Discuss ThinkMarkets.com (was ThinkForex.com)

[Pharaoh]

Part of the policy you linked to says:

ThinkForex will liquidate a part or all of an Open Position in a customer's account if the total equity, at any time, equals or falls below 50% of the Used Margin. Positions will be closed based on the best execution prices available at the time to ThinkForex.

This is a little vague regarding whether that's part of all of a single position or of all positions.

Contact them on live chat and pretend to not be a current client. Lay out a scenario similar to what happened to you and ask if all positions would be closed or not.

 

[Rambo35]

Sounds like a margin call to me which means that your risk management policy should be re-visited.

 

[willforex]

Hello.

I have an account with Thinkforex and my account has just burned.
I received a message from Thinkforex saying "One or more of your trading positions has exceeded the minimum margin requirements and has been stopped out(...)".
I know what this is, but they closed all my 11 opened positions at the same time. As far as I know, in cases where stop level is reached, positions are closed in sequence, because after each position closed the stop level will be different. I don't think they should have closed all at the same time!

This happened me once in another broker that started closing open positions in sequence, and in the mean while the market changed and I was able to recover from the loss. This was the behavior I expected from Think forex. I think it is unacceptable to close all open positions at once.

Their policy is here: Forex Regulation -Margin Call Policy - Forex Regulation

Can I do something about this?

Thank you.

I had the similar experience with Gallant Capital broker . After that I pay more attention on the risk .

 

[ElizaTrader]

I think they don't care about their clients. They did not warn me about their platform being closed for hours whilst the market was open over the holidays in december. They say that I should have known that the market was going to be open for hours whilst their platform was closed. Don't trust them to be honest with you they do what suits them. There are some very nice people that work there but that is not enough! They tried to tell me that they were justified in leading their clients to believe that the market is closed when in fact their platform is closed NOT the market. I was on the phone to a representative one day and asking him when the platform was going to open. He said the markets don't open till 9am but I was watching the markets live and active on another platform as we were speaking. They should have said our platform will be closed when the markets are open. It's not a big issue most of the time it happens for a hour every monday their platform is active at 9 the markets open earlier. Don't expect them to tell you this. They want you to think their platform opens and closes with the markets. Do not trade with this broker over the holidays.

 

[MOHAMED MAHMOUD]

This was between me and Company
DwayneSupport Agent
Good

DwayneHello MOHAMED. How may I help you?

MOHAMED Hello

Do you have an Islamic account

DwayneYeah we do, theyre swap free

Are you currently looking at opening an account?

MOHAMED Is it possible to lose more than they deposited, I mean that my balance up to negative

DwayneNo

We have a margin call rate

if you lose more than 50% of your open trade positions, then it automatically shuts down the least profitable trades.

MOHAMED In the case of sliding price you can reach my balance to negative

DwayneNo, it wouldn't reach negative, because the margin call would cut the trades.

MOHAMED If it is exceeded, stop loss or margin call by the system in the case of slipping Price Is compensate customer

DwayneNot for price slipage which is a result of the market, however if it was an unusual spikes then yes

You would be conpensated

MOHAMED Please clarify

DwayneIf it was simply just slipage as a result of the market, then that cannot be helped

However if it was a spike on our fault which is not from the market, we would obviously compensate the customers

Does that make it clearer?

MOHAMED I mean, that has been overrun by the system, I set the price for the stop loss then been surpassed Is this from the market or from the system

DwayneIt's from the market. However with the large amount of liquidity we have, it's rare,

MOHAMED But why not do it on your system

DwayneWhat do you mean?

MOHAMED I mean that this was from the market, it may also exceed the margin call and your system, I mean you did not do it the platform selected by

DwayneI still don't understand what you're trying to ask.

The best way is to see for yourself. You can download a demo account and try out our platforms for yourself.

MOHAMED I have opened a Demo account you have already

But I mean, it happens sometimes sliding price

DwayneThats a risk that comes with forex trading. The best thing to help avoid it is having the kind of liquidity we offer our clients

MOHAMED I specified the stop loss has been exceeded that may be overridden margin call, which could lead to the existence of negative balance

DwayneThe margin call is final, it doesn't get overridden

So you wouldn't hit negative, we wouldn't allow it, since it's unfavorable for both parties.

Have you got much experience trading Forex?

MOHAMED Never mean that sometimes is exceeded stop loss, but is not never exceeded the margin call

Has extensive experience of my career so do it where I live ones



DwayneAt the end of the day, it may exceed stop loss, which is a risk with forex, however our strong liquidity minimises this from happening. It can happen but it's highly unlikely. As for the Margin Call, thats final, if it has to kick in, it will close the positions.

Do you do automated or manual trading?

MOHAMED But also may exceed the margin call, but a few percent it true

I'm working my hand as the saying goes do not rub your skin like your fingernail, and in order to see every second of what is happening

DwayneI can understand that, you want to be cautious. Do you do automated trading or manual?

