Running From the CFTC : Which Non-NFA Brokers can US Citizens Use Now ?

The new regulations imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States have not only limited leverage to 1:50 (majors) and 1:20 (other pairs) but they have also made US brokers with non-US offices repatriate US customers so that they trade under US regulations. During the past few weeks people with accounts at FXDD (malta), Forex.com UK and FXCM UK – amongst others – have been told by their brokers that before October 18th their accounts will be moved back to their US branch so that the accounts can trade under current US laws. Many people are not very happy about this due to the hedging, leverage and FIFO (First-In-First-Out) restrictions of the NFA which pose severe limitations in the way in which people can trade, especially when using the Metatrader 4 platform which has some important limitations regarding how positions can be treated. Does this mean that all US citizens have to trade under US law ? Is there any option available for US customers ?

As far as I have understood, the legislation currently in place  is not absolutely clear about this. It is clear that brokers which have both US and over seas offices can only take US customers under their US branch but it is not very clear if non-NFA brokers can in fact take any US customers at all. Up until now there have been no efforts to make non-US brokers cease to accept US customers but this may happen in the future. In the meantime it seems that a US citizen can open and trade with a non-NFA broker provided that this broker has absolutely no ties with the US (no NFA regulation or US offices) and that the broker has been previously accepting US citizens. I have spent a while searching for non-NFA brokers that accept US citizens and I have compiled a small list for those of you interested in doing so. Bear in mind that you should email or talk to the support of any of these brokers if you wish to join them to ensure both that they will not change their current stand on US customers and that their trading conditions and deposit/withdrawal facilities are in line with your needs.

These are the non-NFA Metatrader 4 brokers I have found that still accept US customers (to this date)

  • ActivTrades – UK
  • LiteFX – Seychelles
  • FXOpen – Egypt
  • Forex-metal – Russia
  • VantageFX –  Australia
  • InstaForex – Russia
  • Tadawul FX – Swiss
  • MIG Bank – Swiss
  • DukasCopy – Swiss

As you see there are quite a few brokers which will still accept US customers with many of them being very well regulated in Switzerland and the UK – like Dukascopy and ActivTrades – while others are very reputable brokers with many years of existence like FXOpen and LiteFX. From the above brokers you can have many different options from very small cent accounts – FXOpen – to segregated institutional accounts on the UK and Swiss brokers. The large majority of these brokers will allow you to trade with leverage levels of up to 1:400-500 with hedging and no FIFO rules, added to this you can also choose between a myriad of payment methods going from online currencies like AlertPay and Liberty Reserve to credit card and wire transfers.

If you have just been “kicked out” of your overseas broker and now you are being forced back into US territory you definitely have a choice to go out and get yourself a broker you can trade comfortably with. Right now the above list gives you many options ranging from very highly regulated brokers to less regulates ones with many deposit/withdrawal methods and account/lot sizing options. However please remember to contact the broker you want to join yourself so that you can get an idea of their policy towards US citizens and any changes they might make in the future in this regard. The most important thing here is that you find a broker which suites your needs, is not exposed to the CFTC and will not change their policy regarding US citizens in the future.

If you want to trade within a US broker and your strategy has no problems with the amount of leverage currently being offered then it might just be a matter of time since the Metatrader 5 platform – which was built around a net positioning approach – can trade any hedging or portfolio strategy without having to worry about FIFO or hedging rules. In the near future – probably 1 to 2 years – Metatrader 5 will start to be offered for live trading, marking a solution to most of the current problems of the Metatrader 4 platform which make it so unfriendly to use under current CFTC regulations.

If you would like to learn more about trading automated trading systems and how you too can gain a true education in this field please consider joining Asirikuy.com, a website filled with educational videos, trading systems, development and a sound, honest and transparent approach to automated trading in general . I hope you enjoyed this article ! :o)

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9 Responses to “Running From the CFTC : Which Non-NFA Brokers can US Citizens Use Now ?”

  1. Maxim says:

    Daniel,

    I would say that “Forex-metal – Russia” is a dangerous one since Russia does not have stable democratic traditions and the government can do whatever it wants at any day.

    Best regards,
    Maxim

    • admin says:

      Hello Maxim,

      Thank you for your comment :o) Well certainly you know Russia much better than me ! so thanks a lot for the warning :o)

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  2. James Chidolue says:

    Hello daniel,

    I really ppreciate your posts.Your webpage is a must visit for me.Anyway,with the new NFA regulation,all i can say is Thank God I am a Nigerian.
    it wouldnt affet us in Africa.US Citizens would be better off reading your posts.
    Thanks for the free education.

    • admin says:

      Hello James,

      Thank you very much for your comment :o) I am glad that NFA regulations do not affect you. However in the future it is very likely that most countries will choose to implement similar legislation as the CFTC always seems to “set the precedent” for world-wide regulations in this regard. Thankfully we will have Metatrader 5 in the next few years, something that will allow us to continue trading Asirikuy systems regardless of any FIFO or hedging restrictions thanks to the net positioning approach of this platform. Again thank you very much for your comment, I am very glad that you appreciate my site and the free education it offers :o)

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

      • unspoken says:

        Daniel,

        I find it incredibly hard to believe that Nigeria will be the next in line to follow new American regulations!! Secondly, though a few of the new rules have merit most of them were made by our not so adept Congressmen & women by the advice of their allies in the finance industry who, no doubt, had their own hide to look out for after the 2008 crash. It’s unlikely that other countries will have the same set of mishaps

        Unspoken

  3. James says:

    Hello Daniel,

    Is there an updated list for this? I’m interested in trading leveraged gold but don’t know who to go through to trade from the US. Are there companies that will let me setup an account outside the US, but still trade from the US while I’m here? I’m on the verge of moving out of the states to trade but that’s a last resort.

    Thanks,
    James

    • Jeff says:

      Two responses:

      Dukascopy is now only working with US citizens through partners, FXDD and alpari, (Actually they licensed their technology) and moving out of country wouldn’t help because it is based on citizenship. You would have to renounce citizenship.

  4. coldcream says:

    Just google FinFX they are one of the best ECN Brokers that accept US Traders. Please note that they are NOT regulated but have an excellent track record of dealing with retail traders.

  5. joao coelho says:

    i am looking for forex brokers that accept dual citizenship clients us/eu-country. I am also looking for a reliable broker, stp/ecn if possible.
    Thanks.

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