Best FCA Regulated Forex Brokers

The FCA (former FSA) is an important global regulatory agency that gives out licenses and keeps an eye on UK based brokerage firms. On this page you will find the best FCA regulated Forex Brokers based upon our independent research and through feedback from our users. In the course of our research we look at security, product quality and reliability of these brokers.

The brokers below represent the best FCA Regulated Forex Brokers

Exness

The Exness Group was founded in 2008 and has licences from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles whose services this review is based upon. The group has more than 120,000 active traders and posts key performance indicators on its website.

Exness offers users the ability to trade on a wide range of asset classes covering Forex and CFDs on Crypto, Metals, Energies, Stocks and Indices across five core trading accounts. Professional Accounts are called Raw Spread, Pro and Zero with account leverage of up to 1:2000 on MT4 and unlimited leverage on MT5, no trading commissions on the Pro Account and 3.5 USD commission per lot, per side for Raw Spread and Zero Accounts. Standard accounts are called Standard and Standard Cent which are both commission-free. Demo accounts and Islamic swap-free accounts are also available.

XTB

XTB was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. The XTB Group has entities in different jurisdictions, authorised and regulated by bodies such as the UK Financial Financial Conduct Authority, the International Financial Services Commission in Belize, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego in Poland and the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores in Spain.

The broker offers two core trading accounts called Standard, Pro in XTB UK, and Islamic accounts with a maximum leverage of 1:500 on accounts opened with XTB International based in Belize. This will vary on accounts opened in other jurisdictions. Users can trade on 1,500+ CFD instruments covering Forex, Indices, Commodities, Stocks, ETFs and Cryptos with zero commission on the Standard Account on non-Stock and ETF CFDs.

Plus500

Plus500 has been in the brokerage business for a decade. They boast of 317,000 clients from all over the world. They are properly regulated in four different countries including Australia, UK and Cyprus. The trading platforms are simple, user-friendly, fast and secure. Platforms that can be used across multiple devices and operating systems are available for trading in various situations.

No educational materials are available, which is a huge minus. Furthermore, no research materials (else then the economic calendar) or technical analysis is provided.

Tickmill

Tickmill was founded in 2014 and is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The broker provides more than 80+ CFD instruments to trade on covering Forex, Indices, Commodities and Bonds through three core trading accounts called the Pro Account, Classic Account and VIP Account. They also offer a demo trading account and Islamic swap-free account.

FXCM

FXCM Group is an international online forex and CFD brokerage brand. Founded on 1999, The company is based in the UK. The brokerage firm also maintains offices in several jurisdictions such as Australia and South Africa.

In terms of tradable products, FXCM offers trading in the spot forex markets, cryptocurrencies, Treasury bond (the bund) and Contract for Difference (CFDs) for market indices and commodities. Due to the new ESMA regulation, the maximum leverage offered by FXCM is now restricted to 1:30 for major currency pairs.

CMC Markets

CMC Markets is a multi-asset class spread betting and CFD broker with over 30 years of experience, regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and thus offering segregated funds and a high level of security and safety. The CMC Group is a publicly-traded company on the London Stock Exchange.

The broker offers 3 different trading accounts: spread betting, CFD and Corporate accounts. Each account offers users to trade on more than 9,000+ trading instruments covering Indices, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities, Shares and Treasuries with spread betting offering commission-free trading and CFD and Corporate accounts offering commission-based trading on Shares only.

Users can trade on the MetaTrader 4 trading platform and on the broker’s own, proprietary, web-based Next Generation platform for web and mobile trading. The Next Generation platform is feature-rich with 115 technical indicators and drawing tools, 12 chart types and a pattern recognition tool. The broker also offers news and analysis from their own market analysts, as well as education, webinars and seminars.

Plus500

Plus500 has been in the brokerage business for a decade. They boast of 317,000 clients from all over the world. They are properly regulated in four different countries including Australia, UK and Cyprus. The trading platforms are simple, user-friendly, fast and secure. Platforms that can be used across multiple devices and operating systems are available for trading in various situations.

No educational materials are available, which is a huge minus. Furthermore, no research materials (else then the economic calendar) or technical analysis is provided.

Introduction to FCA (Former FSA)

The Financial Conduct Authority or FCA is the regulator for the financial services industry in the UK. Currently, it has jurisdiction over 56,000 financial services firms in the country. Its primary goal is to ensure the health of the UK’s financial industry. To achieve this goal, the FCA work towards protecting the right and interests of consumers, to encourage healthy competition in the financial industry and enhanced the integrity if the financial system.

