FinaCom Reports 17% Drop in 2022 Compensation Sought from Brokers Worldwide

The Financial Commission (FinaCom), an external dispute resolution (EDR) body for the forex industry has published its 2022 Annual Complaints Summary, which revealed that the full year total compensation sought from all global brokers by forex traders was $12.4 million, representing a 17% drop compared to the previous year.    

However, the organization's member brokers saw a significantly jump of 76% to $7.4 million in total in reparations sought by their clients. 

In terms of the total number of complaints filed by forex traders against brokers, the figure for 2022 was a record of 3,026, which is a 26% rise. The average resolution time the organization spent on complaints was 5.6 days, the quickest time frame it has achieved since 2013.

According to EDR body, the majority of complaints in 2022 were related to non-trading issues with 58% of the total, while financial related disputes accounted for 29% and trading related complaints 13%. The most popular topics for complaints dealt with account blocking (29%), funds withdrawal (19%), price check (14%), non-market quotes (7%) and stop-out orders (6%). 

Source: The Financial Commission

Of all the 2,968 complaints it resolved in 2022, 42% were resolved "in favor of the broker" and 16% resolved "in favor of the client", while 52% were found to be outside the organization's jurisdiction. 

FinaCom also mentioned in the annual report key figures on its international expansion. In 2022, the organization expanded its international presence by 30% as compared to 2021 with the addition of 13 new approved broker members to its ranks and the certification of a trading technology provider. These include Vida Markets, ThreeTrader, Fullerton Markets, TMGM, Bold Prime, Vantage, Pepperstone, Agra Markets, Inveslo​ and more.

Source: The Financial Commission

Moreover, the Financial Commission highlighted that its free dispute resolution service to traders gained popularity in Asia, Latin America and Europe with new complaints from these regions growing 47%, 38% and 30% respectively, while complaints from the Middle East grew moderately at 15% in 2022. It also saw a continued decrease of 38% in complaints from Russia and former Soviet republics, as local market restrictions remained in place.