RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
Exness is a reputable, big broker that has been on the market since 2008 and in that decade and a half has managed to build a very successful brand. Initially founded as a Cypriot company, this broker has managed to obtain licenses from authorities like the FCA and the FSCA, and from a huge number of lesser-known offshore regulators. There can be no doubt of this broker’s reliability and the conditions its clients could get access to are impressively good.
This is a very good option if you are looking for a low-cost broker to start trading with – check out the full review below.
Exness REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
Exness is a multi-regulated broker that truly deserves the reputation of a global brand. The broker is licensed by various regulators in multiple regions allowing you to trade with a bigger sense of security. Currently, Exness has offices in Cyprus (where it is headquartered), the UK, South Africa, Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands, and Curaçao.
The fact that Exness is licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Cyprus’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) means that you should not have any doubt about this broker’s reliability – these are probably two best-known, strictest regulators in the world. If a broker wants to obtain a license from one of them, they have to meet many requirements, report to those authorities regularly, and maintain a high standard. All of these have to prove their financial stability by maintaining a certain minimum capital of €730 000 – and potentially more if they have many clients. They must also keep client money separated from their own funds in segregated bank accounts – this proves the broker would not be able to lose your money for its own activities and means that your money would not be lost in case your broker goes bankrupt. All such brokers provide negative balance protection – you could never lose more money than you have in your account. Finally, because of the compensation schemes that exist both in the UK and in the EU, you would receive a compensation of up to £85 000 or €20 000 in case your broker becomes insolvent.
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The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa is another regulator Exness is licensed by. This is another financial authority with a solid reputation that aims to keep the South African market fair and transparent. All forex brokers who want to obtain a license from this regulator must have a local office and enough capital to cover all potential debt and all possible business activities. They must also be evaluated based on reputation, employee experience, and financial stability.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles is far less strict. However, this regulatory body still has some basic requirements for the brokers it regulates – they must have a capital of at least $50 000 and two shareholders and two directors. However, that capital can later be used for other activities, and the same person can act as both a shareholder and a director. Exness has also obtained a license from this regulator.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands is surprisingly stern – all licensed brokers must hold capital of between $100 000 and $1 000 000 depending on the type of license they want to obtain and the services they want to offer.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius is another offshore regulator Exness has turned to for a license. Depending on the type of services the broker wants to offer, it has to prove that it holds the capital of between €25 000 and €250 000.
Finally, Exness is also regulated by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS).
Country | Regulator | Minimum Capital Requirments | Compensation Funds |
Cyprus | CySEC | €730 000 | €20 000 |
The UK | FCA | €730 000 | £85 000 |
South Africa | FSCA | determined on a case-by-case basis | No |
Seychelles | FSA of Seychelles | $50 000 | No |
Curaçao | CBCS | – | No |
Mauritius | FSC of Mauritius | between €25 000 and €250 000 | No |
The British Virgin Islands | FSC of the British Virgin Islands | between $100 000 and $1 000 000 | No |
Exness TRADING SOFTWARE
Exness offers access to a variety of trading software options – popular platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, a custom-built web trading platform, and a mobile app.
The web platform the broker offers – Exness Terminal – is nothing to write home about. It is a beginner-friendly web-based platform the likes of which we have seen many times before.
The platform still offers a decent charting and analysis package but we did not stumble upon any other tools worth mentioning. This would be a good option if you are a complete beginner – more experienced traders, however, would probably not find trading on such a platform satisfactory.
Luckily, Exness also allows you to trade on both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 – the two most popular platforms in the world of trading. Both of these platforms are perfect for both beginners and professional traders since they combine a high level of functionality with an intuitive interface. MT4 and MT5 come with a variety of indicators, timeframes, chart types, order execution types, and pending order types (although the variety is bigger on MT5 than on MT4). But the platforms have a lot more to offer – Expert Advisors that track markets and trade automatically as well as the opportunity to purchase a VPSs to keep those EAs operating even when your computer is off, a Strategy Tester, and the chance to export charts, a market for additional trading apps, the possibility to set signals and to subscribe to those set by others, etc. MT5 also features a community chat and a built-in economic calendar.
While MT4 is mostly used for forex and CFD trading, MT5 allows access to a full range of markets – stocks, commodities, indices, etc. You can try one or both platforms with Exness to see which one suits your trading style better.
For clients who have chosen an MT5 account, Exness also offers the possibility to connect your account to a mobile app – which is available both for Android and iOS. The app allows instant deposits and withdrawals, offers access to over 200 instruments, and features some free analytical tools. All in all, this is a decent option if you want to trade on the go.