The FCA has always acted in the interest of the general public and this is why it has become one of the preferred regulatory agencies around the world. Forex traders know that with the FCA looking after their interests, their money will be safe with any FCA regulated forex brokers.

FCA Forex brokers enjoy a high trust rating among forex traders from around the world as they are operating under the transparency guidelines issued by the FCA.

FCA Responsibilities

For any market to operate efficiently, there must be fairness and honesty. Consumers must know what they are getting when they purchase or consume a product. The same goes for the financial market. Investors must be able to invest in the financial markets with confidence to ensure their stability. They must be reassured that the money which they have invested will be safe and handled properly by the financial services providers.

Hence to ensure all financial service providers in the industry uphold their part of the agreement with the trader, most countries have established an independent regulatory body to safeguard the interest of consumers. In the UK, the FCA was established on 1 April 2013 for this very purpose after its predecessor, the Financial Services Authority failed miserably in its task in maintaining the integrity of the UK’s financial system during the global financial crisis in 2008. The FCA is an independent body which is self funded from the fees that it collects from the firms that are under its regulatory oversight. Nevertheless, it is still accountable to the UK’s Treasury department and to Parliament.

Empowered under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and Financial Services Act 2012, the FCA is responsible regulating the conduct of financial services providers at both the retail and wholesale level. In addition, the infrastructure which supports these markets also comes under the jurisdiction of the FCA. The primary objective of the FCA is to ensure the smooth functioning of the financial industry and it does this by:

• Securing a proper level of protection for consumers and investors
• To secure and boost the integrity of the financial markets as a whole
• To promote competition within the financial industry in the interests of consumers and investors

Other responsibilities of the FCA include:

• The supervision of authorized persons
• Monitoring compliance of regulatory requirements
• Carrying out enforcement actions

In April 2014, the FCA also undertook the responsibility of regulating consumer credit industry, a role previously held by the Office of Fair Trading.

How FCA Regulation protects you

The FCA possesses a wide range of powers and in many cases beyond those enjoyed by its predecessors, the FSA. Some of these extended powers include:

• The power to create product intervention rules
• Preventing authorized persons from entering into some contracts which the FCA consider necessary to protect the interest of consumers or to further the competition objective.

Take note that the infringement of a product intervention rule imposed by the FCA could render an agreement being unenforceable against the relevant person and to the recovery of money paid or property transferred.

The FCA also has considerable say in how a financial services provider may market its financial products. It can place specific requirements on the products that the financial services provider must comply with. It also has the power to set a minimum standard which financial services providers are required to follow. Apart from the power to investigate companies and individuals, the FCA is also authorized to ban a product for as long as a year while it decides on whether to ban the product for an indefinite period.

The FCA work closely with a wide range of stakeholders both on a domestic level and international level in furthering its key objectives. Nevertheless, it takes a proportionate approach in maintaining regulatory oversight by focusing on areas which pose a higher risk to its primary objectives.

The UK’s financial industry contributes more than £65 billion in tax revenues for the UK economy. It also provides employment for more than 2 million people in the country. Given the fact that the financial industry, whether directly or indirectly, permeates into the lives of everyone in the UK, ensuring that the financial markets in the UK are able to function smoothly is a task which the FCA takes very seriously.

Guidelines for FCA Regulated Brokers

In addition, the FCA requires all FCA forex brokers to maintain a minimum of £1 million in operating capital before it can operate in the UK. While this capital requirement is significantly lower than those imposed by the NFA in the U.S, it is still considerably higher than most EU states require their brokers to maintain. In addition, the level of compensation under the FCA is also higher at a maximum of £50,000.

To become a FCA forex broker, companies must first to undergo a rigorous application process before they can be issued a license to operate in the UK. Once issued a license to operate in the UK, forex brokers are still required to comply with all the strict regulatory requirements imposed by the FCA at all times. These include:

• Maintaining segregated accounts
• Being a member of the UK’s compensation scheme

Should a dispute arise between a trader and a FCA forex broker, traders are also able to use the services the financial ombudsman services to resolve the dispute.

To check whether a forex broker is truly regulated by the FCA, you can always check with the FCA database to verify the broker’s FCA license number. The database also contains detailed history about the broker which can help a trader in making a more informed decision regarding his broker’s selection.

Conclusion

Now that we understand that the FCA (former FSA) is an important global regulatory agency which gives out licenses and protects the UK traders, you can go ahead and select one of these recommended FCA regulated forex brokers and start trading safely.

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