Best ASIC Regulated Forex Brokers

Did you know one of the biggest factors affecting a trader’s decision to use a broker is where they are regulated? The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) offers a high level of regulatory oversight including the requirement to keep client funds in segregated accounts in the biggest banks in Australia, among other trader friendly rules.

The brokers below represent the best ASIC Regulated Forex Brokers.

IC Markets

IC Markets was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), as well as the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). According to the broker’s website, they processed $646 billion worth of trading volume in April 2019 alone.

While the broker offers services and features designed for both beginner and professional traders, the company promote themselves as the ‘go to’ choice for high volume traders, scalpers and trading algos due to their New York Equinix NY4 data centre – processing over 500,000 trades per day.

FP Markets

FP Markets was founded in 2005 and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), offering segregation of client funds and top tier liquidity. FP Markets is a group of companies that includes First Prudential Markets Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

The broker offers the ability to trade on more than 10,000+ financial instruments covering Forex, Equities, Metals, Commodities, Indices and Cryptocurrency CFDs. Users have access to a range of accounts including the Standard Account (commission-free) and Raw Account (commission-based) for MetaTrader users, both offering ECN pricing and maximum leverage of 500:1. Users can also access Iress Accounts which are commission-based.

TMGM

TMGM is authorised and regulated in various jurisdictions including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). It also holds an Australian Financial Services Licence and segregates client funds from its own, holding them with tier 1 Australian banks Westpac and National Australia Bank.

With TMGM, users can trade on more than 15,000+ financial CFD instruments covering 7 asset classes including Forex, Metals, Energies, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities, Indices and Shares from the US, Australia and Hong Kong. This can be done from 2 types of trading accounts. The Edge Account offers commission-based trading of $7 per round turn and raw spreads from 0 pips while the Classic Account offers commission-free trading with spreads from 1 pip.

GO Markets

GO Markets Pty Ltd an ASIC regulated broker has been in operation since 2006. The head office is located in Melbourne, Australia. With over a decade of experience, GO Markets has grown to become a leading broker with a huge client base from over 150 countries. GO Markets offers forex, share CFDs, indices, metals and commodities for trading on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms.

*Pepperstone has a beginner educational content in its YouTube channel. In addition, a new educational content section is expected to be ready on Pepperstone’s website.

Trade Nation

Trade Nation was founded in 2020 in the United Kingdom. It is a brand name for Finsa Europe Ltd, a UK based investment firm authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The broker also has three entities located in Australia (ASIC), South Africa (FSCA) and the Bahamas (SCB), each authorised and regulated in their own jurisdictions.

The broker provides the ability to trade on more than 2,500+ financial instruments covering Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities and Bonds from its proprietary, feature-rich and easy to use Trader Nation web trading platform, as well as the popular MetaTrader 4 platform.

There are two account types available – Spread Trading and CFD. Both accounts come with good trading features including competitive fixed spreads, leverage up to 1:30 (in the UK and Australia) and no minimum deposit. Demo accounts are also available.

The broker offers fee-free funding methods via debit/credit card, bank transfer and Skrill. Processing times are also quick and there are no inactivity account fees. There is a Loyalty Scheme available, however, this does not apply to the UK and Australian entities.

Ingot Brokers

INGOT Brokers is an award-winning broker founded in 2006. It is a brand name for INGOT Brokers (Australia) Pty Ltd, an Australian investment firm authorised and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The broker provides the ability to trade on 1,000+ financial CFD instruments covering Forex, Stocks, Agriculture, Energies, Metals, Indices, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies from the popular MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, and also web trading.

Vantage FX

Vantage FX was founded in 2009 in Australia and is the brand name of the Vantage International Group which is regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) and advertises the segregation of client funds which are held with Australia’s AA rated National Australia Bank (NAB).

The broker offers services that are designed for both beginner and professional traders with access to Forex ECN trading, as well as CFD trading on Indices, Commodities and U.S and Hong Kong Shares on the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms for Mac, PC, iOS and Android as well as social trading platforms such as MyFXbook and Zulutrade.

Clients of Vantage FX have access to an impressive range of educational materials and research tools including MT4 SmartTrader Tools, a wide variety of promotional trading offers and rebate programs, as well as access to accounts with 500:1 leverage.

