Which criminal can we use?

[garyfritz]

Not personally, but I know it does happen. I'd be surprised if they allowed US accounts. But even if they did, I doubt the Canadian insurance would apply to foreigners.

[AnotherBrian]

Not personally, but I know it does happen. I'd be surprised if they allowed US accounts. But even if they did, I doubt the Canadian insurance would apply to foreigners.

From CIPF website
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.

Now let's wait for those emails!

[garyfritz]

Wow! That's really surprising, and impressive. I'll be eager to hear the results! I haven't found a place to land since PFG imploded. My other (small) account is at Tradestation but I'd like a non-NFA-regulated broker...

[Fx93]

That is pretty cool news, I wasn't aware of that. Being FDIC insured is one of CitiFxPro's selling points, but here I see Oanda is account insured to 1mil. By the way, in a post over at donnaforex, a dlewisfl clarifies that Oanda's Empty4 is not suitable for EAs that use pending orders, but will work for others. I doubt it would work for two EAs in one account as well. He's been using an EA with them for a long time.

"I know the magic number can be an issue for EAs that use pending orders, they are not an issue for EAs that open positions at market (at least not the ones I run). The problem with the pendings on Oanda is that when the pending triggers, they change the magic number to 0 when the order routes through their fxTrade system. I did an EA early last year for a guy running on Oanda and that was the problem, don't know if they fixed or not. He just created multiple Empty4 sub accounts, set the MN to 0 and did BUYS only in one and SELLS only in the other and ran nothing else on those sub-accounts."

I'll likely use Oanda for now, they have good spreads and have not noticed anything fishy trading live with them on Fxtrade, and then look into other Canadian brokers as well. How does Forex.com compare to Oanda's Euro spread?

[AnotherBrian]

How does Forex.com compare to Oanda's Euro spread?

Go check the spreads on myfxbok. Forex.com spreads are better than FXCM.
Make sure you look at the spreads during market hours and off hours. Also check different pairs. EurUsd at Forex.com is usually 1.6 pips.

[AnotherBrian]

Wow! That's really surprising, and impressive. I'll be eager to hear the results! I haven't found a place to land since PFG imploded. My other (small) account is at Tradestation but I'd like a non-NFA-regulated criminal...

It seems it's like Gary suggested. The US regs prohibit US residents from opening accounts outside the US, and the Canadian regulator / firms respect that regulation. Here is the answer I received from one of the two forex firms I asked....

FXCM
US clients are required to open an US account through FXCM LLC. An exception to this rule is if you are able to provide proof of residency outside of the United States.
To view what is acceptable as a proof of residence, click here.

[garyfritz]

Bummer. "No, we won't let you risk yourself by trading with those dangerous and unreliable foreign brokers. You have to stay here, where it's **safe**." So we're stuck with NFA-"regulated" (hah), non-protected, non-insured brokers, with a history of stealing client money, and no way to escape. Bastards.

Thanks for trying, Brian...

[Fx93]

I don't understand, because Oanda accepts US clients and is in Canada. Their spread is 1.2 on the Euro usually.

[garyfritz]

Their headquarters are in Toronto, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oanda_Corporation says "Oanda Corporation was was incorporated in 1996 in the state of Delaware..." I'm sure they have a US branch and US clients are accepted under that branch. And under the gentle protection of the NFA.

[Fx93]

I was looking at this, which doesn't mention any US involvement for Oanda, though you are probably right.

http://www.oanda.com/corp/story/regulatory

The US regulations are frustrating, really a crock of shit. I'll probably go with Oanda in part at least anyway, they are pretty legit, I hope Romney gets in and they repeal Dodd-Frank. I suppose I could ask a CSR at Oanda about this.