Tag: Forex

TopForex is one of many brands of the Goldenburg Group Limited, a registered investment company based in Cyprus. CySEC is the authority body regulating this company and shows a valid license for other domains and brands such as www.toptrader.eu, www.fxglobal.com, www.tradecentrum.com, www.etrader.eu, and more.

This broker describes themselves as an STP type broker, although some issues could render all the advantages of this model useless. The website is clean with the dominant red color theme. There are no usual key selling points like low spreads or a great range of Cryptocurrencies that could distinguish TopForex from other brokers. Except for using now already typical marketing sentences such as innovation, technology, and regulation, Top Forex promotes physical shares trading and customer support in many languages. This offer has its pros and cons to CFD but it is not as popular as CFD retail trading.

TopForex’s main target markets seem to be the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Slovakia, judging by their tied partners’ location. Goldenburg Group has very good legal documentation including the annual reports, Execution Quality Summary Statement (EQSS), which gives detailed insight into the company’s business health. We will review TopForex according to common trader’s preferences so you will know if TopForex is for you.

Account Types

TopForex mentioned account types in the legal documents, although we could not find any kind of selection. There is only one account type and according to the Trading Conditions page this account features “floating spreads, standard lots, wide range of instruments and the default leverage.” The minimum deposit amount and some other information are not under the same page, so visitors would need to wander through the TopForex website. The search bar is present but does not work as intended.

Platforms

TopForex offered only one platform to us, the Metatrader 5. MT4 is mentioned under the platforms and also in the Clients Area. Whatsmore, the xStation platform is listed under the options. Still, the only platform TopForex has a license is the MetaTrader 5 and the other options could be leftovers from previous CRM. MT5 is available to download for Windows, Android, and iOS mobile. Interestingly, Mac is not listed as supported. Web MT5 version is available through the Clients Area, but only once you register for a live account. The Demo does not have an option to go straight to the Web MT5.

TopForex server is not a dedicated Demo, just a single Live server that has a ping of 59ms, which is great comparing to the industry average. The MT% is updated to the latest with default settings and One-click trading buttons enabled. The asset specification window has some information filled but for example, the Swap calculation method is missing. Judging by the figures, swaps are calculated in points. Note that the use of any software or AI for trading is not allowed without consent from TopForex. Order execution time is around 55ms which is great comparing to the industry average. This would be great trading conditions for EAs and fast strategies if not for wide spreads and connection drops that we have experienced.

Leverage

TopForex has to abide by the MiFID II directive and ESMA rules for leverage. The set default is at 1:30 with a possibility for higher if traders pass the questionnaire for professionals. Forex leverage is, therefore, 1:30 for majors, 1:20 for exotics. For indices, it is also 1:20 while for Oil is 1:1. Spot Gold has 1:20 leverage and Silver 1:10.

Trade Sizes

Trading sizes are casual in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. So the minimum trading size is 0.01 lots as well as additional volume steps. The maximum volume per trade is 50 lots. For Gold, the maximum is 100 lots. Oil follows the mini-lot structure or 0.1 lots for the minimum and step volume while the maximum is 100 lots. Interestingly, TopForex also offers different contract sizes for Oil so traders can select the standard 1000 barrels contract. Margin Call is set to 100% and an automatic alert will be triggered. Stop Out is at 50%. Stops level is at 0 meaning there is no required distance for pending orders.

Trading Costs

This broker does not charge commissions except a fee for physical shares trading. This is called the Management Fee. This fee will be charged at the end of the business day for shares that are held. -2%/360 is charged for 1 lot on all types of shares per day. A triple Management fee is on Wednesdays. FTT is applicable for all Italian companies CFD stocks and Italy 40 Index. The tax is charged as a fixed fee scaled to the size of the trade. For example, up to EUR 2 500 – 0.25 EUR fee.

Swaps are an issue when trading with TopForex. The reason is unusually high swap rates for all assets. We had to make sure that swaps are calculated daily as stated in the documents. EUR/USD swap is -38 long and -23 for short position, USD/JPY –24 and -37, and similar levels for all of the Forex pairs, without any positive swaps. For the Gold this is even more extreme, XAU/USD has -611 long and -326 short swap, ten times than what could be expected. Oil follows this trend and has -40 on both positions.

Inactivity fee exists and is called the maintenance Fee. The fee is 40 EUR and charged monthly for accounts that were inactive for 6 months.

Dividends are contributed for all traders that hold long positions on CFD stocks while short positions have the same amount deducted overnight. Note that the swap rates for these instruments are -10% per annum on both positions.

Assets

TopForex offers Stocks as CFDs and regularly, Commodities on spot and futures, precious metals, Forex, Indices, and some ETFs. The forex range is great with some rare currency pairs. All the major currency pairs and crosses are present. Singapore dollar is commonly crossed with the majors extending the usual range. Some of the exotic pairs are USD/PLN, USD/HUF, GBP/PLN, GBP/SEK, EUR/CZK, CHF/HUF, TRY/JPY, USD/BRL and more. Forex traders will be very pleased with the options given.

Commodities range is also good and some are divided as futures contracts CFD. These are Cocoa, Coffee, Sugar, and Cotton. Special attention is given to metals as Copper, Zinc, Nickel, and Aluminium are listed. The Commodities range is further improved with Soybean, Corn, Wheat, and of course both Oil types, WTI and Brent in 100 and 1000 barrel versions. Spot Gold and Silver have one additional precious metal to choose – Platinum.

The index range is not bad with 11 total. All the majors are listed and from more exotic are Hong Kong, Spain 35, and CAC France 40. Interestingly the Italian 40 that is mentioned on the TopForex website is not listed.

Stocks range is truly above average covering many companies from Switzerland, the United States, and the EU. We have also noticed some not grouped properly from South America. Equity traders will appreciate this range although the negative swap hurts the eye.

ETFs are listed with a total of 16 diversified Fonds. One of the popular is The Cannabis ETF, SPDR Gold shares, TVIX, UGAZ and so on.

Spreads

TopForex promotes floating spreads from 3 pips. Since this is already not competitive, especially for an STP broker, TopForex does not rely on high trading volume but high income by expensive trading conditions. The EUR/USD spread was around 30 points, as well as for USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF. The rest of the currency pairs had wider spreads. Aussie and CAD pairs like AUD/CAD, AUD/NZD, CAD/CHF had spreads above 90 points. The biggest spread was for EUR/RUB with an amazing 200 pip spread. XAU/USD spread was also similarly enormous at 160 pips and spot Silver 14 pips. Trading in these conditions is certainly not suitable for frequent strategies. On the other hand, it is also not attractive for longer considering the swaps.

Minimum Deposit

Depending on the deposit method rather than on any account type the minimum deposit is $250 for Bank Wire and $200 for Visa and MasterCard method.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are only two methods of deposit. By Bank Wire (SWIFT) or using the Visa or MasterCard. TopForex will not charge any fee for deposits. Any fees that are charged by banks will not be covered by this broker.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The withdrawal has a minimum of $250 – not a common practice in the industry to have this amount higher than $50 if such a policy exists in the first place. The same withdrawal method will be used as with deposits. Only two options are possible, Bank Transfer or Visa/MasterCard.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

According to TopForex FAQ, the exact time is not disclosed except “as soon as possible”. In the legal documents, though, it is stated that the withdrawal will take up to 1 business day.

Bonuses & Promotions

These terms are absent from the site and legal documents. Since the TopForex support did not inform us of any bonuses we conclude there is none.

Educational & Trading Tools

Immediately after Live Account creation, you will receive an e-book about the basics of trading. The book does not contain anything advanced and all the information could be easily obtained online.

TopForex has a dedicated News and Education section on the website. Education has a single article about elementary issues like Leverage, Pip, Lot and so on. In the News section, there are a lot of articles that describe global major events. The event articles had a pause and only 3 are fresh. These 3 are not in English but in the Czech language. Looking at the content, these news articles do not elaborate on the news, they are short and look like headlines that cannot be used for trading. Analysis articles are too old.

Whatsmore, they do not give anything of value to the trader. The content is very superficial with figures and a chart with averages and RSI indicators. TopForex has some social media coverage that also shows a lack of attention in 2019. No other tools or calendars are present. Social Account is optional to open under the Clients Area but we are unsure as to what service this is as it is not described anywhere.

Customer Service

TopFOrex has a nice Contac Us page full of each department’s emails and phone numbers. Additionally, clients can select one of the languages dedicated phones if they want to speak in their native language. Languages available are Spanish, Slovakian, Slovenian, Czech, Italian, German, Polish, and English. The chat service is available but we have not received a reply during the few hours of waiting. The email response time is also longer than 24h.

Demo Account

The Demo account is available after registration. The web MT5 demo can be opened only through the Clients Area which requires registration for a Live account. The account will last for 30 days regardless if a trader is active or not. This practice shows intentional limitations on the trader’s skill development.

Countries Accepted

There are no specific notes about any country not applicable to TopForex service. This broker has a “categorization” policy that is evaluated upon registration. Three types are used, Professional, Retail Client, and Eligible Parties. The third type does not have the rights as the first two. For more information, traders should check the documents within the Clients Area.

Conclusion

TopForex is obliged to report the percentage of losing clients and 82% lose with this broker. This percentage is higher than the average and considering the trading conditions, this is not a surprise. Note that the client’s funds will be kept in banks relevant to the country of registration. So for example, clients from Czech and Slovakia republic will have UniCredit Bank, for German – Hypovereinsbank AG and so on. Investors should check the safety ratings of these banks first. TopForex or the Goldenburg Group also offers other services like Portfolio Management and even Investments Advice, services that require special licenses.

Finally to mention that the Goldenburg Group was fined by the CySEC in 2019 with a record €170.000. The fine structure follows the 50k penalty for failing to maintain adequate records of the services and transactions it provided to customers. 80k for failing to meet regulatory guidelines on honest dealings with clients, or more specific, misled clients via its marketing activities. The rest of the fine was related to tied agents with the company and opening new offices in different jurisdictions.

Pepperstone is an FX and CFD, ECN broker with offices located in London and Australia. Their Australian office is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Since 2010, the company claims they set out with a commitment to improving the world of online trading, after dealing with slow execution speeds, poor customer support, and expensive prices. It seems that the company has been heading in the right direction since they’ve managed to earn several yearly awards for everything from Best Forex Broker to #1 Customer Service. All of this certainly helps make the company seem like a worthwhile option; however, we were determined to investigate further, just to see if this broker is hiding any disadvantages below the surface.

Account Types

This broker offers two account types; the Razor account and the Standard account. The broker quickly mentions that the Standard account type is meant for beginners, while the Razor account is aimed towards scalpers and/or algorithmic traders. Many clients see the Standard account type as a simpler version of a Razor account since all trading fees are included in the spread. Another difference would be that Standard account holders are excluded from participating in the company’s Active Trader rebate program. Similarities come in the form of deposit requirements, leverage options, available instruments, and trade sizes. We’ve provided a quick overview of both account types below.

Razor Account
Minimum Deposit: $200 (or less)
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spreads: 0.0 – 0.3 pips
Commissions: $7 AUD round turn (100k traded)

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $200 (or less)
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spreads: 1.0 – 1.3 pips
Commissions: $0

It takes 5-10 minutes to complete the account application process, which includes an onboarding quiz and asks for personal ID documents. In order to verify identity, the company requires the client to submit 100 points worth of documentation. Primary photographic IDs, like passports or driver’s licenses, are worth 70 points, while secondary forms, such as utility bills, are worth 30 points. Staff will review documents once they have been submitted and email clients with their trading account details upon approval.

Platform

This broker offers a selection of three different trading platforms; MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. The well-known MT4 and MT5 platforms provide all of the tools and capabilities a trader could need and should suit everyone, from beginners to professionals. MT4 is the most popular of the two, although MT5 was designed to be a more powerful version of its predecessor. cTrader is a lesser-known platform that was designed to offer a more simplistic experience. The program is easy to use but still offers the ability for advanced customization and capabilities. If you’re a beginner, this platform may be a better option due to its simplicity. All platforms are available on mobile, tablet, desktop, or through the web app.

Leverage

Leverage options go as high as 500:1 on all account types, but there are some restrictions based on the type of instrument that is being traded. Currency pairs and commodities can be traded using the highest leverage offered by the company, while there is a limit of 200:1 on indices, 100:1 on currency index CFDs, 20:1 on share CFDs, and 5:1 on crypto. Leverage caps are often much lower for these types of assets, so we aren’t surprised to see these limitations. Overall, it seems that this broker is offering higher than average leverages on certain products, although they have set more reasonable limits on others.

Trade Sizes

The smallest allowed trade size is one micro lot. The maximum lot size for one trade is 100 lots and clients can have 200 trades open at any time on live accounts. Demo accounts are capped at 50 trades at any one time.

Trading Costs

Costs are broken down into commissions, spreads, swaps, and administration charges.
Commissions: These charges are only applicable on Razor account types and are charged on standard lots traded, at a rate of $7 AUD round turn per 100k traded. There are zero commission fees on Standard accounts.

Spreads: All of the trading costs for the Standard accounts are built into the spreads, which are from 1.0-1.3 pips or higher. On the Razor account, spreads are from 0.0-0.3 pips or higher. More on spreads later.

Swaps: These fees are rollover interest charges that are either earned or paid for holding positions overnight. Factors that determine whether the traded will be charged or paid depending on the asset that is being traded, whether the position is long or short, and whether the trade was held over the rollover period. Triple swaps are charged on Wednesdays to account for the weekend. Pepperstone rollover occurs 23:59 – 00:01, MT4 server time, which is currently on GMT+3.

Admin Charges: Traders will be charged a fixed administration fee on any trade that is held open the past ten consecutive days. This fee is charged every ten days until the position has been closed.

Assets

Pepperstone offers 150 plus instruments across FX, indices, equities, crypto, energies, and commodities, and more. FX options include 61 currency pairs, including majors, minors, and exotics. Commission-free index CFDs are offered on 14 different major stock markets around the world. Share CFDs are offered from more than 60 of the most popular companies in the US. Commodities, such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, and orange juice are offered in addition to silver, gold, platinum, and palladium and oils. Cryptocurrency features some of the most popular options, including the ever-popular Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin. Finally, traders can trade currency index CFDs on the USDX.

Spreads

Spreads are advertised as being from 0.0-0.3 pips on Razor accounts and from 1.0-1.3 pips on Standard accounts. However, we found that the broker is actually advertising the minimum spread as the highest figure, rather than the average. For example., the minimum spread on AUDCAD on the Razor account is 0.3 pips, as advertised, but the average is actually 0.88 pips. The actual spreads can differ much more significantly once one starts looking at the average options, rather than the minimums. Under ‘Trade with Us’ > ‘Spreads, Swaps, Commissions’, traders can view the minimum and average spreads for both account types on all assets. It may be worth taking a look since spreads are so variable.

Minimum Deposit

The initial deposit minimum for the company is $200, although they explain that this requirement is not actively enforced, meaning clients are able to deposit any amount. It’s odd that the company doesn’t simply take down the old requirement and advertise their lack of deposit requirement as an advantage. Still, we’re always happy to see such flexibility in this category, as it can be a real advantage to those that are apprehensive about making a deposit for any reason. Hopefully, the company will continue to allow traders to deposit any amount.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Deposits can be made via Visa, MasterCard, POLi, Bank Transfer, BPay, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and Union Pay. This broker does not accept third-party deposits, so always be sure to send funds from an account in your own name. Any international telegraphic transfer fees (TT) charged by the company’s bank are passed on to the client. These fees are typically $20 AUD.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals can be made through all of the available funding methods. The broker does not charge fees on withdrawals; however, those international telegraphic transfer fees we mentioned earlier may be applied. In order to make a withdrawal, clients will need to click on the ‘Funds’ tab from within their secure client area.

Withdrawal processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals received before 7:00 (AEST) will be processed the same business day, while withdrawals received after that time will not be processed until the following business day. Withdrawals via bank wire typically take 1-5 business days to reach the client’s account, although unforeseen circumstances could cause the wait time to be longer. Once the withdrawal has been sent, it takes 2 business days to be received by PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill. Clients can check the status of their withdrawal on the ‘Funds’ tab while logged into their account.

Bonuses & Promotions

This broker is currently offering an Active Trader program as a means for high-volume traders to earn cash rebates and save on trading commission. The actual rebate amount would depend on how many standard lots are traded per month and rebates are paid to accounts the day after a position has been closed, so that they can be used immediately. The company has divided the reward level into three tiers; 100 lots, 200-500 lots, and 500 plus lots traded. There is a 10% rebate on 100 lots and a 15% rebate for anything that falls on the second tier. The broker recommends traders contact their account manager for information on the rewards for the third tier. This program is only available for those operating Razor accounts and tier one is only applicable to Pepperstone Pro clients.

Educational & Trading Tools

The company offers several different sections within the Education category: Learn to Trade Forex, Webinars, MetaTrader 4 Course, Trading Guides, and Forex Trading Course. The Learn to Trade Forex category contains several articles that are sorted and labeled based on skill level. Clients can register for live webinars and the company will send a reminder email one day and one hour before the live seminar begins. At this time, upcoming webinars are based on the three key times to trade Forex, a breakdown of price action strategy, and advanced price action scalping strategies. You’ll notice that one would need some general knowledge in order to follow along with these webinars since they are more technical.

The MT4 course is designed to explain everything about operating the platform itself, while the Forex Trading Course is made up of YouTube videos from live presentations. The website also contains Market News, an Economic Calendar, news on Financial Events, and Trading Opportunities. All of these are helpful tools and provide information that would be relevant to all traders.

Demo Account

This broker provides the opportunity to open a free demo account to any trader that would like to do so. Demo accounts aim to mimic the trading conditions on a real account, but the broker does mention that there could be some execution differences. For example, you can have up to 200 live account trades open, whereas demo accounts are limited to 50 open trades at any one time. Despite that hang-up, these accounts are still excellent practice tools for traders that need to learn how to use platforms, practice strategies, further develop their skills, etc. Demo accounts expire after 30 days unless the client has set up a live account and requested a non-expiring version of a demo account. You can always create a new demo if your old one expires, but many may prefer to continue trading from the account they have already been using.

Customer Service

Multilingual customer support is available 24 hours a day, five days a week. Note that the website does provide a FAQ and explains some other details under their support page, so it may be worth taking a look at in case your question is already answered there. Otherwise, an agent can be reached through LiveChat, email, or phone. The company uses one email address, but there are two separate phone numbers for both office locations. The company is also active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. You’ll find all of the listed contact information below.

Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Australia: 1 300 033 375
London: +44 (800) 0465473
Address:
Level 16, Tower One, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3008, Australia
70 Gacechurch Street, London EC3V 0HR, United Kingdom

Countries Accepted

The Pepperstone website claims that information is not intended for residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, or by any person in any country where it would be contrary to local law or regulation. However, you will find that the UK is an option on the sign-up menu. Sadly, the broker does not provide any US-based options and even excludes the Minor Outlying Islands and the Virgin Islands from the list. Europe also seems to be completely excluded from opening an account.

Conclusion

Pepperstone is an award-winning broker that offers two different account types and 150 plus instruments, including cryptocurrencies. The broker also provides three different trading platforms; MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. The company does not enforce their minimum deposit requirement and invites clients to deposit any amount. Leverage options go up to 1:500 on some assets but are capped at more realistic levels on others. Both accounts offer different trading costs, with all costs being built into the spread on Standard accounts.

Spreads can also be higher than advertised, but still, seem to be advantageous. Several deposit methods are available but fees may be charged by the company’s bank. There is an ongoing rebate program that could help save on some of the trading costs associated with the broker as well. Overall, this broker does seem to be offering several benefits, although it is up to the individual trader to determine whether to open an account.

Welcome to our ADSS broker review, ADS Securities or ADSS for short was founded in 2011 and so are still a relatively young organization in terms of forex brokers. ADSS is regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong. ADS Securities state that they were formed to deliver the highest quality products and services, we take a look at what they offer and how they perform to see if they live up to these expectations.

Account Types

Please note that different brands of ADSS (regions) have different account types, they have a lot of similarities however be sure to check when signing up, in this review we are looking at the UK based accounts.

Opening an account with ADSS is simple and straightforward and they offer a number of different account types to cater to the different requirements of their traders.

Classic Accounts: Classic accounts are the accounts that are meant for anyone, they offer a minimum deposit of $100 (with no maximum deposit), leverage up to 1:500 and a choice of platforms including Meta Trader 4 and OREX, ADSS’s very own trading app.

Elite Accounts: These accounts are intended for the big players in retail trading, the minimum deposit to have one of these accounts currently sits at $200,000, which takes the majority of us out of the equation. One reason for this is the fact that having one of these accounts gives you access to perks such as 1-on-1 access to senior traders and briefings with the Chief Market Strategist, training and personalized benefits.

Swap Free Accounts: The swap-free accounts also known as Islamic accounts are intended for people do not wish to receive or pay swap fees due to religious reasoning. The requirements of these accounts are similar to the Classic and Elite, there are however additional requirements when holding trades, so be sure to check them out before opening a swap-free account.

Platforms

ADSS offers two platforms when using them as a broker, the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading terminal is available for all account types. Offering a reliable and flexible platform compatible with the majority of Expert Advisors and Indicators that are on the market today. MT4 also has mobile capabilities for the traders who are always on the move, which is available on iOS and Android and is fully compatible with ADSS.

ADS Securities also offer their own trading platform called OREX, this was created as an alternative to MetaTrader 4 and offers many of the same functionalities. OREX can be used on your mobile devices, namely iOS and Android devices and can also be used on your computer or laptops web browser. OREX does not offer quite as many assets to trade as MetaTrader 4 does, but ADSS boasts that it is far more streamlined and responsive to its competition and when taking a look at the platform, it does stand out from the crowd with its smooth lines and very clean interface.

On testing the OBEX platform, we could tell that it was designed for this one purpose, it is smooth and responsive and very nice to look at. It does not offer as many trading opportunities as MT4 as it does not contain as many assets, but all the major ones are present and ready to be traded. The way OBEX was built makes it easy to import and set up expert advisors to do the trading for you, however after a little testing, we decided to move back to MetaTrader 4, the familiarity of MetaTrader 4 and the ability to use the same settings with other brokers means it is still number one to us.

