Market News

UK’s FCA warns of unregulated forex broker XMarkets

Feb 16 2018
By Jonathan Smith , Find me on Google+

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning that the forex broker XMarkets is not licensed to offer its services in the UK.

“This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorization,” the FCA said, advising investors to only deal with authorized companies.

XMarkets claims it is a “forex and fixed return options provider” operated by Capital Force Ltd., registered in the Republic of Samoa. The island nation is not known as an offshore zone, but the local financial sector is fairly unregulated, which makes Samoa an attractive location for some financial services providers.

XMarkets also says it is an innovative and dynamic company that offers “the best trading conditions”, “robust security” and keeps client funds in segregated accounts. We tried to check whether the trading conditions are favorable, but could not find them anywhere, unless we register for an account, providing personal information and a phone number.

Like FCA, we also strongly advise the potential investors to avoid dealing with unregulated companies. Sometimes they are a scam, sometimes they are not, but either way, they do not offer any customer protection in case something goes wrong. On the other hand, the largest and most reputable forex brokers are regulated by FCA, which provides robust oversight and has strict requirements.

TAGS: uk fca warning xmarkets

Broker	Advantages


	FXTM a regulated forex broker (regulated by CySEC, FCA and FSC), offering ECN trading on MT4 an MT5 platforms. Traders can start trading with as little as $10 and take advantage of tight fixed and variable spreads, flexible leverage and swap-free accounts.
	easyMarkets is a CySEC and ASIC regulated broker offering access to over 300 trading instruments, tight fixed spreads, no slippage and a 50% deposit bonus.

	XM is broker with great bonuses and promotions. Currently we are loving its $30 no deposit bonus and deposit bonus up to $5000. Add to this the fact that it’s EU-regulated and there’s nothing more you can ask for.
	FXCM is one of the biggest forex brokers in the world, licensed and regulated on four continents. FXCM wins our admirations with its over 200,000 active live accounts and daily trading volumes of over $10 billion.
	FxPro is a broker we are particularly keen on: it’s regulated in the UK, offers Metatrader 4 (MT4) and cTrader – where the spreads start at 0 pips, Level II Pricing and Full Market Depth. And the best part? With FxPro you get negative balance protection.
	FBS is a broker with cool marketing and promotions. It runs an ongoing monthly $999 forex contest, offers a $5 no-deposit bonus for anyone willing to try out its services, and an FBS MasterCard is also available for faster deposits and withdrawals.
	FxChoice is a IFSC regulated forex broker, serving clients from all over the world. It offers premium trading conditions, including high leverage, low spreads and no hedging, scalping and FIFO restrictions.
	HotForex is a EU Regulated broker, offering wide variety of trading accounts, including Auto, Social and Zero spread accounts. The minimum intial deposit for a Micro account is only $50 and is combined with 1000:1 leverage - one of the highest in the industry.
	Exness is a leading forex broker, offering MT4 and MT5 platforms. Traders can take advantage from a true ECN environment and trade on ultra tight spreads, starting from 0 pips.

Broker	Country	Regulation	Platform	Min Deposit	Review
	US	CFTC, NFA	MT4, Web, in-house	$50	Review Website
	US	NFA, CFTC	MT4	$250	Review Website
	Cyprus, UK, Mauritius	CySec, FCA, IFSC	MT4, MT5, Web	$10	Review Website
	Cyprus, Australia	CySec, ASIC	MT4, Web, Mobile app	$100	Review Website
	Australia	ASIC	MT4, MT5, IRESSTrader	$100	Review Website
	UK, Cyprus, Australia	FCA, CySec, ASIC	MT4, MT5	$5	Review Website
	UK, Australia	FCA, ASIC	MT4, Trading Station, NinjaTrader	$50	Review Website
	UK, Cyprus, UAE, South Africa	FCA, CySEC, DFSA, FSB	MT4, MT5, FxPro Markets, cTrader	$100	Review Website
	Cyprus	CySEC	MT4, MT5, Web	$1	Review Website
	Belize	IFSC	MT4, MT5	$100	Review Website
	Cyprus, UK, South Africa, UAE	CySec, FCA, FSCA, DFSA	MT4, MT5, Web	$5	Review Website
	Cyprus, UK	CySEC, FCA	MT4, MT5	$1	Review Website
	Australia	ASIC	MT4, MT5	$100	Review Website
	UK	FCA	MT4, Web, MT4 for Mac	$100	Review Website

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