Best FCA-Regulated FOREX Brokers

Why is the UK an Important Financial Capital?

The FCA in Brief

Why is FCA so well regarded? It serves as the UK's primary financial regulatory body, charged with the regulation of thousands of financial services firms and financial markets in the UK, including banks, insurance companies, and trading platforms, ensuring that these entities operate with transparency, fairness, and in the best interest of consumers.

The FCA is highly regarded both in the UK and internationally for the following reasons: 

• Its rigorous and proactive approach to regulation is considered a global benchmark

• It can enforce new rules, investigate organizations and individuals, and impose penalties or sanctions for misconduct 

• It fosters competition and innovation through its work in supporting fintech development 

• Its regulatory sandbox allows businesses to test innovative products, services, and business models in a controlled environment

For FOREX companies specifically, FCA plays two roles. The first is to uphold transparency. The second is to prevent scam brokers from stealing their customers’ money. For more information on the anatomy of a FOREX scam, read our article here. Given the FCA’s excellent reputation, a significant number of FOREX brokers and binary options brokers from all around the world have obtained registration from the FCA.

What Protection Does the FCA Provide FOREX Traders?

Best FCA-Regulated FOREX Brokers 2024

Best FCA-Regulated FOREX Brokers 2024

Each UK-based FOREX broker with which you are considering opening an account ought to be licensed by FCA. Details for this should be easily accessible on FOREX companies’ websites, with each carrying a registry number. In cases where a company claims it is licensed by FCA, you can easily verify this information by visiting FCA here: https://www.fca.org.uk/. If you find results, then the company’s claims of licensing are legitimate. Otherwise, the company in question is not licensed by FCA and should be avoided at all times.

Top FCA Regulated Forex brokers

• ICM Capital-91.10: Best Deposit and Withdrawal Broker

• Tradeview - 90.00: Trusted broker that offers very low trading costs as well as comprehensive financial literacy materials for its clients.

• XTB - 85.55: Best Customer Service Broker

• IG - 85.45: Best Regulations Broker plus Convenient Platform

• Saxo Bank - 80.09: Excellent Private Trading Platform

• CMC Markets - 80.07: More than 9,000 Assets

• ThinkMarkets - 80.05: Aimed at the Audience of Traders

How Much Money Do You Need to Get Started?

• Brokers have different minimum deposit requirements for opening an account, which can range from as low as $5 to $500 or more
• Your trading strategy and how you manage risk will influence the amount of money with which you should start
• Consider the costs of trading, including spreads, commissions, and any other fees charged by the broker

How to Avoid Scams Through the FCA

What to Look for Among the Best FCA-Regulated Brokers?

Here’s how we suggest you go about choosing the best FCA-regulated broker for your needs:

FCA-regulated: It sounds obvious, but check and double-check that every broker you consider holds the esteemed FCA license.

All traders welcome: Make sure the broker you choose is UK-based and accepts local traders and foreign traders, too.

Reputation is paramount: Be careful to only consider brokers with an ironclad reputation, meeting, if not exceeding, the industry's stringent safety benchmarks.

Competitive fees: You should zero in on brokers boasting low floating spreads and competitive per-trade commissions. For more information on how spreads work, read our article here.

Feature-packed platforms: Beyond usability, try to find a broker whose platform is packed with analytical tools to give you that cutting edge.

Diverse account offerings: Recognizing that one size doesn't fit all, consider brokers with a broad spectrum of account types—catering to newbies and elite traders with varied strategies.

Diverse instruments for every trader: Every broker should ensure traders have access to a rich mix of instruments across multiple asset classes.

Commission and Fees

This area of consideration is crucial and requires your close attention. For a start, FCA-regulated brokers must offer you a competitive fee package. Trading fees can sometimes be difficult to track. Be sure to check how these fees compare with industry standards:

Spreads: There are two main kinds of spread, one is fixed and the other is variable. Generally, the spread refers to the difference or gap between two prices, such as the bid/ask rate in a currency exchange rate. An example of a good spread is 1.4 pips for the EUR/USD (the narrower the better, this means that a spread of 1.4 pips is better than a spread of 2 pips). To find out more about pips, go here.

Commission: Commission fees are charges levied by brokers for executing trades. They are often quoted in terms of dollars per lot traded or as a percentage of the trade volume. Not all brokers charge commission fees. Some operate on a no-commission basis and make money through wider spreads instead. Commissions are more common in Electronic Communication Network (ECN) environments, where brokers offer direct access to the currency markets.

Rollover fees (Swap fees): These fees are interest fees for when a FOREX position is held overnight. This fee is determined by the difference in interest rates between the two currencies being traded.

Withdrawal and deposit Fees: These are fees charged by some brokers for depositing or withdrawing funds from your trading account. The amount and structure of these fees can vary greatly among brokers.

Subscription or inactivity fees: These are periodic charges for accessing a broker's trading platform or premium features. Inactivity fees are charged when an account has not executed any trades for a certain period. Not all brokers charge these fees.

Using Leverage with FCA-Regulated Brokers

This is linked to our point above about regulation. Different regulators have different guiding policies in leverage. FCA-regulated brokers must abide by the below-mentioned rules around leverage:

• 30:1 for major currency pairs   

• 20:1 for non-major currency pairs, gold, and major equity indices   

• 10:1 for commodities other than gold and non-major equity indices   

• 5:1 for individual equities and any underlying not otherwise mentioned  

• 2:1 for cryptocurrencies

Brokers operating in the UK under the FCA are expected to follow strict risk-management protocols, and they are required to ensure that their clients are trading within their means and understand the risks associated with leverage.

