Founded

Exchange fee

Max. Leverage

Type

Trading Platform

1999

0.5%

1:50

3

MT4

Ninja Trader

ZuluTrade

Trading Station

FXCM Broker

Who is FXCM?

FXCM is a forex trading and CFDs broker founded in 1999 in the United States. It is regulated by ASIC, FSCA, and the FCA. As of January 2015, FXCM offered services to 220,000 active client accounts across the world. FXCM has offices based in several of the major financial centres of the world, including in London, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong and Sydney. The company began a major rebranding phase under the Jefferies Financial Group in 2018, formerly known as Leucadia.

Since its inception, FXCM has gained recognition across the industry and has won a number of global awards for its offering of brokerage and trade-related services.

Commissions and Fees

Trading fees from FXCM are widely regarded as being slightly lower than the average rate across the industry in terms of forex and CFD trading.

The exact pricing varies in terms of the account type that traders choose to go with. One plus is that the broker has made all of its fees available to view on its website, with a rate card section detailing a clear and transparent picture of what costs will be incurred when trading with FXCM.

Similar to most other brokers, the commissions and fees depend on the account type. There are reduced costs in the Spread Betting account compared to the Active Trader account.

Accounts

FXCM offers three types of trading account: mini, standard and Active Trader. Each of these options have different minimum deposits, spreads and access to currency pairs. The minimum deposit is $50, and the maximum leverage is 1:50. Spreads vary depending on the account type that is chosen, but the typical spread for EUR/USD ranges from between 0.7 pips to 1.3 pips. Traders are also able to test the different trading platforms and conditions through free and unlimited demo accounts.

Trading Platforms

FXCM offer a number of different trading platforms, including the popular MetaTrader 4, along with NinjaTrader, ZuluTrade, and FXCM’s flagship proprietary platform Trading Station.

Traders can download FXCM apps from both the App Store and Google Play Store, with functionality for a range of devices, including Apple iPhone, Apple iPad and Android tablets and phones.

Education and Research

FXCM provides a good selection of educational and research material, including trading guides, live webinars, SMS trade alerts, and an extensive video library, suitable to both beginners and professional traders respectively.

About FXCM

FXCM, also known as Forex Capital Markets, was founded back in 1999 in New York. It expanded in Europe in 2003, following the opening of an office in London. In 2015, Leucadia Investments became the majority economic owner of FXCM, forming part of the merchant banking arm of Jefferies Financial Group.

Forex Capital Markets Limited is authorised and regulated in the UK by the FCA (license number 217689), in Australia by ASIC (license number 309763), and in South Africa by the FSCA (license number 46534). FXCM Markets Limited is an operating subsidiary within the FXCM Group. As of March 2018, FXCM was the second largest retail forex broker outside of Japan.

Pros

FXCM provides a number of resources in terms of forex education, from free trading tools and educational videos and webinars. The demo account is also a plus point for traders who want to practice and try out their trading strategies without using real world money. Meanwhile, the Trading Station trading account is suitable to traders of all levels of experience as it is equipped with all the necessary essential tools.

Cons

On the other hand, FXCM do not tend to offer many promotions or regular live trading competitions. Also, the number of tradeable assets available with this broker is somewhat limited in comparison to some of its nearest competitors, which is something to consider when choosing a broker to open an account with.