Beware! SVG Forex is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
SVG Forex is a forex broker trading in forex, commodities and indices. The first thing that strikes you when you open the company’s webpage is the boldly displayed leverage of 1:500. What are the implications for traders, you’ll find out after you read our review.
SVG Forex Regulation and safety of funds
SVG Forex is the trading website of Times Billion Capital LTD with address in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The company claims to be regulated by the Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). However, you should know that this is a false claim as a year ago, FSA issued an official warning that they do not regulate forex and CFD brokers. We have sufficient proof that this broker is non-legit and is possibly a scammer. It is not safe to trade with.
If you are looking for a reliable and licensed broker, we suggest that you research the well-established jurisdictions of the EU, the UK, the US and Australia. Regulatory authorities in the US and Australia have set high amounts for the initial capital forex brokers must invest. In the US, it is $20 million and in Australia, it is 1 million AUD. By being well-capitalised, American and Australian brokers have the potential to protect traders from unfavourable events.
In the EU and the UK, the requirements for an initial capital is not so high – only 730,000 EUR. However, there are other measures to protect traders against scammers and from losing their funds. One of these measures is making contributions in compensation schemes or funds. CySec regulated brokers must contribute to the local Investor Compensation Funds from which each and every trader will be compensated up to 20,000 EUR in case the broker goes bankrupt. The only jurisdictions offering better protection of clients’ funds is the UK, where the local Financial Services Compensation Scheme guarantees up to 85,000 GBP per person.
Other measures to protect investors against scammers in these jurisdictions is the requirement for daily reports on transactions which serves to provide transparency and avoid shady deals. Also, imposing a leverage cap in the EU and in the US prevents traders from engaging in risky transactions and jeopardising their funds.
You will be well advised to research brokers from the links we provided above and choose one that suits best your needs.
SVG Forex Trading software
When we tried to register an account, we were not able to do so due to broken links in the system of this broker’s webpage. And when we tried to download the SVG trading platform, we got a warning that it is not safe to do so. Apparently, there is something fishy with the set up of this website and we do not think that a self-respecting licensed broker will have such mishaps on its website.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this review, the proudly displayed leverage of 1:500 was the first thing that grabbed our attention after opening the company’s website. In fact, we were alarmed to see such high leverage as it presents a high risk of losing money. Traders may get swayed by it with the promise of making a big profit. That technically is possible. However, if you keep in mind the statistics that shaw around 70% of traders experiencing financial loss in transactions, you will realise that high leverage actually increases your risk exposure. Also, be informed that in the EU and the US, regulated brokers have a cap on leverage and it cannot exceed 1:30 in the EU and 1:50 in the US. Australia is also taking steps to lower the risks of traders losing funds and will introduce a cap of 1:30 on major forex currency pairs as of March 2021. So, here is our advice to you – look for a legit broker that offers low leverage and won’t expose your hard-earned money at risk.
For your information, most of the licensed brokers use either MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 trading platform as they are the best in the forex trading world. Both platforms come equipped with an amazing package of trading tools and instruments, such as code base with customs scripts, auto trading option, an app market, VPS, a financial calendar, trading signals which can be obtained for a subscription fee, etc. We are truly amazed by the array of charting options that can be found in these platforms. The traders can select different chart types, time frames, colours, they can create templates or benefit from the technical analysis indicators, such as moving averages, Bollinger Bands, Fibonacci retracement, etc., that help them predict the future direction of exchange rates and make a profit.
In our opinion, a combination of a licensed broker and MT4 or MT5 will truly enhance your trading experience.
SVG Forex Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
SVG Forex offers 3 different account types – Standard, with the minimum initial deposit of $250, Profesional, starting at $5,000 and VIP, starting at $20,000. We want to point out here that the minimum initial deposit may not look like a huge amount, but licensed brokers will ask for less, i.e., $1-5.
To feed an account, the trader can choose to pay via credit card, bank transfer or E-Wallets.
An account that stays inactive for 12 months is considered dormant and an annual maintenance fee of $25.
In the Terms and Conditions document, we found out that this broker is offering 2 types of bonuses – Free bonus and Deposit bonus. For those of you who are new to the forex trading world and do not know about bonuses, let us tell you that although bonuses may look like free gifts (as the name suggest), in fact, they are not. What’s more, they often come with heavy to fulfil requirements attached to them. In this case, if you accept a free bonus then you must execute a trading volume equals 35 times the amount of the bonus in order to be able to withdraw your earnings. Should you choose to accept the Deposit amount, then you’ll have to execute a trading volume that equals 20 times the amount of the bonus. It’s quite a hassle, isn’t it? Ask yourself if it’s worth it.
For your information, licensed brokers do not offer any type of bonuses or free gifts and that is the distinguishable line between legit and non-legit brokers.
How does scam work?
A lot of people get scammed in different scammers’ schemes not because they are naive but because scammers are masters of persuasion and manipulation. It all starts with unsolicited telephone calls or a flashy ad on the Internet or social media. Sometimes people give up to temptation and invest money in shady schemes made to look legit and attractive and always promising quick and easy money fall. Once you deposit money into any of these schemes, you reach a point of no return! Your money is gone down the scammers’ food chain and you’ll have a lot of trouble recovering it. Scammers will do anything in their power to delay you, so you miss the opportunity to file for a chargeback. They will ask you for this and that document and will find hundreds of reasons not to let you retrieve your money. The trick with offering bonuses in forex trading is one of those as your funds are mixed with the bonus money and it takes a lot of hassle to fulfil the broker’s requirements before you are able to withdraw any funds.
What to do if scammed?
Speed does it! You need to act very quickly if you want to recover your money. Immediately apply for a chargeback if you have made your deposit via credit card. Fortunately, VISA and MasterCard give you 540 days within which to apply for a chargeback.
If you have paid via wire transfer or Bitcoin, chances of retrieving your fund are grim. Anyway, we want to warn you that some of the so-called recovery agents may approach you and offer to retrieve your funds. For a fee, of course! Be cautious when dealing with them as it may be another form of scam! Always check if the recovery agency is legitimate and visible to the public!
Another thing we advise you to do is to immediately cancel any credit cards if the scammers have your CVV code. Also, make sure to erase any programs on your computer that give scammers access to your personal data on your PC.
