Forex/FX) trading, announced today a solution for NFA Compliance Rule 2-43 affecting all NFA regulated Forex brokers.

Using our proprietary backoffice solutions, Interbank FX will allow our Meta Trader 4 platform to remain 100 percent compliant, while retaining order functionality and flexibility for customers trading. The MT4 platform will continue to function as our customers have experienced over the last several years. This includes the ability for customers to use fully functional Expert Advisors, Stops Losses, Take Profits, Trailing Stops and Limit Orders without making any needed adjustments.

“Certain US competitors have decided that their solution to the new FIFO rules are to move their customers overseas, rather than being compliant,” said Todd Crosland, Chairman and President of Interbank FX. “At Interbank FX, we have embraced the NFA’s efforts to help protect customers and provide a seamless solution without any changes to their current trading strategies.”

The only modification for customers will be their daily and monthly account statements, coming directly from the proprietary Interbank FX backoffice system using NFA FIFO offsetting procedures. The FIFO rule takes effect beginning July 31/August 1, 2009.

Interbank FX is currently working on a step-by-step video which will be available shortly on our web site, www.ibfx.com.
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FXCM Holdings LLC (http://www.fxcm.com) has been awarded Best Retail Platform by FX-Week at the 2009 e-FX awards.

The award, announced on July 7, 2009, at the FX-Week U.S. conference, recognizes industry excellence in electronic foreign exchange trading from banks and vendors.

FXCM triumphed over other industry leading firms, including Saxo Bank and Gain Capital.

“This award confirms FXCM’s leadership in the forex market. The No Dealing Desk* (agency execution) business model embraced by FXCM in 2006 is clearly the direction forward for the retail industry. Clients want transparent and fair execution and FXCM offers it,” says Marc Prosser, the firm’s chief marketing officer.

FXCM developed its proprietary trading platforms: FX Trading station II (pc based) and FXCM Active Trader (web based) to meet the rigorous conditions of today’s volatile markets. The current platforms were developed by an in-house team of over 50 programmers. FXCM’s platforms are extremely stable, scalable and robust. There are over 150,000 live accounts trading on FXCM platforms, with an average of over 8 million trades per month.

FXCM currently has successful white-label relationships all over the world working with banks, brokerages and large financial institutions. White label partners are able to deploy individually customized platforms based on FXCM’s awarding forex trading platform.
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Alpari, one of the world’s fastest growing providers of online foreign exchange (FOREX) services, will launch two advanced trading platforms by the end of August, offering high-speed and direct access to the international currency market for Alpari clients and other institutional and retail customers. Powered by trading technology provider Currenex®, Alpari Direct Pro will be offered to institutional clients while Alpari Direct will be offered to retail customers.

True to Alpari’s commitment to providing clients with institutional-level services, both platforms will feature Straight Through Processing (STP), Non Dealing Desk execution (NDD), 1 click Executable Streaming Prices (ESP), accurate pricing with fractional pips and integrated algorithmic models that enable enhanced levels of execution. These features will ensure high speed and low latency execution and will empower traders to optimize market impact and reduce execution costs. An integrated Dow Jones feed will keep users up-to-date with current news.

Further to this, Alpari Direct Pro, the execution interface for institutional clients, will provide traders with access to a deep liquidity pool, which aggregates feeds from over 60 global banks and multiple Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs). Alpari Direct Pro shows traders the full market depth and also features 24 order types (including advanced orders such as pegged orders), which empower traders to take control of order timing and execution. In addition, this institutional platform offers intuitive and fast keypad trading capabilities, pre- and post-trade allocation solutions, trade averaging capabilities and sophisticated order management, allocation and advanced reporting tools.


Alpari’s platforms are created using Currenex technology. Currenex is a recognized and award-winning leader in providing trading solutions to the active-trading segment of the FX market.

Commenting on the new platforms, Andrey Vedikhin, Co-Founder of the Alpari Group, said: “Alpari Direct Pro and Alpari Direct represent another step towards Alpari’s goal of providing an institutional level trading experience for all. Alpari now provides its clients with one of the most comprehensive selections of advanced trading tools, expert educational resources and responsive customer services available from any online FX trading provider.”
For more information, read our latest forex news.

MIG Investments introduces The Road to F1 Forex Championship, where traders can test their FX trading skills against other traders on a virtual Championship Account on the MIG Trading Station. The winner secures a trip for two to Abu Dhabi, the final Formula One race of the 2009 season.

This unique experience includes fine accommodation and round trip tickets to Abu Dhabi for two, plus VIP tickets to the Formula One Paddock Club, where you and your guest will have a privileged view of the race AND bask in the luxuriousness of the Paddock Club, with entertainment, fine wines, an assortment of delicacies and gourmet luncheon, and much more.

Get ready to beat the competition in The Road to F1 Forex Championship! Go to our dedicated Championship site and Sign up for your virtual Championship Account.