The FCA and Negative Balance Protection

Tradable Assets and Instruments

Some of the most common assets are FOREX, commodities, crypto, bonds, and more. All the top FCA-regulated brokers normally have these bases well covered. Some brokers choose to concentrate on FOREX, while others may be strong in other areas. It depends on your interests. When comparing brokers, a handy hint is to create a spreadsheet where you compare the numbers of the tradable assets you may want to trade.  Remember that the availability of tradable assets varies depending on the broker and trading platform being used.

Payments, Deposits, and Withdrawals

The Importance of Customer Service

• Quick resolution of issues
• Educational support
• Assistance with queries during volatile markets
• Account Security
• Customized advice (although not all customer service desks offer this)
• Technical assistance
  Regulatory compliance queries

Ask Other Traders on Our Network

Here at Arincen, we’ve gone to extensive lengths to create an enabling environment of networks, where traders of all backgrounds can take part in a vibrant trading space. After all, Arincen’s goal is to simplify the world of trading. Our website provides an unrivaled slate of tools, like our market-leading signals, rolling news, and a thriving community where traders of all levels of experience can learn and profit from each other.

Trading Platforms, Tools, and Features

As the UK is such a vibrant trading space, all brokers based in the country provide a range of tools to enhance your trading experience. They can hardly be complacent in this regard as they will quickly be overtaken. Some brokers have their own proprietary platforms, while such tried-and-tested industry favorites as MT4, MT5, and cTrader will serve others.  For a helpful comparison of the two MetaTrader platforms, read our article here. The UK is a technologically advanced country that supports brokers who require the fastest networks to support high-volume trades.

With FCA-regulated brokers, you will generally have access to advanced platforms with deep market access and extremely high platform uptime. Be sure to check on all these points before you settle on your chosen broker.

Tips to Get Started Trading with a FCA-Regulated Broker

Opening a FOREX trading account is easy. Once you have chosen your preferred FCA-regulated broker, you must start by filling out an application form as part of the “open account” process. It is normal that you will be asked to provide two documents. These are usually your national identity documents and proof of address. This is part of Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Remember that some brokers have slightly different requirements than others.

Once your account has been approved, normally one to two days after you make the application, you will be able to fund your account by making the first deposit. After your account is funded, you can start to trade.

How to Improve Your Knowledge of FOREX Trading

A trading website like Arincen is a great place to start. We have a large list of curated articles that can give you all the information you need on common FOREX trading terms, like pips, spreads, leverage, and support and resistance. We have also taken the time to prepare detailed articles on important topics, such as FOREX trading strategies. Additionally, once on our Website, you will find helpful video courses that cover the basics of FOREX trading. With this range of knowledge, you will be well on your way to trading success.

Remember also that your broker will normally have developed a detailed education and research repository itself. That is also a good place to bolster your FOREX knowledge, with the extra benefit that your broker’s information will be slanted toward its own platform and resources, which makes it doubly useful.

As such, it’s relatively easy to improve your knowledge of FOREX trading. All the following items should be part of an FCA-regulated broker arsenal, and they should all help you improve your knowledge of FOREX trading.

Educational content: For beginners, educational resources are crucial. Look out for platforms offering webinars, tutorials, articles, and even demo accounts to familiarize users with trading concepts.

Analytics tools: The platform should offer robust analytical tools and many methods to evaluate trader performance. This includes historical returns, risk metrics, trading strategies, and more.

Community engagement: A vibrant community can provide peer reviews, insights, and discussions, which can be invaluable for both novices and experienced traders.

Real-time data: This is the lifeblood of social trading. Make sure your broker gives you access to live market data, news updates, and economic calendars that can help in making informed decisions

Filing a Complaint Against a FOREX Broker

In the rare cases where your FOREX broker has unlawfully tampered with your account, you can file an official complaint with FCA by visiting the following link https://www.fca.org.uk/.

It is very unlikely that an FCA-licensed company would dare meddle with your account for fear of the repercussions that may result. These include canceling the company’s FCA license and/or closing it down altogether.

Let’s Recap

Arincen’s Review Methodology

The team at Arincen collected more than 120 pieces of data covering more than 100 licensed FOREX companies. Data collection was done in three ways:

1. Companies’ websites.

2. Other websites that have ranked FOREX companies.

3. A survey questionnaire (referred to here as Survey “1”) was sent to the companies invited to participate in the exercise. We have identified 13 criteria for our assessment, each containing several aspects and carrying its relative weight. These include licensing, deposits and withdrawals, number of assets, etc.     

Afterwards, we validated the data by:

1. Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.

2. Survey number “2,” in which we asked these companies’ customers for important feedback and experience.

The next step saw us evaluate and rank each company, relying on the hard work of 15 Arincen employees. We were cautious in ensuring the most accurate assessment possible, including taking into account different languages, as well as the various mobile-app operating systems, e.g., Apple, Samsung, etc.

To add credibility to our research project, we sent a third and final survey (referred to here as Survey “3”) to enable participating FOREX companies to evaluate our research and whether it accurately reflects the realities on the ground. We were fortunate enough to receive a mark of 9.9 out of 10! We have kept to a minimum the margin of error, which stood at a measly 1%. To learn more about how we came up with the evaluation, please click here.