RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
Many of the websites we review claim to be an award winning, industry-leading and truly global forex broker. FxPro is one of the few for whom this is indeed true. This is a very solid, regulated and transparent broker offering advanced technical solutions. FxPro services are available in almost the entire world, except in certain jurisdictions such as the USA and Canada.
FXPRO REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The legal entity behind the FxPro is the FxPro Group Limited – holding company of FxPro Financial Services Ltd, FxPro UK Limited and FxPro Global Markets Ltd.
FxPro UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). FxPro Financial Services Ltd is based in Cyprus. The license from Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) allows this company to operate throughout the European Union. FxPro Financial Services Ltd is also authorised by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa.
Brokers in the EU and UK must meet some of the strictest requirements for transparency and consumer protection. Client’s money are kept segregated from the broker’s operating funds in separate bank accounts. Thus the clients’ money remains shielded in case of mishaps like a broker’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of such a bankruptcy is low because regulators also have significant net capital requirements that companies must maintain – EUR 730 000.
All brokers licensed in the UK and Cyprus are also required to be members of the Investor Compensation Fund, which may cover a maximum of up to 20 000 EUR in the EU and 85 000 GBP in the UK. Those brokers are required to report their clients’ transactions on a regular basis and provide negative balance protection.
The third company in the holding, FxPro Global Markets Ltd, is based offshore in the Bahamas. Large brokerage firms often register offshore subsidiaries to compete more effectively in unregulated emerging markets in Asia and Africa. In such cases, the brand image should serve as a guarantee that, although unregulated, offshore companies will follow good business practices. Offshore brokers also allow trading with higher leverage than regulated ones. But there is a tradeoff – the investments of clients of offshore companies are not covered by protections such as compensation funds.
The FxPro website has a function to quickly switch between the versions for the three legal entities, which allows easy comparison between conditions. The website is available in over 30 languages. The account creation process is quick and straightforward and includes a typical survey to determine the trader’s experience, investment intentions and attitude to risk.
Alternative FCA and CySec regulated brokers:
FXPRO TRADING SOFTWARE
One of the areas in which FxPro differentiates itself from most of its competitors is the extremely wide range of trading software it offers its customers.
First of all, FxPro offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Although this platform was released way back in 2005, it is still a favorite among many brokers worldwide. A key factor in MetaTrader’s leadership is its automated trading capabilities, including the use of Expert Advisor bots and custom scripts for back-testing trading strategies.
The software is available for Windows and Mac desktop computers, Android and iOS mobile devices, as well as in a web version that can be used via a browser. Here’s what the desktop platform looks like:
Alternative MetaTrader 4 brokers:
FxPro also offers a more recent version of MetaTrader, MT5. This platform does have some features not available with MT4, such as the Market Depth option, which features the volume of bids and offers for a financial security at different prices, as well as a built-in economic calendar. MT5 also has more technical indicators, graphic objects and time frames available.
Alternative MetaTrader 5 brokers:
FxPro customers can also choose another advanced platform – cTrader. It has all the features of the MetaTrader platforms, including the use of autotrading scripts, but even more technical indicators and timeframes than MT5. However, the use of cTrader is associated with different trading conditions and access to fewer asset classes. The software is also available in web, desktop and mobile versions. Here’s what the cTrader desktop platform looks like:
In addition, FxPro offers its own web platform, which is also available via a mobile app. This platform has all the main functionality for placing orders and using technical indicators, but does not have the ability to use Expert Advisor bots.
For clients using MetaTrader or cTrader platforms, FxPro offers Virtual Private Servers that allow automated trading scripts to be independent of the trader’s personal hardware and intranet connection.
FXPRO TRADING CONDITIONS
FxPro points out as its main advantage that it is a No Dealing Desk Execution (NDD) broker. According to FxPro, this order execution technique outperforms traditional Straight-Through-Processing (STP) and Electronic Communication Network (ECN) in terms of transparency and speed, allowing most trades to be executed in under 14 milliseconds.
The trading account types offered by FxPro are primarily tied to the trading platform of choice. After the initial registration, you can create multiple accounts of different types. As a base currency for an account can be used USD, EUR, AUD, SHF, GBP, JPY, PLN and ZAR.
MT4 platform accounts allow a choice between instant and market execution, while other platforms only use market execution. MT4 accounts also have the option of fixed instead of floating spreads, but these only apply to a small number of major currency pairs.
The spread for the benchmark currency pair EUR/USD with а MT4 account is 1.5 pips. This is not the lowest level that can be found, but the lack of additional commissions makes it competitive enough. For accounts using MT5 and FxPro own platform, there is also no cost to the trader outside the spread.
With a cTrader account, however, there is a commission of 45 USD per 1 million USD traded (upon opening and closing a position). This commission applies when trading currencies and metals, but not when trading indices and energy. This commission is compensated by significantly lower spreads – 0.3 pips for EUR/USD. This means that the trader will pay around 120 USD for 10 lots traded, compared to 150 USD when using an MT4 account.