MOHAMED Is there any difference between the Islamic account and other expenses, or is there a specific time to get rid of deals

DwayneTheres no charge for the islamic account

It just means, open trades, you wont earn or pay interest on open orders overnight

MOHAMED Is it possible to explain to me how to pay interest at the bank for a year, for example, up to $ 1000 in order to take advantage of spreed and a commission may not exceed $ 10

DwayneIm not sure what your asking?

If you were to open an islamic account, you wouldn't have to pay or recieve interest

MOHAMED But you surely pay the bank interest on the open trades for more than 24 hours and this causes you to not be compensated for loss of client

DwayneYes that's correct

MOHAMED Do you bear the loss for the client

DwayneIt's offset by the comission or spread included

so it's already taken into consideration

MOHAMED How have kept the deal is open for one year, for example, assume you pay interest to the bank with age knowing you will not even get ten of the value of what you pay if you lose to the client

DwayneThe margin call is final, it doesn't get overridden

So you wouldn't hit negative, we wouldn't allow it, since it's unfavorable for both parties.
Do you intervene in the accounts in order to allow it or not

Where are you, dude

I think the accounts of Islamic real market does not exist and submission of the mediator, in my view is a cause for suspicion

DwayneThe margin call kicks in if the trade itself is losing. The interest is not calculated. However let me double check about the swap conditions.

MOHAMED I wish to clarify my question about the Islamic Account

How have kept the deal is open for one year, for example, assume you pay interest to the bank with age knowing you will not even get ten of the value of what you pay if you lose to the client

DwayneWe use a hedging process to make the transactions swap free.

It's not my area of expertise, but we wouldn't offer Islamic accounts if we were making losses. It's that simple

MOHAMED Use Althok makes Market Maker, not ecn this first, how you say that you are not you have the Chamber of Commerce How say you ndd and more importantly, how to be canceled Islamic account with a client suddenly, and it was not until suddenly how you lose is something means that you intervene in the private trade how it's ecn

DwayneWe're going into area's which I cannot advise you on. You're going to have to email our team at support@thinkforex.com and they'll be able to help you.

MOHAMED As I told you before that my career by Forex Live including whether consultation for the owners of the accounts or otherwise generally thank you

You rated our customer service as good.

MOHAMED Now I can offer my clients for my opinion about the company you are actually good

DwayneThats good to hear

So you're looking at becoming an IB?

MOHAMED I have many customers with their problem and clearing broker they ask me and I'm taking money out of the question with my experience and their questions for a broker

I do not deceive my customers for my reputation in the market and what you told me and makes me say I am a clear conscience you have a clearing house

The hedge it, there are also the benefits of the benefits of negative whether to sell or buy a currency, as well as some goods Valthot loss on loss

DwayneIt's an area which unfortunately I don't know very much on just yet

MOHAMED The truth is that 95% or more of the customers are losing and gaining expelled

DwayneWas there anything else I could help you with?

MOHAMED Thank you, my friend Fear not, will not Publish What Dar us in special forums forexpeacearmy

Fear not, will not Publish What happened between us in special forums forexpeacearmy

DwayneThank you for your chat. Feel free to contact us again.

Dwayne has closed the chat.

Start the chat again

 

[FXVM]

If it can help anyone - we have recently improved our latency to ThinkForex trading servers in London.

The connectivity is looking really good, check the ping results from our servers:

PING 149.5.72.72 (149.5.72.72) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 149.5.72.72: icmp_seq=1 ttl=120 time=1.87 ms
64 bytes from 149.5.72.72: icmp_seq=2 ttl=120 time=1.78 ms
64 bytes from 149.5.72.72: icmp_seq=3 ttl=120 time=1.74 ms
64 bytes from 149.5.72.72: icmp_seq=4 ttl=120 time=1.79 ms
64 bytes from 149.5.72.72: icmp_seq=5 ttl=120 time=1.77 ms
--- 149.5.72.72 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 3998ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1.749/1.795/1.871/0.055 ms

Up-to-date ThinkForex latency info can be found here: https://fxvm.net/blog/thinkforex-latency-broker-2ms/

 

[Gleneroo]

Does anyone have any experience on withdrawals with ThinkForex?

I have been a customer of think forex for many years. Overall, for my usage, I didn't notice particular problems with execution and so on.

Recently I tried to make withdrawals and this is when trouble started.

I filled up fund withdrawal form in April for a small amount to test the process (200 Euros), while I have about 15 or 16k on my account.
Normally in case of a same currency transfer (euro to euro in this case) there are no fees whatsoever.
I received confirmation from you on 23 April, saying "Please allow 1-5 business days for the funds to reach your bank account"
On May 4 I sent an email saying I still didn't receive anything. Delay, but also this email was unanswered.
On May 20 I send a new email complaining funds have left my trading account quickly but nothing was credited on the other side. It is one month old at this stage.
On May 28 I finally receive an answer (took 8 days ???) saying the withdrawal request was finally processed. No explanation why it took so long.
On May 29 I receive the funds, only 166.85 Euros. So in total there is a fee of 17% on withdrawals. I ask an explanation by email.
On June 9 (so took 10 days to answer !) I received the answer saying their bank HSBC charged 13.65Euros and the rest they just don't know.

