FXCM Apologizes
February 26, 2007 by Trader Rich
Yesterday and part of today, FXCM had technical difficulties and their trading platform was unavailable. Anyone who had open positions from last week couldn't manage their trades. They sent out an apology today and offered to reimburse those clients who suffered a loss on open positions during the outage. They pretty much stated that they haven't done enough to address reliability issues and wanted to ensure everyone that the technical issues were not indicative of FXCM's financial stability or health. Do you believe them? Click [Read More] to view the entire email that I received because I have monies deposited with FXCM. They are my backup broker.
Dear Client,
On behalf of all of FXCM, we wish to sincerely apologize for the recent technical problems our firm experienced.
We know our clients were unable to trade on February 25th and for part of February 26th. As a result, clients with open positions were unable to close positions during this period or take advantage of trading opportunities. We are very sorry and believe this is unacceptable.
All clients who suffered a loss on open positions due to the technical failures related to the market opening on Sunday February 25th will be fully refunded the amount of any loss.
We are committed to learning from this experience and are putting in place measures to prevent future outages from occurring. The primary goal of FXCM is to have the best and most reliable forex trading platform. Over the past few months, FXCM has invested millions of dollars to upgrade our technology with two combined aims: to roll out No Dealing Desk execution and to increase overall reliability. Obviously, the efforts to increase reliability have fallen short. We are now going to re-double our efforts on platform reliability and stability, renewing our commitment of resources and financial investment to successfully accomplish these goals.
The technology upgrade related to No Dealing Desk execution is the key to providing you with the best trading platform. With the roll-out of No Dealing Desk execution, clients can trade on rates provided directly from several of the world's largest banks. These banks compete with each other to provide the best rates, which at times results in spreads as low as 2 pips. In the coming weeks, we intend to provide a major reduction in spreads on most currency pairs. We believe that you will be impressed with No Dealing Desk execution once the technology issues are resolved.
We have had some difficult days during the upgrade from a technical standpoint and will do everything in our power to help our clients who were negatively affected due to the technical errors that arose. Moreover, I want to assure you that these technical issues are not indicative of FXCM's financial stability or health. FXCM has over $100 million in capital and no debt. In addition, approximately $600 million in client funds are traded using our platform, the FX Trading Station.
Words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for the frustration and anxiety that our clients experienced during this recent difficulty. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to discuss a loss you incurred on an open position during the period mentioned above, please feel free to contact us 24 hours a day. You can reach us via e-mail at sales@fxcm.com, via live chat from our website, or via phone at (212) 897-7660. You may also access our international toll-free numbers from this link: http://www.fxcm.com/contact-fxcm.jsp.
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Well, I’m not a big fan of FXCM, but I appreciate this kind of humility, and I wish that Oanda would be so forthcoming with their occasional technical issues…
Yes. Oanda seems to communicate more via their Forums and on a case by case basis. It is still disturbing that FXCM’s infrastructure is not up to par. I work for a big Wall Street bank and something like this happening is not acceptable. FXCM has plenty of capital to address these issues. All I can say is their Chief Technology Officer should be fired …
You can contact me at marproserv@yahoo.com for more information. Stay away from them!
20 years trading & 6 doing FOREX. FXCM has moved away from customer service and into the SCAM business. They’ve been given the license in successfully fighting CFTC complaints by arguing that the CFTC has no jurisdiction over the FX SPOT market. This being done they now make their money by adding outrageous chop to the swap rates (both sides) and marketing to the general public knowing full well that 9 out 10 accounts will be gone in 90 days. They have no scruples and I am filing a law suit. Even if you’re bound by the arbitration agreement – you still have options. You can contact me at marproserv@yahoo.com for more information. Stay away from them!