Only an MT4 account with market execution and an account using FxPro’s custom platform have access to all asset classes – Forex, Metals, Indices, Energies, Futures, Shares and Cryptocurrencies. The cTrader account cannot trade futures, shares and cryptocurrencies. The MT5 account does not have access to share trading, and the MT4 account with instant execution cannot trade cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency trading is also unavailable to FxPro UK Limited clients due to the ban on crypto derivatives imposed by the FCA.
The leverage you can trade with also depends on which of the three companies you are a client of. The Cyprus company offers leverage according to the rules of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). These rules limit leverage to 1:30 for major currency pairs, 1:20 for non-major pairs, gold and major indices, 1:10 for other commodities and non-major indices, and 1:2 for cryptocurrencies. The same rules are followed by the UK’s FCA and apply to customers of the UK branch of FxPro.
This broker imposes additional margin restrictions when the client’s trading positions exceed a certain volume. For major currency pairs, for example, the maximum allowed leverage is lowered from 1:30 to 1:20 when the client has open positions of more than 100 lots.
Clients of the offshore company FxPro Global Markets Ltd can use leverage up to 1:200. The dynamic margin requirements of the FxPro come into effect once the trader’s open positions exceed 200 lots. Then the maximum leverage is lowered to 1:100. For more than 500 lots the maximum leverage is 1:33.
FxPro has no hard minimum deposit, but has a recommended minimum investment of 1,000 USD or close equivalent in the other base currencies. This is perfectly acceptable for serious traders, but can be discouraging for those just entering the world of financial trading. The trend among most brokers is to offer starter accounts with a very low minimum deposit of 100 USD or even less.
FxPro’s clients may apply for a swap-free account for religious purposes. However, the broker warns that fees may be applied once trades on certain instruments are open for a specific number of days.
FxPro also allows easy creation of a Demo account, which can be used by beginners to learn how to trade or by experienced traders wanting to experiment with new strategies in a risk-free environment. It should be noted that Demo accounts are deactivated after 180 days and are limited to a maximum of 70 open positions.
FXPRO DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Customers of FxPro UK Ltd can deposit and withdraw funds via bank transfer or credit-debit cards Visa, Maestro and MasterCard. Those using the services of the Cyprus company also have access to e-wallets – PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and UnionPay. Customers of the Bahamas-based company have the same choice except for PayPal.
FxPro does not charge deposit and withdrawal fees.The only exception is when withdrawing money from an account that has not traded, and then only if Skrill or Netleller payment methods are used. In this case there is a fee of 2.6% with Skrill and 2% with Neteller.
BOTTOM LINE
FxPro is an excellent choice for investors who want to be sure they are working with a regulated, reputable broker offering fair and competitive trading conditions.The wide selection of trading software provides additional opportunities, especially for experienced traders who have the necessary know-how to take advantage.
Cristian
I would like to share my opinion about cooperation with this broker. I joined FxPro 2 years ago. At that time I already knew about this broker. They are quite famous and reputable in Europe. Now I am really pleased with the results. I earned much more than deposited. They always provided a good quality of services. I never had any suspicions that they could be a scam broker.
Jasper Schmitz
I do not know if people actually do have complaints about this broker. I wonder what the reason would be for an issue with Fxpro. The broker is very professional and effective so much so that in over a year of trading here, I have had no incident that I would call problematic. I cannot blame it on luck after this much time. My trade orders are always fine, funding and withdrawals are also without a glitch and the support is always on time. And also, how would one have an issue with the broker when the support is always available? I think this broker nails it.
Ralbriz
Speed of execution for trades is truly mesmerizing at FxPro. I do not know much about the terms they use, whether its a no dealing desk, or straight through processing or electronically communicating network, all I care about as a trader is that I get no requotes, and my trades execute properly.
Zainal Abdillah
If you want to make it in this business, you need options, by options I mean the freedom of choice, you need a lot of choices in terms of where and how you trade. FxPro is one of the most resourceful platforms out there, giving you the opportunity choose from a lot of of options, starting from accounts, trading platforms, assets, deposit and withdrawal methods, and so much more.
Alessio Visentin
The only thing I should know about fxpro is that it has so many years of brokerage experience behind its back, so that it makes the broker very reliable and trustworthy.
All the features and peculiarities that are mentioned in the article are also important, but credibility is paramount when it comes to the financial entity.
Because you don’t want to give money to a company which has no track record at all. It’s unreasonable to begin with.
So, guys, always pay attention to this side!
Hugo Nascimento
The first great thing about this place is the funding fees. They don’t exist. The second great thing about this company is that the amount you wait for your trades to be executed on the platform. You don’t wait at all. Once you hit the buy or sell button, your order instantly gets into a pool of an immense amount of liquidity, and it gets matched to the best possible price, and gets executed.
Victor Relo
It’s impossible to deny the might of MetaTrader 4 and I suppose that such top-tier brokers like FxPro must offer this platform to traders.
Yeah, it was released almost two decades ago, still as it’s correctly noted, this platform is considered to be the greatest, convenient and fast.
I adore trading on it, and actually I would never betray it.