Plus500

Introduction to ASIC Regulation

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is a leading regulatory agency which supervises the securities and investment market in Australia. In other words, the organization takes on the roles of the markets regulator and the financial services regulator. It is a standalone governmental organization that was first introduced in 1998. However, in recent years the ASIC began implementing new and advanced regulatory guidelines to ensure all businesses trading in financial markets are adhering to the strict rules put in place by global regulatory standards. So, in 2009, the Australian Stock Exchange was put under ASIC regulation due to the organizations operation under the Corporations Act (2001).

By working under all this legislation, ASIC is able to ensure that the companies supervised under them, will abide by the laws put in place by the government to preserve integrity in the markets. That being said, the ASIC overlooks some of the best regulated Forex broker companies in Australia.

ASIC Responsibilities

The primary objective of the ASIC is to provide fair trading standards between the businesses it monitors and the investors they provide their services too. This agency strives to be the best protector and leading regulator in the Australian financial market. To do this, the ASIC must monitor Australian companies, financial markets, investment dealers and advisers, financial services agencies, insurance companies and credits.

That being said, the main goals and responsibilities the ASIC must achieve, are as follows:

• Maintain, and hold to account the firms that make up the finance industry
• Provide valuable information and security, to promote and grow activity in the market.
• Administer the law effectively.
• Implement the law in an effective way.
• Articulate storage and management of information.
• Provide quality information on companies which can be easily accessed by the public.

A broad sense of the areas of responsibility include:

• Corporate governance
• Financial services
• Securities and derivatives
• Insurance
• Consumer protection
• Financial literacy

Basically, the ASIC is responsible in providing experienced investors and consumers safe and secure financial markets to trade. They do this by implementing their rules and regulations on the brokers under their supervision, ensuring they have only reputable and safe companies attached to their organization. They seem to be achieving these responsibilities and goals, for they are considered one of the most highly reputable agencies in the market that deal with maintaining and protecting the investors’ interests.

How ASIC Regulation Can Protect You

Regulation is of the upmost importance in today’s financial trading market. The regulation offered by ASIC provides safety, reliability, and security when trading in the financial arena. Without regulation, there is no control over the ethics businesses might follow. The money you invest may not be secure or under your control. Profits made might be difficult to withdraw. Everything could be at risk. For these reasons, its important to invest in companies who are regulated.

The ASIC protects you- the investor, by offering you investor compensation on your deposit should the broker you are trading with become insolvent. So you can trade knowing that your deposit is protected. They make sure you receive what is promised from your brokers. But investors are not the only ones who benefit from regulation. The broker companies benefit as well by getting more clients based on the trust factor that the license brings to potential clients.

Another way the ASIC protects you is that they provide the public with online reports and work with the public in any investigation done by ASIC. This is a great form of communication, and shows they care about the individual investor. They will work with anyone to help hold the fraudsters of the Australian Financial realm to account.

They also provide a lot of free online resources geared towards informing investors about the financial and trading markets. They educate consumers about the ins and outs of investing in the financial market. This shows through their free and informative financial portal known as MONEYSMART. ASIC has a strong commitment to being a consumer-friendly organization, which helps protect consumers with the power of knowledge.

Another important piece of protection provided by ASIC is the assistance to investors who have money trapped in insolvent companies.

Lastly, the ASIC protects investors and consumers through their extensive rules, regulations, and guidelines to ensure companies follow best practices and deter them from any scams. They enforce this by monitoring all of their licensed member firms and are quick to act on any alleged deviations from their regulatory guidelines.

Guidelines for ASIC Regulated Brokers

ASIC has implemented the global standards of Forex broker regulation, and because of this, brokers must be capitalized to the tune of at least $1 million in operating funds. In addition to this, the brokerage firms must work with only tier 1 banks for segregating their clients’ funds from their own corporate accounts. This means that the broker may never access or use the funds for their own purposes.

In addition to this the ASIC requires all brokers to hold an AFC licence (Australian Financial Securities Licence). This license enables brokers to conduct trading legally in the region.

Furthermore, regulated brokers are required to follow the guidelines of the AFC. These include; sufficient capitalization, following ample risk management standards to protect them and their clients from unnecessary risks, to provide conflict resolution between the company and their clients and to put in place compensation arrangements.

Conclusion

As we have seen ASIC as a regulator is important in protecting its investors. As such Australian traders are spoiled for choice when it comes to the quality of their brokers. As a result of the wide choice, it can be hard to know who to trade with and that’s why FX Empire is here to help.

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• Forex Brokers Regulations
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