As you know, today's Forex industry has grown into a real giant, with trillions of dollars being turned over on a daily basis. The industry involves millions of retail and institutional traders and hundreds of broking companies rendering broking services to them.
Unfortunately, the relations between the broker and the client are not always smooth and friendly. Everything is cool when the trader is about to deposit funds into the trading account opened with the broker. Apparently, there are no conflicts between the broker and those who lose their funds slowly but surely (or even off the bat as well). Still, as soon as it is time to pay winning traders their deserved profits or bear some financial responsibility, some broking companies start playing dirty tricks on their clients, thereby finding lame excuses to abstain from paying off or blocking trading accounts (allegedly because of some shady investigation concerning some abuse or manipulation).
Official Means Good
These days there are much fewer dirty and fake brokers in the Forex industry than it used ot be a couple of years ago. Still, there are isolated cases indicating that some brokers are not as reliable and fair as they claim to be. The real problem is that few brokers can actually conclude a full-fledged agreement with the client. Most brokers offer online agreements that are automatically accepted when opening a live trading account. This is claimed to be a breakthrough. It takes a couple of minutes to read the agreement (some people do not read it at all), they fill out the form and deposit funds (it is done almost in an instance when using electronic payment systems). Then the traders start gambling and gradually losing their money. Well, if this is the way you treat trading then you don't need any real agreements. However, have you ever thought about what will you do if the company suddenly refuses to fulfill its liabilities? For example, it well may be that a broker can fail to pay off a big-scale amount of money earned by you because of some «financial difficulties» or «issues outside the company's control». Or it can simply change trading conditions later when the live account is already open, deposited and used to perform live trading. Obviously, you can appeal to court to try and make the broker fulfil its liabilities. Still, a shady agreement accepted online can hardly be a proof confirming that you fall prey to the broker's abuse. Any online agreement accepted when downloading the trading terminal and opening a live account can be changed in an instance. Moreover, the less data your agreement contains, the fewer chances that this document can be seriously considered by any regulator or court. Still, most people do not like formalities and like it when everything is fast and easy!
British Regulation
While, many countries around the world are trying to legalize and regulate Forex trading, traders have to rely on major regulators located in the key financial centers around the globe. The UK is obviously one of such places where trading (currencies, stocks, futures, commodities etc) is regulated at a serious level. British regulators are very scrupulous in monitoring the situation and making sure that the relations between the broker and the client are transparent, equal and smooth.
The FCA (Financial Services Authority) is one of such regulators. This is what the FCA's official website reads:
We want consumers to use financial services with confidence and have products that meet their needs, from firms and individuals they can trust.
To achieve this, we regulate firms and financial advisers so that markets and financial systems remain sound, stable and resilient. We also encourage transparent pricing that’s easy for everyone to understand.
Our aim is to help firms put the interests of their customers and the integrity of the market at the core of what they do…
We regulate the financial services industry in the UK. Our aim is to protect consumers, ensure our industry remains stable and promote healthy competition between financial services providers. We have rule-making, investigative and enforcement powers that we use to protect and regulate the financial services industry. We are fair and principled in our approach to regulation.
AlumFX can boast the license obtained from the FCA. This is the confirmation that AlumFX is a fair and client-oriented broker with intensions to cooperate with successful investors. The company's site reads:
As an FCA regulated company our mission is to provide security so that you are comfortable trading with us. We want to build a long term relationship and give you the satisfaction that you are happy with the service we offer.
By the way, the FCA license makes the broker a participant of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS is the compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. This means that your deposits up to £50,000 are completely insured. For more details on the matter, please visit the official website: http://www.fscs.org.uk/
The bottom line is that AlumFX is one of those few broking companies that should pe paid attention to when you treat your trading business seriously and want to trade Forex via a truly reliable and client-oriented broking company! Good trading!
