FXCM Review South Africa

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76.31% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

WHAT IS FXCM?

FXCM is a forex broker company that is based in London, UK.

Forex brokers are companies that provide traders with access to platforms that allow them to buy and sell foreign currencies.

Forex brokers are also known as retail forex brokers or currency trading brokers. Retail currency traders in turn use these brokers to gain access to the 24-hour currency market for speculation purposes.

Forex broker services are also provided for institutional clients and large companies such as investment banks.

SAFE OR SCAM?

FXCM was founded in 1999 and forms part of Leucadia Investments, which in turn is part of Jefferies Financial Group.
The company has offices in the UK, Australia, the UK and South Africa.

Besides providing services for online Forex trading it also offers CFD trading along with other services. By having a global presence, traders can trade in the most liquid markets.

FXCM offers speedy execution, advanced and innovative technology, and more. During its 20-year history, it has become one of the leading providers of online trading services.

FXCM is committed to providing the best trading experience possible to traders from across the globe. There is constant development where technology is concerned along with quality pricing and execution which is transparent.

FXCM REVIEW OF PRO AND CONS

LEVERAGE

The facility that enables a trader to get a much larger exposure to the market than the amount he or she deposited to open a trade, is called leverage. Such leveraged products magnify a trader’s potential profit – but of course also increase the potential loss.

The amount of leverage is expressed as a ratio, for instance, 2:1, 30:1, or 400:1. Assuming that a trader has US Dollar 1,000 in his or her trading account and is trading ticket sizes of 400,000 USD/JPY, that leverage will equate to 400:1.

FXCM allows the leveraged trade of not only Forex and CFDs, but there are also leverage levels made available when spread betting.

Traders who have a UK and EU account fall under the FCA and ESMA regulations and will only be eligible for maximum leverage of 1:30 on Forex products, 20:1 for non-major currency pairs, gold, and major indices, 1:10 for commodities, and 1:2 for cryptocurrencies.

The leverage limit for professional traders in possession of an FXCM Pro account is not limited by these leverage levels and it can go up to 1:400.

ACCOUNTS

A forex account is a trading account held by a trader with a company like FXCM that is primarily issued with the purpose of trading currencies.

Usually, the number and type of accounts that a trader can open with a broker company differ according to the country in which the brokerage operates, the country of residence of the trader, and the regulatory authorities under whose jurisdiction it operates.

TYPES OF ACCOUNTS AND ITS FEATURES

FXCM provides accounts according to traders’ needs and their level of experience. UK-based clients have the benefit of having access to a spread betting account.

CFD Trading Account

With this trading account, traders can trade currency, stock indices, and commodities which include gold and oil.

The spread costs are relatively low, which enables traders to carry out more trades. Traders also have access to reasonable leverage, multi-asset platforms, and the advantage of both rising and falling markets.

Active Trader Account

This account is the most popular and is suited for traders who actively trade and includes various benefits such as:

• Elite or active trader pricing
• Dedicated support
• API trading
• Institutional derived trade ideas
• Market Depth
• Custom solutions, and more

FXCM Pro account

To open this account, traders must have:

• Traded leveraged products in significant sizes in trades spanning over the last four quarters
• A financial instrument portfolio that exceeds EUR 500 000
• Worked in the financial sector in a professional position that requires a certain knowledge of derivatives trading within the last year.

Furthermore, traders who are qualified for this type of account forgo some regulatory protections which is offered to retail clients, such as negative balance protection and leverage limits. FXCM also makes provision for demo accounts.

MARKET INSTRUMENTS

Most brokers offer all or some of the following kind of market instruments for trading:

Forex

Forex trading, also called currency or FX trading, involves the currency exchange market where individuals, companies, and financial institutions exchange currencies for one another at floating rates.

Commodities

As with currency exchange markets, commodity markets offer different investment opportunities for traders. Investing in contract-based tradable goods is a reliable way to mitigate risk during times of inflation or economic uncertainty.

Indices

Equity or stock indices are actual stock market indexes that measure the value of a specific section of a stock market. They can represent a specific set of the largest companies of a nation or they can represent a specific stock market.

Precious metals

The trading of gold and other precious metals involves hard commodities that are contract-based tradable goods.

