What is your name and position in the company?

Olga Rybalkina, Chief Executive Officer of Alpari (US).

What is your professional background?

I graduated with an honors degree in Financial Management from Kazan State University in the City of Kazan, Russia. I joined Alpari Russia shortly thereafter in 1998. In fact, I was among one of Alpari’s first or original employees.
Initially, I worked on Alpari Russia’s dealing desk. I was soon promoted to head Alpari Russia’s Backoffice Division and then its Internal Audit Department. These positions gave me tremendous experience in understanding the operational sides of the forex trading business.

In 2006, shortly after the Alpari Group expanded its presence/operations into the United Kingdom and the United States, I became the Finance Director of Alpari Russia and helped design the financial model under which our international offices would operate. One year later, I was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Alpari (US) and relocated to New York City to head our United States operations.

What are Alpari (US)’s key demographics?

Alpari’s primary focus is on a customer base which is more sophisticated and has the experience, knowledge and “know how” to trade forex.  Alpari (US) also provides trading opportunities to traders, speculators and hedgers with different levels of experience and sophistication, many of whom want to participate in forex trading, but want and need to understand from ground up how to trade, speculate and hedge in our industry.

Is Alpari (US)’s business primarily oriented on-line or off-line?

Our business is largely conducted online since we are a registered online forex dealer. However, we don’t believe in being limited by this concept. We are always trying to reach out to our customers in novel ways and find new methods of actively engaging or interacting with them to provide them with better quality service. Our office in the financial district of New York City operates from 9am to 7pm EST during the weekdays, and we welcome our customers to visit our office or contact us by phone to learn more about us and our initiatives. Our Spanish-speaking clientele can also receive customer support in the Spanish language.  Our Dealing Desk is also available by phone 24-hours a day, from Sunday at 5pm EST to Friday at 5pm, to provide trade support.

Why should an investor choose Alpari (US) over other broker dealers?

Alpari (US) operates within a highly regulated environment. As a US-based forex dealer, we are registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), and we are also a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). These are the two regulatory bodies which oversee our industry and have implemented a strict regulatory framework that is designed to educate and protect traders.  
Alpari (US)'s mission is to supplement the regulatory protections by providing reliable technology, quality execution, competitive spreads and accessible client support, combined with innovative tools to enhance our clients’ trading experience.

This year, we are launching a suite of educational programs which include online tutorials and webinars with noted industry partners. Alpari (US) also recently collaborated with the highly respected investment research provider, Trading Central, to provide our customers with up to date trading information, FX technical analyses, web TV reports, and real time trading signals. We already provide many of these tools in a range of languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, English and Spanish. We hope to soon provide other services in multiple languages as well.

What advice should Alpari (US) give to new Forex investors?

Foreign currency trading is a high risk investment. It is not suitable for individuals who are not in the position to afford risking their capital.  We encourage those considering whether forex trading is right fit for them to visit our regulators, the NFA, website to learn more about the industry. For those who believe that forex trading is a good fit and want to start trading forex, we encourage them to get as much education and experience as possible and never stop studying.

We also provide our existing and prospective clients with free forex “demo” accounts, where individuals can improve their trading skills while assessing their tolerance for risk by trading forex in real time with virtual money. We believe that an educated trader is the best kind of client we can have.

What differences has Alpari (US) seen compared with two years ago?

The off-exchange Forex market has experienced exponential customer growth over the last two years, especially with the recent turmoil in the equity and bond markets, as more retail traders appear to be turning to the retail Forex market.

The industry is responding by making Forex trading more accessible to the average individual through a diverse range of trading options.  Individuals who want access to the market regardless of their trading volume, trading experience or initial capital, can now find a trading strategy that is more suitable to their needs.  Alpari (US), for example, now offers micro accounts with no minimum trading deposit required and will be launching price quotes with a fifth decimal point in the first quarter of 2009.

In the United States, the move to make forex trading more accessible to the average trader is also being coupled with greater industry regulatory oversight. We are seeing more regulations being implemented which seek to educate and protect the novice trader.

Does Alpari (US) offer money management services?

Alpari (US) does not currently offer money management services. However, other companies within the Alpari Group will soon be offering this service, and Alpari (US) expects to launch either the same or similar money management services in the near future.

Who are Alpari (US)’s primary competitors?

There are a large number of retail Forex brokers operating in the United States, but it is only those who are registered with the CFTC, who are members of the NFA, and who exceed the NFA’s minimum capital level of $15 million, that  we consider to be our competitors.  Of this group, we would consider FCMs such as FXCM, FX Solutions, GAIN Capital and CMS as our primary competitors. However, only a handful of these firms have international experience in the retail Forex business as long as Alpari has, which is over ten years. 

What is your opinion regarding fraudulent activities by Forex broker dealers?

Historically, the vast financial services industry has been vulnerable to all kinds of fraudulent schemes including the forex industry.  The best and most successful way to minimize the incidence of fraud is through stricter regulation and oversight, and the CFTC and NFA have been extremely vigilant in recent years in increasing investor protection in the retail forex market.  

It is in the best interests of our clients and the retail Forex brokers to have the CFTC and the NFA implement education and protection measures. For example, the NFA, recently cautioned traders about a new type of fraud called “affinity fraud,” where alleged forex brokers offer investment opportunities to individuals who claim an affinity with a specific ethnic community, religious organization or social club. Just because someone belongs to your church or speaks your native language does not guarantee that the investment opportunity they are offering is legitimate.

Alpari (US) believes that individuals participating in the forex industry must carefully research the companies they are considering, and get to know their competitors, regulators and their financial stability or capital levels.  In many jurisdictions, Forex dealers must be registered with the certain administrative bodies. In the US, for example, forex dealers must be registered with the CFTC and become members of the NFA. So, it is incumbent on all individuals to do research on industry participants.

Where do you see business for Alpari (US) in two years?

The Alpari Group’s overall goal is to have a strong presence in all the major financial centers around the globe.  For Alpari (US), we are looking to expand in the North and Latin America and expect to have a representative office in Canada and another representative office in a Latin American country in 2009.

We are also planning on expanding our services beyond just offering forex trading. We are in the process of developing a futures trading business. We expect that we will be accepting customers for this business by the end of the first quarter of 2009.
By the end of 2010, we want to focus on business growth in emerging markets, like Brazil, and offer a full suite of services to our Portuguese speaking clientele.