Is Fortrade Regulated? Is it safe? - TU Expert review
License is the most important document you have to consider when choosing a broker. Many traders, who would like to start working with Fortrade try to check whether it is regulated. Traders Union experts have already done that. In this article, you will learn whether Fortrade is regulated, what regulatory authorities supervise the broker and whether it is safe to work with the company in general.
Short summary about the broker Fortrade
Fortrade is a multi-regulated Forex and CFD broker that has representative offices in five countries. In London in 2014, it was registered and licensed by FCA 609970 (Financial Conduct Authority), one of the world’s most reputable supervisory bodies. Over the following years, Fortrade obtained licenses from ASIC 493520 (Australian Securities and Investments Commission), CIRO (Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization), CySEC 385/20 (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission), FSC (Financial Services Commission | Mauritius), and NBRB (National Bank of the Republic of Belarus). Its clients can trade over 300 instruments with leverage up to 1:200 (for FSC clients) and variable or fixed spreads. The international office regulated by FSC doesn’t provide its services to traders from over 70 countries, including France, Germany, and the UK. A full list of countries is provided in the FAQs section. U.S. residents cannot open accounts with any of Fortrade’s offices.
| 💰 Account currency: | EUR, USD, GBP, and TYR |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Minimum deposit: | $100 |
| ⚖️ Leverage: | Up to 1:30 for CySEC, FCA, CIRO and ASIC. Up to 1:200 for FSC |
| 💱 Spread: | From 2 pips for Forex |
| 🔧 Instruments: | 50 currency pairs, indices, stocks, commodities (precious metals, agricultural products, energies), U.S. bonds, ETFs, Micro Bitcoin futures, and Ethereum futures |
| 💹 Margin Call / Stop Out: | 100%/20% |
Pros and cons of Fortrade
👍 Advantages of trading with Fortrade:
•Negative balance protection for all retail clients;
•Wide choice of trading instruments with leverage;
•Proprietary platform and classic MetaTrader 4 are available;
•Presence on the market since 2014 and regulation by reputable financial supervisory commissions;
•Professional market reviews, including analytics from Trading Central;
•Partnership programs for traders, bloggers, companies, and institutional clients;
•No deposit or withdrawal fees.
👎 Disadvantages of Fortrade:
•High trading fees, including those for the most liquid currency pairs;
•No trust management services;
•The Fortrader trading platform runs with delays and freezes occasionally.
Why is it important to work with a regulated broker?
License is a document that certifies that a broker operates legally and guarantees fulfillment of its obligations to the traders. A financial license is issued by a financial regulatory authority of a country (the National Bank) or a specialized authority (for example, Securities Commission, Futures Trading Commission, etc.). It is important to choose licensed brokers for the following reasons:
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A license guarantees that the broker operates in compliance with the rules of the financial regulator that issued the document.
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In order to obtain the license, a broker must comply with certain requirements, for example, the size of the authorized capital or personnel qualification. It is simply not lucrative for scammers to comply with such requirements.
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A broker’s license provides access to real markets, and you can be sure that the quotes are real and up-to-date.
The best option is to work with a broker that holds the license of the jurisdiction, where the trader resides. You can also choose a company with a financial license of another reliable jurisdiction, for example, the U.S. or the European Union.
Is Fortrade Regulated? Broker’s license
Security (Protection for Investors)
Fortrade is an international multi-regulated investment holding firm.
It provides its services in the UK under license number 609970 issued by FCA. In Canada, the broker is supervised by CIRO under license number BC1148613. Also, Fortrade is licensed by ASIC under number 493520; by CySEC, under number 385/20; by NBRB, under number 193075810; and by FSC, under number GB21026472. The Mauritius office provides its services to traders worldwide. Financial commissions of other countries protect the interests of their residents only.
Funds of clients serviced by FCA-, CIRO-, and CySEC-regulated offices are protected by compensation programs. UK residents can receive up to £85,000 from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme; Canadian residents - up to $1 million from the Canadian Investor Protection Fund; EU residents - up to €20,000 from the Investor Compensation Fund. This is not compensation for trading losses. The money is paid if the broker doesn’t withdraw trader funds, suspends its activities, declares bankruptcy, etc.
👍 Advantages
- Negative balance protection for retail clients
- Monitoring of Fortrade’s financial performance in 5 countries
- FCA license is active since 2014
👎 Disadvantages
- Trading conditions vary for different offices
- Compensation for losses isn’t available to all traders
- Leverage is limited for residents of the EU, Australia, and the UK
Brokerage fees
Broker’s regulation is the most important choice criterion. However, before you start working with the broker, it is also important to analyze its commissions and fees. TU analysts have studied the commissions and fees charged by Fortrade, which you can see below.