Leverage

The leverage being offered is pretty standard amongst brokers, you can have leverage from as low as 1:1 and up to a maximum of 1:500. As a new trader, it can be tempting to jump straight in at 1:500 however we recommend that you stick to around 1:200 until you are fully comfortable with trading and the platform before moving up to leverage such as 1:500.

Please note that leverage options are different depending on the region that you sign up with due to the different regulatory bodies, the above numbers are based on the UK accounts and website. We have seen other websites within the ADSS group stating that 400:1 is the maximum, so be sure to check when signing up.

Trade Sizes

The trade sizes that can be opened are pretty standard when it comes to Forex brokers, you can open micro-lots (0.01) trades and trades as large as 1,000 lots. ADSS is pretty standard when it comes to this department and doesn’t do anything to stand out from the crowd, having said that, the range of trade sizes is good enough to suit any type of trader.

Trading Costs

The chargers and commissions charged by ADSS vary depending on the account type that you have signed up for, and the region that the accounts are based.

The classic account has a slightly higher spread in order for the broker to profit, the spreads for EUR/USD are aimed to be at 1.6 pips, however, it has been seen to be hovering around the 2.0 pips mark when viewing their live spreads. If you were to join with the Elite account, then spreads are reduced and are seen to be around 1 pip on the EUR/USD currency pair.

The ADSS website does not mention anything in regards to commissions on each trade and we were unable to find any concrete information on the internet regarding if they do charge a commission or if they are using strictly a spread based profit strategy.

Assets

ADSS currently offers the following assets to trade, currencies, shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. It was hard to find exact numbers on how many assets are available to trade, but below are the numbers that we could find:

Indices: 16
Cryptocurrencies: 5
Commodities: 4 Categories (Energy, Metals, Agriculture, etc.)

We could not find a definitive list of currencies. However, the majority of sources simply state 55+, and the stocks list is far too long to look through or to post.

Spreads

The spreads depend on what sort of account you have, as mentioned previously in this review, there are different accounts depending on what region you sign up with, we are looking at the UK site of ADSS.

With the Classic Account, the spreads are aimed to be at 1.6 for the EUR/USD pair with others being slightly higher, however, during our tests, we normally saw speeds of around 2.0 on EUR/USD and slightly higher on others.

The Elite Account is meant to have lower spreads, however, we are unable to test this, as unfortunately, we do not have $200,000 to open an account to test what the spreads actually are.

As previously mentioned, there are different accounts from different regions, so spreads may be different if you sign up from a different region.

Minimum Deposit

As mentioned in the accounts section of this review the minimum deposit for any of the accounts that ADSS offer is $100, which will get you into a Classic Account or a Swap Free Classic Account. If you wanted to take advantage of the Elite account or the Swap Free Elite Account then you will need a minimum deposit of $200,000 or more.

The $100 minimum deposit for a Classic Account is a reasonable amount, due to the fact that if a very low deposit is made, it is harder for a trader to take proper risk management and potential profits will also be restricted, having it too much higher would potentially price out a lot of casual or new traders out of the broker.

Deposit Methods & Costs

ADSS offers your standard deposit methods, they currently offer Visa and MasterCard deposit, both debit and credit accepted. Maestro debit cards can also be used and so can Skrill, an online money wallet.

There are no fees for depositing and the ADSS website states that the times for processing deposits are from 08:30 to 17:30.

It is a shame that they are limited to these deposit methods, newer forms of money transfer such as cryptocurrencies would have been good to see. Also, there was no mention of bank transfers which is quite strange for a broker not to support this method.

Third-party or prepaid cards are not allowed.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The withdrawal methods are the same as the deposit methods, Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards, Maestro debit card and Skrill. The timing is slightly different as the processing time is between 08:30 and 13:00 so we assume that if you make a request after 13:00 then it will be processed the following day.

It would have been nice if there was a later finish to the withdrawal processing times as 13:00 is quite early but we assume this is due to the banks that ADSS use.

There are no withdrawal fees which is a nice touch, but it would be nice to see more methods of withdrawal such as bank transfer or cryptocurrencies.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We were not able to test this out ourselves, but scouring the internet led us to a number of different sources which indicated the same things, if you put in a withdraw request prior to the cut off time (13:00) it will be processed the same day, if not then it will be processed the next working day. Once the withdrawal has been processed, it can take another two or three days for the money to reach your account.

Two or three days in this day and age is quite a long time with other brokers now taking action to get you your money the next working day or for some even on the same day. This is an aspect that ADSS needs to work on.

Bonuses & Promotions

ADS Securities is currently offering just one promotion, their refer a friend promotion. For this promotion you need to invite people you know to join ADSS, once they do this, they need to deposit and trade in order for you to earn any commission. The screenshot below outlines these requirements and commissions paid out.

There are currently no other active promotions at the time of writing this review, however, be sure to regularly check back in case a new promotion has come up. It appears that in the past there were other promotions active, so there is hope that there will be others in the future too.

Educational & Trading Tools

ADSS does not offer reading materials to teach you to trade on their site, however, they do offer a number of different resources. They are offering seminars, where you can sign up and attend seminars which cover everything you need to be a successful trader, you can learn and also have the opportunity to speak to account managers. This is more intended for people who are not yet trading, however, anyone could potentially benefit from them.

The website mentions webinars, however, every time we have looked at the website has stated that there are currently no webinars available, so we are unsure if they are still doing these. They also have the standard Q&A but this does not offer much beneficial information to new traders.

One aspect that is quite nice is that ADSS offers market analysis, which can be viewed directly on their website, each day they put up an individual analysis of various pairs and assets. It does not have the greatest amount of information, but it is nice that they are offering something beneficial to their customers and potential customers.

ADSS also offers Autochartist, which allows people to keep up to date with market movements and also gain trading setups for their own trading.

In terms of the other trading tools, we mentioned OREX earlier in this review, it is ADSS’s own trading tool, which you can use directly on your web browser or download to your iOS and Android devices.

Customer Service

There are plenty of ways to get in contact with ADSS and the various departments within their organization. There is an inquiry form on their website that sends them an email when we tried this to test, we got a response within 36 hours which is pretty standard for most Forex brokers.

ADS Securities also offers their postal address in case you wished to send a letter, or for some reason turn up in person, however, these are located in the United Arab Emirates, so it may be quicker to send an email.

There are various telephone numbers and email addresses for their different departments including client inquiries, institutional sales team, legal and compliance, communications department and the marketing department. It is impressive that the numbers for different departments are given out as many brokers do not do this, and it makes it far easier to get through to the department that you need.

We tested the client inquiry number and it took about 2 minutes before we were put through to talk to someone, not a bad waiting time by any means, however, we only tested once and may have just gotten lucky.

ADSS offers 24/6 customer service and is closed on Sundays.

Demo Account

ADSS makes it easy to start practicing with their free demo accounts, simply click the link on their website and it will take you to signup for. These demo accounts do not expire unless you stop using them for an extended amount of time, however, if one expires you can open up a new one. Unfortunately, the data and progress from the closed account will be lost.

Countries Accepted

Looking through the website and also ADDD’s terms & conditions, we could not see anything in regards to excluded countries, so to our understanding, anyone may use ADSS and there are no restricted countries. If this information is incorrect, then we will update as we learn otherwise.

Conclusion

ADSS is receiving a very mixed reaction from customers or people who claim to be customers (you never know who you can trust these days). Their standard account seems pretty average when comparing it to other available brokers and unfortunately their spreads are quite high. We were not able to test the Elite Account, as the entry-level priced us out and will price out the majority of other traders too. Withdrawal times are another little concern of ours as we do not want to be waiting a few days to get our money out.

Their bespoke trading platform seems promising and is a nice touch, but we are not sure how effective it will be compared to the already popular MetaTrader 4. All in all, ADSS seems like your average run of the mill broker, not the worst by any means, but nothing to write home about.

Be sure to check out some of our other broker reviews so you can be sure you choose the right forex broker for you.

Fusion Markets is a forex broker situated in Australia, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) Fusion Markets aims to make things simple for their clients. No hype, no buzzwords, and lower costs. We take a little look at Fusion Markets to see if they achieve this and to see if they are a service worth using.

Account Types

There are two accounts available from Fusion Markets, The ECN Account and The Classic Account, we will take a look and see what the differences are.

The ECN Account: The ECN account is exactly what it says on the tin, an ECN account. It has very low spreads, starting at 0 pips, however much like other ECN accounts it charges a commission, the commission charges are $4.5 AUD per lot traded. The account uses MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and there is no minimum deposit amount to open up this account type. The minimum trade size for this account is 0.01 lots (micro lot) and the maximum is 100 lots.

The Classic Account: The standard account does not charge a commission, instead, it has a slightly raised spread which starts at a minimum of 0.8 pips. All other aspects of this account are the same as the ECN account such as trade sizes, minimum deposits, and available trading platforms.

Platforms

Fusion Markets only offer MetaTrader 4 (MT4) as a trading platform. MT4 is a widely used retail trading platform that a lot of brokers offer. It is popular for good reason as it offers high levels of customization, compatibility with hundreds and thousands of indicators and expert advisors as well as a number of other features to help aid in your analysis and trading. MT4 is available from Fusion Markets as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and as a WebTrader to use within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage is dependant on the instrument that you are trading, for Forex the minimum leverage is 1:20, while the maximum leverage is 1:500. For CFDs, the maximum leverage is 1:200 and for cryptocurrencies, the maximum leverage is 1:5. It is nice to see 1:500 available for Forex trading as this is quickly becoming the industry standard and the ratio that a lot of traders aim for.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes start at 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) and the maximum trade size is 100 lots, however, Fusion MArkets recommend not opening trades over 50 lots to ensure maximum efficiency and to ensure that it is executed instantly. For indices, the minimum trade size is 1 lot.

You are able to have up to 200 trades open at any one time.

Trading Costs

If you have an ECN account, then there is a commission charged on each trade, this is currently set at $4.5 AUD however may be different depending on the currency pair or asset that you are trading so be sure to check out the listing on the site to see what your currency pairs will charge.

The Standard account does not charge a commission but does have increased spreads, which are indicated as a minimum of 0.8 pips but can often be seen around 2 pips. There are also swap fees being charged or received when holding trades overnight, the exact costs can be viewed from within MT4 itself.

Assets

There is a wide selection of instruments that can be traded with Fusion MArkets, these include the usual Forex where there are over 90 different currency pairs available. Energy including Crude Oil, Brent Oil, and Natural Gas. Precious metals have metals such as Gold, Silver, Zinc, and others. Equity Indices and finally Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Dash, Ripply and other major cryptocurrencies.

It states that Commodities are coming soon, it is nice to see cryptocurrencies available as they are quickly becoming a popular trading asset, especially or newer traders and a lot of more experienced traders are starting to look towards them due to their volatility and profit potential.

Spreads

If you are using the ECN account then there is a much-reduced spread which can be as low as 0, however, it can fluctuate slightly higher and also is higher for certain currency pairs. Using the Standard account, it states that these will be around 0.8 pips at a minimum; however they can often be seen around 2 pips, there is a list on the site indicating what some of the average spreads are when using this account type.

Minimum Deposit

There is no minimum deposit with Fusion Markets, however, if opening up an account we recommend depositing at least $500 so you are able to take proper risk management precautions when trading.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can currently use credit or debit cards to deposit, both VISA and Mastercard or you can use bank wire transfers to fund your account. There are no fees when depositing with Fusion Markets, however, when performing a bank transfer, there may be charges issued by your own banking service.

It is a shame that there are no e-wallets currently available to use as they are quite popular amongst traders and there is also no way to use cryptocurrencies to fund your account which is becoming an ever more popular way to transfer money online. Note that you can only deposit from accounts that are in your own name.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same methods to withdraw as you could to deposit, before changing the withdrawal method, you must have withdrawn the same amount that you deposited on each individual method. For example, if you deposited $1000 by visa debit card, you must withdraw at least $1000 to that same card before using another method for withdrawing. Again, you can not withdraw to third part accounts and the accounts must be in your name.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

If a withdrawal request is received before 11 am AEDT, it will be processed the same day, any requests after 11 am AEDT will be processed the next business day. Funds are normally received within 1 to 5 business days for card withdrawals and 2 to 5 business days for bank wire withdrawals.

Bonuses & Promotions

Apart from the usual affiliate schemes, there does not seem to be any active promotions or bonuses, there may have been in the past or will be in the future so be sure to check back if you are interested in opening an account with Fusion Markets.

There is however an opportunity to get a discount on a VPS, you must trade at least 20 lots each month, however, the discount is only 20% as opposed to the usual free that a lot of other brokers are offering.

Educational & Trading Tools

We could not see or locate any information regarding any education being offered by Fusion Markets so we do not feel that any is currently available.

Customer Service

There are a few ways to get in contact with Fusion Markets, they have the usual online contact form, where you fill it out and get a reply via email. There is also a physical address available, a general email address and a phone number to use. Support is available 24 hours a day 5 days a week and is closed over the weekends to coincide with the markets being closed.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, simply click the Try A Free Demo button and sign up. The accounts last indefinitely as long as they are being used, if they are left dormant for too long they will be removed however you can easily open up a new one.

Countries Accepted

Due to the registered regulation, the following countries are excluded from the services of Fusion Markets: Burma, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

The trading conditions offered by Fusion Markets are positive, they offer a choice of accounts and payment structures, it would have been nice to see more deposit and withdrawal methods as being restricted to just cards and the bank is a little disappointing. Plenty of assets to trade means you will always find something to trade and it is also nice to see that there is no minimum deposit so you can top up even small amounts should you need to. Fusion Markets seem like a well-established broker.

If you like this Fusion Markets review, please be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

FinOperate is an offshore broker registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. They are staying ahead of the game by offering the latest MetaTrader platform (MT5) and aside from offering a trading service, they also offer training courses for those that may be interested. It is apparent that this broker is fairly new on the scene as there is very little information to be found about them online.

Account Types

With this broker, you will not be bombarded with snippets of advantages and disadvantages of a handful of account types; FinOperate offers one account type: Standard account with a $1,000 minimum deposit. This account offers variable spreads starting at 1.3 pips and executes orders Instantly.

Platforms

FinOperate offers MetaTrader 5 trading platform. MetaTrader is generally the most popular and favorable trading platform to date. Clients may use Windows, Mac, Android and iOS versions of MT5.

Leverage

FinOperate offers a maximum leverage allowance of 1:300, which is more than generous for Forex currency trading. 1:300 is very competitive and not always easy to come by in brokers.

Trade Sizes

The website states that the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots, which allows traders a lot of freedom, especially if you wish to use the scalp trading method. The maximum trade sizes allowed with FinOperate is 100 lots.

Trading Costs

Swap fees and Commission fees are not charged by FinOperate which lessens the cost for the client overall however do bear in mind that this means the broker makes their profit from the spreads, which we will go into shortly.

Assets

Clients of FinOperate have access to a strong variety of tradable assets: Forex, Stocks, Indices and a large range of Cryptos. The full list is not available on the website so one would need to open a demo account to see any specific pairs you might be after.

Spreads

FinOperate offers variable spreads, starting at 1.3 pips which is average to competitors, for a starting spread. As mentioned earlier, FinOperate does not charge commission or swap fees meaning that their profit is made via the spreads. The spreads are also floating so this is something that one would need to backtest on demo to see if these spreads are suitable for your style of trading.

It is also important to note that FinOperate has stop out levels at 30%. This means that the trade can stay open for longer, but on the flip side, this also can cause a more prominent loss on losing positions.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to get started with FinOperate is $1,000. Compared to the majority of brokers that offer similar trading conditions, this minimum requirement is quite a bit higher.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The website does not set out the deposit methods available, so we cannot comment on that at this time. However, it is slightly concerning that this information is not available so potential clients should be wary when considering signing up for a live account with this broker.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

A prominent issue with FinOperate’s website is that information such as withdrawal methods cannot be found. There is no FAQ page either, to answer such questions.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal methods and timescales are not displayed on the website and they do not have a live chat for a quick reference to obtain this answer.

Bonuses & Promotions

Deposit Bonuses or promotions are not mentioned on the website so we can assume this broker does not offer such schemes.

Educational & Trading Tools

FinOperate does not offer any trading training courses or educational tools. This is not an issue seeing as there is a multitude of options available online for free education material, should you require it.

Customer Service

Should you wish to contact FinOperate, they offer a telephone line and an email address. There is no live chat, and they also do not state their operating hours. This is another concerning factor, elevating doubt even more so if it is not clear that clients can get in touch easily or efficiently in the case of any issues or queries.

Demo Account

It is concerning that FinOperate does not offer a demo account, especially when they are not very specific on which instruments they offer and do not give a good indication of what the variable spreads look like. Without a demo account to try out their trading conditions, it is difficult for a potential client to gauge if this broker is suitable for one’s style of trading.

Countries Accepted

This broker is not regulated so be mindful that if your residing country does not allow trading, you should not be accepted when registering with your Identification and Proof of address documents. Unfortunately, there is not an FAQ page or any mention of which countries are accepted to trade with this broker, so it is a matter of registering and finding out.

Conclusion

This broker appears to offer very generous leverage, which is competitive. The fact they offer MT5 is also an appealing factor, however, we cannot ignore the fact this broker fail to display even the most basic information that should be available to clients if this is a fully legitimate and fair broker. If deposit and withdrawal methods, a full list of instruments, and a demo account are not available, which is the case with FinOperate, it would be wise to approach this broker with caution or perhaps consider an alternative broker where you can be certain on what trading conditions will be available to you.

InvestAZ offers its pwn tailor-made trading platform as well as MetaTrader 4, with a large variety of trading accounts and over 100 assets to trade. The website itself is clear and simplistically set out for ease of navigation, and a live chat facility is available should you need assistance.

Account Types

InvestAZ offers 5 account types to choose from:

• Mini
• Standard
• Universal
• Pro
• VIP

Minimum lot size and spreads do vary, however, leverage caps are the same across all accounts, as is the margin call and stop out level, as well as platform options and the fact that all accounts are not charged trade commission fees. Islamic (swap-free) accounts are also available upon request.

Platforms

InvestAZ offers two platforms: MetaTrader (4) and their very own customized platform, namely, InvestOR.Both options are compatible with both desktop and mobile versions. YOu are also not restricted to using just one platform in accordance with the account type you choose, which means clients can even alternate between the two if they prefer one over the other, for example; you are not stuck with one platform choice.

Leverage

This broker is rather liberal with leverage allowance, offering up to 1:100 leverage. This applies to all account types, which is nice to see, seeing as some brokers essentially penalize clients wth certain trading conditions and caps according to account type’s deposit requirement.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes do vary according to the account type you choose, which are all set out on the website as well. The Mini, Standard, Universal accounts have a minimum trade size requirement of 0.01 lot and the Pro and VIP accounts have a minimum trade size of 0.10 lot

The maximum order volume is actually rather low in comparison to what many brokers allow. Nonetheless, the website does also state maximum trade sizes, which are the following:

• Mini: up to 10 lots
• Standard: up to 50
• Universal: up to 50
• Pro: up to 100 lots
• VIP: up to 200 lots

Trading Costs

As mentioned earlier, this broker does not charge trade commission fees, on any of their account types, so this is one less concern for the client. This, however, does mean that InvestAZ makes their money via the spreads, which is why there is such a variation between the minimum spreads on each account type, which we will go into shortly.

For Swap fees, these are calculated according to spreads on particular pairs, so swap fees will vary between account type, and whatever volume you are trading.

Assets

InvestAZ offers over 100 assets in total which include Forex, Indices, and Commodities, which you can see on the website, along with their live spreads (floating). They do not offer an overly wide selection of pairs in comparison to other brokers, however, at the same time, this is also a sufficient selection of tradable assets that would satisfy most traders who are focused on just the FX markets.

Spreads

InvestAZ offer floating spreads, and you can see the live spreads on the most popular pairs, on the website. Spreads, overall, are relatively tight across the board, and definitely competitive, especially for the FX major pairs they offer.

Minimum Deposit

As mentioned, there are 5 account types, and thus, each has a different minimum deposit requirement:

• Mini: $1,000
• Standard: $5,000
• Universal: $10,000
• Pro: $20,000
• VIP: $50,000

By no means is even the smallest account among the lowest deposit requirements; in fact, this is rather high compared to other broker minimum deposit requirements. This is another reason why it is good practice to try a demo account first, with the required deposit amount of the account you think will be preferable, to gauge what capital works for you in line with your strategies.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The disappointment for this broker kicked in when we discovered that nowhere on this website does it state which deposit methods can be used. In this case, we tried using the live chat facility to find out, but on two occasions (two different times) they were offline, so we had to raise a ticket. After 36 hours, we had no response, on two occasions. This is slightly unnerving for potential clients when it is impossible to know which deposit methods are available and to see if there are any that are available for a trader personally.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly to what was mentioned above, it is disconcerting that the InvestAZ website does not contain an FAQ page to discover the withdrawal methods. The customer support team was also unresponsive on several occasions to help us answer this question for you. However, withdrawal fees are mentioned on the account comparison page, which is the same fee applied to all account types:

• <1000$ – 25$
• 1000$ to 5000$ – 45$
• 5000$< – %1

This fee structure indicated that there is one withdrawal method, or very restricted selection, since the fee is the same for all accounts, for everyone.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Since we could not establish which withdrawal methods are even available, we cannot, at this time, comment on processing times or wait times for funds to land back with the client. It is very poor of a broker to not present such important information to clients prior to them registering.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is no mention of any bonuses or promotions, even away from the website, and on social media, we could not find any deposit bonus schemes being advertised in association with InvestAZ.

Educational & Trading Tools

InvestAZ does not offer any training courses or solid plans to follow to learn how to trade, but what they do offer is some handy tools to help new and experienced traders alike, along the way. These include a Forex Glossary to help understand trading terms used, as well as some reading material about Forex and how the industry works.

