Is InstaForex Legal in South Africa? Is it Safe?
Reliability is the key criterion for choosing any broker. If you have doubts about the reliability of a company, it is not recommended to work with it. Traders from South Africa often ask “Is InstaForex safe? Does the company operate legally in the territory of the country, can it be trusted?" Traders Union analysts have prepared a detailed analysis, where we will see whether InstaForex is legal in South Africa and whether you can work with this broker.
Short summary about the broker InstaForex
InstaForex is a leading broker with over 7,000,000 clients. The company provides access to 2,500+ trading instruments, including Forex pairs, stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Clients can benefit from competitive spreads starting from 0 pips, leverage up to 1:1000, and access to non-standard technological solutions like synthetic securities. The average execution speed is 0.1 sec.
The broker offers a wide range of cryptocurrency CFDs, with over 70 instruments available and zero spreads on major cryptocurrencies. Additionally, it supports passive investment options including PAMM accounts, copy trading services, and unique offering - OYS portfolios.
The company provides responsive client support and insurance coverage up to €20,000 under European regulation.
| 💰 Account currency: | FSC - USD, EUR, RUB. CySEC - EUR, USD, PLN, CZK, GBP (GBP -only for accounts on МТ5). |
| 🚀 Minimum deposit: | FSC - $1. CySEC - €200 |
| ⚖️ Leverage: | FSC - up to 1:1000. CySEC: leverage is up to 1:30 for retail traders and up to 1:500 for professionals. |
| 💱 Spread: | FSC - from 0-0.3 pips subject to the account type. CySEC - from 0 pips subject to the asset type. |
| 🔧 Instruments: | FSC - currency pairs, stocks, indices, metals, oil and gas, commodity futures, cryptocurrencies, and InstaFutures. CySEC - currency pairs, commodities, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, synthetic stocks and ETFs, and stocks at the moment of IPO. |
| 💹 Margin Call / Stop Out: | FSA - 30%/10%. CySEC - 100%/50% |
Pros and cons of InstaForex
👍 Advantages of trading with InstaForex:
•2,500+ trading instruments, including non-standard assets, such as InstaFutures and synthetic securities.
•Passive investment products, including PAMM accounts and a copy trading service.
•Non-standard technological solutions such as InstaSpot (P2P spot trading), OYS account, Stock Basket, etc.
•European regulation and IFC compensation fund with guaranteed insurance coverage up to €20,000.
•Comfortable trading conditions, such as a $1 minimum deposit and leverage up to 1:1000, for clients of the FSC-regulated broker.
👎 Disadvantages of InstaForex:
•Tough conditions for retail European traders due to regulations.
•The time gap between a trade executed by a trader and the one copied to the investor’s account in the social trading service can be up to 15 seconds.
What information should a broker disclose?
Only the broker that discloses all legal information can be considered reliable. You need to take notice of this factor when choosing the company.
The official website of the broker should contain the following information:
-
The name of the legal entity.
-
Country of registration.
-
Number of the registration certificate.
-
Legal address, factual addresses of the offices of the broker.
-
License to conduct financial activity.
The information must be published either in a special section on the website of the broker or in the disclaimer. Make sure to check it.
The official website of the broker must also provide internal regulatory documents. Before you start working with a company, review Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Risks Notice, and other documents.
Broker regulation: CYSEC
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) is the financial regulator authority of Cyprus. The regulator has the power to audit companies and issue licenses to conduct financial activities in the territory of the country.
Cyprus is an EU member and therefore the CySec license also allows companies to operate in the entire territory of the EU. Furthermore, the document issued by the regulator is considered reliable beyond the borders of the EU countries.
Is InstaForex legal in South Africa? Broker’s license
Security (Protection for Investors)
Information
The InstaForex group of companies is licensed by:
-
Instant Trading Ltd by FSC (British Virgin Islands).
-
Instant Trading EU Ltd by CySEC (Cyprus). The broker is a member of the ICF compensation fund with insurance coverage of up to €20,000 per each trader.
CySEC is one the most reputable European regulators, strictly adhering to the rules for conducting financial activities stated in the MiFID Directive.
FSC is an international regulator operating in accordance with the Law on Securities and Investment Business. The regulator strictly controls the activities of licensees and the execution of the tasks by brokers. Possession of a license from the FSC guarantees InstaForex customers information transparency and protection of their interests.
👍 Advantages
- Segregated accounts are maintained in accordance with the requirements of the regulator
- The customer is protected from negative balance
- Disputes are resolved by an independent arbitrator
👎 Disadvantages
- The regulator does not consider the claims of private traders with minor amounts
Brokers that are similar to InstaForex
In addition to license and reliability, you also need to take notice of the trading conditions of brokers. This is important both for beginners and experienced traders, as the demands of the clients with different experience differ. Traders Union analysts have prepared a comparison table of InstaForex with similar brokers.
Comparison of InstaForex with other Brokers
| InstaForex | Eightcap | XM Group | RoboForex | Exness | IC Markets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trading platform |
MT4, MultiTerminal, MobileTrading, MT5, WebTrader |
MT4, MT5, TradingView |
MT4, MT5, MobileTrading, XM App |
MT4, MT5, R MobileTrader, R StocksTrader, R WebTrader |
Exness Trade App (mobile), Exness Terminal (web), MetaTrader5, MetaTrader4 |
MT4, cTrader, MT5, TradingView |
Min deposit |
$1 |
$100 |
$5 |
$10 |
$10 |
$200 |
Leverage |
From 1:1 |
From 1:30 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
Trust management |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Accrual of % on the balance |
No |
No |
No |
10.00%% |
No |
No |
Spread |
From 0 points |
From 0 points |
From 0.8 points |
From 0 points |
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 |
Market Execution |
Market Execution, Instant Execution |
Market Execution, Instant Execution |
Market Execution |
No deposit bonus |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Cent accounts |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
InstaForex is the best option for traders with any level of experience. For active professional traders, there is a large pool of non-standard technological solutions for more accurate analysis. For novice traders, there are comfortable starting conditions, such as a $1 minimum deposit under the regulation of FSC and a $200 minimum deposit with the broker regulated by CySEC. There are PAMM accounts and social trading for investors.
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. 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.
XM Broker is a broker for professional trading. Trading conditions correspond to the average market; there are technical advantages that distinguish XM Broker from its competitors.
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.
Exness broker is a trusted broker partner that is compliant with all relevant terms. Exness complies with all payment obligations and pays money earned.
IC Markets Trading Company is a great broker for scalping enthusiasts, automated trading lovers, and beginner traders.
Conclusions
Traders Union showed that InstaForex is indeed very reliable and legal in South Africa. The company holds all necessary licenses to conduct financial activity; it complies with all key requirements of the regulator. Legality of the broker’s operation in the country is one of the key criteria for choosing the company for trading. It is important to take this into consideration, as well as the trading conditions. In this case, we can say that the broker meets all the reliability requirements.
FAQ
Can I work with a broker who does not hold the license?
Trading with a broker without the license involves high risks. The license guarantees that the company performs its obligations. Working with a broker without the license creates a risk of manipulations with quotes, failure to pay, and other schemes.
Where can I complain if a broker with a license violated its obligations?
If a broker allows a violation of the conditions, you can appeal to the authority that issued the license and to the court.
How do I choose the best broker in South Africa for beginners?
Novice traders need to consider the brokers with licenses issued in South Africa or other European Union countries, availability of a demo account or cent account, the level of commissions and fees and minimum deposit, as well as educational materials.
Related Articles
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.