As more FOREX traders dip their toes into the global trading waters, FOREX brokerage firms are increasingly focusing on customer retention as a means to secure revenue streams. New traders are mostly concerned about the relatively high risks attached to FOREX trading, and will listen to good advice on how to avoid sub-standard brokers. In what follows, we will first list the best FOREX brokers in the UK today in a handy table. This list is the result of a detailed study performed by expert Arincen researchers. We will also share the study methodology, so that traders can gain an appreciation of why and how we selected the brokers on the list.
What is FOREX and Why Do We Need a Broker to Trade?
For every FOREX trader, it is good to know that the FOREX market is the largest financial market in the world with some six trillion dollars’ worth of deals taking place daily, only followed by the credit market. The market operates 24 hours a day and five days a week (Monday through Friday), except international holidays. Brokerage firms play a key role in this regard by enabling clients to buy and sell through a trading platform. This could be done either on a personal computer (PC) or by using a smartphone.
How Do I Choose the Best FOREX Broker in the UK
Owing to its excellent regulations, mature investing culture, and high levels of personal disposable income, the UK is home to an extensive range of brokers. In fact, many of the world’s most successful FOREX brokers cut their teeth in this market in the late 1990s.
Regardless of where they are based, you must first be satisfied that your FOREX broker is well-established and reliable. The best brokers of FOREX are regulated by tier-1 regulators who will enforce stringent rules to ensure the safety of investor funds. Thereafter, you must assess the broker on important aspects, like how long they have successfully been in business, how well-managed they are, and the strength of their platforms and service offering.
With regard to features, a broker must demonstrate that it has a robust trading platform, extensive access to markets, and rapid order execution. A good broker will normally tout its level of liquidity and the number of blue-chip financial partners with which it works. It’s important to check if your broker has a good customer service desk with client-friendly hours. Another important factor is to verify how easily you can transact with the broker in terms of deposits and withdrawals.
FOREX Regulations in the UK
FOREX trading is entirely legal in the UK. Firms must be registered with the UK Companies House. Traders can check their broker’s registration details and information about the company directors on the Companies House’s Website.
UK FOREX brokers must be authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This is a strong indicator that they are a safe bet for clients. As a member of the FCA, firms must offer investor fund protection to the tune of ÂŁ85,000 through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). These rules also mandate negative-balance protection for traders and ensure that only suitably qualified people can run FOREX firms.
FOREX brokers also must keep client funds segregated from operating funds. Firms are also encouraged to be compliant with the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) as well as MIFID II. This legislation is designed to increase transparency in financial markets through standardized regulatory disclosures. The FCA is rightly considered as one of the best regulators around. Therefore, UK traders can rest easy knowing they are well-protected. If UK traders go in search of brokers in other jurisdictions – perhaps they are looking for higher leverage than is allowed in their home country – they should be careful to engage with brokers covered by fellow tier-1 regulators, such as the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Commissions and Fees in the UK
A first step in FOREX trading is identifying the spread differential, defined as the difference between the bid (sell) price and the ask (buy) price of a currency pair. While most FOREX currency pairs are traded without commission, the spread is one “cost” that applies to any trade that you place. This is, indeed, the biggest source of profit for the FOREX company. Good companies typically offer a EUR-USD spread of three basis points.
As for commissions, FOREX trading companies can be placed in three categories. The first offers fixed spreads, while the second tenders variable spreads, with a third category of companies offering low-cost spreads, but that come with a (relatively high) fixed commission.
Tradable Assets and Instruments
In general, the more assets a broker offers, the better. While some brokers prefer to specialize on a small number of tradable instruments, those that have spent time developing their services to offer a truly diversified slate of instruments demand respect. Besides FOREX, brokers can offer access to indices, commodities, equities, exchanged-traded-funds (ETF) and cryptocurrencies. The modern trader has every intention of diversifying their exposure to several different types of financial instruments. As far as FOREX goes, the more pairs, the better, with a good balance among major, minor, and exotic pairs. The broker must be able to offer traders access to high-volume trades and institutional partners with excellent liquidity, low trading costs and fast execution.
Payments, Deposits and Withdrawals in the UK
It is best to find a broker with several ways to fund your account. The broker should be able to support traditional bank transfers, as well as debit and credit cards and electronic wallets. Processing times should be kept as low as possible. Traders should be aware that payments must originate from an account in their name. Cash deposits are not normally accepted.
FOREX Trading Customer Service
As timing is key to FOREX trading, you must pick a brokerage firm that is able to provide good customer support around the clock. This most notably includes the company representatives being easy to reach, fast and polite, which will, in turn, spare you of having to worry about problems down the road.
