CFTC proposal limiting U.S. retail FX leverage to 10:1
By Liviu Flesar
17 January 2010 @ 06:32 pm EDT
As some of you already know, 2 days ago the CFTC announced the publication in the Federal Register of proposed regulations concerning FX retail transactions. The plan is to set the maximum leverage in US retail forex transactions to 10:1 - that's 10 times lower than the 100:1 cap set by the NFA a short while back. It's absurd how they came up with this stuff in such a short time after the 100:1 cap. The proposed rule has yet to become effective, as it is in public comment seeking phase right now. Therefore, in case you disagree (or agree) with the proposal to limit leverage at 10:1, you may submit your opinion to CFTC by e-mailing secretary@cftc.gov including the "Regulation of Retail Forex" in subject line and the RIN 3038-AC61 identification string in the message body. Please be aware that all comments will be posted, unchanged, on http://www.cftc.gov - therefore, ranting about government conspiracies, CME / Wall Street lobbying or writing long lines profanities won't help. Focus on the leverage limit of 10:1 and how it would affect your trading, if that would force you to move your trading account overseas etc - share only constructive arguments.