by local presence do you mean offices here? im from south east aasia, there is no office for hotforex here, but id rather trade with a broker online (given they are well know and regulated like hotfoerx) than trade with shitty local brokers that will eat my money and make me pay taxes for it... haha so it depends really, many indian traders trade with hotforex, different ways and the money comes in not as forex earnings, like mine i get it as international transfer so im not taxed for it