Technical Aspects of the Broker’s Website
When it comes to sharing sensitive personal information online, such as a credit card number, cyber security is paramount. You should, therefore, always look out for SSL certification and two-factor authentication (especially when registering with a new site). To provide our users with peace of mind, we at Arincen have introduced the “Company Checker,” which is an online tool directly linked to an international Website called Scamadviser. The latter is an independent site that checks the countries in which these FOREX Websites are managed, where the server is located, in addition to other security and informational aspects. It ranks FOREX firms by granting them a score ranging from 0% to 100%, with the best FOREX firms usually receiving a score of 90% and above. Any company that has achieved a score lower than 85% should thus be avoided. Simultaneously, whenever looking for a new Trading Broker, users must ensure its Website is fast, modern and user-friendly.
Trading Platforms, Tools and Features
The best brokers of FOREX offer platforms that can be used by traders with different requirements. Be they Web-based or downloadable, platforms must be customizable with good technical indicators and strong risk-management tools. Professional traders will be looking for sophisticated platforms with exceptional performance and a seamless trading experience featuring a range of charts, market indicators and drawing tools. Beginner traders will be looking for an intuitive design, clear action labels, and helpful tips and prompts.
Ask Other Traders on Our Network
Arincen’s Website features a powerful social network where traders can learn from each other in a supportive community. Every trader starts out as a novice, and it helps to be able to watch and study the trades of other, more experienced investors. This important feature has allowed many traders to make their learning curve less steep and expensive.
Top FOREX Broker in UK- Complete List
Here are our expert’s 11 best FOREX brokers in UK for 2023
FXDD 92.15 - Best Overall Broker
ICM Capital 91.10 - Best Deposit and Withdrawal Broker
XTB 85.55 - Best Customer Service Broker
IG 85.45 - Best Regulations Broker plus Convenient Platform
Think Markets 80.05 - Aimed at the Audience of Traders
FXDD Broker
FXDD received the highest score in our survey (92.15). One of the first FOREX companies to offer a credit card in order to allow traders to withdraw their profits, this New York-based company has the UK's FCA license under its belt. It also has a rich portfolio of assets, offers a relatively low spread, in addition to the MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform. Further, it has excellent and fast customer service, and also offers traders a variety of ways to deposit money.
CM Capital is considered the industry leader in deposits and withdrawals, whereby each withdrawal does not take more than five business days. Moreover, the company offers its customers a handy credit card to withdraw their profits, in addition to enabling customers to use various deposit methods. The company, which is licensed by the UK's FCA, has several branches around the world. Among other things, it has a rich portfolio of assets, especially stocks, offers a low spread, as well as the ability to use MT4.
What distinguishes XTB is the fact that it offers the best customer experience among all the companies we have surveyed. Indeed, it boasts the fastest response rate from all the companies under investigation. This is especially relevant, since the market is always on-the-go, and so you need to act fast. XTB offers lots of asset classes, as well as the ability to use the MT4 trading platform. Finally, it maintains a relatively low spread, which is suitable for quick deals.
IG is arguably the best broker when it comes to security and trust, boasting, as it does, licenses from 10 regulatory bodies, including the all-important FCA from the UK. The company is also a bank and is a publicly traded company in London. It is known for offering more than 10,000 asset classes of currencies, commodities, future contracts, ETFs, indices, cryptocurrencies etc. Further, it has its own state-of-the-art trading platform and offers a relatively low spread.
Saxobank is considered one of the best investment banks in the area of financial markets and currencies, as it offers the very best trading platform and tools from all the companies we have reviewed. Meanwhile, its spread is very low and, as such, suitable for short-term deals; and it offers a large number of asset classes, including currencies, commodities, indices etc. Finally, its customer service is excellent and very responsive to traders' needs.
CMC Markets is thought of as one the best companies, offering some 9,000 asset classes that encompass currencies, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds and stocks. The company offers a relatively low spread, the MT4 platform, and fast customer service. It is most suited for traders looking for diversity in asset classes.
Originally founded in New Zealand in 2010, and moving to Australia within the space of their first two years, Think Markets is a global online brokerage focusing on FOREX and CFD trading. In addition to a range of major and minor currency pairs. Think Markets has an array of CFDs on offer. This includes indices, as well as hard and soft commodities.
At the get-go, it is important to learn more about regulatory bodies and their role in the FOREX market. These are government entities charged with regulating the sector. Their role is two-fold: 1. Observing and regulating the work environment in the FOREX market; and 2. Protecting investors and their funds. FOREX firms must at least obtain one license from a relevant regulatory authority. Otherwise, they should be avoided at all times. In this context, we present the five most important FOREX market regulatory bodies from around the world. 1. The FCA, UK; 2. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA); 3. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC); 4. The Financial Markets Authority, New Zealand; and 5. The National Futures Association (NFA), US. While FOREX market regulatory bodies exist in almost every country, these are the most important five and also the most strict. To learn more about other regulatory bodies, please visit en.arincen.com, where you will find a comprehensive global database.
