FXCM Review

FXCM is a currency, CFD trading, and spread betting brokerage established in 1999. As such, it has an enormous amount of experience under its belt. There is no shortage of user feedback regarding FXCM’s services. The brokerage is licensed and regulated in three jurisdictions. It is thus entitled to deliver trading services in an impressive number of countries world over.

FXCM does not accept traders from the US, or from jurisdictions that have expressly forbidden the peddling of financial derivatives-based products.

What do users say about the broker? The trader feedback about FXCM available at various feedback portals is mixed. Some users love it, others consider its services average.

What most users like about FXCM is:

• Its customer support. Many users say the FXCM support is excellent.
• The security and the speed of execution.
• A good variety of tradable assets.
• Decent spreads.
• Quick withdrawals and support for algorithmic trading.

According to FXCM, its main strengths are:

• The quality of its pricing and its enhanced trade execution.
• Its extensive trading tools and services.
• Its award-winning Trading Station platform.
• Its experience, which now spans more than two decades.

What is it that traders do not like about the brokerage?

• Some allege that the Demo accounts do not have any support.
• Others decry the existence of extra fees.
• Several traders have alleged unexpected and unexplained account terminations.
• Bad customer support is also high up on the list of complaints.

As mentioned, the broker is licensed and regulated in several major jurisdictions.

The company behind the UK side of the operation is Forex Capital Markets Limited (“FXCM LTD”), simply known as FXCM. FXCM is a registered UK company. Its Companies House number is 04072877. The address of the brokerage is 20 Gresham Street, 4th Floor, London, EC2V 7JE, United Kingdom.

The licensing authority behind this side of the operation is the UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). The FCA registration number of the broker is 217 689.

FXCM Australia Pty. Limited (“FXCM AU”) represents the Australian branch of the FXCM brand. Like its UK branch, FXCM AU is regulated by the local ASIC. The AFSL number of the brokerage is 309763. FXCM AU is a registered company as well. Its ACN number is 121934432.

FXCM South Africa (PTY) LTD (“FXCM ZA”) represents the FXCM brand in that country. The licensing entity behind this side of the brokerage is the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The FSP number is 46534.

This regulatory profile makes FXCM MiFID-compliant. That means the broker is free to peddle its trading offer throughout the EEA.

The spread betting offer of the broker is only valid for the UK.

Why would you want to join FXCM? The broker is experienced and its reputation is decent. It offers a good combination of tradable assets, solid trading platforms, and outstanding cash-out times.

Platform and Tools

The trading platform selection of the broker is superb. It does not feature countless choices. Its two platform options cover all possible needs.

Trading Station is the proprietary web-based platform of the broker that anyone can launch in seconds. The broker offers a superb Demo account, with 50,000 units of virtual money. FXCM considers Trading Station to be its ‘main platform’. Unlike other proprietary trading platforms you might encounter, Trading Station is surprisingly powerful. If features scores of technical indicators, superb charting, and outstanding trading tools, such as Trader Sentiment, Market Depth, and Real Trading Volume indicators.

The platform is fully customizable. Users can add an impressive array of widgets and they can optimize the layout of their trading interface. Trading Station features support for automated trading strategies. In addition to strategy optimization, the platform also offers back-testing for various strategies. Through the Trading Station interface, users can trade directly off the charts. They also have access to technical- as well as fundamental data concerning the asset of their choice.

MT4 is the well-known and liked workhorse of the online FX/CFD trading industry. Charting- and features-wise, MT4 is certainly unbeatable. Those who download FXCM’s version are free to use any trading strategy, like scalping. The broker supports EAs as well as the VPS needed for the proper functioning of the Expert Advisors.

MT4 is also a fully customizable trading environment. Users can download and install it in a few seconds. The broker offers a Demo option for this platform as well.

As far as trading tools go, FXCM is probably one of the top destinations. In addition to access to Trading Central, the broker also offers trading tools such as:

•  Social Trading
• ZuluTrade.

Asset Classes

The asset classes FXCM offers cover the usual markets:

• The Forex category includes majors, minors, and exotics. In all of these sub-categories, the broker features but a handful of the most popular currency pairs. The most tradable pairs are in the minors subcategory.
• The Forex baskets section offers a USD basket, a JPY basket, and an EMbasket.
• Scores of indexes are available, covering the global economy from the US to Hong Kong and Germany to Japan.
• The commodity-based CFDs of the broker are gold, silver, copper, oil, natural gas, wheat, soy, and corn.
• The supported cryptocurrencies are BTC, LTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, EOS, and XLM.

Commissions and Fees

The minimum required deposit is GBP 300 for most instruments for UK users and USD 50 for the South African and Australian markets.

The spreads are variable and they are different for spread betting, Forex, and CFDs.

The average spread betting spread on the EUR/USD pair is 0.7. For the same pair, the average spread is 1.3 in the Forex section.

As far as CFDs go, on the XAU/USD, the average spread is 0.76.

Research and Education

This is one of the strengths of the broker. The list of research tools and educational material it offers is impressive.

It offers daily market commentary and Forex news, to keep its traders atop the fundamentals.

As mentioned, the broker gives its traders access to Trading Central. Trading Station users can add a dedicated Trading Central widget to their dashboards.

Social sentiment analysis is available, together with client webinars, educational videos, and an Economic Calendar.

The Calendar feature includes forecasts.

Economic news sentiment analysis is also part of the package.

FXCM also offers trade ideas and strategy back-testing.

Customer Service

Traders can contact the support staff via email. admin@fxcm.co.uk and info@fxcm.co.uk are relevant in this regard.

The broker offers a huge selection of local-specific phone numbers users can call for support.

In the UK, the customer service number is +44 20 7398 4050.

International phone numbers cover countries such as Argentina, Austria, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Columbia, Panama, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Venezuela, etc.

Mobile

Both trading platforms, Trading Station and MT4 are available in various mobile versions for Android and iOS devices.

The mobile platforms support full charting, in horizontal as well as vertical modes. They also synchronize watch lists, cover FX as well as CFDs, and support alerts.

Conclusion

FXCM is a good broker with a good platform offer, with more than 20 years’ worth of experience under its belt. It focuses its services in the UK, South Africa, and Australia. It also serves clients from several European and South American countries.

FXCM’s reputation is a mixed bag, which is expected from a broker as old as this one. The trading conditions are decent and the broker’s regulatory status is satisfactory.