The Championship begins at 00:00 CET on September 1st 2009, and extends throughout the month of September, ending on September 30th at 23:59 CET – check the Championship Countdown online.
For more information, read our latest forex news.

Interbank FX, a leading provider of online foreign currency (Forex) trading, announced that for the third time the company has been named as a finalist for the 2009 American Business Awards.

The Stevie Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors recognized IBFX’s VP of Customer Experience, Marilyn McDonald in the Marketing Executive of the Year category for her proven success in new market identification and strategic market positioning for multimillion-dollar financial services organizations.

Stevie Awards were presented in over 40 categories including Best Overall Company of the Year, Executive of the Year, and Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year. More than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration.

As a key member of the IBFX’s management team, Marilyn drives the conversation between IBFX and its customers. She is responsible for national and international events, customer education and orientation as well as brand awareness.

“I’m extremely honored that the Stevie Awards have recognized Marilyn’s success in building a strong management team,” said Todd Crossland, president & CEO of Interbank FX. “We are striving to be the gold standard against which all other brokers are measured, and Marilyn helps us do so with her proven track record of increasing sales while retaining a highly motivated team.”

More than 200 executives across the country participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and Stevie Award winners.

“I am very appreciative of the chance to fulfill a role for Interbank FX that is both challenging and rewarding,” said Marilyn upon accepting the award.

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists and Stevie Award winners are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.
For more information, read our latest forex news.

While a recently adopted National Futures Association (NFA) rule is forcing some forex dealers to alter the use of stop and limit orders to protect positions, GFT, a US-based company, announced today that their platform is fully compliant with all NFA regulations and, as such, customers trading with GFT will not be affected.

NFA Rule 2-43 (b) requires a "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) method of trading, which simply means that orders must be closed in the order in which they were opened. In many dealers’ systems, stop and limit orders could violate this rule. The new rule also eliminates "hedging," which is the practice of taking contrary positions in a market in the hope that one of the positions will prove profitable.

Because GFT has always had a FIFO trading system, founder and CEO Gary Tilkin said that GFT customers will see no changes to their accounts or trading strategies when the rule takes effect on August 1.

"Rule 2-43 (b) does not change anything for our customers," he said. "We offer stops and limits today and we'll be offering them in the future. We believe they are an important part of a sound risk management program."

As for hedging, Tilkin believes that many traders don’t understand that the practice works against them far more often than it works for them.

"GFT has never allowed hedging on its system because we believe it’s little more than a way for dealers to charge twice for the spread on what is, essentially, a non-position." he said. "To have two counter positions in a financial product is really no position at all, and there really is no financial benefit for the customer to engage in this type of trading."

Because GFT’s system is net-based rather than position-based, the new rule does not apply. In a position-based system, it is possible for a trader to take multiple positions at different levels on the same market. For example, a trader could have three positions in the EUR/USD pair and then close out each position based on its individual performance, which would violate the FIFO rule.

However, in a net-based system such as GFT’s, when a trader enters a new position in a market where he or she already holds a position, the new position is simply added to the old position and the prices are averaged. So it’s not possible to hold multiple positions in the same pair and therefore it is not possible to violate the FIFO rule.

GFT has always encouraged traders to do their research and employ a sound methodology when trading currencies. Trading psychology and time-tested methodologies go hand-in-hand, and hedging strategies discourage these sound practices. To read comments made by Tilkin earlier this year on the subject of hedging and the new FIFO rule, click here.

To circumvent the new rule, some dealers are asking customers to move their accounts to divisions in the UK where the NFA has no jurisdiction. However, Tilkin questions this practice because he believes the NFA rule is designed to offer better protection for traders.

"Why would we ask our customers to move their accounts outside the US when the NFA is looking out for their best interests?," he asked. "Ultimately, we believe that more protection is better."
For more information, read our latest forex news.

For the second consecutive year, Interbank FX (IBFX.com), a worldwide provider of online foreign currency (Forex/FX) trading, today announced that it achieved top ranking at the inaugural MoneyAM Online Finance Awards in the “Best Online FX Provider” category and was also recognized as the “Best Online Education Provider,” which recognized the company’s groundbreaking program designed to give both novice and expert traders additional educational resources for trading at no additional charge.

All of this year’s award winners were chosen by users of MoneyAM—an online Web site for its sister publication, Shares magazine, and one of the premier destinations for private investors in the UK—who voted for their favorite providers in several categories, including Best Online Futures Provider, Best Online Funds Service and Best Online Options Provider. Other quality contenders at this year’s event included ProSpreads, Fidelity and OptionsXpress Inc.

“MoneyAM would like to congratulate IBFX in the highly contested MoneyAM Awards 2009,” said Richard Collins, Director of MSM Media Ltd. “It is the second consecutive year that IBFX has won the ‘Best Online FX broker title,’ marking them out as a clear favourite with users of MoneyAM; and this year’s addition of ‘Best online educational provider’ represents a clear sign of IBFX's continued commitment to customer service and education within the FX trading community.”

