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I wish it were that easy to predict which FCM would fail next. But MFG and PFG have demonstrated that is not likely.
Instead what the industry needs is a form of insurance like FDIC or SIPC insurance that protects futures accounts. Until such time, the trader should just do as much due diligence as possible and it probably would be good advice to spread your funds over multiple FCM's to lessen the impact should any single firm collapse.
But that is going off-topic for this thread so let's try to return to topic of: AMP Trading review.
I think you may have misinterpreted my comments. I never said that JP Morgan wasn't the target of lawsuits or inquiries... more so than any other bank, they are in fact in the government's crosshairs at the moment. However, the supposition that these lawsuits and government actions against the bank are somehow an indication that your personal funds could be at risk is not something that I agree with. JP Morgan has a lot of money set aside to deal with these things, is still turning large profits, and will not go anywhere close to being out of business as a result of these things. In any case, their buddies in the government would never let it happen, even if there was another crisis - they would get bailed out, you can count on it. There's a difference between being sued/investigated and being in serious danger of going out of business and losing all customer funds, and they are nowhere close to that for the reasons I mentioned. $1.7 Billlion is just a drop in the bucket for these guys... all of this is known information and the bank has set aside funds for it.
FBJS, I fail to see why you keep bringing this idea that JPMorgan cannot go under. This is not a concern in any of my allegations.
What matters is how the funds you put into a broker can become mismanaged.
Here is why the bank paid the fine in the Madoff case:
The bank has agreed to pay the fine to settle pending charges that it ignored numerous warning signs about the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.
And as for the PFG lawsuit:
The lawsuit alleges that U.S. Bank, JPMorgan, and Wasendorf Jr. breached legal duties they owed to PFG’s customers by allowing PFG and Wasendorf Sr. to withdraw and use millions of dollars in customer funds for their own purposes.
The main concern is the probability that your funds vanish. Not the money the business you deal with.
All probabilities are but a possibility, this could also happen with other FCMs but what I am trying to bring forth is the idea that it might be less risky to go with a business that has no such precedent.
I think I understand your point now. You are saying that because of JPM's previous history of allowing shady behavior, they might not be as watchful if someone (like an FCM) is trying to steal your money. That's a fair point. You could also make the argument that because they have been targeted and fined for it, it is much less likely to happen again at that particular firm. It's possible that the risk is actually higher at another firm that hasn't been in the crosshairs as much in the recent past. In any case, I still wouldn't consider it a major risk point, in comparison to evaluating the actual FCM itself, although I could see how someone would consider it. My bottom line in any case is that I don't really trust anyone (JPM or anyone else), and always keep as little as possible in the trading account. That's the only way to really protect yourself, unfortunately.
The Madoff case came to light in 2008. The PFG case, July 2012. Both are multi-decade frauds.
As long as the profits of fraud out-weight the fines, there is no reason to have faith that they will simply stop doing what they have been doing since no one in the JPM ranks are going to prison. They are in a no-risk proposition. A fine then simply becomes a cost of "doing business".
I can't disagree that given their past history, it is a risk you might want to consider, I guess. The truth is that nowhere is really safe, unfortunately.... that's why I don't trust any firm.
Sorry for the humor. The client portal is pretty elemental giving you access to your basic account info and platform set-up. There are no statements. No historical trade info. In this regard Amp has not done well.
That said, every day I get an e-mail statement of trades and commissions, every month a monthly statement, every year a tax statement.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde