Is it really a stupid advice?
I replied to someone looking for a broker not to register an account with a broker because it is regulated. Then another member told me that it is a stupid advice. Is it really a stupid advice? I don't think so. Here is why: I think it is no longer necessary to emphasize to traders how important and necessary is it to select a regulated Forex broker to obtain their profits in the market. Aside from being able to provide with traders exclusive Forex trading platforms and guarantee the security of their funds, they should be able to offer other kinds of financial products that can meet with various needs of various traders; in addition, they should also give Forex traders professional trading suggestions and helping them obtain profits as much as possible. But only a few brokers do this. Big regulated brokers do not have the time to help their traders because they feel without you, they will still be in business. So, aside from money security what other benefit can we derive from these brokers? More importantly, these brokers have the ability to produce apps and cheating software. "Just like what has happened recently, the FX Direct Dealer LLC (FXDD) is revealed by the National Futures Associate (NFA) for its asymmetric price slippage settings, which means that clients’ orders are executed on the basis of whether the price slippage favored FXDD or its clients. And FXDD obtained the profit from asymmetrical method of price slippage that is based on the detriment of customers-reaching $ 3.5 million. Using asymmetrical price slippage settings that favored FXDD over customers; failing to supervise the trade; integrity of the firm’s electronic trading systems; falling to maintain complete and accurate records; and failing to review the use of promotional material; FXDD has violated five NFA compliance rules in total and it may suffer in penalty about $8m-$9m, even may be removed from NFA.Actually it is not the first time such things happened; just in last year, Forex Capital Market (FXCM) was punished $16.2m by NFA and Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2011 because its incredible operation, such as slow server command, false error messages, flash trades, abuse of slippage and so on. Otherwise, peregrine Financial Group Inc.（PFG Best）, another famous broker for U.S. forex and commodity market for 20 years. In 9 July 2012, NFA served noticed to PFG Best and its affiliates that it was in violation of capital requirements, and there was over $200m missing from customers’ accounts. Now all its capitals are on hold as it investigates accounting irregularities following an apparent suicide attempt by the f's owner."So, when I say, regulation does not come first when looking for a broker, please let no one say it is a stupid advice. Please do not close your eyes to the reality. Lets deal with this. We deserve more attention from the big regulated brokers. They make so much money from us with their trickery, then at least, let them give us very low spreads and low commission fees like the offshore brokers are doing right now.
Haha...no disrespect to you mate, but what you have said above IS rubbish 
Without writing a book about why it is rubbish, I will just make a few points :
You mention that FXDD got busted by the NFA for "asymmetrical price slippage settings" - who would have busted them if they were not regulated and being monitored ? No one ! If they were an unregulated broker, this activity would have gone unnoticed. Instead, they have got a massive fine which will no doubt go some way to stopping a repeat of this action. Same thing goes for your FXCM example.
You also make the assumption that all regulated brokers are "big" brokers, who can afford to develop sophisticated software to cheat traders out of their cash. Firstly, it is totally untrue to say that regulated brokers are all big companies, there are MANY small brokerages that are regulated. Secondly, you do not need overly sophisticated software to play with the prices ! and even if you did, considering the profits involved in the scam, the cost of developing this software would be not much of a deterrent (not to mention how cheaply you can have software developed by freelance Indian/Ukrainian/Russian programmers).
Also, brokers who are registered in the more reputable countries ( eg Australia, US, UK etc) also have financial compensation schemes which they MUST belong to in order to be properly regulated. These compensation schemes protect traders funds in the case of the broker going bankrupt of defrauding the traders.
It is DEFINITELY better to go for regulated brokers, particularly ones regulated by authorities in a western country and not some unheard of island in the Pacific !
because its incredible operation, such as slow server command, false error messages, flash trades, abuse of slippage and so on.
What you have said here is not accurate.
For everyone's clarification, the NFA action back in 2011 was for positive slippage not being passed along on orders prior to 2010. That year, FXCM completed upgrades to our platform to allow orders to receive positive slippage when a better price is available. As you can see from the stats below, our clients now receive positive slippage (AKA price improvements) just as frequently as negative slippage even while some brokers may still not give positive slippage to this day.