IBFX has furthered its recognition this year, winning the 2009 FOREXDS Trader’s Choice Award based on the votes of retail foreign exchange traders worldwide. In addition, IBFX was honored at Finance Magazine’s 2009 Financial Technology Awards for the Best Mobile forex trading Platform. In an industry that is highly dependent upon earning customers’ trust, the company continues to distinguish itself as a leading foreign exchange trading platform, with its unique “no dealing desk”, multi-bank execution technology.

“We’re elated to receive this honor that recognizes IBFX as a true industry leader, and thank the many users of MoneyAM for their gracious support,” said Todd Crosland, Chairman and President of Interbank FX. “The fact that these awards were voted for by actual traders who find value in our company fuels our desired commitment to provide our customers state-of-the art trading capabilities and continual product enhancement.”

To see more IBFX accolades or to open a free unlimited Forex practice account, visit www.IBFX.com.
For more information, read our latest forex news.

Customers of GAIN Capital’s FOREX.com online foreign exchange trading division will be unaffected by the new National Futures Association (NFA) regulation requiring customer orders to be executed on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis.

The company’s FOREXTrader proprietary trading platform has always used the FIFO method and therefore fully supports NFA rule 2-43(b), which goes into effect on August 1, 2009. As a result, traders can continue to use stop and limit orders to both enter new and protect open positions, as well as utilize all other advanced order types available on the platform including One Cancels Other (OCOs) and Trailing Stops.

These tools help to mitigate risk by allowing traders the flexibility to initiate their preferred trades real-time. Not having access to them can put the trader at a distinct disadvantage.

The new rule also eliminates the practice of hedging - holding simultaneous long and short (or “offsetting”) positions in a single currency pair. Traders that require hedging capabilities can trade through GAIN Capital’s FSA registered entity, FOREX.com UK.

“As one of the largest regulated forex dealers in the United States, we are committed to offering products and services that are fully compliant with our regulator, the National Futures Association, while continuing our commitment to provide the best trading experience for our customers,” said Glenn Stevens, chief executive officer, GAIN Capital.
For more information on the NFA compliance rule and stops and limits, please visit http://www.forex.com/tradestopsandlimits.html.
For more information, read our latest forex news.

dbFX.com, Deutsche Bank’s award-winning online foreign exchange (FX) trading platform for individual investors celebrated its third birthday last month, reinforcing its position as one of the market’s leading FX providers.

dbFX was launched by Deutsche Bank, in May 2006 to take advantage of growing investor interest in FX as an asset class and to bring the expertise of the world’s number 1 foreign exchange bank* to the retail market. It has seen a number of significant milestones since its launch including the introduction of dbFX’s Arabic language platform (dbfxarabic.com) in October 2007, and its Managed Accounts and Introducing Brokers programmes in September the following year – ensuring investors are equipped with a comprehensive, global and blue-chip platform with which to trade FX.

The foreign exchange markets have evolved significantly over the last three years, with incredible growth both on the institutional and retail side. There have been significant spikes in volatility and because the retail market has become more accessible and sophisticated, investors are increasingly better positioned to take advantage to diversify their portfolios.

Below are some key milestones of note which reflect the continual evolution and innovative approach of the platform since launch:

· May 2006: dbFX.com launched
· October 2006 : Chinese website launched - dbFX.com.hk
· October 2007: dbFX.com Arabic website launched
· May 2008: Launch of ‘Introducing Broker’ and ‘Managed Accounts’ programmes
· September 2008: dbFX.com website revamp
· September 2008: Decimalised pricing introduced
· May 2009: Profit & Loss Award: Best Retail Platform
· June 2009: Launch of world-wide FX educated investor video series with Bloomberg

Additional initiatives are planned for this summer to continue this record of continual improvement, and to further improve the functionality and market intelligence available to dbFX.com investors.

Commenting, Betsy Waters, global director of dbFX, said: “Deutsche Bank, with dbFX.com, was the first major global bank to bring a sophisticated trading platform to retail investors, and bring the benefits of Deutsche Bank’s award winning expertise in foreign exchange to the growing retail market.

“Since its initial launch into 20 countries in 2006, dbFX.com, like the FX market itself, has continued evolving and is now available in multiple languages in 82 countries around the world, providing investors with proprietary market insight and research from Deutsche Bank that is difficult to match.

“ The retail forex market of 2009 is now very different from how it looked when dbFX launched in 2006. Today, a much greater number of participants in this market are larger private investors and active traders with trading styles and strategies similar to the institutional market. dbFX provides the market liquidity that these forex traders are seeking.”

* Euromoney Poll, 2005 to 2009
For more information, read our latest forex news.