Forex Trader's Bill of Rights

The Forex Trader’s Bill of Rights (2005) is a non-fiction book about the foreign currency trading market, published by OANDA_Corporation. It is primarily a call to arms for currency traders to call for greater transparency and accountability within the market. The overleaf provided with the printed version of the book states: “Big banks and confederated brokerages have overcomplicated forex: trading costs are inflated, unnecessary risk abounds, and the system is grossly unfair.” Essentially, the book elaborates on this premise, detailing ways in which traders are being unfairly treated and encouraging them to take action.
OANDA is a company that provides currency trading tools for investors, travelers, and businesses. As such, there is an unavoidable marketing aspect to this publication. However, OANDA is not mentioned throughout the book. There has been a clear effort to maintain a relatively neutral point of view. The back cover does state “OANDA is a leading provider of online currency trading…FXTrade…enables all currency investors to change the way forex trading is done”.
The authors believe currency investors have 10 basic rights which are being violated: each short chapter deals with one of these rights. They are:1. The right to immediate, uncensored access to the marketplace2. The right to trade real spot3. The right to know4. The right to trade whenever you want5. The right to equal treatment6. The right to choose and manage risk7. The right to understand cost8. The right to learn – on your own, or through free exchange with other traders9. The right to full disclosure10. The right to pay and receive interest
1) The right to immediate, uncensored access to the marketplace Chapter one argues that when trading traditionally (with banks etc.,) execution and price are affected by who you are (size of your order/ relationship with your market maker etc.), the amount of greed on the part of the market maker, and manual intervention which can delay the trade. The chapter calls for transparency, fairness, and efficiency for traders from market makers.
2) The right to trade real spotChapter two addresses unnecessary delays in settlement of trades, which according to the authors increase risk for investors.
3) The right to knowThe third chapter states that market makers share information based on who you are: in some cases they share information that should not be shared; in other cases they do not share information that should be publicly available. This leads to an unfair advantage.
4) The right to trade whenever you wantThe chapter asserts that market makers may advertise 24 hour trading but they close the books on Friday. However, world events which affect currency price occur on weekends. The argument continues that since the technology for 24/7 trading is available, it should be offered by all market makers.
5) The right to equal treatmentChapter five argues that every trader should be given the same price and spread, and that market makers should not discriminate between traders.
6) The right to choose and manage riskTraders are encouraged to use a market maker who does not require high minimums, lets them trade any amount, and provides immediate settlement as a way of minimizing risk.
7) The right to understand costIt is reasoned that traders have the right to understand spreads, as well as who gets a “cut” and why. This chapter also includes a profitability calculator.
8) The right to learn – on your own, or through free exchange with other tradersThis chapter covers multiple ways to learn about trading, and test new strategies, including trading games offered by online market makers and other sources of Internet information.
9) The right to full disclosureThe book claims that a lack of transparency in pricing, execution, and after the trade needs to addressed. Market makers should publish statistics regarding real spreads and prices and traders should demand that they do this.
10) The right to pay and receive interestIt is argued that continuous interest should be introduced, which would make for price flows that are less volatile


Oanda.com also offered free currency conversion tools, tables of historical data, and news and analysis through a multilingual interface, as well as non-financial conversion tables likely to be of use to international travellers, estimated a stable base of more than four million users for Oanda.com in June of 2000, and at that time the company reported that its technology had been licensed to more than 13,000 online merchants. Oanda.com was able to claim a minimum of ten million per month by March of 2001.