Alpari US Customer Contraction Continues in July CFTC FCM Financials

The CFTC has posted financials for US FCM’s for the month of July. Similar to other months, there were few surprises in the figures, as all Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Read this Term brokers were holding adequate capital. Among forex firms, the data showed a decline in customer deposits. During the month, total Retail Forex Funds dropped 1.2% to $629.75 million from June.

In individual names, the largest drop was seen at FXCM, whose $146 million total of Retail Forex Funds declined slightly more than $5 million from June. The largest percentage drop was seen at Alpari. The broker continues to experience weakness in its US retail customer deposits, as total figures dropped $1.22 million (10.5%) to $10.33 million. For perspective, Alpari ended 2012 by reporting $15,568,447 in Retail Forex Funds. The decline comes even as the broker tries to revitalize its US operations with the launch of trading schools. Among US brokers, following the exits of GFT, FX Solutions, and FX Club from the US, Alpari’s name has been raised among other possible firms that could exit.

Among new additions, FIXI Americas was added to CFTC’s list of reporting FCM’s. The firm is the newly launched US division of London Prime Broker Prime Broker Prime brokers are the designation given to individuals handling a package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to invest on a netted basis and achieve an absolute return.There are two types of prime brokers - bank and non-bank corporations. Traditionally major global investment banks have been the predominant players in the space, however recent years have proven that there is space for non-bank liquidity providers that sometimes can deliver a better service than traditional financial institutions.Prime brokers are earning on commissions, spreads and overnight margin lending. Brokers which are operating STP flows in sufficient size are the main contenders to have a direct relationship with a prime broker, while smaller firms are relying on prime of primes to access a pool of prime brokers.What Roles Do Prime Brokers Perform?Prime brokers are responsible for a wide range of services, which typically include global custody such as clearing, custody, and asset servicing. Additionally, these individuals are also tasked with securities lending and financing, in a bid to facilitate leverage of client assets.The individuals can also provide hedge fund managers with portfolio reporting needed to effectively manage money as well as operational support. Prime brokers act as a hedge fund's primary operations contact with all other broker dealers.Finally, many prime brokers also look to provide additional value-added services, such as risk management and capital introduction.Of note, larger prime brokerage firms today usually monitor the risk within client portfolios through house-designed risk-based margin methodologies. These are helpful in considering the worst-case loss of a portfolio based on liquidity, concentration, ownership, macroeconomic, investing strategies, and other risks of the portfolio. Prime brokers are the designation given to individuals handling a package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to invest on a netted basis and achieve an absolute return.There are two types of prime brokers - bank and non-bank corporations. Traditionally major global investment banks have been the predominant players in the space, however recent years have proven that there is space for non-bank liquidity providers that sometimes can deliver a better service than traditional financial institutions.Prime brokers are earning on commissions, spreads and overnight margin lending. Brokers which are operating STP flows in sufficient size are the main contenders to have a direct relationship with a prime broker, while smaller firms are relying on prime of primes to access a pool of prime brokers.What Roles Do Prime Brokers Perform?Prime brokers are responsible for a wide range of services, which typically include global custody such as clearing, custody, and asset servicing. Additionally, these individuals are also tasked with securities lending and financing, in a bid to facilitate leverage of client assets.The individuals can also provide hedge fund managers with portfolio reporting needed to effectively manage money as well as operational support. Prime brokers act as a hedge fund's primary operations contact with all other broker dealers.Finally, many prime brokers also look to provide additional value-added services, such as risk management and capital introduction.Of note, larger prime brokerage firms today usually monitor the risk within client portfolios through house-designed risk-based margin methodologies. These are helpful in considering the worst-case loss of a portfolio based on liquidity, concentration, ownership, macroeconomic, investing strategies, and other risks of the portfolio. Read this Term, FIXI.