Hey HD. Hope you trading well. Meant to reply before. Got...

Hey HD. Hope you trading well. Meant to reply before. Got distracted !

Would have totally agreed in full with your observation pre-Covid. Unfortunately with COVID we also witnessed and influx of Keith Gill wannabes and an explosion in retail stock and CFD trading accounts, access to trading instruments such as (quasi-short) CFDs and a situation where the accumulation of net retail losses made a mockery of the anti-racing and sports gambling and Gamble-Responsible movement.

ASIC Solution? The CFD Product Intervention Order. Result ? A reduction in reported aggregate net retail losses per quarter on average from $372 million to $33 million. Consequence? Despite well intentioned regulation industry reports highlight how between 28 February 2021 and 30 April 2021 alone approximately 50,000 AU locally administered retail trading accounts were transferred to the offshore subsidiaries of the very same broking houses. Net Result? A significant reduction in market transparency as more and more ASX CFD derivatives are now being transacted offshore beyond the jurisdiction of ASIC in what is more often than not spread betting type arrangement with a broker where no change of ownership of any underlying ASX listed assets ever actually taking place.

While the point you made on use of DMA CFD accounts is both true and valid industry review post Covid strongly supports the notion that such a (preferred) scenario as you noted is no longer representative of the majority of CFD trades on ASIC regulated securities. Hence quasi-CFD shorts vs broker sponsored Real Shorts.