Fortrade’s fees are included in spreads. The minimum spread for currency pairs is 2 pips. If traders open an Islamic account, spreads for most currency pairs are 4 pips higher. Additionally, there are fees per lot. Fortrade doesn’t withhold deposit or withdrawal fees in addition to those charged by payment providers. Withdrawals by international bank transfer cost $40. If a trader’s user account is inactive within 6 months, the broker withholds an inactivity fee of $10/€10/£10 a month until the balance is zero.
| Account type | Spread (minimum value) | Withdrawal commission |
| Forex & CFD Trading | $20 | Can be charged by a bank or payment system |
| Islamic | $60 | Can be charged by a bank or payment system |
Brokers that are similar to Fortrade
Many brokers operate legally, obtaining relevant licenses and permissions. However, when choosing a broker, it is important to compare their trading conditions. TU experts have prepared a comparative analysis of Fortrade conditions with its closest competitors.
Comparison of Fortrade with other Brokers
| Fortrade | RoboForex | Pocket Option | Exness | Vantage Markets | Eightcap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trading platform |
MT4, MobileTrading, WebTrader, ForTrader for PC, Mobile Fortrader, Fortrader online |
MT4, MT5, R MobileTrader, R StocksTrader, R WebTrader |
Pocket Option, MT5, MT4 |
Exness Trade App (mobile), Exness Terminal (web), MetaTrader5, MetaTrader4 |
MT4, MT5, WebTrader, Mobile Apps |
MT4, MT5 |
Min deposit |
$100 |
$10 |
$5 |
$10 |
$50 |
$100 |
Leverage |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:30 |
Trust management |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Accrual of % on the balance |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Spread |
From 2 points |
From 0 points |
From 1.2 point |
From 1 point |
From 0 points |
From 0 points |
Level of margin call / stop out |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Execution of orders |
Instant Execution |
Market Execution, Instant Execution |
Market Execution |
Market Execution, Instant Execution |
Market Execution |
Market Execution |
No deposit bonus |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Cent accounts |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Fortrade has numerous licenses which promote it as a reliable broker. However, its trading conditions cannot be called the most profitable for its clients.
The minimum deposit in RoboForex is $10. Leverage up to 1:2000. Traders choose RoboForex for reliability, favorable trading conditions, minimum spreads, and commission fees. The company is recommended for beginner traders and experienced investors.
Pocket Option offers a wide range of trading instruments and copy trading services. It constantly improves its service quality and expands the list of assets and trading platforms. The broker is suitable even for novice traders without significant capital due to the low initial deposit. Experienced traders who work with CFDs and binary options can also use Pocket Option’s services.
Exness broker is a trusted broker partner that is compliant with all relevant terms. Exness complies with all payment obligations and pays money earned.
Vantage Markets is a broker that is a real catch for traders who prefer ECN trading.
Eightcap has favorable working conditions due to a large choice of instruments, tight spreads, high leverage, and no withdrawal fees. Integration with popular trading platforms and basic deposit/withdrawal options greatly facilitates work with the broker and reduces the entry threshold. In addition to comfortable conditions and low financial costs, traders get free educational materials and special services for technical analysis. Some solutions, like Capitalise.ai, have no constructive counterparts. A relative disadvantage is the absence of opportunities for passive income. Also, the broker works only with CFDs, so other groups of trading instruments are not available.
Conclusions
Fortrade is a quite reliable broker for trading. Fortrade operates on the license of a reliable jurisdiction and its operation is regularly monitored. However, the company does not offer the best trading conditions compared to competitors. You can choose this broker and not worry about the safety of your funds, but there are better options in terms of trading conditions.
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FAQ
How difficult is it to obtain a brokerage license?
The procedure for obtaining a license differs depending on the jurisdiction, but it is very difficult and expensive to get the document in a reliable jurisdiction. This is why only reliable brokers obtain licenses.
Why is it not recommended to work with offshore brokers?
Offshore brokers have to meet minimum requirements for obtaining a license and reporting, which is why often scammers get such licenses.
Can an offshore broker be reliable?
Yes, although there are not many of such brokers. There are brokers with a good reputation, but with an offshore license. You still need to be very cautious when working with such companies.
How do I check a broker’s reputation?
In order to check a broker’s reputation, you need to read user reviews. However, it is recommended to only use independent websites for that.
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Team that worked on the article
Mikhail Vnuchkov joined Traders Union as an author in 2020. He began his professional career as a journalist-observer at a small online financial publication, where he covered global economic events and discussed their impact on the segment of financial investment, including investor income. With five years of experience in finance, Mikhail joined Traders Union team, where he is in charge of forming the pool of latest news for traders, who trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, Forex instruments and fixed income.
Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.