Customer Service

In order to contact InvestAZ, you have the option of live chat, email, or the option to fill out a ticket to request a callback. These facilities are all very good options if only the customer support team were responsive. To date, we have no received any response from any of the channels provided. This is an indication that this broker is perhaps not legitimate, or, have cut off means of contact for a reason, which is a concrete cause for concern.

Demo Account

You may open a demo account with InvestAZ before you register for the live account. This is always a good way to gauge if this broker’s trading conditions are a suitable match for you and your preferred trading style/strategies. This demo account opportunity is also good to practice with while you learn how to trade, if you are a new trader, or wish to brush up on your skillset before trading live.

Countries Accepted

InvestAZ is not regulated therefore is not restricting in the way a regulated broker would be when it comes to onboarding clients, but of course, this does mean the obvious; clients from the US should not be targeted. Nowhere on the website does it say which clients from which countries/jurisdictions would be accepted or denied access to these services, but bear in mind that as part of the registration process, you will be screened and verified via proof of address and ID documents. It is, of course, the individual’s responsibility to check if their jurisdiction permits the use of these services by their residents/citizens.

Conclusion

On the surface, InvestAZ offers some very amicable trading conditions, and a broad range of account features across the board of account types. However, it should be concerning that clients would find it difficult, or even impossible to contact this broker with the poor quality of customer support communication. It is also a concerning factor that withdrawal methods are not mentioned, so clients would not know how to withdraw their funds, prior to becoming a client. This broker should be approached with caution before considering becoming a client.

Open Broker is not a typical broker experienced traders know about. This is a Market Maker model broker with a different approach to customers, offering plenty of options and products. Open Broker is based in the Russian Federation, oriented towards Russian clients. Since establishment in 1995, it was a part of the Open Group that emerged as the largest privately-owned financial institution in Russia. Having a sustained business to be one of the leading brokerage services today.

Open Broker received many awards and is frequently mentioned in the press. The management structure is heavy, structured and organized to cope with extensive products and services. Completely specialized for the Russian market- Moscow exchange, Open Broker received good ratings from their local traders. Being a part of the Open group, it allows coverage to effectively serve customers almost anywhere in Russia, as well as in London, Frankfurt, and Cyprus (bank clients). On June 28, 2002, the licenses set was obtained from the Federal Securities Commission of Russia for a complete range of brokerage services, also requiring 500 Million rubles base capital ($7,87 M). This regulator is extreme in some areas and specific to Russian laws.

According to the Moscow Exchange, in 2016, the broker takes 5th place for the number of registered customers, active customers, 1st place for the volume of client transactions. Today, Open Broker has more than 3 million customers across Russia. In the following section, we will evaluate why this broker has this success and what makes it so specific.

Account Types

Open Brokers does not have the usual number of accounts. A total of 16 types are classified into 3 groups. Do-it-Yourself accounts, Investments accounts, and Ready-made Investments account. Since most independent traders would go with the self-managed trading accounts we will provide more details for those. The tariffs for each account is very detailed, many of the administration costs are transferred to the client. For example, there is a cost for using the leverage, reporting, different commissions for OTC, Stocks, Currencies, maintenance, etc.

Currency Exchange service is a simple conversion tool that enables clients to exchange currencies directly from the market. It works by opening an account, topping it with the currency and then exchange it to another with better rates compared to the banks. Then, these funds can be transferred to the card or a bank account. The service has no fees but has a commission that is included in the rate. The Conversion Account does not have a minimum deposit although has a fee if it is less than 50.000 rubles.

Russian Market Account gives the ability to trade Stocks, Currencies, Bonds, Metals, and Commodities on the Russian market. This account has a flexible Universal tariff that enables traders to try different trading strategies. The Account features a cashback for transactions on the Moscow Exchange, 0.057% commission, and account maintenance of 175 rubles per month if there is trading activity.

International Markets Account Trader is open to stocks, bonds and ETFs around the world on leading international exchanges, like Nasdaq. AMEX, TSX, FTSE and also OTC market trading. This account has 3 tariffs, All-Inclusive, US PRO, and Standard ITP. All-inclusive is optimal for beginners and experienced traders who trade small volumes and mainly use market orders. The commission is $1 per 100 shares and up to a 4% annual fee for the leverage use. US PRO tariff is for scalpers and high volume traders (from 10,000 shares per day). Limit orders have the Rebates mechanism useful for scalpers. Standard ITP tariff is for investors, long term traders. Leverage for this tariff is not available.

Probably the best what Open Brokers have is the Individual Investment Account. This account has a tax benefit and the ability to connect the investment with finished products, or strategies. This way you are into a kind of PAM account. It is affordable for entry, provides full control over your account and full support. Historical ROI for this account is 31.84%

The accounts structure is not simple, and even experienced traders will lose amid all the information and costs. This is also a sign of transparency and professionalism on the other side. Open Broker has a consultation agent form at every page so visitors can be introduced to what is the best for them.

Platforms

Open Broker has two platforms and one of them is not so widely known. Metatrader 5 is adopted and most traders are familiar with the software from Meta Quotes. The other one is QUIK from ARQA Technologies.

The MT5 is not set to the defaults and has 4 chart panels opened. The information lines in the journal and almost every tab of the terminal are extended and not common to see. For example, the Trade tab will show additional Margin segments like Initial Margin, Maintenance Margin, Commission and more, all grouped for all positions. When making an order, traders can select how the order will be executed too. The instrument specification panel is also extended and full of information that may seem overwhelming. Still, the trading has limitations like unusual trading sessions that cause chart gaps. The connection to the server is very quick and the execution times are a bit above 100ms on average, which is great for a dealing desk broker type.

The QUIK platform will certainly require some adaptation even if traders have trading knowledge. Windows arrangement can be linked and will display a real-time feed from the exchange. Level 2 quotes are also displayed which is very useful to some traders. The news feed is available from the broker or other agencies. Over 30 technical analysis indicators can be plotted, Fibonacci lines, angles, arcs, trend drawing, horizontal and vertical lines, text marks, etc.

The platform support pending orders, stop-limit, take profit, if-done orders, but also execute orders and import of transactions prepared in other programs. Scalper’s Level2Quotes (quotes window view) are standard, allowing quick orders by using buttons or with drag-and-drop. Import and export of data are available for MS Excel including the Level2Quotes table. The platform is adapted for the Moscow Exchange but is very rich in features. The drawback is the lack of support and abundance of addons the MT4/5 has. Open Broker does allow all trading styles, including EAs on both platforms. Algorithmic trading is also supported by the VPS service. All platforms are available for Android and iOS.

Leverage

The leverage is available to some accounts and it will come with a different fee that depends on the tariff. The exact leverage level can be arranged but traders need to consult with the Open Broker staff. For Investors type account leverage is not available.

Trade Sizes

There are many kinds of assets with varying trade sizes. Open Brokers is not simple and not typical like the other where trades sizes are clear for each asset. Here this is scaled to the account type and also to the tariff. So, for example, Investors will have bigger minimum trade sizes than scalpers. What is good is that all the information is transparent and a bit of study is required to find what is optimal for each trader or investor.

Trading Costs

Open Broker has multiple tariffs and account types combinations. This split tariff selection and account types opens a plethora of combinations, therefore different costs. Open Broker puts a lot of administration costs to the trader so, for example, account maintenance, leverage, reports and so on, all have a fee. If traders select the International Markets Account, the commission will be 1 cent for the stock market per lot, but not less than $7 if the stock is worth more than $1.01. For stocks worth less than $1 a commission of 0.0257% but not less than $7, even for partial position closing. For the EU stocks, the commission is 0.07% but not less than 13 EUR/USD/GBP. The leverage used will cost 7% annually for stocks (long positions only).

OTC market has another set of fees. The commission is 0.35% for trades of up to $100.000, above that value is 0.25% and above $300.000 is 0.15%. The minimum is $59 regardless of the transaction size. OTC market leverage has a fee of 3.75% per anum for Eurobonds. Reporting on the client’s securities and movements will also cost $3. For other accounts, there are similar tariffs sheets but do not differ too much.

Assets

Open Broker falls into the specialized class for the Russian market. A full range of major companies and financial institutions are listed, thus making a huge list of over 10.000 assets. The US and EU stocks market are not so extensive but all the major companies are listed. The currency market is different and revolves around the Russian Ruble. Currency pairs like EUR/USD are not present. If you seek to trade all combinations with the RUB, Open Broker will have all the exotics like CNY/RUB, HKD/RUB, CHF/RUB and so on. Open Broker also features Precious metals, Bonds, EFTs, Options, and Futures.

Aside from this, Open Broker also has a Structured Product. This is a structured portfolio designed to maximize the return of a particular idea. It is based on different assets, from stocks to currencies. Once this package is acquired, no management is needed. In essence, it is like a deposit or an investment with scalable levels of risk and ROI. Periods for these investments can be from 1 month to 3 years. Open Broker markets this product as an alternative to a bank deposit. Of course, the yield is higher. Structural products can be customized and optimized according to the investor’s plans.

Mutual Funds Investment is familiar to investors as an optimal risk solution. Riskier than bonds but safer than stocks trading. Open Brokers also offers to invest with mutual funds. A total of 10 funds are available to select across multiple global regions. For this kind of asset investment, a minimum of 5000 rubles is required, which is a very low figure and suitable for anyone without experience in trading.

Spreads

Open Broker relies on commission and the spreads vary across instruments but also many accounts types. The spreads cannot be compared to other brokers since typical currency pairs are not listed with them. What we have measured is that all are under normal values. All the information is transparent for all the account types and customizations.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is measured for every account type. For Individual Investment Account the minimum deposit is customized according to the client’s ability, but no more than 1M rubles per year. Ready-made portfolios do not have a minimum but 300.000 rubles per year is recommended. The signals service also does not require any minimum. For investment solutions, 5000 rubles is the minimum and for managed investments is 250.000 rubles. Other accounts do not require any minimum deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The methods will be listed once your application is completed. It can be done only by the assigned agent after a phone call. Generally, Open Brokers accept Bank transfers and Visa / MasterCard. Deposits are all without fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

For the Standard Do-It-Yourself account, a fixed withdrawal fee is $35. No fee is charged when withdrawing funds to another personal account opened under any other agreement concluded with a broker. Such an agreement is if a client uses the Open Bank account within the Open Group. Similar fees follow for other international markets tariffs.

Ready-made portfolios account for the Russian market have 10 rubles fee or 0.02% if the withdrawal is in foreign currency. Outside the Open Group withdrawal in foreign currency is $25, 25EUR/CHF/GBP.
The withdrawal methods are the same as with deposits, Open Brokers accept Bank transfers and Visa / MasterCard.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The withdrawal processing is within a day and should reflect instantly on Visa/MasterCards. Bank transfers within the Open Group are also within the same day and for international transfers, it could take up to 7 days.

Bonuses & Promotions

O. InveStore! TM is a form of Open Broker loyalty program that rewards contributors with bonus points. Each bonus point is worth 1 rouble. Transaction volume with up to 5% cashback, points awarded for referrals, each year of having an account with Open Broker, and for participation in promotions and events. Since March 2019, there are over 10.000 products redeemable for the points collected by this program, shipped across Russia. The products range from electronics, software, books, music, cosmetics and so on.

Educational & Trading Tools

Open Brokers gives an impression of academic level education to visitors. This section contains an admirable level of educational material, tools, coaching, workshops, webinars, articles, courses, and individual training.

Workshops are a kind of class that is scheduled and for free. These are local and held in Open Broker classrooms. For example, ISS accounts will introduce the conditions for obtaining a tax deduction and the class will explain in more detail how to get full benefits. This is very specific to Russia and the broker.

Webinars selection is extensive and professional. Visitors can select a range of free or paid webinars. 4 paid webinars cover the subjects like How to make money during a crisis, Fundamentals Investing, FORTS speculation methods, Risk and Money Management.

These cost from 4500 ($70) to 6500 rubles. Free webinars are numerous very interesting and have supreme quality. Options Trading, Oil Trading, Individual Account Intro, All about Dividends, How to make your trading system and more webinars could be found. If a topic is not covered traders can recommend a subject to Open Broker.

Trading Coach service is free for deposits of 300.000 rubles. Training will cover the platform, Fundamenta and Technical analysis and Risk management System. Coaching will be remote and traders will have all the information they need with the goal to improve trading skills. The duration will depend on the levels of skills.

Exchange Simulator is an interactive simulation app that aims to bring the elementals and strategies to beginners. It is based on Adobe Flash Player and is used in conjunction with webinars and seminars.

Video Courses are similar in quality like webinars. A total of 18 videos will cover basics but also much more and advanced topics like trading with Options, Futures, ETFs, Structured Products, Trading Academy, and so much more. Some can last up to 240 minutes and not all are free. For example, Academy Training 2.0 costs 299 rubles ($4.7) and lasts 4 hours.

Articles range is admirable and close to a library level. The articles are categorized to subject tags like indicators, psychology, MT5, QUIK, Stocks and so on. There is also a search line that is useful considering the number of articles. The content quality is very good, going into details but also keeps simple language to be understandable to beginners. For example, the TRIX indicator has its own article, explaining all the inner works, usability, application and more. The only drawback is that the educational section is all in the Russian language and everything has to be translated manually.

The individual Training Program is a customized service according to the client’s wishes. Clients can choose what to learn, when and how. Clients need to register, compose a program with the specialist, pay for the program and receive personal training on any location, time and without redundant information that you might not need. The cost of these programs is not disclosed.

Trading Ideas is a signal service developed in various forms. Investment ideas are an example of ideas of what to trade and why. These are updated and contain an analysis. Market Pulse is another form if a signal service where the markets are analyzed deeply for that day, review style. These are a few pages long but do not contain any visual presentations. Top Lis is a quick prediction of what may happen and these are very basic without much value. Strategies are a set of instructions for a certain asset, written in a professionally looking, comprehensive article with figures, charts, and tables. Depository News contains very techy news about what market entities are doing with the equities.

Dividend Calendar displays dividend distribution dates and events. The calendar is very well designed with filters and good sorting options.

Customer Service

Open Broker does not have a chat service. Only email and a phone line. Social networks are well managed so you can also use Facebook for a chat. We have used the English language and received an automated response in Russian. The agents are not available 24/7. From what we could see, the support level is comparable to the rest of the services and expresses a professional and ethical approach.

Demo Account

The Demo account is available but will not reflect all Open Brokers have to offer. The registration requires an SMS validation, not just the email. Once you type in the OTP code, the demo account credential will be sent to the email. Traders will receive two account login details. One is for currencies, the other ID is for equities. The demo is available for both QUIK and Metatrader 5.

Countries Accepted

Since the website is only in Russian, visitors may think this is for Russian citizens only.
Information for foreign citizens is not disclosed on the Open Broker website or in legal documents. Although, for legal entities, there is a form with several requirements like a transliteration of the name to the Russian language in full, shortened form, English name form the company establishment documents, English shortened form and so on. There are no prohibited countries, so even traders from the United States can register if they own a company. The biggest drawback to all this is the lack of English interface or guidance.

Conclusion

Open Broker has a good rating form the benchmark websites in Russia since English websites do not list this broker. This broker shows professionalism in every aspect of their services. The complexity of features compares only to the best and the biggest that can afford the scale of the business required for so many services provided. Any chance of unethical behavior is close to none. In terms of costs, fees are present at every step, and in return, this broker provides premium support through the product range, education, platforms, tools, and additional services. Regulation for this broker seems unnecessary just by looking at the approach to the trader from all aspects. Russian clients surely respect this and stimulate Open Broker to advance. Others can only hope that this broker plans to expand and accept international clients.

This is a Hong Kong-based broker that is dealing with Chinese clients only. It is a part of Chuangfu Yinghui Group. An interestingly named company, Mega Rich Global Financial Limited, is their overseas subsidiary. The company nourishes its so-called “creating wealth and sharing the wealth” slogan or philosophy. There is nothing special to this as it promotes common ideas like having leverage, stable platform, fast transactions, many products, etc.

This broker does not offer the same level of service as other brokers that accept clients across the globe. China is very enclosed to these kinds of business, none of the foreign brokers managed to get approved in China. Therefore, this is another market that cannot be compared. Chuangfu Yinghui is specialized in the London Gold and Silver trading only. This review will cover what could be useful and interesting to Chinese clients.

Account Types

Chuangfu Yinghui does not have account types. What we have noticed is that trading is focused on Gold, “London Gold”. London Gold and Silver is a spot contract common in Hong Kong that has 100 ounces as 1 contract or 1 lot. For London Silver 1 lot is 5000 ounces This is an OTC market that should be open 24h. Everything is under a single account. Leverage could be selected during the registration. Chuangfu Customer Service will conduct a call back to ensure the registration details are correct. The documents needed are ID card/passport, bank account, and other information, Proof of address (water, electricity, coal, telephone bill, bank statement or policy) not older than three months.

Platforms

Metatrader 4 platform is the only one provided. It is registered to Mega Rich Group and updated to the latest version. Everything is set to defaults. The servers show a ping rate of around 220ms. The information about the assets is filled with key trading figures enough to understand what is offered. MT4 is available for desktop and mobile versions. Also in web-accessible form without installation.

Leverage

The leverage can be selected, up to 1:100 level.

Trade Sizes

Some information could be obtained on the Chuangfu web site. The stated minimum trade size of 0.01 lots is in line with the figures in the MT4 platform. The step volume is also 0.01 lots. The maximum trading level is 40 lots. The Stop Out level is set to 30%, although traders should be careful that this level can be breached in the weekend gap and even go beyond the Stop Out level. The maintenance margin is $300/lot Monday to Friday and is changing for the weekend to $1,000/lot. During the weekend there could be some OTC offers that can cause volatile price movements. Note that trading with this broker is not 24h and the following schedule applies: Beijing time from 6:31 am to 3:30 am on Saturday (during summertime); Beijing time Monday 7:01 am to Saturday 4:00 am (Winter season).

Trading Costs

According to the trading Rules Page, there are no commissions. The swaps exist for both assets. Buy swap is 1.75% and sell: 0.15%. This figure can be divided by 360 for daily swap percentage. All non-US dollar deposits will be converted into US dollars.

Assets

Chuangfu Yinghui is specialized to London Gold and Silver. This is very similar to the spot Gold market in terms of pricing and movements. At the moment of this review, the broker offered $1455.78 per ounce. No other assets are available. As we are informed by the support, Forex and other assets are not in the near term plan.

Spreads

The spreads are fixed and controlled by the broker. The spread for London Gold is 0.5 USD/ounce and For Silver 0.03 USD/ounce. When recalculated, this is $50 per lot or close to 3.5%. The spread could be changed by the broker as stated, half an hour before the market closes and the first half-hour of the market opening. Also modified according to the market conditions. The company has the right to change the spreads without notice.

Minimum Deposit

This broker does not have set minimum deposit although based on their model, traders would need at least $10 to open the minimum trading size of 0.01 lots, including the 1:100 leverage.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is only one method to invest – Bank Transfer. The usual banking rates will apply to the client. For China clients, there is also an option to use the card free of charge. The cross-border fee could be applied to clients outside China. The account deposit currency could be in USD, HKD, and CNY.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

At the time of withdrawal, the company will exchange the account currency according to the market exchange rate. There are no fees charged by the broker.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Chuangfu Yinghui Group promotes fast withdrawal times. Time to withdrawals is 2 hours and this is very fast comparing to the average in the industry.

Bonuses & Promotions

No bonuses or promotions are offered. The Affiliate programs are also absent.

Educational & Trading Tools

Chuangfu put some effort to bring trading closer to the Chinese clients. The educational structure is well developed and features News, analysis, Signals service, Gold encyclopedia and more.

The Gold Encyclopedia is a form of a blog page. It covers the history of Gold, Characteristics of precious metals investment, How to grasp short positions in gold trading, The impact of NFP on Gold, What is the relationship between London gold and spot gold and so on. The topics could be repeating as they have very similar headlines, although the articles are fresh. Each page contains a dozen of articles, and there are many pages. As this is a Gold and Silver broker only, almost all of the articles are about Gold trading.

Under the Strategy section, Chuangfu displays comprehensive analysis based on the Technicals and Fundamentals. It is updated daily. The reports are very professional, deep and the analysis of the chart is based on the moving averages and other custom projections. Of course, the focus assets are Gold and Silver.

The strategies are a form of advice published daily by the broker team. The analyst team backgrounds are presented along with their trading type, success rate and the total amount earned. The published signals appear to be very good, although we are not certain in their success rate. This service does not come from third parties and it is not common to see in the industry.

The News is not that fresh, the last report was 2 months old. They are all related to Gold and global main events that the majority of people already know. The quality is decent with interesting views on how it may affect the Gold prices.

Non-Farm Payroll event has a special section on the Chuangfu web site. It is divided into a few key elements that represent a complete analysis. These include the historic movements of the NFP, long term arguments for bullish and bearish sentiment, and also counter until the next report.

Finally, the economic calendar is much better than the usual from MetaQuotes. It has filters, day selection toolbar, impact meter and the impact direction on the asset. Although the design is good, we did not find any explanation about the even or its historic level movements.

Customer Service

Chuangfu Yinghui has a 24h support line, work phone, chat, and email. The quality is one of the best we had encountered in the industry. The agents are extremely fast typers we had an impression we are speaking with an automated response AI. There is no waiting for more than 10 seconds until the agents accept your chat request. Answers they provide are very detailed and carry respect to the visitor, showing professionalism and level of service similar to 5-star luxury hotels. This level of Customer Service confirms the usual Chinese approach with customers anywhere.

Demo Account

The self-service demo account in the MT4 trading platform is not available. You must obtain a demo account from the customer service or apply for a demo account on the Chuangfu Yinghui website. The registration process requires to enter the SMS code that will be sent to the number provided. This is an additional step that filters fake accounts with the broker. There is no information about the Demo account expiry time.

Countries Accepted

China clients only.

