Forex Brokers
Introduction
The following is a list of questions you may like to consider before opening an account. You can use this checklist to narrow down your selection of companies that fit your requirements. You may also wish to refer to the forex broker ratings page on this site to read about traders unique experiences with particular brokers.
I do recommend you do not open an account with a U.S. based forex broker regulated by the CFTC and NFA, due to excessive and over-bearing regulation imposed on retail forex brokers including reduced leverage levels, the “no-hedging” rule and the FIFO (first-in, first-out) rule which affects the way you trade.
The following links will also give you some background information on U.S. FCM’s (Futures Commission Merchants).
Selected Financial Data for FCM’s
NFA Background Affiliation Status1. Reputation
What do other traders say about the broker? See Forex Broker Ratings & Forex Broker Reviews
What is their customer service like?2. Customer Protection
Is the broker regulated?
What regulatory organisation are they registered with and what protections does it afford the client?
Are client funds protected against fraud?
Are client funds protected against bankruptcy?3. Execution
What business model do they operate? i.e. Are they a Market Maker[?], ECN[?] or no-dealing desk broker[?]?
How fast is their order execution?
Are orders manually or automatically executed? [?]
What is the maximum trade size before you have to request a quote?
Are all clients trades offset?4. Spread [?]
How small is the spread?
Is it fixed or variable?5. Slippage [?]
How much slippage can be expected in normal and fast moving markets?
6. Margin [?]
What is the margin requirement? e.g. 0.25% margin = max 400:1 leverage [?]), 0.5% margin = max 200:1 leverage, 1% margin = max 100:1 leverage, 2% margin = max 50:1 leverage, etc.
Does the margin requirement change for different currency pairs or days of the week?
At what point does the broker issue a margin call?
Is required margin the same for standard and mini accounts? [?]7. Commissions
Does the broker charge commissions? (Most market makers commissions are built into the spread)
8. Rollover Policy [?]
Is there a minimum margin requirement in order to earn rollover interest?
What are the swap rates like for going long or short in a particular currency pair?
Are there any other conditions for earning rollover interest?9. Trading Platform
How intuitive and functional is it to use?
Are there many disconnections during trading hours?
How reliable is it during fast moving markets and news announcements?
How many different currency pairs are available to trade?
Does the broker offer an Application Programming Interface (API) to allow clients to automate their trading systems?
Does the broker offer any other special features? (e.g. One click dealing, trading from the chart, trailing stops, mobile trading etc.)10. Trading Account
What is the minimum balance required to open an account?
What is the minimum trade size?
Can clients adjust the standard lot size traded? [?]
Can clients earn interest on the unused margin in their account?
Ok, lets get to the list of brokers:
Oanda.com is my favourite broker and the only I trade most of my capital with, here are some important points:
Website:
fxtrade.oanda.com
Headquarters:
New York, NY, USA
Phone:
1.877.OANDA.FX
Regulated By:
NFA, CFTC, DFSA, MAS, IIROC
NFA ID#:
0325821
Founded:
2001
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: No
Minimum Account Size: None
Minimum Trade Size: $1
Customers: Individuals, money managers, and brokerage firms.
Languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, and Chinese.
Services:
OANDA offers its clients the ability to trade any amount, any time, anywhere. Make your trades as granular or fragmented as you need, or place large trades up to 10 million units without any variation in pricing. Trade on multiple platforms using an internet browser interface or mobile device, API forex trading is also available. OANDA offers 54 major and exotic currency pairs, as well as four silver and gold crosses. Trade any time, 24/7. Only OANDA is open for weekend forex trading.
Your OANDA fxTrade account also provides free access to: Up-to-the-minute financial news and market analysis from leading news providers such as Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones International, 4CAST, and UBS Analysis. Multiple sub-accounts so you can transfer funds between different currencies or convert your funds to strategic currencies.
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 0.9 |
| GBPUSD | 2.2 |
| USDJPY | 1.1 |
| USDCHF | 1.8 |
| AUDUSD | 1.7 |
| EURCHF | 1.0 |
| EURGBP | 0.9 |
| USDCAD | 1.9 |
Forex.com is my second favourite broker, trading with them for about 5 years now and no complains so far, here is review:
Website “www.forex.com”
Established 1999
Country USA
Platform Online
Advantages:
»Low spreads, 1-2 pips for major pairs
»4 trading platforms, including wireless
»11 languages
»Around-the-clock support is available
Disadvantages:
»Not intuitive and takes some time to learn to use
»Monthly statements are only mailed upon request
»Minimum deposit relatively high – $250 for mini-account alone.
