Beware! Global Trade Group is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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Global Trade Group represents itself as a forex broker that is authorised and regulated in Europe. But it would be a mistake to believe such assurances without verification. And verification shows that this is not true – Global Trade Group is actually a fairly typical fake broker. In this review, we’ll look at the clues by which you can distinguish a scam from a legitimate financial services provider.

Global Trade Group Regulation and safety of funds

Guaranteed FundsSegregated AccountsNegative balance protection
Global Trade Group
UK regulated brokers£85 000YesYes
EU regulated brokers€20 000YesYes
AU regulated brokersNoYesYes
US regulted brokersYesYesNo

Legitimate forex brokers provide clear and detailed information about the legal entity that owns and operates them, where it is based, what licences it has and which regulators oversee its activities. Lack of such details or improper presentation of them are always a red flag that we are probably dealing with a scam.

Global Trade Group reveals itself as a fraud by its anonymity – even the text of the Terms and Conditions does not name a company.

The website lists a contact address in Switzerland. But such an anonymous website could not legally operate as a broker in a highly regulated jurisdiction.

This has been confirmed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which has blacklisted Global Trade Group.

Before investing your money in financial instruments, it is imperative to make sure you do so through a licensed intermediary and not one of the many scammers lurking online. Under no circumstances should you trust your money to such anonymous websites full of false and contradictory information. Instead, you can turn to one of the many companies that really work under the supervision of respected regulatory bodies like Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) or Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.

As their customer you will enjoy a number of guarantees including negative balance protection and guarantee for your funds if the broker goes bankrupt, which goes up to EUR 20,000 in EU and 85,000 GBP in the UK. Regulations in the UK and EU include some important measures designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency, such as transaction reporting. Regulated brokers are also required to segregate their operational funds from the client’s money.

Global Trade Group Trading software

Analytical toolsAuto tradingCustom indicatorsMobile apps
Global Trade Group platform
MT430+ indicatorsAndroid and iOS
MT550+ indicatorsAndroid and iOS
cTrader40+ indicatorsAndroid and iOS

Global Trade Group promises a range of trading platforms for all sorts of devices, but actually only implements basic web-based trading software. Here’s what it looks like:

While the platform has the basic features for placing orders, customising charts and application of technical indicators, it lacks the more advanced functionality found in the most widely used trading platforms in the industry, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). These platforms have established themselves as industry standard 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.

It should be noted that the presence of a trading platform does not make this website any more legitimate and does not guarantee that this alleged broker offers real trading. Many scammers use rigged trading software to fool their victims that their money is being invested.

Global Trade Group Trading instruments

CurrencyStocksIndicesCryptoCommodities
Global Trade Group
XMYesYesYesNoYes
FBSYesYesYesYesYes
FXTMYesYesYesYesYes

The Global Trade Group trading platform includes instruments from all major asset classes. But as stated, there is no guarantee that the trading offered by this anonymous and unregulated website is not fictitious.

Global Trade Group Spreads and cost of trading

Global Trade GroupXMFBSFXTM
Spread EURUSD0,40.611.1
Spread GBPUSD0,41.31.21.4
Spread USDJPY0,41.31.21.4

In the trading software we see a very low spread of 0.4 pips for the major currency pairs. Such a raw spread means that the broker is charging some kind of commission. But Global Trade Group does not provide clear information about the price paid by the trader.

Global Trade Group Maximum leverage

ForexStocksCryptoGoldIndices
Global Trade Group200:1200:1200:1200:1200:1
UK regulated brokers30:15:110:110:1
EU regulated brokers30:15:12:110:110:1
AU regulated brokers30:15:12:110:110:1
US regulated brokers50:1

Global Trade Group  offered leverage up to 1:200, which is also a clue that this is not a regulated broker.

Regulated brokers do not offer such levels to retail traders as trading with high leverage carries risks of sudden and excessive losses. Higher levels of leverage are only offered to professional clients who trade entirely at their own risk. 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.

Global Trade Group Deposit and withdrawal methods

Deposit timeWithdrawal timePrice
Crypto24 hours24 hoursFee depends on crypto

Global Trade Group only allows the deposit of funds with cryptocurrencies. This is typical of financial scammers. Cryptocurrencies are their payment method of choice because on the one hand they allow the scammer a degree of anonymity, and on the other hand they do not allow the scammed to ask for a refund.

While there are some legitimate brokers that accept digital currencies like Bitcoin, they do so alongside other transparent payment methods such as credit/debit card, bank transfer or popular e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill.

Global Trade Group Minimum deposit

Global Trade GroupXMFBSFXTM
Minimum deposit€250$5$10$5

Global Trade Group specifies a minimum deposit of 250 EUR, which is the industry standard. But this means that for the same amount you could open a trading account with an established and duly licensed forex broker. Some of the leading brands in the industry offer Micro and Cent accounts with a very low entry threshold that are suitable for novice investors.

Global Trade Group Withdrawal requirements

Trading volumeFee/Tax on withdrawalMinimum withdrawal
Global Trade GroupBonus x25Not specified$100-500
UK regulated brokersNoNoNo
EU regulated brokersNoNoNo
AU regulated brokersNoNoNo
US regulated brokersNoNoNo

In the text of the Terms and Conditions we find typical scam clauses designed to block withdrawal requests. If the account has received a bonus, it can only request a withdrawal after it has met high minimum trade volume requirements – 25 times the deposit amount plus the bonus. Regulated brokers are prohibited from offering bonuses and promotions.

Global Trade Group also charges a very high dormancy fee of 10% of the account balance per month.

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