Conclusion

The broker delivers the additional value for specialized Gold traders in forms of various analysis, personal training assistant, and great customer service this broker has. For China, Chuangfu Yinghui is a great choice as security of the trader’s account is protected and supervised by the Chinese Government, and it is widely known how effective their control measures are. The spread and trading conditions are not great, although taking into consideration that China is very restrictive for the CFD industry, clients may enjoy having the possibility to trade Gold with leverage that is unavailable in the EU or the United States.

500 Capital has a very fashionable website design and almost devoid of any useful information for traders. The name of this broker is very similar to the well known plus500 broker. Sometimes this is very useful for masking the name of a company involved in a dishonest activity to say at least. The information about 500 Capital is very obscured, from various sources there is almost no information.

As stated, this brand is owned by 500 CAPITAL PTY LIMITED that has a registration but not the license for CFD offering. Therefore, this broker is not regulated and the address points to a commercial leasing tower. The website is in Russian by default and EUR as the only currency expression, clearly intended for Russian clients as many reports also mention Russian agent names from 500 Capital. Founded in 2018, 500 Capital has a god range of assets but no details, only categories are described. This review will tell you what traders can expect when trading with 500 Capital.

Account Types

500 Capital has two account types, Standard and VIP. The Standard Account features a bonus for deposits of 1000 EUR, although no additional info is disclosed. The account includes floating spreads, no commissions, and a personal manager.

VIP Account requires no less than 100.000 EUR and features Swap-Free compensation. For many traders, the swap should not be a concern so offering this compensation points that the swap levels are very high. More on this in the Trading Costs section. All the other published conditions are the same, as with the Standard Account.

Platforms

The only platform available is the Metatrader 4 available for the desktop with Windows and Mac operating systems. Mobile devices are also supported with Android or IOS. For those that do not want to install anything, MT4 Web is available but within the Traders Cabinet. MT4 client is updated to the latest version, by default settings. Connection to the servers has a 150ms latency. The execution response time is around 300ms which is above average compared to other brokers.

Both, Demo and Live Account did not have trading enabled for any asset and we are unsure if this was a measure against us or default setting. This may be a sign of restriction so no one can trade until the agent makes a phone connection with the client. The market watch window shows many disabled Forex duplicate assets and counterparts with a dot suffix. Some information from the asset specifications window is missing, like the minimal volume in some cases. This is a strange setup that is not common with other brokers.

Leverage

The leverage level for both Account types is adaptable from 1:10 to 1:200. This level is high enough for deposits of 1000EUR as traders can place micro-lot positions. This leverage can be set in the Traders Cabinet.

Trade Sizes

500 Capital uses the common minimum trading volumes of 0.01 lots or micro-lots. The minimum step volume is also 0.01 lots making precise, low-risk positions easier to scale in and out. Although this is the info from the 500 Capital web page, the real volume step, and minimum initial volume is different against the readings in the MT4 platform for the demo account. The asset specification showed 0.1 lot step volume and the minimum volume size figure is missing in the demo account. The real account shows the levels stated on the web site. The maximum volume is 1000 lots. The closest distance traders can put pending orders like Stop Loss and Take Profit is 1 pip, also called Stops level. The margin call is at 100% as stated for both Account types and Stop Outs is at 25%

Trading Costs

500 capital does not charge commissions on any of the offered account types. For those that want a swap compensation will have to deposit 100.000 EUR, although the levels look normal and acceptable, note that the swaps are not calculated in points, but percentages. For example, the EUR/USD pair swap is -12.07% for short and +6.03% for long, so even positive swaps are present, but pay attention that if you leave a short position overnight you will have a significant cost.

The fast-moving major, GBP/JPY has a -2.84% short and +0.22% long swap. If we go into exotics zone, USD/ILS has -3.5% and -2.9%. Gold has a swap for long at -1.9% and -5% for short. Some pairs like the USD/TRY have swap levels expressed in points. Now, in the crypto category, for BTC/USD the swap is -18% on both positions, meaning any trades left overnight will probably be completely unprofitable. Most of the cryptocurrency pairs have the swap in percentage terms but not all.

A dormant fee of $75 exists if traders are not active for one month and will be charged every month.

Assets

500 Capital has a total of 6 categories are listed on the website, Forex, Crypto, Indices, Shares, Commodities and, a rare category – Portfolios. This is almost a complete coverage of asset classes compared with the industry canon.

Starting with Forex, Capital 500 has 41 currency pairs that we have counted, a bit more than 39 mentioned in the Account types web page. All majors are present, and some exotics are not common, like the USD/ILS, EUR/TRY, and EUR/MXN. Other exotics are RUB, Scandinavian currencies, HKD and SGD.

The crypto range is above average for sure. Of course, major coins like BTC and XRP are listed, but also a lot of altcoins. Monero is available in 3 combinations, Monero/Ethereum, Monero/USD and Monero/Bitcoin. Ethereum Classic can be found against Ethereum, USD, and Bitcoin. Bitcoin itself has an amazing list of combinations. How many times can you see BTC/CNY or BTC/RUB? Other Bitcoin variants like Mili Bitcoin and Bitcoin Gold are rare to see too. A total of 46 crypto combinations are found in the MT4 platform. From the exotics not mentioned, we found QTUM, OmiseGO, NEO, IOTA and Zcash, It looks like a crypto enthusiast heaven.

Indicies are modest compared to the crypto range but a total of 11 Indices are listed. Major are all there, S&5500, DAX, NASDAQ, Nikkei, UK100, STOXX, France 40, Spain 35, etc. Less common ones are RTS (Russian Trading System), Hong kong 33, and mini Dow Jones.

Precious metals range is good, containing all 4 precious metals and Copper under the Commodities category in MT4. Gold, Silver, Platinum and the “independent” Palladium are all listed. The only thing that could be a drawback for using these for hedging is the swap rate, otherwise, this range is almost complete.

Stocks range is great, 500 Capital offers 38 EU companies, 124 US companies, and 26 Russian – of course, more familiar to the Russian clientele. Most of these major, big companies from different industry sectors. This range is also unique for the list of not so common Russian corporations.

Commodities list is very extended, which is rare to see among brokers. A total of 20 commodities means commodity specialists will like what they see with 500 Capital. WTI and Brent Oil is a must, on top, there is Natural Gas in the energies section. Now, rare to see commodities are Feeder Cattle, Live Cattle, Lean Hog, Soymeal, Rough Rice, Oats, Aluminium, Zinc, and Nickel. We are not sure if these are popular in Russia.

Finally, Portfolios are grouped assets that can be traded as CFD. Each portfolio assets have some unique characteristics so they can be useful when grouped. For example, Beer, Weed, and Spirit. US financial company portfolio, IT portfolio, etc. 500 Capital went even further offering Crypto portfolio. What cryptos are included inside is not disclosed but the same swap percentage is set as with Cryptocurrency pairs(-18%). Unlike cryptocurrencies, trading with this portfolio is not 24/7.

Spreads

The spreads are floating type and both Account types are from 1.3 pips. Metatrader 4 confirmed that this is true for the EUR/USD and also USD/JPY pairs. Other pairs did not have many deviations and under normal levels. Exotics like USD/RUB USD/TRY and USD/MXN seem to have fixed spreads at 9000, 2182 and 1600 points respectively, even though in the specification floating spread is typed in. USD/ILS has a 21 pips spread.

Metals category spreads are average, XAU/USD has 54 pips spread, XAG/USD 4.8 pips, Platinum 10 pips and Palladium 61 pips. Oils had a range from 3 to 5 pips and Bitcoin/USD a very wide 120 pips, making the major crypto very hard to trade profitably even without the -18% swap. BTC/EUR has a much lower spread at 25 pips, which is a strange deviation. Other coins have a similarly widespread like the BTC/USD.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is not stated but we believe it is 500 EUR. Once you select the account registration type in the Traders cabinet, there will be a 500 EUR Account name. Also, the deposit amount of 500 EUR will be granted within the Cabinet, but not less. For the VIP the minimum is 100.000 EUR.

Deposit Methods & Costs

500 Capital has an interesting way to deposit with Bitcoin. Other ways are Visa/MasterCard, Bank Transfer, ePayments, and so-called “COINPAYMENTS”. 500 Capital also mentioned QIWI and Yandex.Money as payments, although these were an option in the deposit drop menu. The broker does not seem to charge any fees for deposits, but the exact statement about this does not exist anywhere on the site or the documents.

What is important to know is that we have found out that the Bank Transfer method does not exist n practice. The information needed for the transfer is not displayed such as the IBAN. Furthermore, Visa/MasterCard is used but only to buy cryptocurrencies that are later deposited to the 500 Capital wallet. This is one of the methods to invalidate your right for a chargeback as Bitcoin is irreversible and unregulated by design.

The ePayments method exists and the recipient account name is Private Genesys Fund. Finally, the “COINPAYMENTS” payment method will lead you to the portal where you can also buy crypto to deposit to 500 Capital. The company behind this portal is very interesting.

More on this company and about Private Genesys Fund in the conclusion section at the bottom of this review.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawal methods are the same as with deposits. Fees are undisclosed.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This information is undisclosed although the withdrawal method by ePayments is instant. As other methods are, in essence, Bitcoin transfers, a transaction will be complete once 3 confirmations are processed, which usually takes about 1 hour if the Bitcoin network is nominal. Card withdrawals are also processed within minutes generally.

Bonuses & Promotions

500 Capital mentioned the bonus in the Accounts page, as stated if clients deposit 1000EUR is required to receive the “500Capital” bonuses. As to what is exactly a bonus and the conditions for the same are undisclosed.

Educational & Trading Tools

500 Capital does not have even the most basic tools or education material. The only instance of tools is in the Account types page where tools are available to those who deposit at least 1000EUR.

Customer Service

There is a form within the Trader Cabinet once you log in. The social network buttons do not work, as well as any social network account in the name of the company. The phone number is presented in different parts of the site and the Traders Portal, sometimes with a different calling country code, for UK, Russia, and Australia. Chat service does not exist although mentioned in the Traders Cabinet.

Demo Account

500 Capital not only that it does not present the Demo Account but looks like they prohibit the use of it. The Demo is not available to open going the usual way. To be able to see the demo you need to open a web trader and register for a demo within the MT4 Web Trader. That way you can get credentials to your email and see what is offered, since there almost no info from the website. The Demo is set not to allow trading.

Countries Accepted

Even though 500 Capital is oriented to Russia, anyone that wants to risk can make a deposit. This broker is unregulated and uses crypto for transactions.

Conclusion

This broker looks very good on paper, or better to say within the MT4. 500 Capital can be categorized as a market maker type although it could also be classified as a scam. What we have found out is that the location of this company is virtual, or in other words, 500 CAPITAL PTY LIMITED really is registered at “5 11 Queens Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia”. Whatsoever, “COINSPAYMENT” proxy points to pacifictradelp.com, a partner company that also opens Virtual Offices. This is a service that enables a company to work remotely and present a registered business location with Virtual Office anywhere.

Furthermore, using an IP phone, the lines are also virtual. Private Genesys Fund is a previous brand name of 500 Capital that got exposed as many scam reports arose before March 2018. Of course, 500 Capital has scam reports although the company is still not easy to find for the search engines. Finally, the company documents reveal a few discouraging key points, as if they hold any value given to the above mentioned. Terms and Conditions under point 10 enable this company to restrict trader’s orders, 11.1.10 does not allow scalping, 11.2.7 does not allow EAs and some more under point 17.

This broker is very old if we compare this legacy to the retail CFD emergence and trading today. Windsor Brokers are established in 1988 and this experience is one of their key selling points, marketed all over the website. The brand had a good image back in the days, but recently has very strong cases of scam reports by users. As with many brands, the name carries the trust within its consumers and the brand name is worth that much. Once the underlying business structure is sold, the name of the brand usually is kept for the effect it has.

Windsor Brokers is something different now, although regulated, with deep capital reserves and good product coverage. The modern web site design has a good flow of useful information and is well structured. The regulation is split into two domains and regulatory bodies, and into two registered companies in different countries. The domain that covers EU traders is windsorbrokers.eu and for the rest of the world is windsorbrokers.com. The offers value, safety, and quality of service will be evaluated in the following sections.

Account Types

Windsor Brokers has 3 account types that are well described and distinctive. The Zero Account is a Metatrader 4 platform only, low variable spreads, and commission account that requires a $2500 minimum deposit. This Account is catered for a “heavy trader” that does not require training, and also is not interested in Islamic, swap-free accounts. It features negative balance protection, allowed hedging, and spreads from 0 pips on majors as described.

The Prime Account is bound to the MT4 platform and mainly distinct as a beginner-friendly account. Therefore, traders will have an Account Manager like in the Zero Account and also training. To open this account you will need $100 minimum deposit, and as Prime Account does not have a commission, the spreads are wider from 1 pip on Majors. Islamic, swap-free trading is available. The leverage levels and other conditions are the same as with Zero type account.

The third type is the VIP Zero Account that is not directly listed along with the types described above. This is reserved for high volume and fund deposit clients that will enjoy a dedicated personal account manager, one-on-one sessions with a personal analyst, and a lower commission per turn. The exact figures for this account type are not disclosed.

Platforms

Windsor Brokers is focused only on the Metatrader 4 platform, one of the most widely used and supported platforms with many trading addons. There are 4 downloadable versions, for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. For those that do not want to install anything on their devices, MT4 Web Trader is available from any browser. Interestingly, the MT4 Multiterminal version is also available for download. This version provides easier access for simultaneous management of multiple accounts, useful for managers of investors’ accounts and for traders that need this feature. Windsor Brokers is involved with IB (Introducing Brokers) that use this version, many of which are connected to the negative reports and investigations. More on this issue in conclusion.

The desktop MT4 platform is updated to the latest version although does not have the default layout once first started. It has a white template on six evenly arranged charts, for 4 major currency pairs and two charts representing Gold and Silver, all set to H1 (one hour) timeframe. Additionally, each window has a few common indicators already applied in seemingly intentional combos to form a basic trading system. For example, EUR/USD has RSI, MACD, Momentum, and Stochastic oscillator arranged to their default settings. Also, USD/JPY has Ichimoku Kinko Hyo and Volume set up, and so on. This arrangement looks better than MT4 default and showcases the possibilities of the Metatrader 4 platform.

Some custom templates are available to insert too, probably prepared for live sessions with the Windsor Broker Account Manager. Windsor Brokers servers have a ping time of 53ms, automatically selected to the fastest. Execution times average 180 ms but with some deviations, going up to 350ms to execute an order. The symbols for each asset are neatly categorized, the instrument specification if filled with enough information. The platform will reflect the commission charged and the swap correctly for each position opened. Note that the demo account will not reflect swaps.

Leverage

The leverage is up to 1:500 for all account types and is easily changeable within the Client’s Portal. This leverage does not apply to all assets and the level will vary from asset to asset. For example, spot Gold has a leverage of 1:100, spot Silver is at 187.5% margin percentage meaning your set leverage is divided by the factor of 1.875, hence the leverage of 1:266 in our case. Note that the leverage of up to 1:500 is different from the other, EU Windsor Brokers domain, regulated by CySEC. For traders that do not apply with this regulation/domain have riskier option to trade with more leverage.

Trade Sizes

Both account types, Zero and Prime have the same trading sizes. The minimum possible order size opened is 0.01 lots or in micro-lots. This applies to Forex and both spot metals too (XAU, XAG). The maximum allowed trade is 50 lots for currency pairs, for spot Gold and Silver it is 20 lots maximum. Volume steps are also in micro-lots or 0.01 lots allowing for a more precise Money Management control, especially for scaling in and out trading methods. Stops level will vary from 2 to 5 pips. All Account types have a 100% Margin Call level and 20% Stop Out.

Trading Costs

Windsor Brokers Zero Account has an $8 commission per round but also smaller spreads. Prime Account does not have any commission but wider spreads. The swap levels are under normal levels with a few positive figures for certain pairs. For example, XAU/USD has a -12-9 point swap for the long position, which is steep compared to other brokers, and a positive 3.7 for short. Also, AUD/CHF has a positive swap for a long position at 0.88 points, -0.528 for short – this is one of the lowest swaps differences we could find on the list. The only swap that is somewhat unattractive is for long term traders holding Gold positions, which also makes hedging a bit expensive for those that are cost-sensitive.

Assets

Windsor Brokers has a great asset range. Each category is well developed except Cryptocurrencies are not on the list. Starting with Forex, 15 major and 30 minor pairs are available. The exotics range is not particularly extended, PLN, Scandinavian currencies, HKD, SGD, TRY and HUF are the ones worth mentioning. So if you would like to play with the China-US trade war CNY, in not the currency you can balance to. What makes this broker different is the currency CFD for AUD, JPY, CAD, CHF, EUR, and GBP. These instruments have a very correlated price movement with their USD denominated counterparts making them less useful.

Precious metals are limited to Silver and Gold. They are both available on the Spot and Futures market. This is not very useful concerning the prices that are extremely correlated between them. Traders interested in metals will demand to also have Platinum and Palladium and will probably move on from Windsor Brokers. Copper is listed under the Commodities category.

Commodities range features a total of 14 assets that are tradeable counting the overlapping Future types. Both Oil kinds are listed, Crude and WTI, also on the Spot and Futures market with some other energy classes like Natural Gas, Heating Oil, and Gasoline. Non-energy commodities that are available are Corn, Coffee, Wheat, Sugar, and Soybean. This range is good enough and on par with some bigger brokers in the industry.

Indicies have a better than average range and cover a few global markets. Special attention is given to the APAC region (Asia-Pacific) under which China 50, Hand Seng 50, Japan 225, MSCI Singapore and Taiwan Index can be found. In the EU region notable and less available indices are AUST20, and SWI20 Index. US companies’ indices are somewhat limited to only 3. These are S&P500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial 30. A total of 16 assets are found on the MT4 platform including the US Dollar Index.

Probably the weakest category Windsor Brokers has are the Shares. A very low number of shares available will not attract many traders that follow their favorite companies. Only 12 most popular stocks form the US are listed, and all are tech giants like Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Apple, Facebook and so on. This offer is inadequate for diversification purposes.

Now Windsor Brokers may not have the popular Cryptocurrencies but they have some interesting assets under the Bonds category. A total of 4 Bond types are listed, US Bonds under 2, 5 and 10 years due dates and Euro Bund. These are very interesting and a good alternative for Gold hedging for example. Note that the trading sessions for these are not 24h.

Spreads

The s[reads are variable for all account types. The Zero Account that is presented with spreads from 0 pips is, although close but not true. The most liquid currency pair EUR/USD has 0.3 pips that we have measured in calm periods. The similar spread is with the USD/JPY pair and the others have 1-2 pips wider, do the spread deviation is low. The biggest spread in the Forex majors category is with the GBP, also known as the big mover. So, GBP/NZD has 4.2 pips, GBP/CAD 2.9 and GBF/CHF 2.7 pips.

The exotics also have very good spreads, USD/SGD is at just 1.8 pips spread, and USD/TRY 293 points. Among the metals the spread is also competitive, Spot Gold has just 15 pips, Silver in a similar spread range. The EUR denominated metals pair has a bigger spread that starts from 20 pips. Interestingly, we did not notice a big spread difference between the Zero and Prime Account types and we are not sure if the. These spreads generally are among the most competitive and certainly one of the highlights of Windsor Brokers.

Minimum Deposit

Prime Account requires a minimum of $100 deposit and the Zero at least $2500. The VIP Account does not have any amount specified but taking from earlier types no longer offered, this amount is probably above $25.000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few choices of deposit methods with e-wallets, cards, and PSP. Not all deposit methods will be available for each investor but starting from Skrill the available currencies are EUR, GBP, and USD with the 3% fee for the transaction. THB has no fee but a minimum deposit amount of $20. Netteler is the same as for Skrill, a 3% fee and the same currencies. Web money will charge a 0.8% fee for the deposit only available in USD.

For the APAC region, the deposit is available in CNY through UnionPay, there are no fees and the processing within the same day. Master Card and Visa are the offered options for Debit/Credit cards. They are both available only in USD, a 3% fee and a maximum deposit of $5000. Finally, the Bank Wire method is possible in USD, EUR, and KWD – an indication of Kuwait bank cooperation with Windsor Brokers. Fees and processing time will vary.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods as with deposits are used for withdrawals with a few different fees and conditions. Visa and MasterCard will have a $3 fee and a maximum of $5000. The processing should be on the same day. Web money is available in USD, with a 0.8% fee per transaction and no maximum amount. Union Pay has the same conditions as with deposits, while Netteler will have a $3 transaction fee or currency equivalent (3GBP, 3EUR). Skrill and THB have the same fees and processing time as with deposits.

The conditions for withdrawals are similar as with other brokers, although for Credit Cards is a bit different: Deposits by Credit Card must be withdrawn back to the same Credit Card if a withdrawal is requested within six months from the deposit time. After 6 months, the client should provide a bank statement. This time condition is similar in length as with the chargeback protection from Visa and MasterCard. For the bank transfers and e-wallets, the same channel condition remains.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

For all the withdrawal methods processing time is within a day except for the bank transfer, of course. Bank transfers will always require more than a day and usually up to 7 days to reflect in the client’s bank account. For THB methods, the processing time is instant.

Bonuses & Promotions

Windsor Brokers has a few promotion types and none of them is a bonus on top. The most noticeable is the $30 Free Account symbolic to the Windsor Brokers 30 years of service. This promotion will fund the trader’s account with $30 that are not withdrawable. What is withdrawable is the profit gained from trading but must be greater or equal of $30. The conditions also list the countries that are not eligible.

Previous promotions are presented on the website and these are Facebook contests, predictions, and guessing games. Facebook contests are held weekly and cover the most important weekly news. These promotions are different than popular but complex bonuses and allow Windsor Brokers to have a better approach to traders with more fun-based action.

Educational & Trading Tools

Education is distributed in two places, on the web site and the Client’s Portal. The home panel of the Client’s Portal contains 8 video packages that cover the basics of trading but also some interesting modern trading methods like social trading, various strategies, etc. The videos are not long and also very neutral, giving traders different aspects of trading. For beginners, these videos will give great insight into what the Forex is.