»FOREX made an unsolicited phone call to potential investor.
FOREX.com is a division of GAIN Capital Group, one of the most respected online FOREX trading firms in the industry. The company’s flagship service, GAIN Capital, is used by institutional investors, professional money managers and experienced day traders from more than140 countries.
FOREX.com provides a comprehensive resource for individuals new to the market or with limited experience trading foreign currencies. It includes educational content, training tools, and market information, along with full-service trading capabilities.
At FOREX.com, you can trade on dealing spreads as low as 1-2 pips on the most widely traded currency pairs. You can open a mini account, with a minimum deposit of $250, and a minimum transaction size of 1/10th standard sized lot, or 10,000 of the base currency, with a minimum margin deposit of 0.5% (200:1 leverage). For example, a US$10,000 position would require an initial margin deposit of US$50. A standard account requires a minimum deposit of $2,500, has a minimum transaction size of 1 lot, or 100,000 of the base currency, and a minimum margin deposit of 1% (100:1 leverage). For example, a US$100,000 position would require an initial margin deposit of US$1,000.
FOREX.com uses four trader platforms – FOREX Trader, FOREX Trader.Java, FOREX Trader.Web and FOREX Trader.wireless – that combine ease of use, unprecedented flexibility and a full suite of professional charting and order management tools, all on a single screen. Best of all, you can use the same User ID and Password to switch between platforms at will, depending on your needs at the moment.
The registration process through download and is quick and easy. You can use credit or debit cards, wire transfers, or personal, business, or cashier’s check to fund your account. Withdrawal requests are processed within two (2) business days of receipt. There is no fee for withdrawal requests via check. Withdrawal requests via wire transfer will incur a $25 fee for wires within the United States, and $40 fee for international wires (including Canada).
It’s also easy to keep track of your trades. Deals are confirmed on screen, typically within one second. Full transaction details may be accessed on screen as well; including date, time, rate, notional amount bought and sold, USD value, and reference numbers.
Alpari is my third favourite broker as it accepts and invented metatrader platform I believe, which is very useful.
Website:
www.alpari.co.uk
Headquarters:
London, UK
Phone:
+44.(0)20.7426.2890
Regulated By:
FSA (UK)
Founded:
2004
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $200 USD
Minimum Trade Size: 1 micro lot (1k)
Customers: Individuals, companies, and institutions.
Languages: English
Services:
Alpari (UK) Limited provides professional Internet trading services in FOREX to individual and corporate clients via MetaTrader4 Trading Platform. Regulated by the Financial Services Authority. We offer trading accounts in USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY and the possibility to trade micro lots. Real-time news, commentary from Dow Jones Newswires for live clients. IB-programs.
*Under normal market conditions.
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 1.6* |
| GBPUSD | 2.5 |
| USDJPY | 2 |
| USDCHF | 2.6 |
| AUDUSD | 2.8 |
| EURCHF | 2.8 |
| EURGBP | 2 |
| USDCAD | 3.5 |
ACM is a Swiss FX Service Provider providing more than 65 tradable asset pairs with execution conditions furnished for professional dealing.
Website:
www.ac-markets.com
Headquarters:
Geneva, Switzerland
Phone:
+41.22.319.22.00
Regulated By:
Swiss Financial Market Authority
Founded:
2002
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $2,000
Minimum Trade Size: 1 mini lot (10k)
Customers: Private investors, introducing brokers, fund managers, financial institutions, banks.
Languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Greek, Farsi, Japanese, and Chinese.
| Services:
Founded in 2002, the company joined Swissquote Bank in 2010 – Switzerland’s largest online bank and brokerage. Swissquote is publically traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Bank is regulated by FINMA and as of March 2011, has over $8 billion in asset under management. No Commissions, No Hidden Fees* *ACM is compensated through the Bid/Ask Spread. |
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Forex Club is a top rated New York based brokerage that is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA).