Energy

The high volatility of energy prices due to political and environmental factors, supply and demand, extreme weather conditions, and global economic growth is a typical feature of this product, making it another popular trading choice.

FXCM offers traders access to over 39 Forex currency pairs and 32 CFDs. Products on offer is Forex, Forex Baskets, Indices, Commodities, Crypto and CryptoMajor. Crypto and CryptoMajor are currently not available to FXCM LTD clients due to crypto ban imposed by the FCA.

Read the FreshForex Review here

FEES

The cost of trading depends on different factors like commissions, spread, and margins.

The spread of a currency pair is the difference between the bid and the asking rate. A pip represents the smallest increment that an exchange rate can move. One pip is 0.01 for currency pairs with JPY as the term currency and 0.0001 for all other pairs.

Margin is the amount of money required in your account in order to open a position. Margin is calculated based on the current price of the base currency against USD, the size (volume) of the position and the leverage applied to your trading account.

Commissions are the charges imposed by an investment broker on a trader for making trades on the trader’s behalf. The level of commissions will vary between different brokers and depends on the asset being traded and the type of service offered by the broker.

Execution-only brokers, which is a broker that does not involve in any personal investment advice and gives traders complete control over how they trade the markets, tend to have lower commissions.

The contract for differences (CFDs) trading, a popular form of derivative trading that enables traders to speculate on the rising or falling prices of fast-moving global financial markets, will incur commission on shares.

CFD trades on other markets have no commission but do wrap a spread around the market price of a certain instrument.

FXCM’s fees are determined on the trading instrument and the account that the trader uses. Standard accounts when trading Forex and CFDs offer a variety of spreads that are based on the trading instrument, e.g. EUR/USD and USD/JPY has a spread of 1.3 and 1.4 pips respectively as per FXCM’s Spread Report (2020 Q4).

Standard account holders only have prevailing spreads that are charged.

The Active Trader account offers low commission rates and average spreads which offer high volume traders competitive pricing. A deposit of at least US Dollar 25 000 is required and it has a commission rate of US Dollar 25 per million.

If you look at the EUR/USD currency pair, traders incur US Dollar 4 per standard round-lot turn or US Dollar 2 per side. This makes the all-in cost of trading (post-commissions) 0.45 pips.

Overnight costs to apply to swap rates and the precise amounts will have to be retrieved from inside the trading platforms.

Accounts that are inactive over 12 months will be charged an inactivity fee of US Dollar 50, or a currency equivalent should the trader account’s base currency be something other than USD. There is also a US Dollar 30 VPS Hosting charge for traders who use this service.

DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL

Traders can deposit for withdrawing funds using the following payment methods:

• Debit/Credit Card
• EFT/Bank Wire
• Skrill
• Neteller
• Klarna.
• Rapid Transfer

A minimum deposit of US Dollar 50 is required when opening a live account with FXCM (Except FXCM EU and FXCM LTD). The company does not accept third party payments, and any payments made will be rejected and returned to the source.

When making withdrawal requests from the trading account, the payment method used to return funds must be done using the same payment method that was used when the deposit was made.

Although there are no fees for withdrawals when using Debit/Credit facilities, there is a US Dollar 40 withdrawal fee that is charged when using Bank Wire.

TRADING PLATFORMS

The forex trading software provided by a broker company to its clients is called the platform and is used to carry out their trades.

A platform can be a multi-asset one, which means that it allows clients to not only trade forex but also other asset classes like CFDs on stocks, stock indices, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies.

The decision about which platform to choose will depend on what a client would like to trade, therefore it will be one of the criteria when choosing a broker too.

With FXCM traders can choose between several trading platforms like:

• MetaTrader4
• Trading Station
• FXCM Apps
• NinjaTrader
• ZuluTrade

MetaTrader4

This is the most popular trading platform in the trading community and can be used on computers that run on Mac or Windows, or smartphones and tablets that use iOS or Android operating systems.

