What type of license do you need to advise on and facilitate
investments in currencies?

Given the Fact:
1. The New York based company in question will act as an Introducing Broker.
2. The Introducing Broker is not a Broker in the traditional sense. He
only refers prospective investors to the actual trading company and
earns a fixed commission for this referral.
3. The Currency Trading company is based in Europe.
4. The trading company will only be involved in trading currencies.



Note:
1.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 08 Nov 2005 20:02 PST

forexman-ga,

I'm no expert on this topic -- and, as the disclaimer below notes, GA
is no substitute for professional advice -- but I'm pretty sure you
would have to register with both the SEC and the state of New York as
an Investment Adviser/Advisor (odd how it's spelled differently by the
feds and by some states!).

There are about a zillion variations on a theme, in terms of how to
actually register, what forms to use, who needs to sign, and so on. 
It's not a job to tackle solo, even with the wonderful information you
can receive here at Google Answers.

Just to give you a feel for the complexity involved, here's a page of
FAQs from the Investment Advisers Registration Depository of the SEC:


http://sec.gov/divisions/investment/iard/iardfaq.shtml#reg  



Probably, the best information we can provide for you would be the
contact information for a few government, organization, and private
sector help lines who could start you off on the process.

Would that meet your needs?


Let me know.

pafalafa-ga

They key question here is will the "Introducing Broker" or "IB" also
deal in other products, specifically futures contracts? If the firm is
already licensed to deal in futures contracts, than all regulatory
procedures for futures apply to Forex for the purpose of maintaining
current relationships with clearing firms and exchanges.

However, If no other relationship exists with the "Introducing Broker"
and the "IB" will only be dealing with FOREX products in the manner
suggested by above by you, than no license is required....yet. Keep
track of this Site for developments on the regulatory front.

 http://www.nfa.futures.org/compliance/forex.asp

Although it appears no license is required now, there will come a time
when it is required and no one knows when that will be.

i still couldnt find anywhere on that site or any other site that it
says specifically that

..If no other relationship exists with the "Introducing Broker"
and the "IB" will only be dealing with FOREX products in the manner
suggested by above by you, than no license is required....

and this while the Forex company is located in Switerland and has no
present in the US.

Please let me know how I still can contribute something to the google
team, as you put alot of effort into this. thanks.