How to Verify that Your Broker Has Authorization
FOREX currency trading is growing markedly in the UK, as it is in many countries. However, before any FOREX broker can start accepting clients, they must obtain the necessary licensing requirements from the UK’s FCA, which is the sector’s government watchdog. The FCA can be found online using the following URL: www.fca.org.uk. It is also advisable to follow the FCA on Twitter: @TheFCA. In this context, it is noteworthy that the FCA was borne out of the Financial Services Act of 2012, which effectively replaced its predecessor, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). For a more historical account, you can visit the FCA’s Webpage on Wikipedia.
How to Verify FCA Authorization
The first step in identifying if a FOREX broker is authorizedto operate in the UK is to note the registration number from the disclosure text at the bottom of the broker's UK homepage. Step two involves looking up the firm on the FCA Website to corroborate that the registration number is, in fact, legitimate. In this introduction, we looked at the best FOREX brokers UK. We began by identifying the best five FOREX brokers in the country and then listing and ranking them by their Arincen trustscore. We then briefly described the regulatory environment governing these companies (more on this later in the article). Finally, we advised readers how they should go about ensuring that the broker they are looking into is licensed by a tier-1 regulator, such as the FCA, and, therefore, deemed trustworthy.
The Dos and Don’ts of FOREX Brokers
One of the first things a new FOREX trader ought to do is check the extent to which the FOREX company abides by the rules and regulations governing its operation. Emphasis must be placed on what it can and cannot do. There are seven things brokerage firms cannot do: The FOREX brokerage firm cannot recommend a buy or sell;
The FOREX brokerage firm must not provide price or market expectations (rise/fall);
The FOREX firm cannot control your financial dealings (deposit/withdrawal);
The FOREX brokerage firm should not “manage” your portfolio under any circumstance;
The FOREX brokerage firm cannot grant a client a bonus unless there are clear terms guiding it from beforehand;
The brokerage firm must not use bank accounts not under its name; and
FOREX brokerage firms cannot have or offer the service of account managers.
In short, the role of brokerage firms is strictly confined to facilitating buyers and sellers to come together toward an agreed-upon commission. FOREX brokerage firms that violate any of the seven rules aforementioned should be avoided. However, should the trader wish to receive any of the above-mentioned services, our advice is to seek an expert Website, like Arincen, something we will delve into toward the end of this article.
FOREX Trading Scams and How to Avoid Them
The anatomy of a FOREX trading scam involves criminals creating a clone FOREX broker Website with basic functionality to dupe novice investors into thinking they are trading with a legitimate entity. These novice investors are lured to these Websites on the promise of quick wins and handsome profits. Traders may start off “making money,” which is nothing more than a confirmation within the Website that the traders have been successful in selected trades. When they try to withdraw their funds is where they normally run into trouble, with nominated contacts becoming hard to reach and the Website announcing that it is experiencing technical trouble. The best way to avoid being scammed is to check that the broker you are using is regulated by a trustworthy regulator. Any broker regulated by the FCA has had to undergo the most stringent vetting of their operations anywhere in the world.
Will Your Money Be Protected if Your Broker Becomes Insolvent?
As long as your broker is regulated with the FCA, your money is safe if the broker becomes insolvent. This is because the FCA mandates that all participating brokers take up investor protection with the FSCS. Individual investors are covered up to ÂŁ85,000.
What Tools and Platforms Should FOREX Brokers in the UK Offer?
FOREX brokers must offer several core tools that ensure the success of their clients. The most important one is the trading platform, which is the interface on which the trader views market data and executes trades. Platforms can either be developed by the broker in house, known as proprietary platforms, or they can be third-party platforms available for use by anyone who pays the usage fee.
The best known examples of third-party trading platforms include MT4 and MT5, which are well-established platforms that have facilitated many millions of trades for brokers around the world for several years.
Once the broker decides on which platform to use, it must decide how to configure its account types. Naturally, novices and professionals have vastly different requirements, meaning that account types must be created with them in mind. Brokers normally place different emphasis on each account type. It is no surprise that they retain their best technology in terms of execution speed, contract size flexibility and trade type variability for their higher-end accounts.
Normally, account-level functions are supplemented by tools that offer market analysis, market news, charts, and advanced analytics. Finally, the best brokers also spend a lot of time developing their research and education tools, which not only help traders make sense of the markets, but set brokers apart from each other.
Which FOREX broker has the best platform?
