Australian Forex Brokers - What on earth is going on???

celestial34

Recruit
Messages
6
Hi all,
I have been trading for 7 years, although on and off in forex. I only recently got back into it (forex), and had to learn new things like FIFO, hedging etc.

As for brokers in the past, I used to use CMC because they offered CFD's too, but my strategies were very basic; indicators, buy, stop loss etc. I have never been a news trader etc, so never ever came across 'wide spreads' etc. I also never had a problem with withdrawls either.

So CMC were fine for me back then. The only issue I had when I got back into forex recently, was there lot sizes were not small enough for my strategy.

So I went with GFT(au). They allow you to open more than one account, link it, so you can hedge. However, then I find, even though GFT(au) has Aussie offices, they are using US laws. Now, this took me by surprise because my strategy requires me to be able to open and close positions individually, but in the US they now have FIFO....first in first out. This does not work for me.

So, I am now looking for an Australian Forex Broker and I am totally gob smacked at how every single online forex broker in Australia has a long list of bad reviews. Seriously, is this a joke?

I have seen complaints such as:

- widening spreads even when no news out
- claiming they are STP when they are not
- poor customer service
- no customer service
- issues when trying to withdraw money
- trades not being entered straight away when the traders account is up
- freezing platforms

and many more...

Now what about ASIC? All these brokers listed on this site are all supposedly registered with ASIC or regulated by ASIC (what does that mean anyway?). Has anyone here who has made bad reviews about their broker actually complained to ASIC and if so, could you share your outcomes? I am starting to think, either all these reviews are nonsense or ASIC is not what it seems, and they are in bed with the Forex Brokers.

Now, I know brokers lurk through these forums, because I know the forex broker industry in just like the Internet Marketing industry, so I know there are brokers in Australia who are going to read this:

I wonder if the broker who wants my business, would be willing to sign an Affidavit stating that they will not allow all of the above to ever occur. In other words, in your affidavit, you will write:

Every trade you place with us will be STP, no widening of spreads at any time, instant access to my money, instant reply to support questions, never placing me on manual order processing.

So, have you got the balls to do this mr Australia Broker?

Seriously, I was just sickened yesterday as I spent a whole day reviewing all the Australian forex brokers I could find and NOT ONE seems trustworthy to me.

Whose fault is this? ASIC? Is it the traders themselves? Are we expecting too much?

In closing, I do not understand where every trader comes from.

I do NOT trade the news, so I don't care what the spreads do around news time, but I do care about all the rest and it 'seems' to me that none of this stuff should be happening...am I right or am I wrong?
 
You are maybe asking too much. Widening of the spread is common for brokers at news time and is not at all a "dishonest" practice. As for any widening happening at other times, I did not observe it with Gomarkets. If it ever happens, that would be because of low liquidity at certain hours.Maybe it s simply that I dont pay much attention since I m not a scalper and 1 pip of widening is nt something I d notice much. I m not in the market to grab a few pips per trade.
If anything, a broker that guarantees no widening of the spread has more chances to use sleazy practices like slippage and I prefer the widening of spreads that I can clearly see on my screen. You also greatly increase your risk that your orders will be requoted or not fulfilled at all ( something I hate ). I prefer the widening of the spread and no requotes. But, you are free to look for a broker with such fixed spreads guarantee. Only one time I saw the widening of the spreads become really crazy during 5 minutes of panic selling and it did cost me some money.

I suppose that hedging is not allowed for you because you are located in the USA and they must conform to US laws for their US clients. From Canada, I can hedge with Gomarkets, but I dont see the point in doing it since it s just the same as closing your position. I also heard that Gomarkets dont accept US clients altogether because it has become so complicated to comply with all the new US regulations.

Yes, service can be a problem because the australian business hours.
As for the ASIC, I m satisfied with the level of protection they give to investors after reading the available documentation. None of your critics would warrant their intervention anyway. You cant ask the ASIC to investigate because a server was down for example. Such technological failures is not against any ASIC regulations unless it was done willingly to make you lose money ( pretty hard thing to prove ). It happened to me once that gomarkets server went down for I think about 12 hours: gomarkets sent me an email asking to contact them if I had lost money ( I had nt ). I maintain 2 accounts with 2 brokers to be able to offset my positions with the other broker if I m unable to connect with one anyway.

