GFT's US retail forex market departure: more details from CEO Gary Tilkin + Q&A

Since GFT's decision to exit the US retail forex market many eyebrows were raised and clients, rightfully, were asking for more information. We tried to explain what happened however nothing beats an official statement that was given to us by Gary Tilkin, GFT's CEO:

"2012 has no doubt been a challenging year for our industry – the volatility we all love has been absent from the markets making it harder for customers to find trading opportunities. Many smaller firms have suffered because of this and reported losses, declines in volumes or slowed growth. Well, not GFT – as one of the leading providers of 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 tradi 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 tradi Read this Term, CFDs and Spread Betting globally we are here and are stable and secure. Our ethos around integrity and trust has served us well as our clients have remained loyal to us and our trading volumes have, in fact, increased across the year. In times of instability in the markets, GFT remains, as we always have been, strong, stable and highly capitalized.

While other firms may have ‘battened down the hatches’ we’ve continued to innovate and deliver exciting products to our customers and add to our rich history of receiving recognition for our efforts (Shares Award for Best Mobile Platform), etc.

The US retail Forex market represented a small part of our business and I feel it more important to focus on areas where there are no limits and offer enormous opportunity for us. We handled the transition of our existing US retail customer base quickly and efficiently. Plenty of questions have been asked about this move and the impact on our business and remaining customers in other locations. Rest assured, GFT is going forward and will continue to grow and service customers to the same high standard we always have.

2013 is shaping up to be an exciting year for us. We have many regions in which we continue to compete today and global expansion continues to be an ongoing part of our business strategy. We have enormous opportunities to move into new territories and will be aggressively targeting those in 2013. Our institutional business continues to be market leading and this is an area we will continue to build upon next year. Our product development pipeline excites me every day and I can’t wait to bring exciting new products and concepts to market.

I’m proud to say that GFT continues to be financially sound and well capitalized and continues to deliver superb trading experiences to our customers. You’ll be hearing a whole lot more from us in 2013!"

Q&A:

GFT left the US retail forex market last week. What happened?

Based on the long-term economic trending and leverage changes in the US and Japanese markets we made the strategic decision to stop offering retail Forex Trading Forex Trading Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Read this Term from the United States. These coupled with the extremely low level of market volatility drove the decision. The timing was swift and we’re pleased to have provided our accounts a minimum down time from the markets. In addition we believe our Japan and US retail GFT account holders will experience the same high level of service and execution with their new providers.

Should customers be concerned about funds held with another branch of GFT (AU/SG/UK)?

Funds at GFT are safe, sound, and secure. GFT is well capitalized and meets or exceeds the regional regulatory requirements for operating our business in every region where we will continue to offer services. In addition all account funds in Australia and the UK are held in segregated accounts as per local regulations. I should also add customer funds were always safe in the U.S and Japan as GFT is, as I have said, well capitalized on a global basis with plenty of consolidated capital in excess of requirements.

What does this mean for trading with GFT outside of Japan and the US?

The changes over the last week have no effect whatsoever upon the GFT accounts trading out of Singapore or the United Kingdom. If you're an Australian account who has transferred to the UK call, text chat or email us to discover all of the exciting trading opportunities available.

Can customers still open with GFT through another office if GFT has transferred their account to GAIN Capital?

That depends upon where you live. If you are not a permanent resident of Japan or the United States please open your account through one of our regional GFT offices today and we'll have you trading the markets immediately.

Can customers still trade on GFT’s DealBook platform?

All GFT account holders can trade with DealBook. Our mobile solutions will be available shortly. Otherwise trading on our award winning platform DealBook 360 in ongoing everywhere.

Will customers stay on DealBook or will this change?

Customers can absolutely continue to trade on our award winning DealBook suite of platforms.

If customers want to stay with GFT is there any way they can?

This depends upon where you live. You can open a retail trading account with GFT if you are not a permanent resident of Japan or the United States. Call GFT for more details and we can get you trading either with GFT or one of our trusted partners.