If you currently live in Canada (or anywhere else) and are looking to open a prop trading account, there are a few options that are available to you. One of those options is Golden Market Management, which can be found at www.proptrading.ca.

While I'm not a prop trader myself, I've heard some pretty decent things about Golden.

Some of the positive points that I've heard about Golden? The first is costs. Prop firms tend to not advertise their transaction costs as it usually varies based on a traders average volume. The deals I have seen at Golden are as close to free as you can get. Their business model is essentially to give their traders everything they can to help make their traders profitable. One example is offering reduced ECN fees when removing liquidity, which is accomplished by providing access to dark pools and crossing networks. An top of that, they don't nickel and dime their traders. Everything is up front. We all know that nothing is more irritating than fine print and hidden fees, whether its a trading account or a bank account.

The second is technology. Golden invests heavily in their own business in order to provide the best possible setup for their traders. The result is a solid reputation for speed and reliability as they own their own dedicated server farms, as opposed to leasing space on a shared server which, believe it or not, some firms do. If you've had multiple accounts over the years and wonder why some platforms are faster and more reliable than others, its the plumbing and the pipes in the background which make the difference. They also allow sub-penny orders with access to over 200 routes. If you ever find yourself on the bid or the ask, wondering who is jumping in front of you by less than a cent while you wait to get filled, now you know.

Doing some of my own research, the company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In a business where reputation is almost everything, Golden has seemingly done a great job in keeping their name untarnished. The fact that the company has been in business for almost 10 years would be a big selling point if I were looking for a prop trading firm to do business with.

While based in Canada it is actually an international firm with almost 500 traders in more than 20 offices worldwide. Because they are based in Canada, traders are not subject to CBSX exam requirements. In the US, prop firms are being forced to register with the CBSX, therefore requiring their traders to pass the series 56 exam, and the costs that go along with it. There are many things that can help a trader become profitable, writing a silly government exam is not one of them in my opinion. Along with registration, CBSX prop firms have a 1 year capital lock-up, something not required north of the border.

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