***IMPORTANT NOTICE***
At this time, the UGL Exchange website is non-operational. We will continue to monitor this situation and will update our readers if we determine that this broker will no longer be offering Forex trading services.
UGL Exchange is a Cyprus based Forex and CFD broker. They have always aimed to provide a wide range of tradable assets and is fully regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). There are a few main objectives that UGL Exchange plans to achieve which include leading the way by supporting transparency and the adoption of ethical trading practices in the Forex industry, continuously offering professional support & educational resources, and earning their customers’ dedication through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork, and innovation. We will be using this review to see if they have achieved their objectives and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you to use for your trading needs.
Account Types
There are three different accounts available from UGL Exchange. We have briefly outlined some of their features below.
Standard Account:
This account requires a minimum deposit of $100, it can be in either USD or EUR and has a spread starting from around 2.4 pips. It can be leverage up to 1:20 and has trade sizes starting at 0.01 lots. There is no added commission on this account.
Pro Account:
The Pro account increases the minimum requirement of up to $1,000. The account can be in either EUR or USD and there is a starting spread of 1.3 pips. Just like the other account sit can be leveraged up to 1:20 and has started trade sizes of 0.01 lots. There is zero commission added to the trades on this account.
VIP Account:
This is the top tier account and so requires a minimum deposit of at least $5,000. Just like the other accounts, it can be in a base currency of EUR or USD but the spread is slightly reduced and now starts from 1.1 pips. The leverage remains as 1:20 at a maximum and the trade sizes remain at 0.01 lots. There is also no added commission on this account.
Platforms
The trading platform on offer from UGL Exchange is MetaTrader 4. MT4 is one of the world’s most used and popular trading platforms. There are many features that it offers such as accessibility, being available as a desktop download, mobile application or as a web browser means you can trade from anywhere. It is also includes features like superior security of trading operations, the use of various time intervals for trading, different executions types such as market via STP/DMA, the possibility to create and test one’s own indicators and scripts, effective tools for technical analysis in real-time and, the possibility to have news feeds from various information agencies such as Dow Jones.
Leverage
All three accounts page states that there is a maximum leverage of 1:20. However, when going through the site’s FAQ it states that the maximum leverage offered by UGL Exchange is 1:500 so there is a little discrepancy. You may need to contact UGL Exchange to get a higher level of leverage. At any rate, the leverage can be selected when opening up an account and can be changed by getting in contact with the customer service team if you already have an account open.
Trade Sizes
Trade sizes on all accounts start from 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots. The maximum trade size on all accounts is also 30 lots which is an appropriate level to use. We could not locate any information about how many open trades you can have at any one time.
Trading Costs
There are no added commissions on any of the accounts. Instead, they all use spreads as their payment structure, and we will look at that later in this review. There are swap fees, and these are charges that are paid or received for holding trades overnight. These costs can be viewed from within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.
Assets
The assets at UGL Exchange have been broken down into quite a few different categories, we will go through them to show what the available instruments for trading are.
Forex Majors:
CADCHF, CAGJPY, CHFJPY, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURSUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, GBPUSD, USDCAD, USDCHF, USDJPY.
Forex Minors & Exotics:
AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNOK, AUDNZD, AUDPLN, AUDSEK, AUDSGD, AUDUSD, CADPLN, CADSGD, CHFDKK, CHFNOK, CHFPLN, CHFSEK, CHFSGD, CHFTRY, DKKJPY, EURAUD, EURHKD, EURHUF, EURMXN, EURNOK, EURNZD, EURPLN, EURSEK, EURSGD, EURTRY, GBPAUD, GBPDKK, GBPNOK, GBPNZD, GBPPLN, GBPSGD, GBPZAR, HKDJPY, JPYNOK, MXNJPY, NOKDKK, NOKSEK, NZDAUD, NZDCAD, NZDCHF, NZDJPY, NZDSGD, NZDUSD, PLNJPY, SEKJPY, SEKNOK, SGDJPY, TRYJPY, USDCNH, USDCZK, USDDKK, USDHUF, USDMXN, USDNOK, USDPLN, USDRUB, USDSEK, USDSGD, USDTRY, USDZAR, GBPSEK.
