CMC Markets co-founded the CFD Forum in 2012 to continually raise industry standards and provide greater protection against one of the biggest issues facing many CFD and FX traders in Australia today – to ensure client money is held safely in a segregated, Australian bank account and not used for hedging or any other operational purpose.
The Australian CFD and FX Forum is an industry body, established by Australia’s leading CFD providers, to continually raise industry standards. It started with conversations with ASIC who were keen for the industry to self-regulate in key areas. It’s all about the industry working closely together to raise standards and offer greater investor protection, as well as increasing their understanding of who they’re dealing with and the risks in trading CFDs
CMC Markets co-authored the Australian CFD and FX Forum Best Practice Standards and continues to consult with ASIC and the government to drive a higher standard of regulation.
Today, its core purpose remains to continuously improve the industry and educate investors on how to mitigate risk. It also addresses specific issues and investor concerns that are not covered by legislation. And thirdly, consistently encourages all CFD providers to join the Forum and sign up to its 16 Standards.
There are four members currently in the CFD Forum who have agreed to the sixteen Standards, representing over 60% of the CFD industry by market share. The Forum was incorporated as a forum in August 2013 and we are speaking with potential new members currently.
Not all providers are part of the CFD Forum, however, we are working to encourage more to join regardless of business model or size. We are keen to grow membership numbers and establish the Forum’s standards, so the industry can self-regulate and increase investor confidence whilst fully segregating client money.