In short, you cannot demand that brokers tailor their trading conditions to your liking: it s up to you to open as many demo accounts it takes until you find one that is just the kind of broker you need for your trading strategy.
 
Last edited:
You are maybe asking too much. Widening of the spread is common for brokers at news time and is not at all a "dishonest" practice. As for any widening happening at other times, I did not observe it with Gomarkets. If it ever happens, that would be because of very low liquidity at certain hours.
If anything, a broker that guarantees no widening of the spread has more chances to use sleazy practices like slippage and I prefer the widening of spreads that I can clearly see on my screen. But, you are free to look for a broker with such guarantee.
I suppose that hedging is not allowed for you because you are located in the USA and they must conform to US laws for their US clients. From Canada, I can hedge with Gomarkets, but I dont see the point in doing it since it s just the same as closing your position. I also heard that Gomarkets dont accept US clients altogether because it has become so complicated to comply with all the new US regulations.
Yes, service can be a problem because the australian business hours.
As for the ASIC, I m satisfied with the level of protection they give to investors after reading the available documentation. None of your critics would warrant their intervention anyway.

In short, you cannot demand that brokers tailor their trading conditions to your liking: it s up to you to open as many demo accounts it takes until you find one that is just the kind of broker you need for your trading strategy.

Hi,
I don't care about news time, but I even experienced it with GFT recently, where at certain times I would go to place a trade and it would tell me I had to accept a different quote sometimes 10 pips away, and this is is Asian session and no news around for miles. What confuses me, is, if the price on the chart says one thing, why are they quoting me something else..why not just quote what the chart says. OR, have the chart represent the quote.
Anyway, I am in Australia, not the USA, but GFT Australia, still uses US laws, so that is why even Australians who use GFT are bound by FIFO.

But.,I do take your points.

Except one though, are you saying when a broker refuses to give someone their money after attempting to withdraw, that does not warrant contacting regulators?
 
Blocking access to your funds certainly warrants ASIC intervention. As per ASIC, your funds are segregated from your brokers. The broker can have absolutely NO EXCUSE for blocking the funds. If it ever happened to me, my reaction would be swift, decisive and with all the heavy artillery. But how could it happen to me anyway ? I d simply call the australian bank where my funds are segregated, the NAB. I dont think Gomarkets would want any trouble with their bank.
 
Blocking access to your funds certainly warrants ASIC intervention. As per ASIC, your funds are segregated from your brokers. The broker can have absolutely NO EXCUSE for blocking the funds. If it ever happened to me, my reaction would be swift, decisive and with all the heavy artillery. But how could it happen to me anyway ? I d simply call the australian bank where my funds are segregated, the NAB. I dont think Gomarkets would want any trouble with their bank.

Well there you go people. If you know which bank your funds are put into (i.e. segregated), then there's no excuse. Obviously many many people on this forum are unaware of this
 
Yes i too was with GFT Australia and i hated the fact i have to follow US regulations so i have moved to an all Australian broker 2mths ago and couldn't be more happy with the broker,platform and the service:D
 
Yes i too was with GFT Australia and i hated the fact i have to follow US regulations so i have moved to an all Australian broker 2mths ago and couldn't be more happy with the broker,platform and the service:D

Do you mind me asking who they are?
 
Yea no problem I'm now with Axitrader i was unhappy with them when i first opened an account with them but this was due to them getting a new server since the new server I'm very happy with them you can read my review on them here on FPA;)
 
Thanks Dkami,
I did find some other reviews on Axitrader, basically all were good, but the few that weren't is the most concerning for me, and they come from the traders who say that once they start doing well, they get put on manual ordering and requoting.

Out of all the bad reviews I have read about forex brokers, this sort of complaint disappoints me the most as I am not sure this is something you could complain to ASIC about.

Why on earth do forex brokers do this sort of practise, it makes no sense, I mean if you are making money from trading doesn't that mean you will stay longer, therefore make more trades, therefore provide more income to the broker. I am preplexed as to why forex brokers feel the need to resort to this sort of practise

Any thoughts on this anyone?
 
Thanks Dkami,
I did find some other reviews on Axitrader, basically all were good, but the few that weren't is the most concerning for me, and they come from the traders who say that once they start doing well, they get put on manual ordering and requoting.

HMMMMM thanks for the heads up i have only been with them for 7weeks adding 15% to my account will update my review if need be:(
 
Back
Top