Website:
www.fxclub.com
Headquarters:
New York, NY, USA
Phone:
1.800.881.3809
Regulated By:
NFA/CFTC (US)
NFA ID#:
0358265
Founded:
2005
Free Demo Account:
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $200
Minimum Trade Size: 1 micro lot (1K) for ExpressFX; 1 mini lot (10k) for ActTrader; 1 lot (100k) for Rumus
Customers: Individuals, money managers, white label partners, and introducing brokers. (for referral programs, please visit fxclub.com/partners)
Languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), and Russian.
Services:
Forex Club services accounts in over 110 countries. The broker’s mission is to provide traders with cutting edge tools to help clients make better educated trades. Forex Club offers a variety of trading platforms, each tailored to different types of traders based upon their experience on the markets. The company’s ExpressFX platform is the preferred platform for beginners, which trades with 0 spreads and offers commission returns on unprofitable trades. Their new ActTrader platform is a powerful trading system that trades with spreads as low as 0.6 pips.
*Typical spreads under normal market conditions.
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 0.6* |
| GBPUSD | 1.8 |
| USDJPY | 0.6 |
| USDCHF | 0.8 |
| AUDUSD | 1.6 |
| EURCHF | 1 |
| EURGBP | 0.6 |
| USDCAD | 1.8 |
FxPro Financial Services Limited is an award-winning and rapidly expanding industry leader in the fast growing forex market
Website:
www.fxpro.com
Headquarters:
Ypsonas, Cyprus
Phone:
+357.25.969.222
Regulated By:
CySEC (CY), FSA (UK)
Founded:
2006
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $500 (Standard Account); $25000 (Premium Account)
Minimum Trade Size: 1 mini lot (10K)
Customers: Individuals, institutional traders, money managers, and introducing brokers.
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Estonian, Arabic, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese.
| Services: Serving clients from more than 140 countries with trading and outstanding levels of customer support 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, our goal is to become the world’s preferred forex broker. With a popular range of trading platforms and a well-regarded global brand, FxPro has emerged as a first choice for clients seeking user-friendly market access through a highly customizable superior trading infrastructure. We serve clients worldwide, with offices in Cyprus, London, Nice, Moscow, Madrid and Vienna. |
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GFT offers its free award-winning DealBook® software suite – trade on your main computer with DealBook® 360, on your mobile phone, Blackberry or iPhone with DealBook® Mobile or on any computer with DealBook® WEB.
Website:
www.gftforex.com
Headquarters:
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Phone:
1.616.956.9273
Regulated By:
ASIC (Australia), CFTC/NFA (US), DGCX/DMCC (Dubai), FSA (Japan and UK), MAS (Singapore)
NFA ID#:
0279553
Founded:
1997
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $200
Minimum Trade Size: 1 mini lot (10k)
Customers: Individuals, fund managers, referring parties and introducing brokers, corporate and financial institutions.
Languages: English, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Services:
GFT offers its free award-winning DealBook® software suite – trade on your main computer with DealBook® 360, on your mobile phone, Blackberry or iPhone with DealBook® Mobile or on any computer with DealBook® WEB. We’re here to help with customer support via phone, e-mail and live text chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Open an account for as little as $200 and trade more than 120 currency pairs.
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 1 |
| GBPUSD | 2 |
| USDJPY | 1 |
| USDCHF | 1 |
| AUDUSD | 2 |
| EURCHF | 1 |
| EURGBP | 1 |
| USDCAD | 2 |
Interbankfx straight through order processing and unique business model make your continued success critical to our company’s health and well being.
Website:
www.ibfx.com
Headquarters:
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Phone:
1.801.930.6800
Regulated By:
NFA/CFTC (US)
NFA ID#:
0326091
Founded:
2001
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $250
Minimum Trade Size: 1 micro lot ($100)
Customers: Retail investors, sophisticated money managers, and introducing brokers.
Languages: English, Arabic, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Services:
Our straight through order processing and unique business model make your continued success critical to our company’s health and well being.
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 2 |
| GBPUSD | 4 |
| USDJPY | 3 |
| USDCHF | 4 |
| AUDUSD | 5 |
| EURCHF | 4 |
| EURGBP | 4 |
| USDCAD | 5 |
IG Markets offers a service to thousands of clients around the globe with a wide array of products products from a single account and trading platform
Company IG Group
On-line since 2001
Country United Kingdom
Payment options Wire transfer, checks, credit cards and Moneybookers
Minimum account size $200
Minimum position size 0.1 lot
Leverage up to 1:50
Pros :
wide range of markets , thousands of shares , indices , commodities , forex , LME metals ( CFD ) and options .
