Further to my earlier post's about IIROC (Canadian regulator), here is some info that might help you guys out.
IIROC is the regulator in Canada, here's the blurb from there site.
Investment dealer insolvency doesn’t happen very often, but if it does, the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) is here to ensure your cash and securities are returned to you, within defined limits.
If you have an account with a CIPF Member you have CIPF protection - coverage is automatic for all eligible customers. For more information, go directly to our Coverage Policy.
CIPF is sponsored by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and is the only compensation fund approved by the Canadian Securities Administrators for IIROC Dealer Members. All IIROC Dealer Members are CIPF Members.
So, for anyone outside of Canada, take a look at this page.... it tells you what and who is covered under CIPF. I can tell you that I was one of the first to get a check in the mail from the MF Global disaster (8K), ALL of my money back. I had an MF Global account that was registered in Canada.
http://www.cipf.ca/Public/CIPFCoverage/ ... olicy.aspx
So, if you think your covered....
Next step - What Canadian broker has Empty4 and is covered under CIPF, and accepts USA or other countries?
I know that
Questrade is going to be introducing Empty4 in August some time.
FXCM uses a company called Friedburg Direct, and the web site claims to offer Empty4. I've sent an email to clarify, since I checked 3 months ago they did not have Empty4 accounts in Canada (went to UK for Empty4). I have a small FXCM account in UK. Here is the
Empty4 FXCM page.
I've looked at a bunch of brokers over the past week, I always look to see what country they are in. I found one in Mauritius (HotForex). I've been there. I wouldn't go with that broker with your money!! The broker would have to be in one of the large stable countries (with a half decent auditor!!!)
Alternatively, I'm looking at
TradingStation II and Strategy Trader both offered by FXCM. I'm not using EA's except for
TipsterTrendlines to place pending order. It's not an auto trading strategy, it's atool that does all the grunt work for my manual trades. So depending on what the next 2 months holds, I might go to that platform. After being hit by both MF Global AND PFG, I'm ONLY going with CIPF firms. There are to many f'n crooks in the finance world. The Canadian finance sector including banks are well regulated and offer a solid foundation, the credit crises really never screwed up our banks and real estate in Canada, not sure if anyone outside of Canada realises that.
So, I'm not saying that anyone should jump to Canadian firms, just that from my experience, any firm covered under IIROC and CIPF is well worth looking at in your comparison.
UPDATE:
From the
CIPF web site
3. Does it matter if I do not live in Canada, or if I am not a Canadian citizen or a Canadian resident?
No. CIPF coverage does not depend upon residency or citizenship. CIPF coverage is available to you when you open an account with a CIPF Member.
Another UPDATE: FXCM Canada has had Empty4 for about 1 week now. WAY better protection than other countries. Over 5K you also get a free VPS. 1:50 leverage - and that's OK with me!!
