FXCM: Expert Review Of The Broker

FXCM (Forex Capital Markets) is an international brokerage company founded in 1999 in the UK. Now the broker provides clients with access to online CFD trading on various assets: currency pairs, metals, stocks and others. What makes this company different from dozens of other Forex brokers with offshore registration? Is this project not an SCAM? Read this review to the end to find out the truth. 

Company registration and licenses

Forex Capital Markets is positioning itself as a British financial company with favorable CFD trading conditions. On their website, they list some rewards, as well as benefits in the form of unique trading conditions and a variety of financial instruments for online trading. Does it correspond to reality? 

First, let's understand the structure of the company. It is actually a large holding company called FXCM Group. It combines several divisions located in different countries: the UK, Australia, Canada, Africa and others. Each division has a license from the local regulator. Clients can therefore use the services of their country's unit, confident in the legality of its operations. 

Where is the head office located? According to official figures, the owners' head office is located in the UK. Other offices are located in countries such as Israel, Greece, Australia and others. In some countries, services are provided by FXCM Markets Limited, a company registered in Bermuda. It is an offshore zone with low international rating. 

The offshore company is part of the FXCM Group holding company with a UK registered office at 20 Gresham Street, 4th Floor, London EC2V 7JE, United Kingdom. Therefore, when choosing this company, make sure that you are dealing with a regional division and not an offshore company. As a Bermuda incorporation can create difficulties in the future. 

It is important for potential clients to know that Leucadia Investments became the majority owner in 2015. This is stated on the company's website. But nothing has changed in the structure of the broker itself. And all activities are conducted for FXCM. Formally, Leucadia Investments is the managing office of the broker from 2015 until today.  

Leucadia is the former name of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), part of its commercial banking business. Jefferies operates a full-service investment banking firm headquartered in the United States. However, very little is known about this company. There is not even a website on Bloomberg. This is very strange. 

We have checked FXCM's licences in more detail to make sure that it is safe to work with this company. This broker has many licences from regulatory bodies. It also has many divisions, including FXCM EU LTD ("FXCM EU"), FXCM Australia Pty. Limited ("FXCM AU"), FXCM South Africa and others. Please contact your local FXCM branch to ensure you have no problems. For example, Australian residents are advised to open an account at https://www.fxcm.com/au/. Accordingly, branches are regulated by local regulators. This increases the security and transparency of the brokerage service. However, in some countries, it is possible to open an account only with an offshore branch registered in Bermuda.

Nevertheless, all the licences listed on the website were active. That is, each unit from different countries has a valid regulator's licence.




Now let's take a closer look at FXCM's trading conditions. This is very important for traders. Some conditions determine the outcome of online trading and the profitability of trades.

Terms of trade

At first glance, they seem very attractive. But we should not forget that honest brokers earn on spread, swap and commission. Therefore, 0% spread and commission means that the broker has another benefit. 

FXCM (Forex Capital Markets) provides access to the most popular financial instruments: Forex, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies and commodities. 

You can trade these assets in CFDs with great leverage.

 However, leverage above 1:50 in most cases means unfair play and high risks for the trader. That's why FXCM offers different leverages to clients from different countries. For example, in the UK division at, https://www.fxcm.com/uk/ you will be able to trade with up to 1:30 leverage. This is in line with European norms. However, in the Bermuda offshore division, leverage is up to 1:400. This is very dangerous. So try to cooperate only with the European office of FXCM.

Trading with such conditions is very risky for the deposit.  

Also pay attention to the minimum deposit. It is only $50. With such amount, the deals are never transmitted to the real financial market or stock exchange. So, you have to be careful if you trade with a leverage higher than 1:30.

Limitations on leverage apply in the European Union, Australia and several other countries.

Otherwise, the trading conditions of the company are as expected. Traders may conduct transactions with more than 200 financial instruments through the Metatrader trading terminal. Spreads are market-dependent. Swaps are not charged on major asset classes.

It is noteworthy that you can try trading on a demo account. It is a good signal. Therefore, we recommend you to test the terms of deals execution with the virtual account from the very beginning.

Payment Terms

Before choosing a brokerage company, it is important to research payment and withdrawal methods. FXCM has several payment methods on its website:

   - Bank transfer

   - Credit/debit cards

   - Neteller

   - Skrill

   - UnionPay

   - Bpay

Deposits or withdrawals can be made in multiple currencies including USD, AUD, GBP and EUR. Wire transfers and deposits are made to the account of FXCM Markets Limited and deposited to an offshore account. In some countries, funds are sent to regional representatives (e.g. to FXCM Australia or Greece). This makes it difficult to track the money transfers. So, you have to be careful. 

However, there are no delays in transactions. Usually, the money arrives to the account in 1-3 days. But you can withdraw it only after verification to the deposit account. If you do not pass the verification, you will not be able to withdraw the deposit. Also, there are many restrictions on deposits and withdrawals for residents of some countries. Depositing money to the account from the U.S., Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and some Asian countries is impossible. 

Registration and verification 

The registration process at FXCM is no different. You will first need to enter your contact details and country of residence. 

You must then enter your document details for verification. This is a standard procedure at any broker. It will take a few minutes to complete. This is because verification consists of several steps. You will need to give your place of work, residential address, job title and even your income.

At the end of the verification process, pay attention to the region in which you are registering. When registering from many countries, it is only possible to open an account with a company that is registered in Bermuda. We do not recommend working with this department of FXCM.

Are FXCM's awards real?

It was important for us to check the validity of all the FXCM awards. Many companies list non-existent nominations and awards. There is an awards' section on the FXCM website. 

We checked every nomination on the official websites. All the FXCM wins listed are real. This shows that the company tries to meet all the standards and wishes of its clients. Even despite the presence of a Bermuda office and controversial trading conditions for customers of the company's offshore division. 

Below you can see some screenshots from the official award websites showing FXCM's wins. 

However, FXCM sponsors most of the international awards. Therefore, some nominations may not be objective due to the financial support of the organizations running these competitions.

Resume 

FXCM (Forex Capital Markets) is a licensed company with a transparent history. We have managed to verify all regulators' licenses and awards. They are true. But the company has a branch in Bermuda. When registering, make sure that you will not be dealing with this particular offshore affiliate. 

To be on the safe side, it is advisable to deal only with European representations of this company. Offshore offices offer risky trading conditions. In particular, the leverage up to 1:400. It means that the trades are not put on the market. In no civilised country do stock exchanges operate with such leverage.

The company is honest with its clients and that is a good thing. They specify real rewards and brokerage terms and conditions. However, you have to be careful and try to register only on the UK or European domain of FXCM. 

Advantages

   - Multilingual interface of the website and customer support

   - Demo account

   - Wide range of financial instruments

   - Functional trading platforms Metatrader (for PC and mobile devices)\ Zulutrade, NinjaTrader

   - Valid regulators licenses

Disadvantages

   - The company has offices offshore client from CIS can only be registered under Bermuda license, so such trades are not secure