According to our extensive research, Saxo Bank has the best proprietary platform. It features best-in-class indicators based on advanced technology and analytics. While many brokers swear by the popular MT4, you can get a range of powerful new tools on Saxo Bank’s platform as this broker is continually striving to improve the quality of its features.
Which FOREX broker charges the lowest fees and spreads?
After conducting thorough research, we can say with confidence that FXDD’s ECN account offers the best low fees and spreads for any kind of trader.
Which FOREX broker offers the most CFDs?
Based on our research, the FOREX brokers that deal in the most CFDs are CMC Markets and IG, both of which offer extensive CFD selections.
Which FOREX broker offers the most assets?
Based on our research, the FOREX brokers that deal in the most CFDs are CMC Markets and IG, both of which offer extensive CFD selections.
Which FOREX broker is best for professionals?
Whether you are on the lookout for indicators like MACD, RSI or Moving averages to support your advanced trading strategies, MT4 can provide you with every indicator you need. This industry favorite has been around for many years and has enhanced the careers of many successful professional traders.
Put simply, Arincen is a social networking platform that brings together traders and experts to exchange expertise and ideas. Together, we evaluate the best FOREX companies in the world while offering a comprehensive suite of services and tools, all in one place, either via a computer or a mobile app. The platform is so rich, one can create their own private portfolio of traders and experts they like and, at the same time, follow their recommendations and investment sentiments.
Further, thanks to Arincen, users can keep an eye on market-price developments, as well as the latest news. Users can also benefit from the network’s educational courses on offer, to say nothing of exciting Webinars – all done in a modern and fast-paced work environment. Get all what you need in one place, not less, not more. In short. Arincen: We Meet to Simplify the Trading World.
Arincen’s Review Methodology
The team at Arincen collected more than 120 pieces of data covering in excess of 100 licensed FOREX brokers. Data collection was done in three ways:
Companies’ Websites.
Other Websites that have ranked FOREX companies.
A survey questionnaire (referred to here as Survey “1”) we had sent to the companies invited toparticipate in the exercise. We have identified 13 criteria for our assessment, each containing several aspects and carrying its own relative weight. These include licensing, deposits and withdrawals, number of assets, etc.
Afterward we validated the data by:
Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.
Survey number “2,” in which we asked these companies’ customers for important feedback and past experience.
The next step saw us evaluate and rank each company, relying on the hard work of 15 Arincen employees. We were very careful 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 final and third survey (referred to here as Survey “3”) to enable participating FOREX companies evaluate our own 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 on how we came up with the evaluation, please click here.
Conclusion
If anything, the key message to take away from this article is that the FOREX brokerage firm one picks must be legally licensed and well-regulated. On a final note, it is never advisable to deal with FOREX companies on your own. It is best this is done with the help of industry experts, who can provide you with all the services FOREX companies cannot. Start trading using Arincen and enjoy all the services, advice and tools it has to offer while making your trading experience profitable!
FAQ
Is FOREX trading legal in the UK?
Yes, FOREX trading is completely legal in the UK.
What is FOREX?
The FOREX market is the largest financial market in the world at some six trillion dollars daily, only followed by the credit market. The market operates 24 hours a day and five days a week (Monday through Friday), except international holidays.
What is FOREX trading?
FOREX trading is the largest and most liquid market in the world. It involves traders buying and selling the underlying fiat currencies of different countries, and trading these for other currencies for a profit. FOREX can also be traded on a CFD method, where traders do not own the underlying currencies.
What costs and commissions are associated with FOREX trading?
One of the most important costs associated with FOREX trading is known as the spread between the bid (sell) price and the ask (buy) price of a currency pair. The broker names the spread, which is made up of a market-driven difference in value between two currencies, marked up with a profit for the broker.
Another important fee is the commission, which is a percentage fee that a broker takes off every trade. Commissions per trade are tiny, but they can add up if a trader works with large volumes.
How important is good customer service in FOREX trading?
As timing is key to FOREX trading, you must pick a brokerage firm that is able to provide good customer support around the clock. This most notably includes the company representatives being easy to reach, fast and polite, which will, in turn, spare you of having to worry about problems down the road.
Is FOREX trading taxable in the UK?
Yes, FOREX trading is taxable in the UK. In the main, you will be taxed on profits from FOREX trading, even though there are certain conditions under which you will not pay tax. This relates to when you trade low volumes as an amateur speculator. However, once your trading volume passes a certain threshold, or your earnings begin to make up a certain quantum of your overall earnings, you will start to pay capital gains tax. You are advised to consult a tax professional to understand your liability more clearly.
Adrian Ashley is a seasoned business and finance writer. With a corporate career spanning over 20years, he has developed deep experience in such diverse areas as investing, business, finance,technology and macroeconomics. He is passionate about captu...