Important Facts
- Regulation: FXCM (Forex Capital Markets) UK are regulated by the FSA, the financial regulator for the United Kingdom
- Instruments: Forex, US Dollar Index, Stock Indices and Commodities
- Features: Full Support for scalping EA’s, no re-quotes and decent range of platforms
- Leverage: Up to 100:1
- Minimum Deposit: $0, different minimum balances required for different trading instruments.
The Platform
FXCM offers a number of different platforms for those wishing to trade Contract’s for difference with them. There is both a download and web based platform which are both functional and pretty basic. While there available I’m guessing that the more serious traders will want to be using the MetaTrader 4 platform that FXCM offer alongside these web and download platforms. The FXCM MetaTrader 4 platform is pretty much what you would expect from the MetaTrader platform. Though the FXCM MetaTrader has a number of benefits including allowing EA’s and not preventing the user from setting a very close minimum stop. They also offer a mobile based trading platform which supports both Android and iOS phones and tablets, which is really a requirement as mobile trading is one of the areas which is experiencing the greatest growth. They also offer support for NinjaTrader and MirrorTrader which are both automated trading platforms, many will have already heard of MirrorTrader which is available at a number of different providers. More interesting is NinjaTrader which is a serious bit of kit which allows you to create complicated algorithmic trading systems in C#. This is a nice bit of kit for the serious algo and automated trader.
Special Features
One of the best features about FXCM UK is that they have a no re-quotes policy which will please many a trader who has struggled with brokers frequently re-quoting them whenever they try and open a new position. The other thing that is undoubtedly great about FXCM is that they accept whatever Expert Advisor you want to use and don’t restrict your Expert Advisors operating any way you want. These two things aren’t anything particularly gimmicky or new but show a willingness from FXCM to provide the kind of service that traders really desire.
Spreads
The Spreads on offer at FXCM are very competitive though they aren’t quite as competitive as some of the very best providers out there such as CMC or GFT, but they still offer spreads below 2 pips on many major instruments. The spreads are even better when you have over $25,000 in their account and the spreads for these customers are indeed very competitive.though most traders won’t have this kind of cash in there accounts. Obviously the more exotic the instrument gets the less competitive spreads at FXCM get, but would have to put FXCM up there when it comes to spreads with many other brokers offering much wider spreads than FXCM.
Customer Service
FXCM generally has a pretty good reputation when it comes to customer service and does seem to provide a pretty decent customer services offering. FXCM is best known as Americas leading margin Forex brokerage and offer 24/7 Live Chat which is meant to be very helpful to its customers. FXCM also seem to have one the widest range of free telephone numbers I have ever seen including a number of lines for a number South American countries. They also allow you to open positions over the phone provided your not a MT4 customer who can only close positions over the phone. Though phone trading is a bit old wave it’s vital if you need to close a position and you can’t get online.
Regulation
FXCM UK is regulated in the United Kingdom by the FSA and has a clean regulatory record as far as I can tell which is always a plus. It should also be noted that the FSA is considered one of Europe’s better regulatory bodies when it comes to the regulation of retail trading brokerages. FXCM is a large international brokerage company and is regulated in multiple authorities and in 2011 it has ran into trouble in the US where it was fined $2 million for slippage malpractices and also had to credit its traders back. Though since this incident there has been no further problems in regards to FXCM.
Overall, I would trust FXCM with my personal cash and seem to provide their customers with a decent level of service.