Fast execution .
Stable platform plus mobile trading and phone dealing is available .
Excellent customer service .
Recently lowered their spreads .
Innovative : always there is new products and upgrades .
Direct access trading available for stocks with puredeal platform and L2dealer software .
Professional spot forex trading with tier 1 banks available with L2dealer software .
Better fills : if price moved against you when you use market order you get filled at the new improved price , and if price went your way your market order get rejected and you dont get slippage ( although this could be a problem at some point )
Ladder trading for stocks available with L2dealer software .
IG is a FTSE250 comapny with a strong cash and great performance .
Good advanced charts and dealing on charts are available .
Guaranteed stops .
Cons :
High commissions for stocks DMA trading and high minimums , ie : 2 cents per side for US stocks with a minimum commission of 15 $ even if the stock price is few dollars only . UK shares 0.1% per side .
High commission for FX spot L2 dealing : 30$ for 1 M $ per side with a minimum of 30 $ . ( there is a discount for high volume trading ) .
Real automated trading is not available .
High leverage offered by IG and binaries could be a distraction for the un experienced trader .
Charges 1.5% for credit card deposits and refunds .
MIG Bank is the first Forex broker to become a Swiss bank. MIG Bank specializes in online FX trading and provides some of the best trading conditions to its clients worldwide.
Website:
www.migbank.com
Headquarters:
Neuchatel, Switzerland
Phone:
+41.32.722.81.00
Regulated By:
FINMA (CH)
Founded:
2003
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $2,000
Minimum Trade Size: 1 mini lot (10k)
Customers: Private and institutional investors, asset managers, business finders, and white label partners.
Languages: English, Afrikaans, Arabic, Danish, Cantonese, Czech, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hakka, Hokkien, Hindi, Indonesian (Bahasa), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Urdu.
Services:
MIG Bank is regulated by FINMA (The Swiss Financial Markets Regulatory Authority) and among its advantages are:
*Security of a Swiss bank
*Spreads from 0.5 pip
*Leverage up to 1:500
*70 currency pairs
*Spot Gold and Silver
*Accounts from $2,000
| Spreads: | |
| EURUSD | 0.5 |
| GBPUSD | 1.5 |
| USDJPY | 0.8 |
| USDCHF | 1.5 |
| AUDUSD | 2 |
| EURCHF | 2.2 |
| EURGBP | 1.2 |
| USDCAD | 3 |
FXCM specializes in self-traded forex accounts with options available for all levels of trading experience. Micro accounts begin at only $25 and offer 1K lot sizes.
Website:
www.fxcm.com
Headquarters:
New York, NY
Phone:
1.888.50.FOREX
Regulated By:
NFA/CFTC (US), FFSA (UK), SFC (HK), ASIC (AUS), FSA/CECEI (France), DMCC (Dubai), CONSOB (Italy)
NFA ID#:
0308179
Founded:
1999
Free Demo Account: Yes
Mini Forex Trading: Yes
Minimum Account Size: $25 Micro, $2,000 Standard, $2,000 FFS, $2,000 MT4, $25,000 Active Trader
Minimum Trade Size: 1 micro lot (1k)
Customers: Individuals, institutional traders, and referring brokers.
Languages: Email support is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
| Services: Micro accounts begin at only $25 and offer 1K lot sizes. Benefits include trading directly from Charts, Positive Rolls at All Margin Levels, Up to 200:1 Leverage* and free access to real-time proprietary trading signals. Clients also have mobile trading, hedging capability and one-click order execution. FXCM’s CFD product allows traders to trade oil, gold, silver and stock indices, along with forex on one platform. In addition to currency trading, FXCM offers educational courses on forex and CFD trading, and provides free news and research through DailyFX.com. FXCM offers live support 24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week via phone, IM, and e-mail. *Without proper risk management, currency trading has a high degree of leverage which can lead to large losses as well as gains. Risk Warning: Currency trading involves substantial risk of loss, read full disclosure. |
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