The webinars are only found within the Client’s Portal. There are a total of 13 videos that will explain how to trade using Fibonacci levels, Support and Resistance, Technical and Fundamental Analysis, Economic Calendar and so on. Of course, these are general videos, without going into deeper trading theories and practices.

Ebook is available only within the Clients’ Portal, these are basic, short books not longer than 20 pages. Most of the topics are elementary.

Windsor has a special district for Analysis and News. It is in the Blog section where traders could have some in house material that is updated frequently. The portal features Technical Analysis, Trading Ideas, News, Calculators, and the Economic Calendar. The News events are coming from Windsor Brokers Tweeter account, and the breaking, most important ones, are written like a blog article that contains some basic technical analysis. Trading Ideas are just some predictions based on some common technical indicators and are not very deep.

To our surprise, Windsor Brokers did not put any effort into the Economic Calendar, the standard Meta Quotes design is integrated with familiar basic features. On the other side, the calculator’s section is very well developed by Windsor Brokers and features a pip, pivot, profit, margin, Fibonacci and currency calculator. Overall, educational and tools provide much more than many other brokers.

Customer Service

Windsor Brokers Customer service is not the best and we say this for the following reasons. The chat is not always available and you have a better chance of making contact with the representative if you register and log in. The representatives do not give full answers and the delay between responses is too long, sometimes no response at all. Some agents even said to come back after 3 hours. There is no professional etiquette or a polite approach. The other contact channel is through the message form. The phone line is not available for the .com domain. It is strange to receive below-average support from the broker that put some effort into many areas.

Demo Account

As per Windsor Brokers’ statement, demo accounts are for demonstration purposes only and do not necessarily reflect market prices, commissions, charges and/or methods of execution offered by Windsor live account. Their agents told us that they are the exact match with a real account, but we could not receive any information from them as they were uncooperative.

Countries Accepted

The windsorbrokers.com domain does not accept the countries from the EU, also the United States, and Belize. The .eu domain is under CySEC regulation and the EU directives, and as such, different trading conditions and security will apply to traders registered through this domain.

Conclusion

Windsor is a Market maker broker with great spreads and a solid range of assets that may attract first-time traders with their education material, promotions, and lower minimum deposit. The regulation for the .com domain is not as strict as the CySEC or FCA, the International Financial Service Commission of Belize doest not impose any funds insurance program, Capital Reserves/Adequacy, and other requirements.

The € 5.000.000 free insurance Windsor Brokers agreed with Lloyds of London does not show the Insurance Certificate, just an empty page. The main issue with Windsor Brokers is the extreme negative user reports that involve serious offenses that led to the investigation. Windsor Brokers has filed a lawsuit against some of its own clients over negative reviews and forums posts. This case that started in 2017 involving more than 500 clients from Egypt and other countries, is still ongoing.

Tickmill Ltd is a non-dealing desk Forex broker that is regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FAS) and is therefore required to hold client funds in segregated accounts. The company offers high-leverage trading on FX, Metals, Indices, Oil, and Bonds from three different account types. Tickmill claims to be built by traders, for traders, and its experts have experience in the market that dates back to the 80s. This broker has also won several awards every year for its transparency, execution, trading conditions, and more. Stay with us to find out more.

Account Types

This broker offers three different account types; Classic, Pro and VIP. In addition to the three primary account types, Islamic accounts and demo accounts are also available. Accounts share the same leverages, tradable instruments, and trade sizes. Conditions differ when it comes to spreads and commission fees, so the main difference would be the way one pays trading costs. All account holders are eligible to participate in promotional opportunities. We’ve outlined some of the more important details below.

Classic Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spreads: 1.6 pips
Commissions: Zero

Pro Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spreads: 0.0 pips
Commissions: 2 per side per 100,000 traded

VIP Account
Minimum Deposit: Above $50,000
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spreads: 0.0 pips
Commissions: 1 per side per 100,000 traded

Islamic Account: These accounts are available for all three live accounts and offer the same exact trading conditions and terms, except that there is no swap charged on trading instruments. Instead, the broker charges a handling fee for holding exotic currency pairs overnight for more than three consecutive nights. Traders would need to sign up for a regular account of the type of their choosing and then contact support in order to have the account converted within one business day.

In order to register an account, potential clients must submit a Proof of Identity (POI) and Proof of Address (POA) document. The broker does not specify how long it can take to review these documents.

Platform

This broker features the MetaTrader 4 Terminal as their sole trading platform. MT4 is widely recognized as the world’s best trading platform and features an easy-to-use interface, enhanced charting functionality, more than 50 indicators, and supports the use of expert advisors. Using MT4 with this broker also means one would have access to an advanced notification system and execution times of 0.15 seconds. The platform can be downloaded on PC, Mac, Android, or iOS devices. WebTrader is also available and is simply a browser-based version of the program that can be accessed more conveniently, should one not have the time or ability to download the platform.

Leverage

Leverage options range from 1:1, which means trading with the available account balance, up to 1:500. The leverage cap is offered on all account types, so there is no need to compare it on that basis. However, there is a limitation when trading Silver that makes the leverage 4 times lower than the set leverage on the account. For example, if the account’s leverage was set to 1:500, then the leverage for Silver would be 1:125. Gold can be traded with the highest leverage cap. The leverage cap on Indices, Oil, and Bonds is limited to 1:100. Also, note that 1:500 is the default leverage amount. If you’re a beginner or if you don’t have a lot of funds to risk, we recommend choosing an option that is lower than the default amount.

Trade Sizes

All accounts require a minimum trade size of at least 0.01 lots, otherwise known as one micro lot. Once your account net equity drops below 100% of the initial margin required to establish open positions, MT4 changes color to red to indicate that you are close to margin call. Once your account net equity drops below 30% of the margin requirements, the system will begin closing trades out one by one.

Trading Costs

Tickmill charges commissions, spreads, and swaps.

Commissions: Classic account holders will not have to pay any commission fees. On Pro accounts, commissions are charged at 2 currency units per side per lot. VIP accounts offer a lower 1 currency unit per side per lot.

Spreads: Spreads are not fixed and start from 0.0 pips on Pro and VIP accounts. Classic account holders will have access to spreads that start from 1.6 pips.

Swaps: Swap rates are applied at 00:00 platform time. Triple swap charges apply for positions on FX pairs, Silver and Gold that are held overnight on Wednesday. For the rest of the instruments, triple swap charges apply for positions that are held overnight on Friday. These swaps cover the interest for Saturday and Sunday when the markets are closed.

All swaps are based on the quote currency. The company offers updated information on their swaps under ‘Trading’ > ‘Spreads & Swaps’ and recommends clients check the swap rates on a regular basis. Rates can also be checked within the MT4 platform.

Assets

This broker offers 80 plus tradable instruments, including Forex, 14 Stock Indices and Oil, precious Metals, and Bonds. Forex options are made up of 60 currency pairs, including majors and minors. Metal options include Gold and Silver. Bonds are limited to German options only. As a whole, the company does offer a few options, but we’d love to see some more commodities and maybe even cryptocurrencies featured here. For some, this won’t be something that is missed, but others may feel that the instruments are a bit restrictive.

Spreads

The very best spreads start from 0.0 pips and are available on Pro and VIP accounts. You can’t go lower than this, although you should expect to see the spreads climb higher. Spreads are not fixed with this broker and the broker seems to advertise the minimum spreads, while typical spreads are higher. Spreads start from 1.6 pips on the Classic account type. This would put the spreads as being slightly above average, although one should remember that there are no commissions charged on this account type, meaning that trading costs are built-into the spread. The website also states that spreads can widen substantially at market opening and closing times, so be sure to keep this in mind.

Minimum Deposit

There is a standard $100 deposit requirement on Classic and Pro accounts. It’s always nice to see lower options for beginners, but this amount shouldn’t be too intimidating. A plus side would be the fact that both accounts require this deposit, so one would not need to come up with a larger amount if they’d prefer a Pro account. As for the VIP account, clients must maintain a minimum balance of $50,000. This would mean that traders would need to deposit a larger amount in order to trade while maintaining the required balance. The VIP account would, of course, be more suited for more professional traders that have the capital, so novice traders will want to stick with either a Classic or Pro account for a while.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Available deposit methods include Visa/MasterCard, Bank Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, SticPay, FasaPay, UnionPay, Nganluong, and QIWI. The broker covers any bank charges on deposits on deposits of at least $5,000, but clients making smaller deposits through Bank Transfer will be required to cover any banking charges. All of the other methods are fee-free. Most deposits are credited instantly, although there is a waiting period of up to one business day on Bank Transfers and 1-2 hours for UnionPay.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Tickmill only processes withdrawals back to the original form of payment and clients can then choose to withdraw any extra profits through their method of choice. All of the deposit methods are available for these withdrawals. This broker does not charge commission fees on withdrawals through any method. All of the withdrawal methods do require a $20-25 minimum amount to be withdrawn.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker processes all withdrawals within one working day (Mon-Fri), but the actual amount of time it can take to receive those funds varies. Skrill, Neteller, SticPay, FasaPay, and QIWI are all available instantly once processed. It can take 2-7 working days to receive Bank Transfers and 8 working days to receive payments back to Visa or MasterCard. UnionPay is credited within 48 hours and it can take one working day to receive Nganluong payments.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, this broker is running three different promotional opportunities; Trader of the Month, Tickmill’s NFP Machine, and $30 Welcome Account. Each offer is completely different, so we have provided an overview and some of the most important terms for each below.

Trader of the Month: Each month, the broker rewards the best trader with a $1,000 withdrawable cash prize. When deciding the winner, the broker accounts for good profit and money and risk management skills. Participation is automatic, so there is no need to sign-up for the offer. Note that minimum equity of $500 is required to qualify. The promotion begins on the first day of each month and ends on the last day. Winners are announced within 15 days of the next month. You can also view all previous winners on the Wall of Fame on the website.

Tickmill’s NFP Machine: The object of the game is to guess the price of a chosen instrument on the MT4 platform at 16:00. A perfect guess will bring $500 to one’s trading account. If nobody guesses correctly, the closest predictor will be rewarded with a $200 prize. This promotion runs weekly, every Friday. Traders will need to submit trading account information along with their guess ahead of time.

$30 Welcome Account: This is offered for new clients that are interested in opening a live account with this broker. The account offers the ability to trade with $30 in free funds, with no need to make an initial deposit. The account is available for 90 days and has the same trading conditions as the broker’s Pro account type. Up to $100 in profit can be transferred to a real account or withdrawn.

Educational & Trading Tools

As always, we were happy to see a multitude of educational resources available on the website. All traders have to start somewhere, so it’s great to see brokers putting in an effort to help teach the newer generation of clients. This broker offers seminars, Ebooks, video tutorials, infographics, a forex glossary, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, articles, and market insight. Some of these options speak for themselves, but we do always like to take a more in-depth look at seminars and video tutorials since the information provided in those can vary so widely.

When it comes to seminars, this broker offers an updated list of all upcoming events, including dates and the ability to register. These events seem to be live, therefore it is unclear if one could live stream the seminar.

The website also provided pages upon pages full of educational videos, so it’s safe to say that beginners should have access to everything they could need. In addition to all of their educational offerings, the broker also provides several tools on their website, all of which have been listed below.

–AutoChartist
–Myfxbook Copy Trading
-Economic Calendar
-Forex Calculators
-Tickmill VPS
-One-Click Trading

Demo Account

Along with the majority of its competitors, this broker is offering free demo accounts as a means of practice. It is not necessary to open a live account in order to access a demo, so anyone can take advantage of this opportunity. Registering for a demo account only takes a few minutes and requires a few personal details – name, email, phone, and country. This broker also offers more specialized options and there are demo accounts modeled after each of the broker’s real accounts. Rather than being given a standard deposit amount, this broker allows clients to input any amount they’d like in virtual currency, so long as it is not below their standard deposit requirement of $100.

Clients can also choose from leverage options ranging from 1:1 up to 1:500. Note that demo accounts will expire after 7 days if there is no login activity. In our opinion, this broker is offering one of the better demo account options, due to the fact that they put so much effort into assuring that conditions are realistic. Traders could test demo accounts in several different ways with this broker, by testing different account types, leverages, deposit amounts, etc.

Customer Service

Tickmill’s multilingual support team can be contacted through several different methods – LiveChat, phone, email, or by filling out a contact form on the website in order to receive an email or callback. Customer service is available from 7:00 to 20:00 GMT/GMT+1 during Daylight Savings Time. LiveChat or phone would be the quickest contact methods and support claims to respond to emails within 24 hours on business days.

The company provides one email address and has three telephone lines for their office, client support, and sales lines. We tested out the LiveChat option and received a response from a real person instantly, making this our favorite contact method offered by this broker. You’ll also find that the company is active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. All contact information is listed below.

Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Office: +248 434 7072
Client Support: +852 5808 2921
Sales: +852 5808 7849
Address: 3, F28-F29 Eden Plaza, Eden Island, Mahe, Seychelles

Countries Accepted

Being a highly regulated broker, we weren’t surprised to see some stricter country restrictions. Our LiveChat agent informed us that the broker accepts clients from a list of certain countries. After asking what country we were located in, she quickly informed us that United States residents are not accepted. The US and all similar options are completely missing from the sign-up list, so the broker seems to take these limitations seriously. We didn’t find any other specific country names that are also banned, but we recommend reaching out to support if your country is also missing from the sign-up list.

Conclusion

Tickmill is a regulated Forex broker that offers trading on FX, Metals, Indices, Oil, and Bonds via 3 different account types on the MetaTrader 4 platform. The Classic and Pro accounts require a minimum deposit of $100, while the VIP account needs to maintain a balance of $50,000. All accounts offer the same leverage options of up to 1:500. The Classic account is a commission-free option that offers spreads from 1.6 pips. The Pro and VIP accounts both offer spreads from 0.0 pips, but commission fees differ, with fees being lower on the VIP account type.

Accounts can be funded through several different methods with no fees on deposits or withdrawals. Customer support can be contacted easily and was quick to reply when we tested out the LiveChat option, although we would love to see longer support hours. There are also several educational resources on the website and specialized demo accounts are available. The broker has three running promotions at the moment, including one that allows clients to open an account with no deposit and a credited $30 for trading by the company. If you find these conditions to be advantageous, then this broker would certainly be a worthy choice.

Nord FX is regulated by CySEC and fully compliant with the MiFID. Their services are compatible with Meta Trader 4 and there are over 160 assets to trade. The website is well structured for easy navigation and there is 24/5 assistance for clients in the event of any questions or queries. It is slightly odd, and rare, to come across a broker brand which has a regulated and unregulated version for the same broker. This does, however, mean that potential clients can opt for either or, depending on their residency acceptance to either of the versions.

Account Types

Nord FX (EU) offers 4 account types to choose from Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Nord FX.com offers different accounts (3), which is not regulated, but simply compliant with the Vanuatu Financial Service Commission (VFSC). For Nord FX (EU) The higher the account deposit, the higher the percentage on discounts you will be entitled to. The Bronze account has no discounts on fees applied, and also does not come with a dedicated personal account manager, whereas the Silver, Gold, and Platinum do.

Platforms

Nord FX offers its services compatible with MetaTrader 4 (desktop, iOS/Android and tablets). MT4 is usually the preferred platform for most traders to date, and having the flexibility of being able to trade at home as well as on the go is definitely beneficial to many of us.

Leverage

Leverage options are not set out on the website so we spoke with the live chat support team to find out what leverage is available. We were advised that the maximum leverage for all clients, for the trading of ALL instruments, except for Cryptocurrencies, is 1:1000. However, this raised doubts as the footer of the website do state they are CySEC regulated, which, is an obvious indication that leverage caps should be a lot lower than that.

The Live Chat agent then sent an email contact to be contacted should one want a CySEC account. If not, the other account you would have is ‘regulated’ under the Financial Commission. This shed light on the fact that there are two versions of the brand- regulated and unregulated (Nordfxeu/com/ Nordfx.com) This means that potential clients can effectively choose whether they want to go with the regulated or unregulated brand, which then, of course, will mean the trading conditions vary significantly between the two.

Trade Sizes

Nord FX (EU) website does not state what the minimum and maximum trade sizes are, and when asking the customer support team, they could not disclose any information regarding Nord FX EU, but only Nordfx.com, for which they did not respond to, either. Be mindful that the two variations of the brand could have different minimum and maximum trade size requirements.

Trading Costs

Trading costs are not mentioned on the website, and even after a 48-hour wait after submitting an email ticket to the support team, no response was received. For this reason, we cannot comment on trade costs at this time but do bear in mind that commission and swap fees are likely to be applied.

Assets

With Nord FX EU it is unclear exactly what tradable assets are available as they are not set out on the website, but of course, once can open a demo to see the full list available, that would reflect the live account. At the same time, you could also check the spreads this way, too.

Spreads

Nord FX offers floating spreads, which start at 0.1 pips. Floating rather than fixed is usually what works well with many traders, and 0.01 is a competitive starting point. Live spreads are not displayed on the website however you do have the option to open a demo account to take a look at the spreads that are offered.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposits vary on the account type you choose, of which there are four:

• Bronze: min deposit $250
• Silver: min deposit $2,500
• Gold: min deposit $10,000
• Platinum: min deposit $25,000

Deposit Methods & Costs

With Nord FX, you may fund your account via the following methods:

• Bank Card (visa/mastercard/UnionPay) – UnionPay has a 3.25% fee
• Neteller – no fees
• Skrill – no fees
• Bank Transfer (CardPay Ltd/AstroBank) – a full table is available on the website with how fees are set out, which can be up to 60 euro per transaction.

This selection of methods available allows flexibility with traders who may opt for more than one funding method, or allow them to use their preferred or most familiar methods.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You may withdraw your funds via the same methods available to deposit:

• Bank Cards – up to 200: 20 EUR / 20 USD per transaction/ 200 – 1000: 30 EUR / 30 USD per transaction/ over 1000: 3% per transaction
• Neteller/ Skrill – 5% fee
• Bank Transfer – a full table is available on the website with how fees are set out, which can be up to 60 euro per transaction.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The timescales for processing withdrawals are set out on the website, which states the following:

• Bank card – 1 working day
• Neteller/ Skrill – 1 working day
• Bank Transfer – 3-5 working days

Of course, bear in mind that your banking provider may vary in timescale due to standard checks, which may cause delays in the receiving of funds back to your account so it is always good practice to check with your provider before requesting a withdrawal. This applies to deposits and withdrawals alike.

Bonuses & Promotions

Bonuses and promotional schemes are not at all mentioned on the website, and given the regulation status, it would seem these services would not be allowed to be offered anyway. Upon checking, we can confirm that neither the regulated or unregulated versions of this brand offer bonus schemes.

Educational & Trading Tools

Nord FX does offer a multitude of trading training educational material including readable content as well as videos. However, in order to access these, you must first register as a client. This is a clever way to entice potential clients and convert them into live clients before having a full understanding of forex and how it works; why would someone try to access training material if they did not need to? The point is, Nord FX have educational packages available, should that be of interest to you.

Customer Service

Should you need to contact Nord FX EU, you may call in or send a ticket between Monday and Friday 9 am – 6 pm Cyprus local time. For NordFX.com you also have support on a 24/5 basis, but you have live chat facility in addition to the telephone line and email options.

Demo Account

Nord FX does offer a demo account for one to backtest their trading conditions to test suitability. It is always good practice to make use of a demo until sufficient profits are being made to ensure your strategies are compatible with the trading conditions offered.

Countries Accepted

Bear in mind that this Nord FX brand, there are two versions- regulated and unregulated. This means that with the CySEC regulated version, note that they cannot provide financial services to the residents of USA, Canada, Japan, Belgium, and other additional jurisdictions.

On the other hand, the unregulated brand does not allow the provision of services to US citizens or residents due to the US internal fiscal and security regulations. They also don’t accept clients from South Africa. It is also interesting to note that you can become an affiliate of the unregulated version, but not the regulated version of this broker.

Conclusion

It is incredibly confusing and misleading that there exist two versions of this brand- regulated and non-regulated which means there are significant differences int rade conditions between the two. Overall, however, for what you are entitled to (depending on residency, etc), Nord FX offers amicable conditions accordingly. Of course, the regulated version is more restricting when it comes to leverage allowance, whereas the unregulated version is a lot more preferable with 1:1000 leverage, as opposed to 1:10.

The unregulated version offers a live chat facility, whereas the regulated version does not. Customer support and availability/methods do play a very important part in a broker, so it is frustrating for some traders, if there is not someone they can speak to, quickly and around the clock, should they have any trade queries or concerns.

Overall, this brand does offer good trading conditions, and a demo account means you can backtest this broker’s services to see if they suit you and your trading style/strategies.

FXCM was established in 1999 and is one of the leading providers of retail Forex trading. FXCM state that they put the client first and offer premium trading conditions for their clients, offering a number of earning opportunities and platforms, we will look deeper into what FXCM offer and see if they really are one of the leading platforms.

The FXCM brand is spread across a large number of different sites which are based on region, each region/site offer different features, for the purpose of this review we will be looking at the UK based site, so some information may be slightly different when you visit FXCM.

Account Types

There are a few different accounts on offer from FXCM, on the Uk site, there are a couple of basic ones for us to look at, other versions of FXCM may have different account types.

Spread Betting:
A spread betting account is a trading account with a difference, it is classed as gambling by the UK government, so this means that there is no tax payable on any earnings. So why doesn’t everyone use these accounts? To put it simply, the spreads are often a lot larger than on a standard retail trading account. The Spread Betting account comes with a leverage of between 30:1 and 2:1 depending on the instrument that is being traded. The spread betting account uses MetaTrader 4 and NinjaTrader platforms (we will look at this later) and has spreads ranging from 1 pip to 5 pips. The minimum deposit to open a Spread Betting account is £50.

CFD Trading Account:
This is an account that you will be far more familiar with, it is a standard retail trading account, It allows you to trade currencies, indices, and commodities. These accounts have similar leverage of between 1:30 and 1:2 dependant on the instrument that is being traded. This account uses the MetaTrader 4 and Trading Station platforms and has a minimum deposit of £50. Spreads range from 0.5 pips to 5 pips.