I also had a very long chat with one think forex member. To make it short he says:
1/ they don't charge anything it is the fault of banks and intermediate banks that charge.
2/ costs are unknown to them so if I make any withdrawal request they cannot tell me what I will receive. It will just be a surprise at the end on my side and I have nowhere to complaint.
3/ there are other withdrawal methods with known fees (credit card, skrill) but they are not available for me for regulation reasons.

I sent them two complaints in one:

Complaint 1 : Excessive time for withdrawal and poor service (unanswered questions):
This one anyone can see in the timeline. Long time to process, unanswered emails.
When they write "ThinkForex aims to provide superior customer service" we are very far from it.
As there is always only one email address, unsigned emails and so on, it looks to me it is actually a very small company with few members. However even if it is a small company this is not a reason the service should be bad.

Complaint 2: Excessive level of fees
I have something like 16k€ to withdraw in 1k€ or 2k€ per month steps.
- If, as per first experience, the fee is 17%, my total withdrawal fee is 2720 EUR, not far from 4000AUD. It is right to say it is excessive.
Also, this is not transparent. There is no table of applicable fees, so that may increase or decrease without any prior notice and explanation.
- If it is a fixed cost, 34E per withdrawal, the withdrawal cost will be 16 x 34 = 544 Euros = 800AUD .Obviously still excessive !
Most likely it is a mix of fixed and proportional cost, so the truth will be somewhere between 800 AUD and 4000 AUD. As they explained we just cannot know in advance and it will be a surprise at the end of the process.

They say it is not their fault, it is intermediaries, they are not responsible. But:
1/ They are the one choosing their intermediaries
2/ Competitors perform much better so there is obviously something they do not right.
Also about this, it is strange to me when we deposit there are no charge at all ?

About competitors ?
Recently from october to April I made several withdrawals from LMAX (UK based).
In all cases I received 100% of what I had withdrawn, and quite quickly (always less than a week). No fee whatsoever nowhere. What I withdrawn is what I received.
UK is in Europe, so another example closer to think forex ? Go Markets in Australia ! I have also this broker, with Euros account. I also made withdrawals and there were no fees. Same, what I withdrawn is just what I received.

At the end what I expect is a way to withdraw my funds, not even for free, but for a REASONABLE FEE. Applying a charge of 17% is just NOT reasonable, anyone can understand that. It is just common sense. Most of my gains would disappear with this. I don't think 17% is acceptable fee for anyone (except for them of course). So far it doesn't seem to be a problem for them at all.

So I sent them this complaint and hope to hear fast feedback from them. I will let the forum know the outcome because if there are no solution and they apply something like 17% charge on withdrawals, it is important customers know what to expect for people to not get in the same situation. Lets be hopeful, maybe it is just a mistake and unique case and they will provide an answer fast. Otherwise it is very bad !

 

[Gleneroo]

Update after 3 weeks: I just had an answer saying sorry for delays, blabla, we reimburse 25 Euros as gesture of good will.
This is nice but the main concern is not addressed.
I asked them to provide an answer. In short it is not complicated: I just want to be able to withdraw my funds !
(but for real, no 17% tax on withdrawals)
It is simple, isn't it ? Just as all of my other borkers offer.

I suggested to escalate the case to "institute of arbitrators australia rules for the conduct of commercial arbitrations" and ask agreement of cost to be shared equally between us.
I hope to hear from them. If they don't answer I have no choice but go alone to this institute (will need to write letter before).

 

[Gleneroo]

I have opened a dispute on FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service Australia).
Their role is to independently resolve disputes between consumers and their financial services providers members (Think Forex being a member under the name "Tf Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd", member number 30762).
I have provided all background documentation, and they will contact Think Forex to ask independantly their views on it and propose a solution. Hopefully, first of all they will have more chances than me into getting answers.
I hope this will allow for a fast resolution.

 

[Gleneroo]

I have opened a dispute on FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service Australia).
Their role is to independently resolve disputes between consumers and their financial services providers members (Think Forex being a member under the name "Tf Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd", member number 30762).
I have provided all background documentation, and they will contact Think Forex to ask independantly their views on it and propose a solution. Hopefully, first of all they will have more chances than me into getting answers.
I hope this will allow for a fast resolution.

They have waited the last day to provide answer to answer to FOS:
"(...) is not a client of TF Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd. He is a client of TF Global Markets Limited, a New Zealand company not a FOS member, therefore this falls outside your terms of reference"

Nice trick as in this case this is NOT ASIC regulated !!!

I never heard of "TF Global Markets Limited" before.
All emails with them are signed "TF Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd".
Daily statements are not signed.
Trading server is in Australia.

I don't know what to do know and I hope at some point I just can retrieve my funds !

By the way, part relating to regulations, FOS and dispute solving has just suddently disappeared from their website (but it is still visible on google).