Worried About Choosing an Unregulated Forex Broker? Read our Guide to FSPC Forex Brokers

Choosing a Forex broker is one of the most significant decisions you’ll have to make before embarking on your Forex trading career. Make the wrong decision and it has the potential to cost you a lot of money. In the worse case scenario, you risk losing all your investment. Forex trading is not regulated by one single regulatory body. Instead, individual countries enforce their own regulations. There are a number of these regulatory agencies which are well-known, such as the FCA, CySEC, and BaFIN. But there are also a number of other less well-known bodies. Those of you looking for Forex brokers registered in the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles need to be considering FSPC regulated brokers.

What is the FSPC?

FSPC stands for Financial Service Provider Commission. This independent company offers a registration system which records all firms, individuals and other bodies which are accredited as FSPC regulated brokers. It also lists licensed entities in other recognized jurisdictions. If you are looking for Forex brokers registered in the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, or the Seychelles you are able to search the register to confirm information. The FSPC accredits or registers the following:

• Stock brokers, asset managers and financial advisors
• Investment firms
• Certain issuers of electronic money
• Forex brokerage firms
• Debt collectors
• Any firms operating an electronic system related to lending

Why you should choose FSPC Forex brokers

In order for a Forex broker to appear in the Financial Service Provider Register, it must be reviewed by an independent organization and have been independently assessed for complying with certain standards for performance, liquidity, and transparency. An FSPC registered broker has to comply with the following obligations:

• Minimum company equity of $35,000
• Competency, knowledge and skill levels of responsible managers
• Compliance according to international corporation standards
• Training and competence of representatives
• Adequate financial, technological and human resources
• Compliance, risk management and managing conflicts of interest
• Dispute resolution services

The FSPC states it reserves the right to revoke registration if a registered entity receives more than 3 different complaints within a 3 month period. You may be thinking these obligations are little more than a generalization of the quality of service you have come to expect from any kind of company. It has to be said some kind of regulation is definitely better than nothing at all. But you also have to consider there are a number of better known and far stricter regulatory bodies. In order to protect your rights as an investor and safeguard your investment in the best way possible, you might want to consider one of these instead.

The FSPC also offers mediation services for clients of FSPC regulated brokers

Mediation is an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure which is used for settling disputes. Other procedures include arbitration or negotiation. ADR procedures tend to cost less and take far less time than other complaints procedures. During the process of mediation, the parties involved in the dispute are brought together, together with a neutral third-party to act as the go-between. The aim of this type of complaint procedure is a way of enabling parties to reach a voluntary resolution of the issue. It is also a useful procedure for litigants and attorneys who are antagonistic toward each other, or who have unrealistic expectations with regards the case. Meditation is often the last resort before taking the complaint to trial. When mediation takes place the parties meet together with the go-between and are given the opportunity to state their case. The parties are then separated and the go-between consults with each in turn, going back and forth to relay offers and responses. Any information shared with the go-between is confidential and the mediator is also allowed to give his or her own thoughts regarding the complaint. The ultimate goal is for both parties to agree on a resolution.

The risks involved in choosing an unregulated broker

When you type “forex brokers” into your favorite search bar the hits you get will generally be for licensed and regulated brokers based in countries where the financial markets are well regulated. However, there will also be a few offshore brokers who are based where regulation is non-existent or very lax. And some who have made the decision to not worry about being licensed or regulated. While regulation may be seen as adding to a brokers credibility there are a number of reasons why certain Forex brokers choose to walk a different path.

Why do brokers choose to be unregulated?

The main reason is possibly because being unregulated can significantly reduce operating costs. Getting and keeping a license can be very expensive. An FCA license, for example, has been estimated to cost millions. The capital requirements set out by regulatory frameworks such as MiFID, also act as a barrier for many new brokerage firms because they simply can’t raise such large amounts of capital. A number of unregulated brokers are also located in offshore tax havens which means it is possible to reduce the tax burden by significant amounts. Another reason for brokers to choose to operate without any kind of regulatory oversight is because it makes it possible to offer a different range of products or cater to the needs of customers they wouldn’t have been able to serve with a regulated company. But let’s not forget those unregulated brokers who have chosen to operate in such a way for much more sinister reasons. In other words, they want to take advantage of their clients. We were able to find a number of instances where an unregulated broker has been proved to be participating in fraudulent behavior or unfair practices. which, of course, have cost their clients a great deal of money. There is also very little recourse if an unregulated broker decides to close up shop and won’t return client’s money. The fact the brokers in question were unregulated left clients with no one to turn to for help.