IC Markets Australia - Is It a Good Broker in 2024?

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Up to 75.93% of the broker’s non-professional clients incur losses when trading CFDs.

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Based in Sydney Australia and founded in 2007, IC Markets is one of the leading trading providers in the world. The broker is considered safe, as it’s regulated by top-tier financial authorities in various jurisdictions.

In addition, IC Markets offers low forex fees, and the account opening process is easy and fast. When trading on IC Markets, investors have the choice of three leading forex trading platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader.

With that being said, it’s easy to see why IC Markets is touted as one of the best forex brokers for Australian clients. This IC Markets Australia review will cover the key features of the platform to help you decide if it’s the right one for your trading needs and budget.

IC Markets Australia: General Information

IC Markets Australia supports many currencies and offers high leverage and low spreads. The broker also offers many currency pairs. To open an account with IC Markets, you need a minimum deposit of $200.

  • 💰 Account currency:

    USD, AUD, GBP, CHF, JPY, NZD, SGD, CAD, HKD, BTC


  • 🚀 Minimum deposit:

    $200


  • ⚖️ Leverage:

    From 1:1 to 1:500


  • 💱 Spread:

    From 0


  • 🔧 Instruments:

    60 currency pairs, futures, CFDs on indices, commodities, metals, stocks and bonds


  • 💹 Margin Call / Stop Out:

    100% / 50%


IC Markets Australia Pros and Cons

👍 Pros

Low forex trading fees

Quick and easy account opening process

Free deposits and withdrawals

Highly regulated by major financial authorities, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

ECN trading platform, which means faster execution of trades

High leverage

👎 Cons

No investor protection for traders who aren’t in the European Union

Not FCA regulated

IC Markets Australia Review

IC Markets is a highly reliable forex broker that offers some of the lowest fees in the industry. The broker offers favorable trading conditions, great educational tools, high security that ensures the protection of client funds, and a wide range of trading instruments.

Trading Conditions

IC Markets offers its clients favorable trading conditions that allow traders to take advantage of high leverage and low trading fees. As a result, they’re able to maximize profits and earn more on the platform.

Australian clients can get up to 1:30 leverage on the platform. This allows traders with minimum deposits to cover margins and magnify gains.

The broker is able to offer low fees because it’s an ECN broker, which stands for electronic communications network. This means that IC Markets uses multiple liquidity providers (over 25). As a result, the platform’s spreads remain tight and liquidity deep.

Educational Tools

IC Markets has been around for many years, which allows the platform to offer plenty of educational materials. These include technical analysis reports, video tutorials, informational tools, webinars, and more. These educational tools can be incredibly helpful for beginner traders and even for investors who have a lot of trading experience.

Account Types

IC Markets offers various account types for traders to choose from when they sign up. There are three main account types, which include:

cTrader Account

Raw Spread Account

Standard Account

The accounts are available in multiple currencies (up to 10). Plus, Muslim traders who follow Sharia law can sign up for a swap free or Islamic account with IC Markets.

Beginner traders who want to learn the ropes can open a risk-free demo account without having to sacrifice their real money.

Trading Instruments

IC Markets offers many trading instruments, which include:

60 currency pairs

Commodities

Metals

Stocks and bonds

Is IC Markets Australia Regulated? Is This Сompany Safe?

IC Markets is regulated by the following financial authorities:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)

Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA)

Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB)

IC Markets has a local office in Sydney, Australia and is regulated in Australia. Therefore, Australian clients can enjoy the protections of a local financial authority when depositing their funds with IC Markets.

Furthermore, the broker doesn’t keep client funds in its own account. It deposits those funds in a separate bank, showing clients that it won’t misappropriate their funds and will keep the money safe. To ensure added protection, IC Markets also offers insurance, which covers up to US$1,000,000 per client. Plus, you’ll get negative balance protection. So, if your trades ever exceed the amount you have in your account, your balance will go to zero, instead of the negatives.

IC Markets Australia: Fees

Compared to other forex brokers in the world, IC Markets has relatively low spreads and fees. For example, with a Standard Account through MetaTrader 4, you can trade with an average spread from 1.0 pips.

With the Raw Spread Account, spreads are from 0 pips and a commission of $3.50 per $100k traded. Spreads on the major currency pair EURUSD average at about 0.1 pips. For the cTrader Account, spreads start at 0.0 pips and a commission of $3.00 per $100k traded.

Summary: Is IC Markets Australia a Good Broker?

If you’re looking for a highly affordable forex broker in Australia that’s both safe and reliable, then IC Markets is an optimal choice. The broker offers a wide range of features, from a plethora of educational materials to several trading instruments. Plus, you can feel confident that your funds are safe, thanks to segregated accounts, insurance, regulations, and negative balance protection.

FAQ

Does IC Markets have negative balance protection?

Yes, IC Markets offers negative balance protection. This means that you’ll never lose more than you have in your trading account.

What’s the maximum lot size in IC Markets?

The maximum lot size on all currency pairs on IC Markets is 500 lots, which is equal to 50 million per trade.

Is IC Markets available in Australia?

Yes, Australian traders can sign up on IC Markets. In fact, they benefit from local regulation since the broker is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Does IC Markets charge commission?

IC Markets doesn’t charge commission on Standard Accounts. They instead mark up the spread from their liquidity providers.

Team that worked on the article

Mikhail Vnuchkov
Author at Traders Union

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.

The area of responsibility of Mikhail includes covering the news of currency and stock markets, fact checking, updating and editing the content published on the Traders Union website. He successfully analyzes complex financial issues and explains their meaning in simple and understandable language for ordinary people. Mikhail generates content that provides full contact with the readers.

Mikhail’s motto: Learn something new and share your experience – never stop!

Olga Shendetskaya
Author and editor at Traders Union

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.

Olga has extensive experience in writing and editing articles about the specifics of working in the Forex market, cryptocurrency market, stock exchanges and also in the segment of financial investment in general. This level of expertise allows Olga to create unique and comprehensive articles, describing complex investment mechanisms in a simple and accessible way for traders of any level.

Olga’s motto: Do well and you’ll be well!