FXCM has kept things simple, there are only two true account types, with other variations of them which we will go into more detail in the promotions section, as they are more based on bonuses from trading.

Platforms

FXCM offers a wider range of platforms to trade on and with, we will look at them in a little detail now.

Trading Station

The Trading Station is FXCMs very own trading platform, designed for their own service it is custom-built to offer their clients the best trading experience they can offer. Trading Station is available on multiple platforms from a desktop download, a web browser trading extension and an app for both iOS and Android. It provides additional features such as advanced charts, automated trading strategies, and easy one-click trading.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MT4 is one of the most well known and used trading platforms, available as a desktop download, a web-based platform to use within your internet browser and as an app for iOS and Android devices. It offers high levels of customization and is compatible with hundreds and thousands of indicators and expert advisors. There is a reason why it is one of the most used platforms, due to its stability, it can be relied on to undertake even the highest demand trading.

NinjaTrader

NinjaTrader 8 is designed to be used with the FXCM spread betting accounts. It features extensive forex functionality including analytics, charting, and automated trading. It is customizable and you are able to alter its interface to suit your needs, one-touch trading makes it fast and efficient at getting your trades set when you want them.

ZuluTrade

ZuluTrade is a social trading platform where you are able to follow other people’s trades or allow others to follow your trades. FXCM is fully compatible with ZuluTrade and can be linked and set up within minutes to being your social trading experience.

Leverage

Leverage is based on what instrument you will be trading, major currency pairs have a leverage restriction of 1:30, non-major currency pairs, gold and major indices have leverage of 20:1. There is a 10:L1 leverage for commodities other than gold and non-major equity indices, and finally, there is a 2:1 leverage for cryptocurrencies.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for all accounts with FXCM is 0.01 lots which is also known as a micro lot. We were not able to locate the information in regards to the maximum trade size, however, there is mention of a maximum trade of 5 million currency.

Trading Costs

FXCM uses a spread based cost system on their accounts, this means that there are no commissions charged with each trade or per lot. What it does mean is that the accounts get an additional spread added to them in order for the broker to make a bit of money with each trade.

Assets

There are a number of different asset types to trade when using FXCM, they are the following: Forex, Forex Baskets, Stock Baskets, Indices, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies.

The Forex Baskets are not often seen on retail brokers, these give you the ability to trade a base currency against a “basket” of other currencies, such as the USD against EUR, AUD, GBP, and YEN at the same time.

It is also nice to see cryptocurrencies present as these are a rapidly growing sector of trading with both new and experienced traders beginning to trade them due to their volatility and high profit (and loss) potential.

Spreads

Spreads vary, and they vary a lot based on the instrument that is being traded, a few examples of the current spreads are AUDCAD 2.6 pips, EURUSD 1.3 pips, and GBPUSD 1.8 pips. As you can see there is no set spread and you will need to monitor the instruments that you wish to be trading in order to see what their spreads currently are.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit when using the UK site is £50, having a quick look at other sites, it seems that $50 or 50 in the equivalent currency is the standard with most of the FXCM websites.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different ways to deposit on the UK site, please remember that these may vary from your own regions site for FXCM.

• Debit / Credit Card – No Fees
• Bank Transfer – No Fees
• Skrill – Max £20,000 per month – No Fees
• Neteller – Max £20,000 per month – No Fees

FXCM does not allow third-party payments, this means that they would not allow someone else to deposit into your account.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

From what we can see, there are only two ways to withdraw from FXCM which is strange considering the four methods to deposit are often used to withdraw also.

Bank transfer and Credit / Debit card the available methods. There are no fees in order to withdraw, however, your own bank may charge a fee for bank transfers.

If a deposit has been made with a Credit or Debit card, then the deposit amount must be withdrawn before a new withdrawal method can be used.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawing via Credit or Debit card will take approximately three to five business days. Bank Wires will take between one and two business days to process, international banks will take between three to five business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

Different versions of the FXCM website have different promotions and bonuses available, we will be looking at the UK based bonuses.

There are VPS servers available, however unlike a lot of other brokers, there is a charge for this broker of £30 per month, we could not see if there was a requirement to get this VPS for free though as some brokers offer them for free if you trade enough lots per month.

There is an Active Trader promotion, if you trade enough during each month then there is an opportunity to gain better trading conditions such as tighter spreads. The requirements are not made public and it appears to be on an individual basis. If you are interested in this promotion, then you need to call or contact FXCM to see if you qualify.

Those are the only visible promotions on the UK site, as mentioned previously, there may be others or different versions of the same promotions on one of FXCM’s other regional sites.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few basic tools available with FXCM such as an economic calendar and some charts on the website. There are also some more in-depth tools to help become a better trader such as online classroom-based sessions.

There is something called FXCM Plus, which is a section of the FXCM website that you only have access to if you are a client of FXCM. This provides you with some additional tools such as trading signals to give you an idea when and what to trade, a technical analyzer which gives you things such as moving averages and finally trading analytics, this gives a visual way to find mistakes in your trading and trading strategy.

Similarly to the bonuses, some of these tools may not be available on other versions of FXCM, and there may be other educational tools available.

Customer Service

There is a multitude of ways to get in contact with FXCM, and multiple different languages to do it in. In fact, there are 42 different languages when it comes to making a phone call, this type of accessibility is very refreshing to see.

You are also able to send a text message, use the online chat, which we tested and got a good response time from a helpful customer service representative, however the time between each response was a little long, around 30 seconds to reply each time.

You are also able to email various departments regarding your questions or queries.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, they are available for both the Forex accounts and the spread betting accounts. You can have two different types of a demo account, the first requires you to sign up and works as a more traditional account. They last for an unlimited amount of time, but if they are left dormant for too long then it will be closed but a new one can then be opened to continue testing.

You can also load up the WebTrader and try trading using this, no account setup is needed, however when you close the browser, all trade history and progress will be lost, so it is good for a quick 5 minute test, but if you want a long term test, then you will need to sign up for a full demo account.

Countries Accepted

FXCM have so many different regulations, regions and sites that anyone is able to trade, clients from the USA are also allowed through the USA based site.

Conclusion

FXCM are a company that are trying to cater for everyone, there are so many different variations of it that it can be confusing, especially if you are taken to the wrong version for whatever reason. Having said that, they offer a competitive trading environment with spreads being at a decent level when there is no additional commission.

No deposit and withdrawal fees are always a plus and the customer service is very accessible and the representative we had was helpful. FXCM could make a good choice as a broker if you are happy with all the information mentioned above.

We hold you like this review, if you did, make sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

FXPrimus is one of the more well-known forex brokers, they have been around for years and offer a very solid platform. FXPrimus claim to be setting new standards within the retail forex industry, let’s take a closer look and see what they are really offering.

Account Types

There are three different accounts on offer from FXPrimus, Standard, Premium and VIP, each coming with their own requirements and perks, so let’s take a look at these accounts and see what they offer. It should be noted that the account comparisons on the FXPrimus site do not specify differences between spreads, commissions, and other such aspects of the accounts, so we will assume that they are all the same and we will cover them later in this review.

Standard Account: The standard account is the entry-level account from FXPrimus. It has a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000, it comes with daily market outlooks, SMS alerts and a one to one consultation.

Premium Account: The premium account has an increased minimum deposit of $2,500. This comes with the same perks as the standard account, however also included a 60 minute MT4 and trading tools training session, and live market update phone calls.

VIP Account: The VIP account has a further increased minimum deposit sitting at $10,000. This comes with all the same perks as the premiums account but also has the following included too, a 30-minute consultation with a market specialist, personal access to a market specialist 24/5 and access to VIP trading signals.

A lot of these are perks that would not necessarily make you chose FXPrimus over another broker, they are nice to have, but we would be more interested in seeing more information about spreads and other important details.

Platforms

The main trading platform on offer from FXPrimus is MetaTrader 4 (MT4) which offers huge amounts of customization and is compatible with thousands of indicators and expert advisors. MT4 is available to download for desktop computers, on Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader to trade within your internet browser, giving it a lot of flexibility and accessibility. FXPrimus also offer API access for those that wish to use it, but that is more advanced than the majority of retail traders will ever get.

Leverage

All trading accounts with FXPrimus have a maximum leverage of 500:1, this can be adjusted when opening an account or on an existing account as long as there are no open trades. Leverage can be set at 50:1, 100:1, 200:1, 300:1, 400:1 or at 500:1.

Trade Sizes

While looking through the FXPrimus site, we could not find the information regarding the maximum trade size allowed, this is normally between 50 lots and 1000 lots, however, there was no mention of it. We did discover that the minimum trade size was 0.01 lots, also known as a micro lot, which is the standard amongst retail brokers.

Trading Costs

When there are small spreads involved it normally means that there will be a commission to pay, and that is no different with FXPrimus. When using their ECN accounts, there is a commission of $10 for every lot traded, this is relatively high as the average amongst brokers seems to be around $6 at the moment. It would be good to see this reduced, especially if someone is going for the VIP account, you would have thought that a reduced commission would have been a nice incentive.

There are also spreads charged or received for holding trades overnight, these charges can be found directly within the trading platforms used by FXPrimus.

Assets

There are a number of different instruments that can be traded on FXPrimus, these are Forex, Metals, Energies, and Indices, while there is not a full breakdown of what is tradable on the site, there are a few examples:

Forex: Majors, Minors, Crosses, and Exotics
Metals: Gold, Silver, XAUEUR
Energies: USOIL.sp, UKOIL.sp, USNGAS
Indices: S&P500, ND, AUS200, STOXX50, HK50, JP225 and ESP35

Spreads

The FXPrimus website states that all ECN accounts have a spread of around 0.1 pips, however, in reality, this is not quite the case. When looking at the live spreads, the lowest we saw was 0.4 pips, with others going as high as 1 pip, quite a bit bigger than advertised, however having said that, a 0.4 pip spread is not exactly massive.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit in order to open up the standard account (FXPrimus’s entry-level account) is $1,000. However, once an account is open, the minimum amount that can be deposited with each deposit is $100, this is helpful if you just wanted to top the account up slightly.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of deposit methods available, each being standard within the retail forex industry, there is a bank wire transfer, Visa and MasterCard deposits, both credit and debit, Neteller and Skrill.

As mentioned above, there is a minimum deposit of $100 for each of these deposit methods, there are no added fees to these deposits and any and all deposits must come from your own bank account.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawing your duns is nice and easy and the same methods are available as the ones to deposit. There is equally a $100 minimum withdrawal amount. There are no added fees for withdrawals, however, bear in mind that your bank may place charges on incoming transactions. Please note that FXPrimus will only withdraw funds back to the original deposit method, as detailed in their terms and conditions.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawal methods have an up to 24 hours processing time except for bank wire transfers, which have a processing time of around 2 – 5 working days, however, this is dependant on the speed of your own banks processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

FXprimus offer a number of different promotions and bonuses including, VPNs available to people who trade over a certain lot threshold, there are also a number of deposit bonuses or reduced commission bonuses, the details of which are not prevalent on the site, but there are mentions of them at various places on the website.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a number of different educational tools available with FXPrimus, some you may find more helpful than others. There is a weekly outlook, giving ideas on upcoming news events, there are views in the “Learn to Trade” section, these details certain aspects of trading and to help develop someone into a more knowledgeable trader. Finally, there are a number of webinars and seminars where you can interact and learn from experts.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with FXPrimus there are a number of different ways in which you can do it, you can use the online contact form, send an email direct, use live chat, use the postal address or via phone. We tested the live chat feature and were connected within a few seconds, the person on the other end took a while to respond, however, they were helpful and courteous and managed to answer all of our questions without much hassle.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available and are easy to open, simply follow the on-screen instructions. These last for an unlimited amount of time, however, they may be closed and progress lost if they are left idle for too long.

Countries Accepted

The following information is mentioned on the FXPrimus website: “This information is not directed or intended for distribution to or use by residents of certain countries/jurisdictions including, but not limited to, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Iran, Japan, North Korea, Singapore, and the USA. The Company does not offer its services to residents of certain countries/jurisdictions including, but not limited to, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Iran, Japan, North Korea, Singapore, and the USA. The Company holds the right to alter the above lists of countries at its own discretion.”

Conclusion

FXPrimus is a well-established broker, offering a solid and reliable service. The information regarding their accounts is a little vague and it can be hard to understand what the trading conditions actually are. Once you get past that hurdle it is pretty plain sailing and the actual trading conditions are very good, the only downside is the $1,000 requirement to open an account, while this is the recommended amount with any account, newer traders or smaller traders may want accounts with slightly less capital.

If FXPrimus ticks all of your boxes, then we would recommend signing up, if they didn’t, then be sure to check out some of our other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

PSS Forex is an investment bad that is also acting as a forex broker, based in a number of different countries including, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore, it has been up and running since 2003. PSS Forex has an aim to help their clients become financially independent through their guidance and tools. We will be taking a look at what is being offered in a little more detail to see if they can achieve this goal.

Account Types

PSS Forex keeps things simple, there is only one account available which caters for everyone. A lot of reading is required to work out exactly what hew trading conditions are for these accounts, we have managed to find the following. Spreads currently start from around 0.1 pips however there is a volume-based discount, the more you trade, the lower the spread will become. Access to all available assets including forex, crypto, and commodities. In order to find out any additional information, we are required to sign in to an account, the information is not readily available on the website. Swap-free accounts are available upon request should you not be able to pay or accept swap charges due to your beliefs.

Platforms

Just like the account types, PSS Forex keeps things simple for their clients, there is only one trading platform available. It is MetaTrader 5 (MT5), MT5 is one of the most advanced trading platforms for retail traders, offering a whole host of features such as one-click trading, compatibility to thousands of indicators and expert advisors and a dedicated signal and auto trading community. There is a huge amount of customization available and the platform is easily accessible through a desktop download, iOS, and Android devices, and as a WebTrader to trade directly from your internet browser.

Leverage

We had a look through the website and terms of use but could not locate any information regarding the leverage levels provided, so we are unable to provide you with the minimum or maximum leverage levels for PSS Forex.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size being offered by PSS Forex is currently set at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot. There is, unfortunately, no information available in regards to the maximum trade sizes.

Trading Costs

PSS Forex does not charge a commission on their trades, the only cost comes in the form of a spread, these are still quite low and can be seen with a minimum of 0.1 pips, although these are often slightly higher and some pairs naturally have higher spreads than others. It is quite rare to see such potentially low spreads on accounts that don’t have any commission added to them.

There is also a dormancy fee, so if you do not use your account for 6 months, there will be a charge of $10 per month until either trade is executed or the account balance reaches $0.

Assets

There are a number of different tradable assets available with PSS Forex, these include over 180 currency pairs, over 300 different EFTs, Bont trading, more than 19 different cryptocurrency pairs including Bitcoin and the opportunity to trade over 20,000 different stocks. There is a huge selection to choose from and we are particularly happy to see cryptocurrencies making the grade as they are quickly becoming the go-to asset for both new and experienced traders.

Spreads

There is no definitive answer to what the spreads are like with PSS Forex, however we can see that the minimum spread is stated as 0.1 pips, however, due to the nature of spreads, these will often be seen higher and some currency pairs naturally have a higher spread and so will always be above this figure.

Minimum Deposit

We were not actually able to find this information located on the PSS Forex website. Some other sites have stated that the minimum deposit is $100, however, there is no confirmation of this on the PSS Forex website.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different ways to deposit with PSS Forex, these include things like credit/debit cards, bank transfers and a number of different e-wallets. There is no indication on the site of exactly which wallets are available. Recently in 2019 PSS Forex added a number of cryptocurrencies as a deposit method, it is nice to see the adoption of cryptocurrency as it is an ever increasingly used money transfer method.

All funds are held in a segregated account for protection and there is no indication of any added fees to deposits.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same transfer methods are available for withdrawal, again there is no indication of which e-wallets are available. Similarly to the deposits, there are no added fees to withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing time is currently not stated on the website, the usual wait for bank transfers is 3 to 5 business days, credit/debit cards are 1 to 5 business days and e-wallets are often processed between 24 and 48 hours. These are just estimates though, as no solid information is currently provided by PSS Forex.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, it does not appear that there are any bonuses or promotions available with PSS Forex, they indicate certain benefits but these come as standard with the accounts. If you are interested in opening an account with PSS Forex, then be sure to check back regularly to see if any promotions have come up.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are some basic tools and information available from PSS Forex, there is an economic calendar allowing you to see any upcoming major news events, there is also an Analyst Room which can give some detailed analysis on certain markets to help you decide what to trade. Finally, there is some market data available, to use alongside your own analysis, there is no formal education of any kind.

PSS Forex does also offer some trading signals to use within MT5, should you wish to trade using their expert advisor robots and signals.

Customer Service

PSS Forex offers a few different ways to get in contact with them, through their online form, you can send your queries and get a reply via email. There are also offices in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore, each with their own phone number to get in touch with the branch that you want. Each branch also has its physical postal address available.

We tested out the Norway branch, they had an English speaker and were able to answer most of our questions, we did ask about the minimum deposit amount, but the response left us no closer to knowing the minimum deposit which was a little disappointing.

The customer support team is available 24 hours a day, however, they are closed over the weekend when the markets are also closed.

Demo Account

A demo account is available, however, the demo account simply uses the web trader in your internet browser. This allows you to trade and practice on your internet browser, but does not show off the main trading terminal and makes it hard to test out any advanced strategies. The account comes with $100,000 practice funds for your testing needs.

Countries Accepted

There is an indication in the PSS Forex terms and conditions that certain countries will be excluded from using then service, however, there is no list of countries present, so be aware that than signing up, it may be indicated that your country of residence is not accepted at PSS Forex.

Conclusion

PSS Forex offers a lot of different services, focusing on the trading side of their operation, they make it very simple by offering a single account and single trading platform (although available on multiple devices). There is a slight lack of information regarding some of the trading conditions such as deposit limits, and also the details on the deposit and withdrawal methods. Customer service was quick to respond but failed to answer one of our questions. Trading conditions seemed good, no commission and low spreads, however, the spreads that we did see were considerably higher than the stated 0.1 pips, however, fluctuations do happen.

PSS Forex seem competent, if you decide to join them, just be aware that your country may not be accepted, so if in doubt, contact their customer services to check.

We hope you like this review, if you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Operating from the Seychelles, Hugo’s Way is an offshore ECN/STP Forex broker that has been in operation for a few years now. The firm offers an impressive asset index, which does include cryptocurrencies, with spreads starting as low as 0.0 pips. In this detailed Hugo’s Way review, we’ll uncover what it’s truly like to trade with this broker and let you know what to expect with regard to the trading platform, customer support, funding, and much more.

Account Types

There are no tiered account types offered by Hugo’s Way. According to the FAQ’s, Islamic accounts are not provided at this time. With just one account type, all traders can expect to need to meet the same requirements with regard to funding and trading, and all will be provided with the exact same trading conditions within the platform. Understandably, some traders do like to have the ability to access extra perks in exchange for an extra-large deposit, but the truth is that the average trader typically does not opt for a VIP-type account until they have become quite experienced in Forex trading.

Platforms

There is one platform provided, with that being MetaTrader 4. This platform is provided in app format for iOS and Android devices, as well as WebTrader format for in-browser trading. Those with concerns over using the apps will be happy to note that they do offer plenty of analysis tools and indicators, along with a complete set of trading orders. The PC and Mac versions of the platform can be downloaded from the broker’s website, as can the apps, which are also available in their respective app stores.

Leverage

Hugo’s Way provides rather flexible leverage, with the maximum leverage ratio being 1:500. Those who wish to trade without any leverage can drop their setting down to 1:1, while those who wish to select a setting somewhere between the lowest and highest ratios will be able to choose from a variety of settings between the two. Provided that there are no open trades, clients can make changes to their leverage setting from their account at any time. Simply visit the ‘My Accounts’ area to make this change.

Trade Sizes

Micro-lot trading is possible, with trade sizes starting at 0.01. The largest allowed is 1,000 lots. A variety of FX strategies, including scalping, hedging, and news trading are permitted. Scalping, in particular, is best done using smaller trade sizes. In connection with trade sizes and rules, let’s talk about the margin rules. Hugo’s Way has a margin call set to transpire at 100%, while their stop out level is set to 70%. If you’re completely new to Forex trading, we highly advise that you learn how these settings can impact your trades well in advance of trading with actual money.

Trading Costs

Hugo’s Way does charge commission of $5 per lot traded. The commission charge will be adjusted accordingly on trade sizes which are less than one whole lot. Swap fees, or rollover, are charged and do vary by asset. These costs can be viewed within either a demo or live version of the MetaTrader 4 platform. Simply click on any asset and then ‘Specifications’ to open a box containing detailed information about the chosen asset.

Assets

Hugo’s Way currently offers nearly two-hundred assets for trading, including:

• Stocks – 104
• Currencies – 55
• Cryptos – 31

Above this, a small number of Metals, Indices, Futures, and Energies are also provided. The broker does provide a complete asset listing on their website, so do visit that page to see if your preferred assets are made available.

Spreads

This broker does offer excellent liquidity, having made connections with several major investment banks and liquidity providers. As a result of these relationships, they are able to offer some rather attractive trading conditions. Spreads start as low as 0.0 pips and remain reasonable across the board. As we so often see, brokers that charge commissions typically offer the best spreads and Hugo’s Way is no exception. The firm does provide live asset information on its website for those who are interested in checking out the latest rates.

Minimum Deposit

The lowest accepted deposit is only $10, which is more than reasonable. When paired with the fact that they allow micro-lot trading, this combination provides an excellent path to testing the platform with little risk. There are, however, higher minimum requirements for some payment methods, and we have outlined the minimum and maximum limits for you below.