Using MetaTrader4 together with FXCM account has a range of features that include the following:

• For tighter risk management, more precise lot sizes can be traded
• Stop loss and take profit orders can be set while opening a new trade
• Traders can control when they want to close a position along with how much of that position they want to close, along with other features and benefits

Trading Station

This platform is FXCM’s in-house platform for CFD and Forex trading. It is available on web browsers, or as a desktop or mobile application, and is packed full of features that include the following:

• User profile and chart settings are stored on the FXCM cloud
• News and economic calendar which have been integrated into the platform
• Educational and research tools
• Charts
• Trading analytics that is customizable and helps to improve overall trading performance, and more

FXCM Apps

There are several apps that can be downloaded and used together with an FXCM account, such as:

• SSI Snapshots
• Trading Session Hours
• SSI – Speculative Sentiment Index
• Donchian Channels

NinjaTrader 8

This trading platform has extensive functionality relating to forex, and it offers spread betting for UK and Ireland Clients. It has the following features:

• Order Entry
• Advanced charting
• Platform Automation
• Chart Trader
• Access to a market analyzer
• Backtesting as well as optimization
• Trade management at an advanced level
• The ability for traders to create their own workspace and customize their market experience, and several more

ZuluTrade

This platform is ideal for traders who do not have the time to build their own strategies or traders who would like to place distance between themselves and the emotions involved with trading. It offers the following features:

• Risk Management through the margin call -o- meter, along with other trade settings that allow the trader to manage their risks efficiently
• It is a peer to peer automated trading platform where traders can subscribe to signals from others
• Sophisticated sorting features allow traders to choose the signal providers that cater more to the trader’s individual needs, along with other features.

HOW TO OPEN AN FXCM ACCOUNT

The FXCM review is simple and easy. When opening an account with FXCM, the process entailed is completely online and the application process involves three steps.

Apart from having to provide essential basic information, the applicant must provide a copy of Identification along with proof of residence. This forms part of the KYC (Know your client) requirements.

As soon as the application and documentation has been verified, the account will be activated and opened for funding, after which trading can commence.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Potential traders need to be assured that the broker company they chose can offer the necessary support and help whenever they may need it.

FXCM offers customer services via telephone, SMS (UK residents only), email, or Live Chat.

EDUCATION

Before starting to trade, potential clients of FXCM should avail themselves of all possible information and trading skills needed to be successful in the world of forex and commodity trading.

If FXCM’s website itself does not provide enough means, a trader should explore other informative websites and means to obtain that knowledge.

FXCM also provides educational tools for the beginner trader which include information on what Forex is, how to become a better trader, and the provision of a free online live classroom. This can be accessed on the website.

There are also training guides relating to Forex Trading and Successful Traders.

RESEARCH

Potential traders should always do as much as possible research about speculative trading before commencing to do it.

Trading with confidence and success relies heavily on knowledge and understanding of the markets, therefore research options offered by brokers form an integral part of its features when choosing the right company to trade with.

FXCM caters for trader through several research tools provided on the website, such as:

• Economic Calendar
• Market News
• Live Forex Charts
• Trading tools such as FXCM Plus, FXCM Apps, Market Scanner, Technical Levels, and Trading Signals

AWARDS

Since its inception, FXCM (except FXCM EU) has received industry-wide recognition which is clear when you look at the long list of awards and accolades that the company has received. The most recent awards include:

• Best trading tools – 2025

• Best education – 2025

• Best Technical tools – 2019

• Annual Review 2018 – 4.5/5 stars overall review

• Best customer support – 2018, and many more

The full list of awards and other recognition can be viewed on the website.

CONCLUSION

FXCM caters to beginner and advanced traders. It has a competitive offering of pricing, spreads, trading instruments, tools, and platforms which cater to the needs of any trader.

There is constant development relating to innovation and technology. The company is transparent in its operation and traders can get the best out of trading when opening an FXCM account.

It provides a safe trading environment, where traders can rest assured that their funds are always secured because FXCM is strictly regulated and highly reputable.

Read the FXChoice Review here

DISCLAIMER

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76.31% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

The trading of financial instruments involves a high level of risk where traders can lose amounts that exceed their initial deposit, thus trading financial instruments and this level of risk is not suitable for all traders.

The information provided on the FXCM website is purely for information purposes and should not be regarded as an encouragement or recommendation to invest in financial instruments.

Before investing, traders can consult independent and professional third parties for advice due to the high levels of risk pertaining to trading and investment.

Traders need to evaluate their objectives, risk exposure, and willingness to be exposed to risk.

Leverage is a double-edged sword and can dramatically amplify your profits. It can also just as dramatically amplify your losses.