Еlland Road Capital review – 5 things you should know about ellandroadcapital.com

Beware! Еlland Road Capital is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.

Unlike most brokers we do reviews for, Еlland Road Capital has a licence. Yet this company looks like a scam. In this review, we will show you in detail why it would not be a good idea to invest through this broker and what more credible alternatives you have.

Еlland Road Capital 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.

According to the information on this website, the broker is operated by a company called Еlland Road Capital PTY LTD, which is based in South Africa and is licensed by the  Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

A check of that regulator’s register confirms this.

The regulations in South Africa are much looser than in the EU, US, UK or Australia and do not provide as strong guarantees for client funds.

Еlland Road Capital claims to be part of a group of companies licensed in Cyprus, Newblock Trading Limited and Nibra Services Ltd, but we have not been able to confirm whether this is true. Such a relationship does not mean greater guarantees for the South African company’s customers.

The first big red flag about Еlland Road Capital is that it has been blacklisted by the French regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). This means that the broker is trying to solicit clients in jurisdictions where it is not licensed, or that fraudulent practices have also been established.

If you have decided to invest in financial instruments you have a choice of much more trustworthy options.

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.

Еlland Road Capital Trading software

Еlland Road Capital uses a fairly rudimentary web-based trading platform.

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.

Еlland Road Capital Trading instruments

Еlland Road Capital  offers trading in forex, commodities, indices, stocks and cryptocurrencies. But given the overall suspiciousness of this broker, it is advisable to invest through a more reputable and established firm.

Еlland Road Capital Spreads and cost of trading

In the descriptions of the account types offered by Еlland Road Capital  we see promises of a spread of 2.5-2.8 pips, which is actually a very high and unprofitable level. In the trading software we see an even higher spread of 4 pips.

Еlland Road Capital charges a monthly account maintenance fee of 10 USD. Leading brokers do not charge fees like this.

Еlland Road Capital Maximum leverage

Leverage for all account types reaches 1:400. This is not a level that you see with most 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.

Еlland Road Capital Deposit and withdrawal methods

At the time of writing this review, the option to deposit via conventional payment methods was blocked by a technical error.

The only available option was “alternative” methods, namely cryptocurrencies.

Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds. Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including bank transfer, credit/debit cards and established e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller.

Еlland Road Capital Minimum deposit

Еlland Road Capital  specifies a minimum deposit of 250 USD, 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.

Еlland Road Capital Withdrawal requirements

Еlland Road Capital  charges a withdrawal fee of 10 USD if the account is not fully verified. The withdrawal fee is 3.5% by debit card and 30 USD by bank transfer. Fees for other payment methods are not specified. Most legitimate forex brokers do not charge withdrawal fees.

Еlland Road Capital  also charges an extremely high monthly inactivity fee, which reaches 500 USD after six months.