Alpari US is in the headlines again. This is the second time in one year that the company has been cited for failing to supervise NFA (National Futures Association) compliance rules. In June 2012, the broker was accused for charging for forex trades and failing to produce timely reports to the NFA. The complaint was settled and the firm paid a fine of $200,000.
This time around, Alpari US has been faulted for failing to supervise existing NFA regulatory guidelines. In compliance with NFA rules, all forex brokers are required to submit a daily electronic report of forex transactions to NFA's Forex Transaction Reporting Execution Surveillance System (Fortress). Fortress claims that Alpari US did not hand in these reports. The NFA's complaint also stated that the broker had difficulties finding a great deal of missing data and that it had incorrectly listed trades from non-retail customers as retail.
The NFA has been coming down strongly on futures brokerages. Within the past year, GFT, FX Solutions, and Forex Club have all exited from the US market following accusations and charges of non-compliance with the appropriate regulatory agencies. More exits are expected.
Alpari has been in business since 1998. They have offices in 22 countries, serve more than 400,000 clients in more than 150 countries around the world and are members of 4 exchanges. Alpari US trading platforms provide direct access to their foreign exchange trading market. The current complaints emanate from Alpari's reporting of trades from its Alpari Direct product, a Currenex white label trading platform solution, with only 55% of their trades reported to the NFA.