Exchange traded currency futures — Transparency, a major draw

Can you tell us briefly about Alpari group’s operations world-wide; and how you can draw on your global experience to help the Indian investor?
Alpari Group is one of the fast-growing providers of foreign exchange (Forex, FX) online trading services, serving retail and institutional investors. We have operations in London, New York, Shanghai, Dubai, Mumbai, Kiev and Moscow. We have 27 offices in eight countries, more than 1,30,000 live accounts and a monthly trading volume in excess of $104 billion.
Alpari (UK) is regulated by Financial Services Authority. We are one of the leading market makers in Russia as well as the UK and have over 11 years of global experience in the currency market.
We are also dedicated towards currency education. We conduct Webinars, seminars and all other forms of tutorials to impart currency trading education across the globe and this is what we are planning to ride on in India.
Would an investor have to open a separate trading account to trade in currency futures? What is the initial outlay (margins) that an investor would have to make to trade in currency derivatives?
Yes, investors have to open separate accounts to trade in currency futures, according to the exchange compliance norms. The margins are set by the exchanges and provided to the broker on a daily basis.
To trade in currency derivative, the investor requires relatively less margins compared to equities and commodities. The margins are usually in the range of 2 per cent to 5 per cent during normal market conditions.