Beware! CGMA Trade 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.
The CGMA Trade website tries to convince us that it would be a good idea to invest in the financial markets through this offshore broker. But in preparing this review, we could not even find evidence that this is a genuine forex broker. The evidence points to the fact that the CGMA Trade is yet another online scam.
CGMA Trade Regulation and safety of funds
| Guaranteed Funds | Segregated Accounts | Negative balance protection | |
| CGMA Trade | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| UK regulated brokers | £85 000 | Yes | Yes |
| EU regulated brokers | €20 000 | Yes | Yes |
| AU regulated brokers | No | Yes | Yes |
| US regulted brokers | Yes | Yes | No |
When you visit the website of a legitimate broker you can expect to find clear and detailed information about the company that owns and operates it, where it is based and what regulatory regimes it is subject to.
On the CGMA Trade website, this information is contradictory and does not stand up to scrutiny.
The footer of the website first mentions the name of a company called Cgma-trade (Seychelles) Ltd, but then states that the licence in Seychelles is in the name of Kayser Ltd.
In the Seychelles Financial Services Authority database we do find such a registered broker. But we do not find any evidence that this company is linked to the CGMA Trade website.
The wording of the Terms and Conditions is on behalf of a different company, the CGMA Trade Solutions. The document claims that this company is incorporated in a different offshore zone, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). The SVG financial regulator does not licence or supervise brokers at all.
But verification shows that there is no such company among those registered with the SVG. With CGMA Trade, we know neither exactly who we are dealing with nor what laws govern the agreement between the company and the client.
The only thing we can be sure of is that CGMA Trade is not a regulated forex broker.
If you have decided to invest in financial instruments, and especially if you are a novice trader, you should use the services of a licensed broker based in a jurisdiction with strong regulations.
Depending on your location, it is advisable to choose a company that is regulated by an institution such as Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US, Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC), UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or some EU regulator like Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Clients of these brokers receive protections such as negative balance protection and segregation of the client’s funds from the broker’s funds. In the EU and the UK, brokers must also participate in guarantee schemes that cover a certain amount of the trader’s investment if the broker becomes insolvent.
These guarantees amount to up to 20 000 EUR in the EU and 85 000 GBP in the UK. However, the likelihood of such a bankruptcy is low because regulators also have significant net capital requirements that companies must maintain – EUR 730 000 in UK and Cyprus, AUD 1000 000 in Australia and at least 20 million USD in the United States.
CGMA Trade Trading software
| Analytical tools | Auto trading | Custom indicators | Mobile apps | |
| CGMA Trade platform | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| MT4 | 30+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android |
| MT5 | 50+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android |
| cTrader | 40+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android and iOS |
CGMA Trade claims to offer the industry’s most popular trading platform, MetaTrader 5 (MT5). But after registering an account, we don’t get access to the full desktop version of the software, but to the more limited web platform.
At the time of writing this review, this platform was not fully functional and did not allow placing orders.
Furthermore, the trading server used was registered in the name of the obscure company BRConsulting. The same company provides the trading software to other shady brokers we have reviewed, for example Western-Capital BRX-Capital, FXCMCapital and BTC-Robotics
It is advisable to contact one of the many legitimate brokers that offer MT5 or the still very popular MT4. These platforms have established themselves as leaders because they offer a wide range of features, including a wide variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.
CGMA Trade Trading instruments
| Currency | Stocks | Indices | Crypto | Commodities | |
| CGMA Trade | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| XM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FBS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FXTM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CGMA Trade claims to offer investment in shares, indices, cryptocurrencies, forex and commodities. But the account descriptions do not include detailed information about the tradable instruments and trading parameters.
CGMA Trade Spreads and cost of trading
| CGMA Trade | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
| Spread EURUSD | 1 | 1.7 | 1 | 1.1 |
| Spread GBPUSD | 1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Spread USDJPY | 1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
On the trading platform, we see a spread of about 1 pip, and the website claims that CGMA Trade does not charge additional commissions. This seems like competitive terms in theory, but we have no reason to believe that CGMA Trade is offering real trading.
CGMA Trade Maximum leverage
| Forex | Stocks | Crypto | Gold | Indices | |
| CGMA Trade | 200:1 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| UK regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | ❌ | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| EU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| AU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| US regulated brokers | 50:1 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
CGMA Trade does not provide clear information on maximum leverage, except for one mention of a level of 1:200.
This is not a level that you see with regulated brokers. Trading with high leverage allows higher profits, but also increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses proportionally. All leading regulators limit leverage for retail traders.
In the EU, UK and Australia the maximum permitted level is 1:30 and in the US it is 1:50. This maximum level only applies to trading major currency pairs, with even more limited leverage for more volatile assets.
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.
If you don’t qualify as a professional trader but are willing to take the risk of high-leverage trading, the most viable option is to use the services of an offshore affiliate of an established brand.
CGMA Trade Deposit and withdrawal methods
| Deposit time | Withdrawal time | Price | |
| Bank wire | 3-5 business days | 3-5 business days | $25 |
| Credit card | Instant | No information | Free |
| Paymt2 | No information | No information | 2% |
| Crypto | 24 hours | 24 hours | Fee depends on crypto |
CGMA Trade claims to allow deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer, credit cards, cryptocurrencies and the obscure payment processor Paymt2. When trying to use a bank transfer or credit card, the website displays an error message.
Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds. Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including established e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller.
CGMA Trade Minimum deposit
| CGMA Trade | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
| Minimum deposit | $250 | $5 | $10 | $5 |
The minimum deposit required by CGMA Trade is 250 USD. For a significantly lower amount, you could open a starter account with the most established brands in the industry.
CGMA Trade Withdrawal requirements
| Trading volume | Fee/Tax on withdrawal | Minimum withdrawal | |
| CGMA Trade | 20 lots for $100 bonus | 25% | $100 |
| UK regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| EU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| AU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| US regulated brokers | No | No | No |
According to the Terms and Conditions, the minimum withdrawal amount is EUR 100. For withdrawals of more than 500 USD, additional fees are stipulated, but their amount is not specified.
If the account has received a bonus, it can only withdraw funds after it has traded 20 standard lots for every 100 USD bonus. Scammers use such clauses to block any withdrawal requests.
If you want to withdraw money without a trade having been made, CGMA Trade will charge 25% of the account balance.
