RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
M4Markets is a familiar brand – but in the past only an offshore broker operated through it, whose review you can read here. Today the same brand is also used by a regulated broker offering its services to traders in the European Union. This regulated broker, operating through the m4markets.eu domain, is the subject of the current review.
The presence of regulatory oversight provides meaningful safeguards for clients. The conditions offered by M4Markets are in many respects standard, which on the one hand is good, but on the other hand means that it cannot distinguish itself from the competition by anything substantial. Let us look in detail at what M4Markets offers.
M4MARKETS REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The most important information about a financial services provider is its regulatory status. Licensed brokers provide detailed information about which company runs them, where it is based, which jurisdictions it is authorised in and which regulatory bodies oversee its activities.
The homepage of the website states that M4Markets is operated by Harindale Ltd, a company authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Experience has shown that we should not trust such claims without verification. CySEC’s registry confirms that this company holds the necessary licences and operates through the M4Markets domain and trade name.
There are many advantages to working with such brokers because they must comply with all the requirements of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ЕSМА). They must maintain a minimum net capital of at least EUR 730 000, which guarantees that the company is financially stable and has a serious long-term approach. When clients deposit money in their trading accounts, they 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.
All brokers licensed in Cyprus and other EU countries are members of the Investor Compensation Fund, which may cover a maximum of EUR 20,000 per person in the event of broker insolvency. EU forex brokers are required to report their clients’ transactions on a regular basis. This requirement is designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency.
Here you could view a list of other recommended brokers regulated by CySEC.
M4MARKETS TRADING SOFTWARE
M4Markets provides clients with the ability to trade through MetaTrader 5 (MT5), which is currently the most widely used trading platform in the industry. Here’s what the platform looks like using a Demo account:
MT5 is the successor to the renowned MT4, which has been the industry standard for over a decade and continues to be used by many brokers and traders. These platforms have established themselves as leaders in the industry because they offer a wide range of features, including a variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.
MT5 does have some perks 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.
M4Markets does not offer add-ons and extensions that increase the functionality of the software as you will find with some other brokers. But M4Markets does provide Virtual Private Servers (VPS), which allow automated trading to take place independently of the trader’s personal hardware and internet connection.
M4MARKETS TRADING CONDITIONS
M4Markets offers three types of trading accounts – Standard, Premium and VIP. The choice of base currency is limited, but sufficient for most traders – USD and EUR. M4Markets offers around 120 tradable instruments across all major asset classes – forex, indices, commodities, shares and cryptocurrencies.
The terms and conditions of the Standard Account really meet the industry standards – a floating spread starting at 1.2 pips and a minimum deposit of 100 EUR. If you are a novice trader and are willing to take only minimal financial risk, check out this list of licensed forex brokers offering even lower minimum deposit.
More active traders who invest more than EUR 5,000 and qualify for a Premium account get a better spread starting from 0.8 pips.
But if you prefer ECN type accounts with a raw spread close to zero, you need to invest a significant amount of 30 000 EUR to get VIP status. M4Markets charges 4 EUR per round lot, so trading with such an account would be very profitable indeed if trading non-volatile assets. Many other forex brokers allow more affordable access to ECN accounts.
All account types have the option to be swap free so as to comply with the requirements of customers of the Muslim faith.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regulatory requirements state that the maximum leverage for retailers is 1:30. High leverage creates the opportunity for more significant profit, but correspondingly increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses. All leading regulators therefore restrict leverage for retail traders.
Regulated brokers offer higher leverage only to professional clients who must meet very high standards for capital and experience and forgo the guarantees enjoyed by retail traders, including Investor Compensation Fund benefits and the right to apply to a financial ombudsman. M4Markets offers professional traders a leverage of 1:500.
M4MARKETS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
M4Markets offers a very solid choice of payment methods for deposits and withdrawals – bank transfer, Visa and MasterCard credit/debit cards, payment processors Skrill, Neteller, iDeal, GiroPay, Przelewy24, Klarna and Rapid.
The only payment method missing with M4Markets is cryptocurrencies. If you are interested in licensed brokers that accept cryptocurrency transactions, check out this list.
M4Markets does not charge transaction fees for either deposits or withdrawals.
The minimum amount for a single deposit is 5 currency units. The minimum withdrawal amount is 10 currency units when using Skrill and Neteller and 50 units when using other payment methods.
BOTTOM LINE
As a licensed broker operating in one of the most highly regulated jurisdictions, M4Markets is a safe enough choice for an investment intermediary. The services offered are not of great variety, but are quite sufficient for successful forex and CFD trading. However, the conditions offered by M4Markets are most beneficial for larger and experienced investors, not for newcomers to financial trading.
