About company:
IFC Markets is a leading brokerage company offering a wide range of trading instruments: currency pairs, CFDs on indices, commodities and precious metals, as well as unique personalized instruments on two trading platforms.
history of the company
This is the trade name of IFCMARKETS. CORP., Registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
The broker is part of the IFCM Group, which has been developing and implementing new effective projects in the field of financial technologies for over 10 years. The group also includes software developers NetTradeX Corp and IFCM Cyprus Ltd. (formerly Infin Markets Limited), licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Fund security
As we already mentioned, IFC Markets Ltd. regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission. He holds a Category 2 business license, which means he can enter into investment deals. To obtain such a license, companies go through rigorous checks by FSC.
Despite offering regulated status, FSC allows companies to be based abroad. In addition, BVI-based financial service providers do not face most of the requirements of brokers in Cyprus or the UK.
We generally advise traders to choose between UK, Swiss or other well-regulated brokers where your funds will be protected. However, if you are looking for an offshore broker for some reason, then IFC Markets is a reliable choice: it is part of an international group with 10 years of experience and fairly good trading conditions, as well as innovative technologies and some unique features.
Trading conditions
IFC Markets offers its clients two main types of accounts on two different trading platforms. Both account types offer the same tight fixed spreads, instant execution and no commission trading.
Beginner accounts offer not only micro lots, but the ability to trade 100 units of a given currency.
In addition, swap-free (Islamic) accounts are available for all account types upon request from clients who do not wish to earn interest for religious reasons.
VIP status is automatically assigned to accounts with a trading deposit of $ 50,000 or more. Holders of such accounts can take advantage of flexible trading conditions, guidance and assistance from a personal account manager, as well as an analyst in creating an investment portfolio using the GeWorko method.
Minimum deposit
The minimum initial deposit for IFC Markets clients is only $ 1, which is a symbolically low initial amount. However, a minimum deposit of $ 1000 is required to register with a standard account.
Spreads and commissions
IFC Markets offers fixed spreads of 1.8 pips on EUR / USD, which is quite narrow as in general, fixed spreads are higher than variable spreads. Like most fixed spread brokers, this one does not charge a commission, but only gets rewarded through the spread.
Leverage
The maximum leverage provided by this broker is high and goes up to 1: 400. However, many other offshore brokers offer similar or higher leverage levels.
We would like to remind you that working with a higher level of leverage carries more risks.
Trading platforms
IFC Markets offers its clients two trading platforms to choose from: MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and its own NetTradeX. He also started offering trading on MetaTrader 5 with floating spreads (in demo mode).
NetTradeX is a trading and analytical terminal launched back in 2006. The platform offers a wide selection of currency pairs, indices, exchange and commodity contracts for difference (CFDs) for trading. It is available for Windows desktop devices, as well as iOS, Android and Windows Mobile devices.
In addition to standard trading instruments, this platform offers the unique opportunity to trade personal composite instruments (PCI). You can create PCI yourself using the GeWorko method, which is based on the Forex concept, according to which one financial asset is quoted by another. PCI includes new cross rates, correlations between different assets, currency indices, stock portfolios, etc.
In addition to NetTradeX, IFC Markets also supports MetaTrader 4 (MT4), the world's most widely used Forex trading platform. It comes in desktop, web and mobile versions. MT4 is preferred by most experienced traders because it comes with an advanced charting package, a range of technical indicators, Expert Advisors (EA) and an extensive back testing environment. Moreover, the service of trading signals is available on MT4 only with this broker.
In June 2017, the broker also began trading on MT4's successor, MetaTrader 5.
Significant services
We would also like to point out that this broker offers up to 7% per annum on free margin.
Support service
IFC Markets provides highly qualified customer support in 18 languages. Traders can contact IFC Markets via email, chat, callback, Skype, phone, WhatsApp, Telegram. The support service is available 24/5.
The FAQ section is divided into four groups and all questions not listed there can be directed to the support representatives using any of the above methods of contact.
Ways of payment
IFC Markets clients can choose from a wide range of payment methods - bank transfer, bank cards, Skrill, OKPAY, Webmoney, Netteller, Qiwi, China UnionPay and Western Union.
