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Forex, also called foreign currency trading or foreign exchange trading, is the process of exchanging one currency for another, generally for commerce, trading or tourism. It is also a sought-after method for parking money when equity markets are a volatile example: a stable Japanese yen.
A 2019 report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said the global daily average volume of forex trades stood at $5.1 trillion, which makes it the largest financial market in the world.
Forex is a marketplace for exchanging one currency for another, which are generally in pairs. For example EUR to USD or INR to USD.
In the UK alone, victims reported an average individual loss of £14,600 due to forex scams, the UK Financial Conduct Authority said in 2019. Between 2001 and 2007, over 26,000 US citizens were defrauded to the tune of $460 million, says CFTC.
The risks in general are:
There are several ways to recognize a possible foreign exchange trading scam:
We have previously researched a forex certification scam by IFMRRC.
Apart from the basic checks to see if a website is a scam, also check if the company is certified by the national financial authority or regulator.
Here we are listing a few forex traders and brokers that have proven to be reliable in the past. We have checked if they are certified by the national regulator.
Disclaimer: As things change, always do your own due diligence by checking new reviews and if the broker is still certified by the national regulator. Be aware that forex trading remains a very high-risk venture, even if the broker is legit.
Broker name |
Country |
Regulator |
| CMC Markets | UK | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), UK |
| XTB Online | Europe |
International Financial Services Commission (IFSC), Belize FCA-UK Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Spain KNF-Poland |
| Plus500 | Cyprus | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) |
| FXTM (ForexTime Ltd) | Cyprus |
CySEC FSCA-South Africa FSC-Mauritius |
| London Capital Group | UK | FCA-UK |
| Saxo Capital Markets | Denmark |
FCA-UK Finanstilstynet-Denmark MAS-Singapore |
| IG | UK | Bermuda Monetary Authority |
| Pepperstone | AU | Securities Commission of Bahamas |
| Forex.com | US |
FCA-UK CFTC-US |
| RoboForex | Cyprus | IFSC-Belize |
CMC Markets is a UK-based financial services company that offers online trading in shares, spread betting, contracts for difference (CFDs) and foreign exchange across world markets. CMC is headquartered in London, with hubs in Sydney and Singapore. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
XTB currently provides access to a variety of markets such as forex, shares, indices, metals, commodities and even cryptocurrencies. The company is regulated in the U.K. and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA #522157) as well as the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Like many forex brokers, XTB does not accept U.S. traders.
Plus500 is a global fintech firm providing online trading services in contracts for difference (CFDs), in more than 2,500 financial instruments. The company has subsidiaries in the UK, Cyprus, Australia, Israel, Seychelles, Singapore, Bulgaria, and the United States. Plus500 is listed on the London Stock Exchange with the ticker "PLUS"and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index in the Investment Banking and Broking sector and Investment Services subsector.
The FXTM or Forex Time company launched in 2011 with its headquarters in Cyprus (Limassol) also authorized by Financial Conduct Authority and other regulators. ForexTime Ltd, ForexTime UK Ltd and Exinity Limited three entities under the FXTM brand that provides trading services to more than 10,000 clients from over 135 countries around the world.
London Capital Group, also known as LCG, is a London-based financial services company that offers a variety of online trading options for investors. While the majority of the company's activities occur in the UK, the company has also operated internationally LCG is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and it is also regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
Denmark's Saxo Bank Group (Saxo Bank), founded in 1992, classifies itself as "a leading Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment and delivering ‘Banking-as-a-Service’ to wholesale clients." Saxo's flagship platform is SaxoTraderPRO, a downloadable offering that is ideal for advanced traders. An impressive product catalog includes forex, shares, commodities, indices, options, bonds, and futures, which can all be bought or sold short through CFDs, forward contracts, and/or direct ownership. Unlike some of its competitors, Saxo's spread betting offering is only available to customers that qualify as "professional clients."
With over 178,000 clients across five continents, an extensive product catalog, competitive fees, longstanding business operations, and an excellent industry reputation, it is not surprising that IG is a global leader in online trading and currently ranked as the world's top CFD provider.
Pepperstone is a Melbourne-based broker specializing in providing markets access to financial instruments, including Forex, index, share, commodities, and cryptocurrencies CFDs. Pepperstone maintains an interbank network utilizing Equinix. Pepperstone utilizes various third-party currency trading tools and infrastructure, including MetaTrader 4 and 5 and Zoho CRM.
Globally, FOREX.com offers an extensive range of offerings, from CFDs, to spread betting to futures, across several different asset classes, though not all are available in every region that it services. Aside from forex, where it derives its name, FOREX.com also offers commodities, indices, individual stocks, bonds, ETFs, gold & silver (unleveraged in US), cryptocurrencies, and futures to provide trading opportunities for all types of traders. FOREX.com (U.K.) also offers client account protection.
Sources: Wikipedia, Investopedia, 55brokers, Everybodywiki
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