Credit/Debit Card:
Min $50
Max $600 (Per transaction)
Max 3 transactions per 24 hours (Per card)
Max 10 transactions per 30 days (Per card)

Wire Transfers:
Min $100
Max unlimited

BitCoin:
Min $50
Max unlimited

Ole Platform:
Min $50
Max unlimited

Instacoins:
Min $50
Max $5000

VLoad:
Min $10

Deposit Methods & Costs

The accepted deposit methods are as noted above. Of these, the only method that carries a deposit fee is bank wire transfer. When that deposit method is opted for, there will be a $25 fee. That fee is waived on all deposits in excess of $5,000. Bank wire transfer is, of course, a secure method of depositing, but the other payment options offer a much faster way to get funds into your account. New and existing clients will find complete instructions for how to make a deposit using each of the accepted payment methods within the Hugos Way FAQ area.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Each of the accepted deposit methods may also be used to make a withdrawal. There are no fees for withdrawing funds back to your credit/debit card however, additional profits may incur withdrawal fees depending on the additional withdrawal method used.

• Credit/Debit Card: 0%
• Wire Transfers: $25
• Bitcoin: 0%
• Other Withdrawal Methods: $0-$20

HW asks that you contact customer support for additional information regarding fees on the “other” withdrawal methods.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The Hugo’s Way payments team processes all withdrawal requests either the same day or on the next business day. Any request made prior to 1 pm GMT will be processed on the same day. On withdrawal requests made on Friday’s, any request made after 5 pm GMT will be reviewed on Monday morning.

The expected wait time for funds to arrive are as follows:

• Cards: Banks timelines vary, but the average is 3 to 6 business days
• Bank Wire Transfer: Average is 3 to 6 business days
• Bitcoin: Average of 1 to 3 hours or as soon as 6 confirmations clear the blockchain

Customer Service

Hugo’s Way offers true 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. By “true” we mean that some brokers claim to offer around the clock support, but when tested, do not actually have staff members available to speak with clients at all hours. When tested, support agents responded to live chat requests within mere seconds, and our request for a callback was completed within two hours. An email sent to [email protected] was responded to within 15-minutes, so the firm passed all customer service tests quite easily.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the time of completing this Hugo’s Way review, there were no ongoing bonus or promotional offers. Obviously, this could change in the future, so check the broker’s website to check for these types of promotions in the future.

Educational & Trading Tools

Although not needed by experienced traders, novice traders do need educational tools. Hugo’s Way provides an excellent FAQ area, but there are no real educational resources to speak of. Obviously, this information can be found elsewhere online, but it’s still nice to see a broker providing at least the basics. As for trading tools, these are limited to only what the platform provides, which is a variety of technical indicators, analytical tools, and Expert Advisor capabilities.

Demo Account

Free, unlimited demo accounts are available to anyone who wishes to test the platform. A demo account can be opened directly from the website or from within the platform itself. Demo accounts allow end-users to select their desired leverage ratio and starting balance. It is possible to have more than one practice account if you wish, and each will remain active indefinitely, provided that they are logged into on a regular basis.

Countries Accepted

Residents of the following locations will not be allowed to open an account with Hugo’s Way:

• Burma
• Congo
• Cuba
• Democratic Republic of Congo (Republic of Zaire)
• Iran
• Iraq
• Japan
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Malta
• North Korea
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Syria
• Vietnam
• Zimbabwe

At the time of reviewing this FX broker, traders from the United States and Canada were permitted to create accounts and trade.

Conclusion

Hugo’s Way has become a “fan favorite” in the Forex industry, especially among U.S. and Canadian traders, both of which have limited broker options these days. Their customer support team is stellar, their trading conditions attractive, and their platform reliable. The addition of some educational resources would be nice, but those can easily be found elsewhere. For now, we’re giving this broker two thumbs up and giving traders the green light to use their trading services.

SM Invest also known as Scope Markets is a regulated broker located in Belize. They offer a selection of account types with different trading conditions and a number of tradable assets. We take a look in detail into what is being offered by Scope Markets and find out if it is worth investing and trading with them.

Account Types

There are four different accounts on offer from Scope Markets and each one has a different opening requirement and trading conditions, let’s take a little look at them in detail.

Bronze: This account is the entry-level account at SM Invest, it has an opening balance requirement of $500. The account has a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) and a leverage of up to 1:500. This account grants you access to a trading platform introduction, a dedicated account manager, webinars and seminars, a financial market introduction and a daily market brief. Withdrawals are not free with any account under platinum.

Silver: The silver account has a minimum balance requirement of $5,000, this comes with the same benefits as the bronze account with a few extras such as a risk management explanation, one-on-one MT4 courses and sentimental, fundamental and technical analysis one-on-one tutorial.

Gold: The gold account requires a balance of $25,000. It has the same benefits as the silver account however there is no longer a maintenance fee attached to this account.

Platinum: This is the high-end account provided by Scope Markets, it offers the same benefits as the gold account with a few added extras. The maximum lot size is increased (does not state how high), access to trading central, spreads are reduced and there are free withdrawals.

Please note that you are able to have up to 5 trading accounts at any one time.

Platforms

SM Invest used MetaTrader 4 (MT4) which is one of the world’s most used retail trading platforms, MT4 offers a whole host of features such as one-touch trading, extensive customization options and compatibility with hundreds and thousands of expert advisors and indicators to help you analyze and trade. MT4 with Scope Markets is available as a desktop download, an app for iOS and Android devices and finally as a WebTrader to use in the internet browser.

It would have been nice for there to be more options, however, MetaTrader 4 is a solid platform to use.

Leverage

Leverage can be selected when opening an account and changed from the client account menu. You can select wither 1:100, 1:200 or 1:500 as your account leverage. 1:500 is quickly becoming the industry standard so it is nice to see this as an option, it is, however, strange that there is no option to go lower than 1:100, meaning that you can not reduce risk by reducing leverage.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes currently sit at 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) for all accounts. There is no mention of what the maximum trade size is, except for the fact that the platinum account states that it has a higher maximum trade size, again we have no idea what this new maximum trade size is.

Trading Costs

There are both spreads ad commission charges on accounts with SM Invest, however, what these commissions are we do not know. The FAQ section states that the commission changes dependant on the account that you hold, so we would be assuming that the higher value account, the lower the commission, however, we can not clarify this as the support department did not answer our queries.

Some sections of the site indicate zero commission for forex trading and low commission for trading on things such as metals, however, this information is not consistent throughout the site.

As mentioned, there are also spreads involved and the higher tier accounts have reduced spreads, but there is also no indication of what the spreads are or what the reduced spreads are, so we can not comment with any concrete information here.

Assets

There are a number of different tradable assets with Scope Markets, there are Forex pairs available, the website states over 30 currency pairs available which are actually quite low. Indices are also available to trade alongside 3 different energies. Gold and silver are available, there are also a number of cryptocurrencies available such as Bitcoin and Ripple. It is good to see cryptocurrencies being available as they are quickly becoming one of the assets that new and experienced traders are looking towards due to their volatility and growing popularity.

Spreads

We can not comment on spreads except to say that there are some. The forex section of the site indicates that there are both fixed and variable spreads depending on the account, there are also sections that mention reduced spreads based on the account type, however, we are not able to locate an example of what the spreads will be, either variable or fixed.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is stated as $250, however, it requires a deposit of $500 in order to open up the most accessible account, so the true minimum initial deposit is $500. Once you have opened an account, the minimum deposit drops to $250 should you wish to top up your account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The currently available deposit methods include credit card, Skrill, Neteller, Wire Transfer, and several other alternative methods, what these methods are we are unsure, but the most popular methods seem to be available for use.

There are no fees added to deposits, however, please check with your own bank as they may charge a bank transfer fee. You are also not able to make any third party deposits, so all deposits must come from accounts in your own name.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There is a minimum withdrawal amount of $50, withdrawals need to be processed using the same method you used to deposit if this is not possible then Scope Markets will suggest an alternative for you to use. You are able to withdraw as many times as you want, however, there is only one free withdrawal per account per day, any additional withdrawals will have a fee of $35.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests can be made at any time, however, any requests after 2 pm GMT will be processed the next business day. Processing takes on average between1 to 2 business days from the receipt of the request. Wire transfer and card withdrawals usually take between 3 and 8 working days for you to receive your funds due to the additional time of bank processing.

Bonuses & Promotions

From looking around the website, there was one open promotion that offered a chance for new clients to win a VIP package to a West Ham United game in London. In order to register, one needs to create a new account and make a deposit in the amount of $250 or more. To read the fine print or to register, click on the popup banner that appears upon visiting the SM-INVEST website homepage.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few educational and helpful guides available from Scope Markets, some you get free with certain account types, others require you to sign up directly. There is some basic information on the very basics of trading, which most would not necessarily find helpful. You are then able to get a one-on-one training session on a number of things such as how to use MetaTrader 4, in different ways to analyze the markets. These are free with the higher tier accounts, however, cost if you are on a lower tier account. Then there is a training program that helps you to put your skills to the test and trade for real.

Customer Service

There are more than enough ways to get in touch with Scope Markets should you have any questions or require help. There is a live chat option, where you can chat with a support team member, however, we tried this approach and unfortunately no one was around, we may have just chosen a bad time to try, but it did not leave us with much confidence.

There is also a phone number available to try along with a large selection of emails based around the different departments, so if you want to get in touch with general inquiries, customer support, trade support, funding support, know your customer support or cardholder correspondence there is an individual email available to make sure the right people get your message.

Demo Account

We could not see any information regarding a demo account, it would be very strange if there was not one available, but we have seen brokers in the past without them, so, unfortunately, we can not comment on any conditions if they are in fact available with SM Invest.

Countries Accepted

There is a notice at the bottom of the page stating that the services provided by SM Invest are not directed at or available for citizens of the European Union.

Conclusion

There is a large selection of accounts on offer with varying requirements, the higher tier accounts will be pricing out a lot of regular retail traders. The customer support has a lot of options available, however, our one attempt to use them did not bear much fruit. There is a lack of details in regards to trading conditions, with various bits of information in different places but no solid facts about what is being offered. This coupled with the fact that members of the European Union are not able to use the service can make it a hard service to recommend.

We hope you like this SM-INVEST review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

ThinkMarkets are a leading forex broker that was founded in 2010 and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. ThinkMarkets offer a wide range of instruments and platforms, so let’s take a closer look at what they really offer.

Account Types

ThinkMarkets currently offer two main types of accounts and then some additional accounts such as Islamic and Joint Accounts. Let’s take a little look at what is on offer from the accounts:

Standard Account:

The standard account is as the name suggests, the standard account at ThinkMarkets. The standard account comes with spreads as low as 0.4 pips however the average spread for forex is around 1.2 pips. It has a $0 operating balance, so it can be used from any balance amount. It provides a maximum leverage of 1:500 and there is a maximum trade size of 50 lots. With this account, you are able to use both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 and also Trade Interceptor (we will go into more details on this later).

ThinkZero Account:

ThinkZero is ThinkMarkets zero spread account, and it offers 0 pip spreads, although the average sits at 0.1 pip, we can let them off for that one. This account comes with a commission of $3.5 per lot, which is relatively low when looking at the competition. There is a minimum operating balance of $500, which means that your account can not drop below $500. It also has a leverage of 1:500 and wit this account, the maximum trade size is 100 lots which are more than enough. You are able to use MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, and this account also comes with AutoChartist and an account manager which the standard account did not.

Islamic Accounts:

If you are not able to accept or pay swaps due to your beliefs, you are able to open up an Islamic account that does not have overnight swaps. You will need to get in touch with ThinkMarkets for them to set this up for you. The majority of the options that come with it are similar to the above two accounts.

Joint Account:

There is less information regarding this one and the only way to open one is to contact ThinkMarkets directly. If it is similar to other joint accounts then it will mean that multiple people have access to it and can withdraw and deposit from multiple accounts.

Spread Betting:

There are also spread betting accounts available, these are used by some people in the UK as it constitutes as gambling and so no tax needs to be paid on any earnings. The details of this account are not publicized on the site, however, when setting up an account the option is there should you wish to use it.

Platforms

There are a few different platforms on offer from ThinkMarkets:

MetaTrader 4 (MT4):

One of the world’s most popular and widely used platforms, MetaTrader 4 offers unparalleled customization and access to thousands of expert advisors and indicators. MetaTrader 4 with ThinkMarkets is available as a desktop download, a mobile app for iOS and Android and also as a WebTrader to use on your web browser, offering plenty of opportunities to trade wherever you are.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5):

MT5 is MT4’s younger brother, building on the success and features of MT4, MT5 has a few extra features and is more streamlined than it’s older brother, and also offers similar levels of customization, there aren’t quite as many expert advisors or indicators working for it, but you will find more than you’ll ever need. Similarly to MT4, MT5 with ThinkMarkets is available as a desktop download, apps for Android and iOS and also as a WebTrader to use with your browser.

Trade Interceptor:

Trade Interceptor is ThinkMarkets own trading platform, boasting it’s advanced technology and performance. Trade Interceptor allows multiple graphs on screen, multiple indicators to run on mobile, which is very refreshing to see. While not as customizable as the MetaTrader series, Trade Interceptor definitely seems like a winner when it comes to mobile functionality.

Leverage

Leverage on accounts att ThinkMarkets all have a maximum of 1:500 which is fast becoming the standard with more modern brokers, the leverage can be changed within the account settings and can be changed at any time as long as there are no open trades. Anything between 1:1 and 1:500 is selectable.

Trade Sizes

All account types have a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro-lot), if you have the standard account then your maximum trade size will be 50 lots, if you have a ThinkZero account, then your maximum trade size will be 100 lots. Not many traders will reach these limits, so they are high enough for most.

Trading Costs

Trading costs will be based on your account type if you have a standard account, then your costs will be based around a slightly increased spread. The spread can be as low as 0.4 pips however the average is closer to 1.2 pips and 1.5 pips. There is no commission with this account.

If you are trading with the ThinkZero account, then you do not have any spread markup, instead you are charged $3.5 per lot traded, which is actually surprisingly low, the majority of brokers will look to charge around $6 per lot, so it is refreshing to see a broker going below this figure.

There is also a dormant account fee, if you do not use your account for 90 days, it will be charged at (base currency) 50 until your account balance reaches 0. You can avoid this by making at least one trade every 90 days.

Assets

There isn’t a full breakdown of available assets and instruments with ThinkMarkets, however, there are a number of different asset types available such as Forex, Shares, Cryptocurrency, Indices, Metals, and Commodities. We are particularly happy to see Cryptocurrencies making an appearance as they are quickly becoming the go-to trading asset for a lot of traders and people just getting into trading. It appears that there may only be 5 or 6 available to trade, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Spreads

Spreads on the standard account can be as low as 0.4 pips, however, we have seen them hovering around the 1.2 pips to 1.5 pips mark. This is still a pretty good level for an account not charging commission. The ThinkZero account spreads were seen to be around 0.1 pips which is appropriate for an account charging a commission (and a relatively low commission too).

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount of equity needed to be deposited with ThinkMarkets is $250, this will get you the standard account, if you wish to take advantage of the ThinkZero account then you will need to deposit a minimum of $500, however if you lose your first trade you will need to deposit further to continue trading (due to minimum operating balance requirement), so we would recommend a minimum of $10,000 for the ThinkZero account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different ways to deposit with ThinkMarkets, there are bank wire transfers, card via Visa or Mastercard, Neteller, Skrill and Bitcoin payments through BitPay. As far as we can see, there are no added fees for depositing with any method, we are particularly happy to see the opportunity to pay with Bitcoin, as a lot of newer tech-savvy traders are using Bitcoin to fund their trading.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same withdrawal methods are available as the ones to deposit. There are no added fees on any withdrawal from any of the available methods. Please note that your bank may charge currency conversion fees or similar.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals for all methods are processed within 1 business day, for the majority of methods this will mean that your funds are processed and in your account within a few hours after processing, however for bank transfers, it may take an additional 3 – 5 business days. The 1 day processing time is pretty standard for brokers these days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no bonuses being advertised on the website, however, a quick google search indicates that there are or have been promotions in the past. Many of these require you to sign up with an introducing broker however as they are not advertised on the ThinkMarkets website, we do not want to comment on them.

There is of course the affiliate program, where you can earn for introducing new clients to Think Markets.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few educational tools available with ThinkMarkets, they have a “Learn to trade” section where they outline all of the basics of trading, including how to analyze, how to use the trading platforms and various other aspects of trading. There are also a number of different tutorials that outline different aspects of trading in much more detail and are intended as a learning course to help develop your own trading skills and knowledge. Along with this, there is also a glossary of all the different forex and trading terms in case you are unsure what one of them means.

There is an economic calendar available as well as a number of different webinars where you can tune in to learn from someone live, this can be quite beneficial as it also gives you an opportunity to ask questions to a professional trader.

AutoChartist is also available with ThinkMarkets, AutoChartist is a bit of kit that can provide you with all sorts of helpful information such as support and resistance levels and other automated visual analysis. If you have heard or AutoChartist before we suggest looking it up and seeing how it can benefit your trading.

Customer Service

Support is available 24/6, you are able to contact them via the contact form on the site, there are also a number of different email addresses available which let you contact the exact department that you are after rather than a single support line. There are also phone numbers available in multiple different countries including the UK and Australia. We tried contacting the UK phone line and they picked up within a couple of minutes and were helpful in answering all of our questions (we didn’t have many as were just testing).

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available with ThinkMarkets and you are able to get a demo account top use on wither MT4, MT5 of Trade Interceptor. These accounts last forever as long as they are being used, if it is dormant for too long then it can be closed, however, you can simply open up a new one.

Countries Accepted

ThinkMarkets do not accept clients from AF, Yugoslavia, AO, GM, NG, AW, GH, KR, BY, GN, BO, GN, PK, BW, HT, PG, IR, PN Island, Burma MM, IQ, RW, KH, , SN, CF, JP, Sierra Leone, TD, KG, SO, CI , LB, SZ, CU, LS, SY, of CG, LR, TJ, DJ, LY, Tanzania, EC, Laos, TG, ER, ML, TM, ET, MN, UG, Falkland Islands, NA, US of America, FJ, NI, YE, ZW

Conclusion

ThinkMarkets have been running for quite a while now, their customer service was quick and efficient and their accounts are currently great value for money with low spreads and low costs. There are quite a few excluded countries, so if you live in one of them, you may need to look elsewhere.

There are plenty of options when it comes to trading platforms and there is a lot of education and tools provided to help you trade better. With the addition of cryptocurrency, there are plenty of assets and instruments to trade too. We can’t think of a good reason to tell you to avoid ThinkMarkets, so if they seem like a broker you could use, go for it.

We hope you liked this review, be sure to check out the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

XM is an award-winning broker and is the trading name of Trading Point Holdings Limited which is a company based in Cyprus. XM has won a number of awards such as Best Customer Service awards, Best FX Service Awards and many more. When a broker is consistently winning rewards it may seem like a no brainer, in this review we will dive deeper into what XM really offer, and to see if they are suitable for traders like you and me.

XM offers a website in three different regions, Global, AU, and CY, depending on which site you use there may be a few differences to what we have written, for the purpose of this review, we are using the global site as this will be suitable for more people. Remember to double-check the information when signing up, just in case any details are different from what we state.

Account Types

There are five different account types available with XM, three standard accounts, one share-based account and one zero spread account which is classed in its own category. We are going to have a little look at them in more detail.

Micro Account:

The micro account is the entry-level account for XM it works the same way as a cent account does on other brokers as a lot is equal to 1,000 base currency unite It offers a low minimum deposit of $5 and can have a base currency in USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF,‎ AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, and ZAR. The leverage on offer is dependant on your account balance and is as follows 1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000), 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000), 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 +).

The account offers negative account protection and has spreads starting at 1 pip, however, they can often be seen higher, there is no commission charged on this account. There can be a maximum of 200 open positions and there is a minimum trade size of 0.01 if using MetaTrader 4 and 0.1 if using MetaTrader 5. Bonuses are available, hedging is allowed and if you are not able to accept or pay swaps, a swap-free Islamic account is also available.

Standard Account:

The Standard account has many of the same features as the micro account, the main difference is that a lot is equal to 100,000 currency base units instead of the micro accounts 1,000 units. Minimum deposit, base currencies, leverage, spreads, commission, max open positions, negative balance protection, bonuses, hedging and access to Islamic swap-free accounts all remain the same. The only other changes are that the minimum trade size is set at 0.01 lots across the board and there is a maximum trade size of 50 lots. All other details remain the same.

XM Ultra Low Account:

The XM Ultra Low Account takes both the micro and standard accounts and changes a few of the features. It has a minimum deposit of $50 and the base currencies available have been reduced to EUR, USD, GBP, AUD, ZAR and SGD. Contract sizes are based on whether you use a micro or standard account, spreads are lowered to a minimum of 0.6 pips but can often be seen quite a bit higher. All other aspects of the accounts remain the same as the micro or standard counterpart, the only other difference is that trading bonuses are not available with this account (no deposit bonus is available).

Shares Account:

The shares account does what it says on the tin, it is based around shares rather than trading, so if you want a forex trading experience, this is not the account for you. It has a minimum deposit of $10,000 and a minimum trade of 1 share. You can have up to 50 positions open and there is no leverage available on this account.

XM Zero Account:

The XM Zero account gets its own section on the XM website as it is the account that XM is pushing the most. From just the name, you can already guess what it’s aim is, it has a 0 pip spread (although it can sometimes be 0.1 or equivalent). Due to having low to zero spreads, a commission is charged on this account, that commission is $3.5 per lot, this is relatively low and beats a lot of the competition where the industry average seems to be sat at around $6 per lot. There is reduced leverage with the maximum being set at 1:30, it is also available to sue with both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Base currencies are restricted to USD, EUR, and JPY and there is also a VPS service available with this account.

There is plenty to choose from with a number of different features, so whatever you are looking for there should be something to help fill your needs.

Platforms

XM claims to have 16 different platforms available to use, but in reality, there are two, within those two there are a number of different ways to access them which XM are touting as separate platforms.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4):

MetaTrader 4 is one of the world’s most used trading platforms, it has been around for a long time and has a well-established user base. It offers high levels of customization and is compatible with hundreds and thousands of indicators and expert advisers. MT4 is available as a desktop download for both Windows PC and Mac, it also has applications for iOS and Android devices. There is a WebTrader that allows you to trade using your internet browser and there is also a multi-terminal that allows you to trade with multiple different accounts at the same time.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5):

MT5 is the younger broker of MT4 and is designed by the same company. It is a more streamlined design and interface, due to it being newer, it does not have as many indicators and expert advisors but the numbers are constantly growing due to its improved functionality over its older sibling. Similarly to it’s older counterpart, it is available as a desktop download for PC and Mac, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a browser-based trading platform, the multi-terminal is not available with MT5.

