Forex Broker List & Broker Guide

NFA Regulated Broker List and Breakdown of Classifications of Brokers from simple NFA Member, Forex Firm Classification, FX Dealer Classification, Retail FX Dealer Classification, and Introducing Broker Classifications.

NFA is a not-for-profit membership corporation formed in 1976 to become a futures industry’s self-regulatory organization under Section 17 of the Commodity Exchange Act. Section 17 was added to the Commodity Exchange Act by Title III of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Act of 1974 and provides for the registration and CFTC oversight of self-regulatory associations of futures professionals. NFA’s formal designation as a “registered futures association” was granted by the CFTC on September 22, 1981 and the first of NFA’s regulatory operations began on October 1, 1982.

NFA performs several regulatory activities:

* Auditing and conducting surveillance of Members to enforce compliance with NFA financial requirements;
* establishing and enforcing rules and standards for customer protection;
* conducting arbitration of futures-related disputes;
* performing screening to determine fitness to become or remain an NFA Member. NFA’s programs are operational for Futures Commission Merchants (“FCMs”), Introducing Brokers (“IBs”), Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”), and Commodity Pool Operators (“CPOs”).

http://www.nfa.futures.org/nfamanual/NFAManual.aspx?RuleID=1001&Section=1

• NFA MEMBER – Being an NFA Member gives any firm in the United States the ability to conduct business in with US Clients.
• Forex Firm – If a broker is classified as a "FOREX FIRM" by the NFA.
• FX Dealer – If a broker is classified as am "FX DEALER" by the NFA, if they are registered with the CFTC as a retail foreign exchange dealer (RFEDs) or if they are the counterparty or offer to be the counterparty to forex transactions (as defined in Bylaw 1507(b)). More Info
• Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) – If a broker is classified as a "RETAIL FX DEALER" by the NFA, it means the firm, acting as a counterparty to certain retail off-exchange forex transactions, is required to register as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer More Info
• Introducing Broker – If a broker is classified as an "INTRODUCING BROKER" by the NFA, it is a firm that “solicits orders, exercises discretionary trading authority or operates pools with respect to retail forex.” Any individual acting as a forex solicitor, account manager and/or pool operator is required to register with the CFTC as Introducing Brokers (IBs), Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) or Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs) and become Members of National Futures Association. More Info

*Merchants offering forex transactions to its retail customers but acting primarily or substantially as a traditional FCM are exempt from registering as an RFED but must be approved as a Forex Firm and designated as a Forex Dealer Member of NFA.
**Brokerages must register as either futures commission merchants (FCMs) or retail foreign exchange dealers (RFEDs).  These institutions will be required to “maintain net capital of $20 million plus 5 percent of the amount, if any, by which liabilities to retail forex customers exceed $10 million.”
***Brokerages must “disclose on a quarterly basis the percentage of non-discretionary accounts that realized a profit and to keep and make available records of that calculation.”
This information is subject to change at any time as new rules and regulations are put forth by the NFA or CFTC.