| Broker | Country | Rating | Min. Deposit | Website |
 | USA | /5 | $250 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | US | /5 | $50 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | UK, Cyprus, Belize | /5 | $5 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | Australia, Cyprus | /5 | $100 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | UK, Australia | /5 | $50 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | Cyprus, SVG | /5 | $100 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
Australia is one of the main forex centers in the world and is expected to attract even more forex brokers now that Europe is officially capping the maximum leverage levels available to retail investors. It offers quite favorable conditions for financial services providers. However, the local financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC), has set certain requirements they have to meet, which guarantees their clients a high level of service.
ASIC requires licensed financial services providers to meet capital requirements of AUD 1 million, to keep clients’ money in segregated accounts and to follow certain internal procedures including risk management, staff training, accounting, audits, and more.
Another feature of Australian regulatory environment that many will find attractive is the fact that ASIC has imposed no limitation on maximum leverage. So, unlike EU and US brokerages, forex brokers based in Australia are free to offer leverage ratios as high as 1:500. That being said, we feel obliged to mention that high leverage can be very risky, if misused.
Unlike many European brokers, however, Australian ones are not covered by any compensation scheme. This is probably the biggest downside of Australian regulation and the main difference between ASIC and other top-rated regulators. A compensation scheme is a mechanism which requires brokers to set aside part of their profits in a pool, which later serves to insure clients’ funds, in case the broker goes bankrupt. By comparison, FCA-regulated brokerages are under the umbrella of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects consumers up to £85,000 per person.
From 29 March 2021 ASIC will launch a product intervention, aimed to reduce the losses of the retail clients, by significantly lowering the risks associated with CFD and FX trading. The order will remain in force for 18 months and later will either be extended additionally or made permanent.
Four consumer protection measures were agreed, which will effectively bring the Australian practice in line with the protections in force in comparable markets, such as EU and UK. The measures are as follows:
1. Leverage cap– a restriction of the leverage to a maximum ratio that Forex brokers are allowed to offer to the traders:
– 1:30 for Forex Majors
– 1:20 for Forex Crosses, gold and the major stock indexes
– 1:10 for Commodities and minor stock indexes
– 1:5 for Shares or other assets
– 1:2 for Crypto derivatives
2. Stop-Out level– a standardized close-out, meaning that the positions opened will be closed at a certain percentage level of the balance available before all or most of the client’s investment is lost.
3. Negative Balance Protection– the client losses will be limited to the funds in their trading accounts. It effectively means that a trader cannot lose more than the total sum deposited, and an indebted account is impossible.
4. Bonus prohibition– brokers will not be allowed to offer inducements or any other form of trading incentives to the traders. For a long time the brokers pretended that the bonuses were a form of free money, but in reality it’s a leverage tool, which significantly increases the risk for the traders.
Australian forex brokers
| Broker | Country | Rating | Min. Deposit | Website |
| Australia, Cyprus | /5 | $100 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
| UK, Australia | /5 | $50 | Click for a special offerWebsite |
 | Australia | /5 | $200 | Read the review |
 | US, UK, CA, SG, AU, JP | /5 | $1 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $1 | Read the review |
 | UK | /5 | n/a | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $1 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $1 | Read the review |
 | Cyprus, Australia | /5 | $100 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $500 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | - | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $200 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $500 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | n/a | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | NA | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $100 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $100 | Read the review |
 | Australia | /5 | $2000 | Read the review |
 | SVG, Australia | /5 | $100 | Read the review |
 | SVG, Australia | /5 | $1000 | Read the review |
Australian forex brokers news
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ASIC’s New Trading Restrictions Start Taking Effect
This Monday marks the new CFD restrictions that ASIC has put into practice. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has introduced new
ASIC Servers Cyber Attack Confirmed by Overseer
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394 New Financial Institutions Approved by ASIC in 2019-2020
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Australia en Route to a Central Digital Bank Currency?
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2 Alleged Ponzi Schemes Frozen by ASIC
An announcement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed that the Federal Court in Australia ordered the restrainment of Matthew
Australia’s ASIC Announces Leverage Cap, Negative Balance Protection
To improve investors’ protection which until now was lacking in the regulation of the Australian forex companies, the Australian Securities and Investments
Australia: First Half of 2020 Sees AUD$30 Million Investment Scam Losses
The statistics disclosed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reveal that investment scams during the first six months of 2020
Australians have lost over $33 mln in investment scams since January
For the first nine months of 2019 traders in Australia have lost over 33 million USD in investment scams, the latest data
ASIC to ban binary options, cap leverage on CFDs
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) seeks to ban the sale of binary options and to severely tighten the rules for
ASIC blacklists a clone website and 4 offshore brokers
The financial regulator in Sydney – the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has blacklisted five more scam brokers, among which one
Vantage FX will cancel services to traders outside Australia
Vantage Prime through its Australian subsidiary Vantage Global Prime will no longer service non-Australian traders, the brokerage group announced in an e-mail
Australian authorities shut down two crypto exchanges on criminal charges
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) announced on Friday that it has taken the licenses of two crypto currency exchanges,
ASIC gives unregulated brokerage 4FXF the boot
Unregulated Forex brokerage 4XFX has been blacklisted by Australian financial watchdog The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Traders are advised not to
ASIC warns about 4XFX – a potential scam
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) warns about 4XFX, an Estonian broker, operated by RG Europe Ou. ASIC says 4XFX is
ASIC warns about Brighter Trade, uTrader and other offshore brokers
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has blacklisted 10 companies, among which Brighter Trade and uTrader, offering financial services to Australian