Does your broker ever give you positive slippage on your orders? That's easy to check. Simply record your limit order price and check to see if you can get filled at a better price. If your broker re-quotes you, do you ever get re-quoted for a better price if the market moves against you? How many times have you ever experienced a re-quote in your favor for a better price or received positive slippage on a limit?
Unfortunately for traders that get re-quotes, their broker is often happy to fill them at the price they requested when the market is moving against them, but re-quotes them with a worse price when the market moves in their favor. At FXCM, traders get no re-quotes and benefit from positive slippage. In addition, our Trading Station platform has a feature called Market Range to help you limit negative slippage.
As PipTrip has rightly pointed out, the purpose of regulation is to hold brokers accountable. Should traders do their own due diligence when choosing a broker above and beyond checking whether a broker is regulated? Absolutely, but making sure a broker is answerable to some government authority by being regulated is a bare minimum when it comes to the safety of your funds.
If a broker is unregulated, it means they are unable or unwilling (which is worse?!) to meet even these minimum standards of financial responsibility and transparency. Below are just some recent examples:
Crown Forex "Although some people with accounts were still able to get their money out at this early stage, many accounts were not refunded... the company had no authorization from the SFBC for any activity in the financial sector in Switzerland." Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story. A couple of years after going bankrupt, the people from Crown Forex were at it again, this time helping others become unregulated brokers.
JadeFX "fraudulently solicited and misappropriated more than $3.2 million from more than 500 customers in the United States and throughout the world to trade forex... None of the defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC."
At FXCM, our goal is to provide superior trade execution and support and be a safe place for you to keep your money. That is why we are regulated in major financial centers in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. In addition, we are one of the only retail brokers that is also a publicly-traded company (NYSE ticker: FXCM). That is why traders have entrusted us with $1.264 billion in client funds.
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I replied to someone looking for a broker not to register an account with a broker because it is regulated. Then another member told me that it is a stupid advice. Is it really a stupid advice? I don't think so. Here is why:
I think it is no longer necessary to emphasize to traders how important and necessary is it to select a regulated Forex broker to obtain their profits in the market. Aside from being able to provide with traders exclusive Forex trading platforms and guarantee the security of their funds, they should be able to offer other kinds of financial products that can meet with various needs of various traders; in addition, they should also give Forex traders professional trading suggestions and helping them obtain profits as much as possible. But only a few brokers do this. Big regulated brokers do not have the time to help their traders because they feel without you, they will still be in business. So, aside from money security what other benefit can we derive from these brokers?
More importantly, these brokers have the ability to produce apps and cheating software. "Just like what has happened recently, the FX Direct Dealer LLC (FXDD) is revealed by the National Futures Associate (NFA) for its asymmetric price slippage settings, which means that clients’ orders are executed on the basis of whether the price slippage favored FXDD or its clients. And FXDD obtained the profit from asymmetrical method of price slippage that is based on the detriment of customers-reaching $ 3.5 million. Using asymmetrical price slippage settings that favored FXDD over customers; failing to supervise the trade; integrity of the firm’s electronic trading systems; falling to maintain complete and accurate records; and failing to review the use of promotional material; FXDD has violated five NFA compliance rules in total and it may suffer in penalty about $8m-$9m, even may be removed from NF
Actually it is not the first time such things happened; just in last year, Forex Capital Market (FXCM) was punished $16.2m by NFA and Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2011 because its incredible operation, such as slow server command, false error messages, flash trades, abuse of slippage and so on. Otherwise, peregrine Financial Group Inc.（PFG Best）, another famous broker for U.S. forex and commodity market for 20 years. In 9 July 2012, NFA served noticed to PFG Best and its affiliates that it was in violation of capital requirements, and there was over $200m missing from customers’ accounts. Now all its capitals are on hold as it investigates accounting irregularities following an apparent suicide attempt by the fir's owner."
So, when I say, regulation does not come first when looking for a broker, please let no one say it is a stupid advice. Please do not close your eyes to the reality. Lets deal with this. We deserve more attention from the big regulated brokers. They make so much money from us with their trickery, then at least, let them give us very low spreads and low commission fees like the offshore brokers are doing right now.