Accepted currencies: USD, EUR and JPY.
Criticism of traders
Traders complain about difficulties in working with the support team.
Pros:
selection of trading platforms; tight fixed spreads; trade without commission; the ability to create your own trading instruments; annual interest on free margin; low min. initial deposit, high leverage.
Minuses:
Market Maker model.
IFC is a brokerage company, meaning a professional participant in the Forex market. Such organizations have the right to conduct transactions on behalf of their clients, that is, to provide intermediary services between sellers and buyers.
What services brokerage companies provide
Most traders use the opportunities provided for trading currency pairs. The essence is roughly the same as when buying currency in a bank - buy cheaper, wait for the price to rise, and sell at a higher price. But trading through a broker has a number of undeniable advantages:
- the rates are much more favorable, and the costs are significantly lower;
- there is an opportunity to trade not only on the rise but also on the fall of currency rates;
- dozens, and in some companies up to a hundred currency pairs are available for selection;
- there are many auxiliary tools.
In addition, with the help of IFC, a client can conduct transactions with precious metals, indices, bonds, company stocks, cryptocurrencies, raw materials, and other goods. Without resorting to the services of a broker, it would be quite problematic for an ordinary person to buy, for example, a barrel of oil. But on a special trading platform, an order is opened with one click.
Stocks can also be purchased without the services of intermediaries. But this will be a much more complex process. It will be necessary to visit the websites of a large number of companies, compare data from them, and make a purchase directly from one of the firms. Difficulties will also arise because companies from different countries of the world maintain pages on the internet in their own languages, requiring translation. A broker provides a ready list of stocks, usually of the most profitable global brands with an abundance of information about them. After making a choice, again, it only takes one click.
The client can also receive a kind of loan from the broker, which in professional trading language is called leverage. That is, a person has the opportunity to operate with amounts that are many times, tens, or hundreds of times greater than their own funds. The size of the leverage is determined in each individual case by agreement between the client and the organization.
In addition to all this, brokerage companies are ready to assist clients in making decisions at their request. There are several options for this:
- auxiliary tools, technical indicators that automatically provide the necessary data for analysis;
- trading signals that suggest whether to buy or sell an asset at the current moment based on data from special programs analyzing market processes;
- access to analytics, news, event calendars published on the official website and social media pages;
- individual consulting by company specialists, which is usually available to those with substantial deposits.
Thus, trading through a brokerage company allows anyone to make a profit, limited only by their own level of knowledge and preparation.
What benefit does the broker receive?
The brokerage company IFC is interested in having more clients who conduct numerous transactions for significant amounts. The organization's profit directly depends on this. It is derived in the following main ways.
The broker IFC may charge a fixed commission for each transaction made. For example, 1 dollar. This type of cooperation is suitable for clients who open a small number of orders, aiming to make significant profits from each of them.
Another option is a bit more complicated but more popular. The broker receives a spread, which is the difference between the best buying and selling prices at the current moment. This form of payment for the company's services is suitable for traders who open many orders. The spread can be either fixed in size or variable depending on the situation.
The same broker can offer traders different payment options for their work on several types of trading accounts.
Brokers - Scammers
The Forex market is extremely attractive to people from all over the world who want to earn money. Unfortunately, where there is money, there are always deceivers and scammers. Among the organizations calling themselves brokerage companies, there are many firms operating illegally or officially registered but still using schemes to deceive clients.
In many ways, this is possible due to the vast size of the global financial markets. Regulation of activities in different countries varies, in some matters there are no unified standards, and the internet space, meanwhile, is unified. Finding various loopholes, scammers often evade responsibility.
There are countless fraudulent websites. They easily close after money is collected from deceived clients and refund demands start coming in. And immediately their organizers create new pages offering even more favorable conditions.
Such firms are called kitchens in trader slang. What do you think, is IFC a kitchen or not? Share your experience in the reviews.
