The majority of these changes went into effect in October 2010. However, as with all sweeping legislation, there are many gray areas within the act that require some interpretation by forex market participants. The way the market interprets the act will impact whether it is beneficial to open a forex account overseas. Here we'll examine what forex traders now need to consider when looking to trade forex from overseas accounts.

An Overview of Forex Trading
Before the introduction of the internet, retail investors had difficulty participating in the forex market, primarily because foreign currency is not traded on a central exchange like the stock market. Forex trading occurs over the counter in decentralized worldwide markets; as a result, only large institutions were able to participate, because they had the resources to keep traders on-site. However, now that forex is traded electronically via the internet, even the smallest individual is able to trade forex. Despite the access to the market, forex trading carries with it many risks, but it is popular because individuals can also reap quick and pronounced profits.

One of the benefits of trading foreign currencies is that there is constant movement of prices in this 24-hour market, allowing active traders to move in and out of positions swiftly. As a result, funds need not be tied up for long periods of time. However, these constant price fluctuations also lead to a highly volatile market, where sudden losses can be experienced at any time. And since most traders leverage their trades, margin risk is extremely high. Traders benefit from the forex market in other ways as well. Trading currencies is tax-deferred and gains are taxed when withdrawn under the capital gains tax rate.


There are low transaction costs as many brokers offer no-commissions trading, but because this is a decentralized market, the specialist dealer sets the execution price. So, while the dealer may offer no-commission trading, he is not offering a pro-bono service! The dealer sets the execution price such that he makes a spread on the exchange. As such, the pricing offered by forex dealers can vary tremendously. Dealers also encourage traders to use high leverage so that their spread income is magnified.

New Regulations the Under Dodd-Frank Act of 2010
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the governing body authorized to regulate futures “look alike” contracts, which are traded over the counter but are settled based on the settlement price of similar, exchange traded contracts. The CFTC established new rules that regulate the forex market in August 2010. One of the main purposes of these new rules was to provide some much-needed investor protection, specifically as it relates to broker/dealers. In the U.S., broker/dealers must register with the CFTC and are subject to certain operational requirements, including recordkeeping and reporting guidelines. These requirements are similar to the requirements placed on the regulated traditional commodity contract dealers.

Secondly, intermediaries of the transactions will need to register and are subject to net capital requirements of $20 million, along with other risk disclosures. In addition, brokers that accept orders need to maintain a net capital requirement or enter guarantee agreements with the broker/dealers and can only have one guarantee agreement at one time. The CFTC has established anti-fraud regulations over all futures “look alike” contracts. Finally, the CFTC imposed leverage restrictions of 50:1 for major currencies and 20:1 for all other currencies.