Exness TRADING CONDITIONS
Exness offers access to the most popular markets – Forex, Metals, Energies, Stocks, Indices, and Cryptocurrencies – and offers fairly attractive conditions.
Clients can choose between a Standard or a Professional account – both of these could be either on MT4 or MT5.
There is only one kind of Standard account. The minimum deposit depends on the payment system you are using to make a payment – $10 for almost all payment solutions except for PerfectMoney where you cannot deposit less than $50. Spreads on these accounts are supposed to start from 0.3 pips and there is no additional commission – all of these factors make Exness one of the most affordable brokers out there. The spreads we got on the broker’s platform were around 0.8-1 pips – fairly decent results. Such spreads mean you would only have to pay between $8 and $10 for every lot you trade with Exness. The leverage you could reach on this account type could potentially be unlimited – however, if you want to go higher than 1:2000, you would have to meet some additional conditions. You must have traded more than 5 lots, closed at least 10 positions, and have less than $1000 in your account. Trading with extremely high leverage could be very dangerous and lead to serious losses – that is why only experienced traders should opt for such rates. 1:2000 is very high as it is.
Keep in mind that traders working with the UK or EU branch of the broker would not be able to trade with leverage higher than 1:30 – the leverage retail clients could get access to in both of these jurisdictions is restricted by law.
There are three types of Professional accounts mostly offered to professional institutions. In fact, the whole UK branch of Exness currently focuses on B2B (business to business) financial services, and retail traders would not be able to open an online account. Let’s take a look at the broker’s Professional accounts.
Firstly, we have the Raw Spread account – which, as the name suggests, offers you the possibility to trade with spreads starting from 0 pips. There is, however, an additional commission of $3.5 per side per lot ($7 round-turn). This still means you will not be paying a lot of money to the broker which makes such a Professional account a slightly better option than a Standard account. The minimum deposit is just $200 and leverage could still be unlimited or up to 1:2000.
The Zero account is another good option. Spreads start, again, from 0 pips and the commission is significantly lower – just $0.2 per side per lot or $0.4 round-turn. However, you will only be able to trade the top 30 instruments. The minimum deposit is $200 and leverage is potentially unlimited.
The Pro account offers spreads starting from 0.1 pips with no additional commissions. However, this is an instant execution account – unlike the other ones which are market execution. Instant execution means that each time an order cannot be executed at the price you have suggested, you will get a requote with a new price from the broker – you can then decide whether to execute the order or not. This higher number of requotes means slower, less efficient trading. All the other conditions on the account are the same
Type of Account | Minimum Deposit | Spreads | Leverage | Commissions | Execution |
Standard | Depends on the payment method – $10-$50 | starting from 0.3 pips (around 0.8-1 pips) | 1:Unlimited | None | Market |
Professional | |||||
Raw Spread | $200 | starting from 0 pips | 1:Unlimited | $3.5 per side per lot | Market |
Zero | $200 | starting from 0 pips | 1:Unlimited | $0.2 per side per lot | Market |
Pro | $200 | starting from 0.1 pips | 1:Unlimited | None | Instant |
Exness BONUSES AND PROMOTIONS
To clients working with its branches outside of the UK and the EU, Exness offers a handful of bonuses we would like to mention. All of these bonuses cannot be withdrawn.
Currently, the broker offers you the chance to participate in online research on how people trade – the study is conducted via a 30-minute interactive tutorial. Once you complete it, your live MT4 account will automatically be credited with $50 you could use for trading.
The broker sometimes distributes additional credits for active traders based on the number of lots of a given instrument you have traded. If you have traded 2 lots of EURUSD, you will be getting $4 – 2 lots multiplied by the score of the group EURUSD falls into. However, if you have traded 2 lots of XAGUSD or XAGEUR – two less popular instruments – you can get as much as $32 – 2 lots multiplied by the score of 16.
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Exness DEPOSIT/WITHDRAWAL METHODS AND FEES
Not only does Exness not charge any deposit and withdrawal fees itself but also tries to cover some third-party payment fees. The broker accepts all of the most popular payment methods – credit and debit card, wire transfer, Neteller, Skrill, PerfectMoney, StickPay, Bitcoin, and Tether. The does not cover mining fees for cryptocurrency payments, deposits via Tether, and withdrawals via Skrill or PerfectMoney.
Additionally, Exness has removed swap fees for most instruments – which makes this broker a good choice for Muslim traders who want to follow the principles of their religion.
BOTTOM LINE
Exness is a multi-regulated broker that offers trading accounts with good conditions and some of the lowest prices in the industry. The absence of additional fees is one of the biggest perks of turning to this broker – however, Exness seems to be directed slightly more toward a professional clientele who knows how to handle high leverage and wants to trade more actively.