How Dishonest Brokers Deceive
Primitive scammers simply collect money and then block the user's personal page. And the user can no longer even contact the company by any means. Before that, the scammers are in constant contact with the client. Their task is to convince the person to top up the trading account with as much money as possible, for this they sometimes urge selling property, taking loans from banks. The blocking occurs at the moment when it becomes clear that there is nothing more to take from the victim. As a rule, such sites close quickly after managing to deceive several wealthy clients.
But there are also such schemes that work much more subtly and manage to exist for years with a huge queue of people wanting to get their money back. Often they manage to officially cover up their actual scams. The user agreement includes clauses whose meanings a novice in trading simply does not understand or does not notice at all due to inattention and low level of financial literacy. Later, when claims arise, the company refers to the document, and there is nothing to counter this.
Another way of withdrawing money from clients' deposits is called quote manipulation. On its website, the scheme shows the user quotes that differ from the real ones. And the client does not actually trade on the market, but only within the same scheme. The charts and images are drawn in such a way that the trader ends up at a loss. One by one, the trades gradually zero out the deposit.
Even the generosity of a company, which is of course illusory, can pose a danger. For example, a client may be given bonuses expressed in real money for registering on the site, for replenishing an account, and others. Bonus currency units are mixed in the deposit with the client's personal funds, and the income received from them can no longer be separated. And when a trader tries to request a withdrawal, they learn about additional bonus usage conditions that will be impossible for them to fulfill. And all this was stated in the bonus program, written in small print in the farthest corner of the site. The fact that the client did not read the terms in advance is only their problem.
Places of registration of brokerage companies
Deceiving people from one country, fraudsters often hide in the territory of another, skillfully using discrepancies in the laws of states.
For these purposes, companies are often registered in offshore zones. These are either separate countries or parts of their territories with a registration regime loyal to any business and a low level of control. Simply put, to attract foreign capital to their territory, some small island in the ocean is ready to register a company with just an application and a minimal set of documents and does not interfere with an audit in its internal affairs.
The most popular offshore zones among brokerage companies are Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Cyprus, Mauritius, Belize, the Marshall Islands, and the British Virgin Islands.
Official proceedings, for example with the broker IFC, will have to be conducted by traders in accordance with the laws of the specified states. And it is practically impossible to do this independently. It is also extremely difficult to find lawyers who know foreign laws. In some cases, presence at court hearings at the place of company registration may be required. All this makes the proceedings not only complicated but also expensive.
However, the mere fact of the broker IFC being registered in an offshore zone does not necessarily indicate dishonest intentions. Many reputable companies that have proven their high level over decades also have offshore registrations. The goal is to reduce tax expenses. In the 21st century, many strive for this. Therefore, the largest global banks and manufacturers, whose reputations are unquestionable, conduct business through offshore zones.
Moreover, not all countries attracting foreign capital can be called exotic. Cyprus is part of the European Union and adheres to its rules. The Virgin Islands belong to the United Kingdom.
How to Choose an Honest Broker
When choosing a brokerage company, many parameters need to be considered. The place of registration is one of them. But it is more important to assess who regulates the organization's activities and how. Local government regulatory bodies do this based on the location. You need to find their websites online and check the information about the issued permits. There are also supranational structures, membership in which obliges brokers worldwide to adhere to established internal norms and rules. Major Forex market participants often represent financial groups whose subsidiaries are regulated in multiple jurisdictions. In any case, brokers' official websites should provide information about the issued licenses. It is better for the client to verify its authenticity in the manner described above.
It is important to study what is written about the company on external resources. If there are no mentions of it at all, that's a negative. If its experts appear on leading thematic platforms, that's a positive.
Don't forget to read customer reviews on as many sites as possible. But approach them critically. Especially if one place writes exclusively good things and another exclusively bad. Look for reviews with specific examples, facts, and mentions of pros and cons, rather than unfounded praise or criticism.
The company's website should be detailed, and the information on trading conditions should be thorough, specific, and clear. It's not enough to say 'We have low spreads!'; exact sizes in points are needed.
By following all these rules, you will be able to choose a solid brokerage company, cooperation with which will help you enter the intriguing world of Forex, which has made many people on the planet millionaires.
