FROM THE BROKER’S AND INTERMEDIARY’S SIDE
There is a common misuse of such terms as brokers, intermediaries, and facilitators. The fact is, these are not official terms in banking or finance, but such terms are used within trading groups and in their communication between each other. Although a broker or an intermediary can claim that they are in direct contact with a person carrying that title, it is not a guarantee of anything. Any person can fraudulently call himself a trader, or a commitment holder, or whatever. And since such positions cannot be verified (at the first stage), such titles can be meaningless as seen from the clients’ point of view.
There is almost always a chain of trading group, a broker and intermediary and client. This is for two reasons:
Firstly, trading groups, brokers, and intermediaries are not allowed to solicit; the Client must start by asking for information.
Secondly, this protects all parties involved with the trading group. Brokers may work through several intermediaries, and vice-verse intermediaries. A chain of more than one or two intermediaries connected directly between the two Principals, in general, is not acceptable to some program providers. A good broker should also screen the potential clients, filtering the most promising applicants and at the same time collecting from them the proper documentation. In this way, the trading group receives workable documentation from the broker.
The most common risks or problems that a broker, an intermediary or a facilitator can meet with in this business are:
– They may need to investigate dozens of clients before finding a qualified applicant:
– They may discover the assets of client to be unworkable after weeks or months of processing.
– They may have difficulty qualifying themselves with new clients because they cannot show any past performance or past contracts due to strict laws and a Non Dis closer Policy. The relationship with the client is just a matter of trust at an early stage.
– There could be several levels involved for the intermediaries. The closest one to the trading group (sometimes called also facilitator) is the most important person. This person should have a direct contact with the trading group. Any other broker beneath the facilitator has a lower value in the hierarchy. The broker and/or the intermediary can have problems showing the client his level in the hierarchy at an early stage.