American Stocks:
There are too many to go through individually so a few examples are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Facebook, Netflix and many more.
German Stocks:
Some of these include Adidas, Volkswagon, BMW and Bayer AG.
French Stocks:
A few of the included French stocks are BVLA, Total and BNP Paribas.
Spanish Stocks:
Some of the Spanish stocks include Santander, Telefonica, and Iberdrola.
Energies:
UK Crude Oil and US Crude Oil.
Major Indices:
AUS 200, DE 30, DJ 30, F 40, NAS 100, STOXX 50, UK 100, US 500.
Minor Indices:
ES 35, N 25 and, SWI 20.
Metals:
XAGEUR, XAFUSD, XAUEUR, XAUUSD, (Silver and Gold).
Spreads
The different account son offer has different starting spreads. The Standard account has spread starting from 2.4 pips, while the Pro account starting from 1.3 pips and the VIP account has spreads starting from 1.1 pips. The spreads are variable which means they move with eh markets and higher volatility will mean higher spreads.
Different instruments also have different spreads, so if we look at the Standard account, CADCHF has an average spread of 4.4 pips, while EURGBP has an average spread of 2.4 pips. It is important to check the spread of the instrument you wish to trade.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum deposit amount required to open up an account is $100. This will allow you to open up a Standard account.
Deposit Methods & Costs
It seems like there are just two methods available to withdraw, these are Astro Bank and Deutsch HJandelsbank AG. So realistically, there is just Bank Wire Transfer available for depositing. There are no added commission when using either of the banks which is good to see, but you should check with your own bank to see if there are any transfer or processing fees added by them.
Withdrawal Methods & Costs
When withdrawing you have the same options. This means that you are stuck with Bank Wire Transfer. Just like with the deposits, there are no added fees from UGL Exchange, but be sure to check with your own bank just in case they add any currency conversion or transfer fees of their own.
Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time
UGL Exchange will aim to process any withdrawal requests the same day that they are requested, if not they will be processed the next working day. How long it takes after this will depend on your own bank processing times and could be anywhere between 1 to 5 working days.
Bonuses & Promotions
It does not seem that there are any active promotions or bonuses when we are completing this review. If you are interested in them, we would recommend contacting the customer service team to see if there are any upcoming promotions or bonuses that you can take part in.
Educational & Trading Tools
The Academy comprises of a single thing, a glossary of trading-related terms, not exactly an academy. Many modern brokers are looking to help their clients improve their trading through education and tools, so it would be good to see UGL Exchange do a little more in this regard.
Customer Service
We are not sure what the opening times of the customer service team are but we would assume that they are closed over the weekend and on bank holidays. In order to contact them, you can use the online form to fill in your question or query and you should then get a reply via email. There is also an address and phone/fax number available if you prefer to use those methods.
Address: 116 Gladstonos Street, 1st floor 3032 Limassol, Cyprus
Phone: +357 2538 9206
Fax: +357 2538 9219
Demo Account
Looking throughout the site we did not see any information surrounding demo accounts so they may not ab available. This is a shame as demo accounts allow you to test out the trading conditions and also new strategies without risking any real capital. UGL Exchange should look into making a demo account available.
Countries Accepted
The following statement is present on the website: “UGL Exchange Limited does not provide services to residents of specific jurisdictions amongst which: Canada, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and the United States.” If you are still not sure of your eligibility, we would always recommend contacting the customer service team prior to signing up just to be sure.
Conclusion
UGL Exchange offers a variety of account which come with slightly different trading conditions. The main difference comes down to the spreads, the higher tier accounts the lower the spreads are. There is just the one trading platform but it is MetaTrader 4 which is great, and there is a wide selection of tradable assets and insturments so you should always be able to find something to trade. The main downside to UGL Exchange is the lack of deposit and withdrawal methods. There are no fees which is a big plus but only Bank Wire Transfer is available so if you do not like or want to use that method you won’t be able to deposit. If you are happy to deposit that way then UGL Exchange could be a decent broker to use, but if you want another method, then you will need to look elsewhere.
