FXCM

FXCM is a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, spread betting and related services.

Founded in 1999, the company’s mission is to provide global traders with access to the world’s largest and most liquid market by offering innovative trading tools, hiring excellent trading educators, meeting strict financial standards and striving for the best online trading experience in the market. Clients have the advantage of mobile trading, one-click order execution and trading from real-time charts. In addition, FXCM offers educational courses on FX trading and provides trading tools, proprietary data and premium resources. FXCM Pro provides retail brokers, small hedge funds and emerging market banks access to wholesale execution and liquidity, while providing high and medium frequency funds access to prime brokerage services via FXCM Prime. FXCM is a Leucadia Company.

Regulation

Provides its services through three main offices in Cyprus, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Australia, Israel and South Africa. Regulated by key financial regulators:  

• St Vincent and the Grenadines, Forex Capital Markets Limited is authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registration number 217689.
•  Registered  with the Companies Housein for England and Wales with the Companies House. Ccompany number 04072877. FXCM EU LTD is a Cyprus Investment Firm (“CIF”) registered with the Cyprus Department of Registrar of Companies (HE 405643) and authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySEC”) under license number 392/20.
•  FXCM Australia Pty. Limited is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, AFSL 309763. FXCM AU ACN: 121934432.
•  FXCM South Africa (PTY) Ltd is an authorized Financial Services Provider and is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority under registration number 46534. 
• FXCM Trading Ltd. (“FXCM TL” or under its trade name “FXCM Israel”), was incorporated in Israel, and its official registrar number is 515234623. FXCM TL is an authorized and licensed company, supervised by the Israeli Securities Authority.

Countries of presence

In total, the broker operates legally in more than 100 countries. Clients are mainly distributed in the following countries:

• Vietnam 6.9%

•  South Africa 5.39%

•  United Kingdom 2.78%

•  Australia 1.98%

•  Georgia 1.76%

•  Germany 0.91%
•  Turkey 0.71%

Awards

FXCM has received many awards for its services, here are some of them: 

• TRADINGVIEW BROKER AWARDS SOCIAL CHAMPION AWARD 2022
• ADVFN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AWARDS 2022 BEST ZERO COMMISSION BROKER
• GLOBAL FOREX AWARDS 2022 BEST FOREX TRADING PLATFORM – MENA
• GLOBAL FOREX AWARDS 2022 MOST TRANSPARENT FOREX BROKER – GLOBAL
• TRADINGVIEW BROKER AWARDS SOCIAL CHAMPION AWARD 2021

Trading platforms

Thanks to its combined offering of both Trading Station and MetaTrader 4 (MT4), FXCM delivers a reliable, feature-rich mobile experience for forex traders.

Apps overview: FXCM doesn’t offer the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform, but the broker makes up for that shortcoming with its extensive support for third-party algorithmic trading platforms.

Ease of use: Though the Trading Station mobile app may appear to lack an official watch-list function, it’s worth noting that traders can select instruments for display, and that these instruments will sync across devices and platforms. Also, the app includes a comprehensive trade ticket, which offers advanced order types such as one-cancels-other (OCO) orders.

Also FXCM offers ZuluTrade for social copy trading.

Trading Accounts

FXCM caters to most traders from its CFD account type, with the primary difference being by regulatory jurisdiction.

The general proposition is:

• Most retail traders will manage their portfolios in the commission-free account at either the Bermuda or the South African subsidiary
• The minimum deposit is $50 or a currency equivalent
• UK based traders can take advantage of the Spread Betting account, featuring tax-free trading
• High-volume traders qualify for a rebate program, lowering final trading costs
• Various assets have a different margin requirement, impacting leverage, but FXCM maintains a detailed list
• FXCM caters to institutional clients through its prime brokerage unit labeled FXCM Pro

Trading instruments

FXCM offers traders the opportunity to trade currency pairs such as Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities and, Cryptocurrencies.

Registration process

FXCM checks the client’s geo-position when registering. If you need a specific regulation, you must use a VPN.

To register, a client needs to choose his country, enter email (registration through social networks is not possible) and choose a platform for trading:

• Trading Station
• TradingView Pro
• MetaTrader 4
• ZuluTrade
• Capitalise AI

Verification

Without account verification a client cannot open a real account, make a deposit and start trading. In order to confirm the account the client needs to:

• Confirm your email (sending a one-time code)
• Confirm your phone number (by text message or call)
• Enter personal information 
  • name, date of birth, and address and, postcode (This information is not automatically checked)
• Enter financial condition and origin of money. Experience in trading.
• Agree to a disclaimer and contract of trade.

To complete the verification the client needs to:

• Confirm identity
• Confirm residency

Without full verification it is impossible to make deposits and trade.

Deposits and withdrawals

• There are no deposit fees, but third-party withdrawal costs may apply, except for bank wires, where FXCM levies a charge between $25 and $40
• FXCM delivers the best payment options through its Bermuda subsidiary
• Traders may request withdrawals swiftly from their back office, and FXCM processes requests within two business days
• Costs and processing times depend on the payment processor
• FXCM supports broker-to-broker transfers
• Unfortunately, the currency conversion fee is a bit high, with most traders paying a 150-pip mark-up
• The minimum deposit is $50, but no minimum withdrawal amount is stated

Support

You can contact FXCM via:

• live chat (depending on jurisdiction)
• phone
• email

FXCM provides free phone support for the residents of 42 countries. Click here for the full list.

When we tested customer support, an agent was connected almost immediately both on the live chat and phone. We got relevant answers on both platforms.

We also received relevant answers to queries sent by email. The response time was around one day.

FXCM representatives are available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and Live chat support is available 24/5.

Promo&Bonuses

Not available

Affiliate Program

Not available

Training

FXCM provides extensive educational opportunities for its clients with training courses, such as Free Online Forex Webinars & Courses and numerous articles. 

Training courses are suitable for both novice traders and those who already have experience in trading. 

Unfortunately, most of the study materials are in English only.