Safety
If your forex broker absconds with your money, or goes bankrupt, or goes
out of business, what recourse do you have? None!
If a futures broker goes bankrupt or goes out of business, you will never
lose any money, and there is no way the broker can abscond with your
money, ever! Why is that?
Futures brokers are required to maintain accounts with clearing firms. Once
every 24 hours, every broker must show that he has cash on hand or
equivalents (government bonds, notes, and CDs) sufficient to cover every
open position. The broker is not allowed to hold your money in any of his
accounts. The money must be held in a separate account with the clearing
firm in such a way that it cannot be comingled with the broker’s money.
The clearing firm, in turn, must keep the money at a bank in an account
that is totally separate from the bank’s money. This whole process is called
“marking to market.” It insures that, if your broker, the clearing firm, or the
bank goes out of business, your money is still there.
Are you aware that no one has ever lost any money in a futures trading
account by virtue of a broker going broke? When Refco, the biggest allfutures
clearing firm had to shut down due to its CEO making illegal money
transfers, not one cent of futures traders money was lost. Futures accounts
were immediately transferred to another broker with all positions intact.
But what happened to Refco’s forex traders? At the time I’m writing this,
they are still waiting for their money. They will be fortunate to get back 10
cents on the dollar. In fact, by time they get their money back, the dollar
may be worth only 10 cents.