Both platforms offer functionality such as one-click trading and have access to hundreds of different trading instruments along with various other technical analysis tools and functionalities.

Leverage

Leverage is based on a number of factors and can be broken down into different categories based on account equity and what instruments are being traded, in regards to account equity, below figures are currently valid:

• 1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000)
• 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000)
• 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 +)

When it comes to the XM Zero account, the following leverages are valid:

• 1:30 Forex Major Pairs
• 1:20 Other Forex Pairs
• 1:20 Major Indices
• 1:10 Minor Indices
• 1:20 CFDs on Gold
• 1:5 CFDs on Shares
• 1:10 CFDs on Commodities

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes are based on the account that you use, if you are using a micro account or the ultra low micro account then you have a minimum lot size of 0.01 with MT4 and 0.1 with MT5. When using any other account then the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots, also known as a micro lot. The share account has a minimum position of 1 share.

The maximum trade size for the micro-based accounts is 100 lots, which the other accounts are all set at 50 lots. While it may seem low, it is an appropriate level for 99% of retail traders who will never reach 50 lot trades.

Trading Costs

All accounts come with a spread based pay structure except for the zero account, the zero account comes with a commission of $3.5 per lot traded, this is relatively low when looking at the industry standard of around $6.

The other accounts have spreads starting in a range of 0.6 pips to 1 pip, however, they can often be seen slightly higher.

All accounts are charged swap fees, either needing to pay or receiving them when holding a trade overnight, these numbers can be found directly within the trading terminals. If you are of Islamic faith, you can get swap-free accounts for most account types.

Assets

When it comes to tradable instruments, XM offers plenty of them so there should always be something available for you to trade. We have broken them down into various categories to get a better understanding of what is on offer.

• Forex: 55+ instruments
• Commodities: 8 instruments
• Indices: 18 indices and 12 future indices
• Stocks: 1,200 stocks
• Metals: Gold and Silver
• Energies: 5 instruments

Spreads

Spreads can be as low as 0 pips if you are using the XM Zero Account. However moving into the more spread based accounts, the Ultra Low accounts have the spreads increase to a minimum of 0.6 pips and the micro and standard accounts rising further to a minimum of 1 pip. While these are the minimum numbers, fluctuations occur in the markets so they may rise higher and certain currency pairings naturally have higher spreads.

Minimum Deposit

The overall minimum deposit for XM is $5, this can be used on the micro and standard accounts, in order to use the ultra low accounts this figure rises to $50, and the XM Zero Account has a minimum deposit of $200.

Deposit Methods & Costs

XM offers a number of different deposit methods, the good news is that none of them have a fee in order to deposit. The current methods on offer are bank transfer, Visa / MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, MuchBetter Wallet, and Trustly. Unfortunately, there is currently no support for PayPal.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals can be completed using the same methods as depositing. There is no fee charged if the withdrawal is over $200, however, withdrawals under $200 may receive a $15 fee. When using Visa or MasterCard or electronic wallets such as Skrill, you are only able to withdraw the amount you have deposited, any extra must use bank transfer.

It is a shame to see fees being added to lower withdrawal amounts as many brokers are not getting rid of withdrawal fees completely.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The amount of time it takes to process a withdrawal will depend on the methods you are using, for bank transfers it can take between 3 and 5 business days which is the standard time for bank transfer processing. Car transactions will take between 1 and 5 days depending on your card issuer and electronic wallets are processed within 24 hours.

Bonuses & Promotions

XM offers a number of different bonuses across their sites, so be sure to check out the offers in your own region, on the global site there are two offers available.

Free VPS: Clients who maintain an account balance over $5,000 and trade at least 5 lots per month are able to receive a free VPS. If you fall below this threshold then you are required to pay $28 a month.

0 Fees on Deposits and Withdrawals: Not really an offer, just confirmation that there are no fees for withdrawing and depositing.

There have been deposit bonuses and no deposit bonuses on offer in the past, so be sure to keep checking back to see if any new bonuses or promotions have come up.

Educational & Trading Tools

XM offers three different categories to help you become a better trader:

Research: Research offers a number of different sections to help you become a better trader, they offer market news and events to help you understand what is going on in the world, technical summaries as well as technical analysis to help give you a better idea of certain trading setups. There is an economic calendar and some videos that offer daily analysis to help you trade and understand certain trade setups.

Learning: For learning, there are a number of different courses aiming to help teach you both the basics and slightly more advanced ideas within the forex industry and trading. There are video courses as well as seminars and webinars to get involved in and ask questions. There are also tutorials on how to use the trading platforms on offer from XM.

Tools: There are a couple of tools on offer, there are some trading calculators to help you work out profits, trades and other aspects of trading, there are also some indicators to download to help you improve your own analysis.

The education section is quite robust and helpful, as are some of the analysis tools. The daily videos, in particular, can be very helpful.

Customer Service

XM go all out when it comes to accessibility to their customer service team, they have members of the team speaking in over 25 different languages, so whatever language you speak, there should be someone available to help you.

They have physical addresses and phone numbers for three different offices based in Cyprus, Australia and Greece, there are also phone numbers and email addresses for different departments including the support desk, affiliate department, marketing resources, back-office, client relations, and the PR inquiries.

We tested the support desk via telephone, they were helpful and responsive, our call was picked up within a couple of minutes and all questions answered clearly and concisely, which is a big bonus.

Demo Account

Any major broker would be expected to offer demo accounts and XM doesn’t falter here, they offer each client up to 5 demo accounts, each starting with up to $100,000. These accounts last forever as long as they are being used, after a long period of inactivity they may be closed but new ones can be opened. Simply fill in the online form to open up your demo account.

Countries Accepted

There are some countries excluded from using the XM sites, some of them include the USA, Canada, Israel, and Iran. There are more exclusions but they are not listed on the site, be sure to get in contact with the XM customer service team in case you are unsure if you are in an accepted country. One way to check is to go to sign up to a new account and see if your country is in the drop-down list if it is not then your country is currently excluded from using XM.

Conclusion

XM is a well-established company, receiving many different awards for various aspects of its running operations. Offering a wide range of accounts and instruments you should easily be able to find a trading environment and instruments to suit your needs. Customer service was quick and helpful and very accessible. There are no fees for withdrawals over $200, however, the only downside to this was the $15 fee for withdrawals under $200. There isn’t too much else to say, other than XM seems like a very competent broker and one that we do recommend at this time.

If you like this XM broker review, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

BIC Markets offers many great features that traders will appreciate. For a start, the broker doesn’t charge any commissions and the leverage that it offers is very competitive. Moreover, you can choose between some of the best ECN platforms to manage your account through. BIC Markets’s bonuses are very generous and not many other brokers in the industry can match them, either. Nonetheless, you might find potential downsides when looking at the spread sizes and transfer processing mechanisms of BIC Markets. This article outlines all of these important areas, allowing you to make a comprehensive and well-rounded evaluation of the broker’s features.

Account Types

Alongside the 2 retail accounts (Zero Commission and VIP), you can open a Percent Allocation Management Module (PAMM) and Multi Account Manager (MAM). However, the latter 2 are designed for money managers who oversee several clients’ accounts. Most retail traders do not need the PAMM or MAM offerings unless they have several accounts that need to be managed from a single, centralized platform.

Zero Commission Account:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 23 points (2.3 pips)
Commission: $0

VIP Account:
Minimum Deposit: $100,000
Spreads: From 23 points (2.3 pips)
Commission: $0

The main difference between the 2 accounts is that Zero Commission mostly benefits high volume traders and those who rely on scalping strategies. Meanwhile, the VIP Account is appropriate for traders who have large capital and want more flexibility in terms of the spreads. The 23 points (or 2.3 pips) minimum spread is relatively high when compared to other brokers. However, you might be able to qualify for lucrative discounts by contacting your BIC Markets account manager. This, combined with no commission charges, are considered major pluses when it comes to using this broker.

Platforms

BIC Markets utilizes MetaTrader 4 (MT4) because of the platform’s user-friendly features, automated trading tools, and availability in multiple languages. You can download it on your desktop, smartphone, and tablet/iPad. MT4 provides traders with a daily account statement and performance summaries. You can also access live news feeds and utilize different technical analysis tools.

Similarly, MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is available through BIC Markets. The platform is the modified version of MT4. While both of them are highly reliable, MT5 is suitable for traders who want to access more technical indicators and in-depth charting tools. MT5, like MT4, is also available on all devices. Under the ‘Platforms’ tab on BIC Markets’s website menu, you can look at how these platforms function on each device and download a user guide that contains comprehensive details about them.

Leverage

The Zero Commission Account has relatively high leverage at 1:400, but VIP only has 1:100. Leverage is subject to change based on your deposited capital.

100:1 Leverage: No minimum or maximum account size
200:1 Leverage: $500 to $100,000
300:1 Leverage: $1,000 to $50,000
400:1 Leverage: $1,000 to $10,000

The larger your account size is, the less available leverage you have. BIC Markets structured it this way to minimize your risks and losses.

Trade Sizes

Both Zero Commission and VIP have a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots and a maximum of 50 lots per open position. You can have no more than 300 open trades at any given time.

Margin Call: 80%
Stop-Out: 50%

When your invested funds reach 80% of the requirement, BIC Markets will issue a margin call. At this point, you can either deposit more funds or close some of your trades (preferably the ones with the biggest losses). If your account is stopped out, the broker will automatically liquidate all of your positions.

Trading Costs

BIC Markets doesn’t charge commissions, but you do incur spread fees, which are calculated as follows: (Spread) x (Pip Cost) x (Number of Lots Traded) = Total Cost. You also have to pay extra fees on the swap rate when trades are kept open overnight. The amount depends on whether you short or long a currency pair, as well as other economic factors that can impact interest rates and prices.

Assets

This broker mainly offers ForEx instruments and has 26 available currency pairs. You can also trade 7 different indices, which include the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the indexes of each of the Australian, Hong Kongese, Japanese, and British markets. The 4 available commodities are spot silver (XAG.USD) and spot gold (XAU.USD), alongside the British and American crude oil CFDs.

Spreads

BIC Markets’s spreads are highlighted in points. 1 pip equals 10 points. Almost all currency pairs have an average spread that is between 23 and 29 points (2.3 to 2.9 pips). The only 3 exceptions are EUR.NZD (31 points or 3.1 pips), GBP.CHF (31 points or 3.1 pips), and GBP.JPY (35 points or 3.5 pips). Commodities and indices, for the most part, have a spread of 30 points/3 pips or higher.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Unfortunately, BIC Markets’s website doesn’t provide any information about deposit or withdrawal methods. However, when you register with the broker, you will be asked for your credit or debit card information, as well as your bank’s routing and account number. Based on this, we can assume that these are the only 2 available transfer methods. It is very important that you double-check this information, inquire about transfer fees, and ensure that their processing times are convenient for you.

Bonuses & Promotions

BIC Markets has several bonuses and promotions. If you refer a family member or friend to the broker and they deposit a minimum of $500 to open an account, BIC Markets will give you a $100 bonus within 30 days. In addition, after opening your own Zero Commission Account and depositing between $1,000 and $200,000, you get a 10% bonus. First, it will only be added as a credit. From there, the credit will be converted into $50 in cash for every 10 trades you make. For example, a trader who deposits $10,000 into their Zero Commission Accounts receives a $1,000 credit. After they execute 10 trades, they get $50 in cash. This keeps adding up until the entire $1,000 credit is fulfilled and deposited into the trader’s account.

The broker also has an ongoing scooter giveaway promotion. Every 2 weeks account holders who trade 10 lots or more are entered into a random draw. The winner gets a free scooter. The promotion will keep running until all 6 scooters are awarded, but it is only available in Cambodia. Those who live in another country will, instead, receive $500 in cash if their name is drawn. Lastly, you may be able to qualify for large discounts on spread fees. To find out if you’re eligible, you would have to contact your account manager.

Educational & Trading Tools

The broker’s educational and trading content ranges from introductory articles about the ForEx market to live economic calendars. They might also have upcoming seminars and events. You can access 2 introductory articles that explain what the ForEx market is and outlines key terms that beginner traders need to know. Additionally, the economic calendar includes all the major market events from different countries. You can access the schedule up to 1 month ahead or behind in time.

Customer Service

BIC Markets is located in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Their customer service team is available from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays.

Phone: +855-023 966 669
Email: [email protected]

The broker can be contacted via live chat, email, or phone. You can also reach out to them by filling out the contact form on the website.

Demo Account

Through the MT4 platform, you can easily open a demo account to start learning about the different available charts and trading tools. In fact, before trading actual funds, beginners can test the markets through a paper account until they define their strategy and master profitable techniques. Similarly, if you are unfamiliar with MT4, take the time to familiarize yourself with the platform’s different features and order types before opening a live account. BIC Markets has a detailed guide on their website that walks you through every aspect of using the demo account, starting with filling out the signup form. In addition, you can open more than 1 demo account and manage them all from a single device (such as your laptop). This is useful because, if you have more than one strategy and are unsure which of them works best, you can test out the different approaches and track the profitability of each account.

Countries Accepted

BIC Markets is registered in Cambodia and the broker’s services are available to clients across the world. However, traders in the US may not be able to open an account. Meanwhile, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others are on the list of available countries on the account application form. Nonetheless, you should check your local regulations on trading CFDs and other instruments that BIC Markets offers before you register.

Conclusion

In the end, we found that the positives of BIC Markets’s offerings outweigh the cons. The main downsides to using the broker are the limited amount of currency pairs that you can access. Similarly, if transfer fees and processing times are important to you, contact BIC Markets’s customer service team because their website has a lot of missing information about this topic. Otherwise, there are 2 great account types for you to choose from, none of them charges any commission fees while the leverage rates are relatively flexible. Additionally, your funds will be protected against hefty losses through BIC Markets’s restrictive margin call and stop-out levels.

The bonuses, of course, are very generous. They range from scooter giveaways to affiliate promotions. If you really care about this part, then you can easily qualify for at least one of the bonuses. As mentioned earlier, should the issues related to the spreads or transfer of funds concern you, contact BIC Markets’s customer service team. All the pluses of using this broker might make doing so worth it.

LQDFX has been providing Forex trading services out of the Marshall Islands since 2015, acting as an STP broker. Their strongest selling points include spreads from 0.0 pips, 70+ assets within their MT4 platform, and commission-free trading. The LQDFX review that follows will tell you exactly what else to expect from this broker with regard to the platform, trading conditions, customer service, costs, and much more.

Account Types

LQDFX offers several account types and these are:

• Micro
• Gold
• ECN
• VIP
• Islamic

Each of these accounts is actually quite similar, but there are a few key differences. It should also be noted that there are commission charges on the ECN and VIP accounts. Those are 3.50USD/EUR per 100,000 and 2.50USD/EUR per 100,000, respectively. The smallest accepted deposit is $20, which applies to both the Micro and Islamic accounts. Spreads range from 0.1 to 1, based on account type. The Islamic account is essentially the same as the Micro account but without the need to pay swap fees, which as not compliant with Shariah Law.

Platforms

As we so often see, LQDFX offers the MetaTrader 4 platform for all account types. The platform can be downloaded for Windows computers, as well as for Android and Apple devices. There currently is no dedicated download for Mac-based systems. Benefits of the platform include the following:

• Ultra-Fast Execution
• One-Click Trading
• Depth Of Market
• Advanced Technical Analysis
• Advanced Charts
• Negative Balance Protection

Leverage

Leverage does vary by account type, so we’ve broken it down for you below.

• Micro – 1:500
• Gold – 1:300
• ECN – 1:300
• VIP – 1:100
• Islamic – 1:300

Note that the leverage ratios listed above are the maximum allowed. You can opt to trade with less or even no leverage at all. The maximum leverage, 1:500 is on par with what most offshore Forex brokers offer. You will find a few that are offering 1:1000 or even 1:2000, but obviously, that is considered by most to be dangerous territory.

Trade Sizes

With the exception of VIP clients, all traders are allowed to trade in micro-lots (0.01). VIP clients, on the other hand, cannot enter into positions that are smaller than 0.1 lot. As for maximum trade sizes, Gold, ECN, and Islamic accounts have a limit of 40 lots. The Micro account has a limit of 5 lots and there is no limit at all on the VIP account.

Trading Costs

The Micro, Gold, and Islamic accounts all offer commission-free trading. There are commission charges on the other two accounts, as follows:

• ECN – 3.50USD/EUR per 100,000
• VIP – 2.50USD/EUR per 100,000

While neither of these charges is exorbitant, it is a tad perplexing as to why LQDFX would charge a commission on the VIP account. VIP account holders are already asked to submit a large deposit and trade in larger than average lot sizes. Yes, the spreads are tightest for the VIP account, but it still seems strange to charge the top clientele a commission.

Assets

As mentioned in the opening of this LQDFX review, the firm does offer over seventy total assets for its clients to trade with. Currency pairs make up the bulk of the asset index and after that, there are a few indices and commodities to select from. If you’re looking for metals, there are a few, and those are included with currencies. It would appear that there are no cryptocurrencies, which could be problematic for some.

Spreads

This brokerage does offer variable spreads on all account types, with the best spreads going to the VIP account holders. The lowest possible spread is 0.1, which is offered to those who have ECN and VIP accounts. LQDFX does offer live spreads on a total of sixteen assets on their website homepage, although it is not known exactly which account type those spreads relate to. Overall, the spreads seem to be reasonable on all but the Micro account, which starts at 1 lot. Then again, we must keep in mind that there is no commission charge on that account level.

Minimum Deposit

If you want to start out with a deposit as low as $20, you’ll need to opt for either a Micro or Islamic account. The Gold and ECN accounts require a minimum and from there, the VIP account jumps much higher, climbing to $25,000. Staring out with a Micro account may be the way to go if you simply want to test the broker out. However, if you plan to trade with LQDFX over a much longer period, it would be sensible to climb to a higher account tier in exchange for better trading conditions.

Bonuses & Promotions

At this time LQDFX is offering a deposit bonus that offers a 100% match on any first-time deposit of $20,000 or less. In order to claim this bonus, one must deposit at least $250. It would appear that existing customers may also claim the bonus, as the website had the following to say, “Existing customers must create a new trading account in order to receive the 100% bonus. You can do so by logging in to your LQDFX Client Area.” There are, of course, requirements which must be met in order to cash out the entire bonus and those can be viewed on the broker’s bonus page: https://www.lqdfx.com/en/promotions/bonus

Deposit Methods & Costs

LQDFX accepts several different payment methods, including:

• Wire transfer
• Credit/Debit card
• Neteller
• Skrill
• China UnionPay
• FasaPay
• Bitcoin Cash
• Bitcoin (+ other cryptos)
• UPayCard
• VLoad

Of the available payment options, only wire transfers are subject to a deposit fee and even that can be avoided by depositing $500 or more. The brokerage deserves credit here, as many brokers now struggle to accept even a few payment methods. The fact that for the most part, deposit fees are completely avoidable, is just a bonus.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There are no withdrawal costs on e-payments and cryptocurrency payments. On credit and debit withdrawals, a $10 withdrawal fee is charged. On bank wires, the costs vary from bank to bank. There are minimum withdrawal amount requirements in place for each of the available methods and those are shown below.

• Wire transfer – $100
• Credit/Debit card – $20
• Neteller – $5
• Skrill – $5
• China UnionPay – $5
• FasaPay – $0
• Bitcoin Cash – $10
• Bitcoin (+ other cryptos) – $30
• UPayCard – $5
• VLoad – $50

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

LQDFX processes withdrawal requests in two business days or less. As usual, the wait time after that is completely dependent upon the chosen withdrawal method. Wire transfers take the longest, with a wait time of 2 to 10 business days. Card payments take up to two business days to arrive and eWallet payments typically arrive within one business day. The processing and wait times are on par with those of regulated brokers and there are no problems to report here.

Educational & Trading Tools

LQDFX does offer a number of educational courses and tutorials for novice and experienced Forex traders alike An Economic Calendar is provided, along with FX chart analysis tools. Forex calculators such as Pivot, Fibonacci and Deal Size are provided on the website also. An e-book is provided for new traders, as are trading strategies. On the whole, LQDFX has gone above and beyond what many brokers offer in this area and should be commended.

Customer Service

Telephone, live chat, and email are the primary contact options, although the firm can be found on social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Support is available 24-hours a day, 5-days a week. The primary LQDFX contact number is +44 2035988261, and the primary email address is [email protected]. A callback request form is provided for those who wish to avoid outgoing call charges. Additional departmental email addresses are listed below.

• Trading Department – [email protected]
• Partners Department – [email protected]
• Deposits & Withdrawals – [email protected]

Demo Account

Free demo accounts are available to those who want them. The site’s demo account registration form asks for only some basic information, after which, you’ll be able to select a currency and starting balance. Demo accounts remain active indefinitely, provided that they are actually being used. To open an LQDFX demo account, simply click on the demo tab from the site header on any page.

Countries Accepted

The broker’s website does not provide any listing of country exclusions. Instead, it says the following, “This website is not directed at any jurisdiction and is not intended for any use that would be contrary to local law or regulation.” We did go one step further to speak with a support member regarding this topic and were told that residents of Belarus are not allowed to create an account. All others, including residents of the United States, are welcome to join.

Conclusion

A search for LQDFX scam information turned up little more than the average complaints. These are common with Forex brokers in general, as those who enter into trading without being properly educated and then losing money as a result, tend to later complain that the broker “stole” their money. The truth regarding broker liability is strongly linked to the amount of time that they have been in business. LQDFX has been providing services for several years now and shows no signs of slowing down. This, combined with their reasonable trading conditions and trusted platform, make this FX broker a viable option for those looking to trade the markets.