Forex trading is very popular in Australia, and the market is heavily regulated. That means traders are protected from most scams, but you should still be careful when choosing a trading platform. It is also quite important to compare different brokers and choose the one that suits your trading style the most, so we’ve analyzed the market and arranged a list of the top 3 most reliable and convenient brokers in Australia that can be suitable for novice traders.
Forex in Australia
Forex is perfectly legal in the country, but the government closely monitors all the companies that offer brokerage services. The main national regulator is called ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission), and it has pretty strict financial requirements for any company that wants to give access to financial markets to common traders. That guarantees that all licensed brokers have serious safety measures and enough liquid funds to compensate their clients in case something goes wrong.
ASIC also imposes serious limitations on how much risk you can take on while trading: the leverage is capped at 30:1 for major Forex pairs, and the limit for minor pairs is 20:1. While that may sound rather constraining for some experienced traders, these measures make sure you don’t lose your money too quickly. You should definitely prefer only regulated brokers, but each of them has its own conditions or fees, so it’s also important to compare them and find the best Forex brokers in Australia.
IC Markets
Founded in 2007, IC Markets is one of the most well-known Australian brokers. Regulated by CySEC, ASIC, and FSA, it’s considered very reliable and secure. It’s known for its favorable trading conditions, tight spreads, quick order execution, and a wide variety of supported trading strategies. All in all, it’s a great choice for both novice traders and professionals.
XM
XM is a large international broker licensed by ASIC. It has lots of interesting trading instruments and a selection of educational materials, but there are no passive income options here.
Pepperstone
Pepperstone is a technologically advanced brokerage company that’s mostly known for its quick order execution and a great variety of available financial instruments, including many different CFDs. It is an especially suitable option for experienced traders, and beginners may find the lack of cent accounts or high deposit threshold ($200) disappointing.