I mentioned back in November that the NFA had implemented new net capital requirements for Forex brokers that went in effect on December 21st, 2007. In a nutshell, brokers that offer 100:1 leverage needed 10 million in net capital and brokers offering 50:1 leverage needed 5 million in net capital.
If you missed that post, you can find it at http://www.forexproject.com/Blog/Investing_and_Trading/Forex_Brokers_Will_Be_Affected/
The CFTC has only released net capital reports up to October (November should be out any day now) but there are several brokers that could be in serious trouble. If you go over to http://www.brokerontop.com/small_futures_commission_merchant.htm, any of these small-cap firms (< 10 million in excess net capital) could soon have a problem if the NFA start enforcement of the new requirements. I'd be seriously hesitant depositing any money or having any money at these firms. Do your own research but based on my understanding, the recognizable firms in trouble could be:
- CMS Forex (need 10 million, barely compliant based on October report)
- Hotspot FX (need 5 million, barely compliant based on October report)
- Forex Club (need 10 million, seriously undercapitalized based on October report)
- MB Trading (need 10 million, seriously undercapitalized based on October report)
- Easy Forex (don't know their leverage but still seriously undercapitalized based on October report)
- Alpari (need 10 million, seriously undercapitalized based on October report)
