Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The US National Futures Association (NFA) announced on Tuesday it has permanently expelled the US branch of the forex broker IBFX. The self-regulatory organization also ordered IBFX to withdraw from acting as a principal of an NFA member.
The Association’s Business Conduct Committee (BCC) took the decision after a complaint from November 2015 that IBFX has failed to maintain the minimum adjusted net capital requirements and to implement an adequate risk management program. It has thus violated the NFA membership conditions. Furthermore, the NFA has found that the broker has not maintained complete and accurate books and records and did not properly supervise its operations.
The NFA decision comes less than a day after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it will fine IBXF $1 million for failing to meet the capital requirements for a brief period in January and February 2015, not reporting the matter to the regulator and several other violations of the regulations.
The NFA was established in the early 1980s as a self-regulatory organization of the US derivatives industry, including companies trading in on-exchange traded futures, forex and swaps. Membership in NFA mandatory. The goal of the organization is to ensure the companies doing business on the financial markets are adhering to high professional standards. The NFA membership is also mandatory for swap dealers and major swap participants.
IBFX is a subsidiary of the broker-dealer and futures commission merchant TradeStation, which is owned by the Japan’s Monex Group (TYO:8698). Recently the US and the Australian branches of IBFX sold their client accounts on the TradeStation trading platform to the US broker Oanda. Both branches ceased operations on March 4, after the accounts were automatically transferred to the new owner.
