Is Swissquote Bank SA 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 Swissquote Bank SA try to check whether it is regulated. Traders Union experts have already done that. In this article, you will learn whether Swissquote Bank SA 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 Swissquote Bank SA
The Swissquote brokerage firm has been operating in the Forex market since 1996. The company is regulated by the Swiss Financial Markets Authority (FINMA). The company is a member of the Swiss Bankers Association. It has offices in many financial capitals of the world: Zurich, London, Dubai, Hong Kong and is moderately popular among traders. The company falls short in the category of customer service when compared to other top companies and is significantly inferior to popular Forex brokers in many other respects also. This is reflected in its place in the Forex broker ratings. Swissquote has prioritized reliability, while paying less attention to indicators that are important for each trader, such as the size of the minimum deposit, trading conditions, deposit conditions, and its rules on withdrawing funds. The quality of Swissquote Bank's customer support is also at a satisfactory level, but lower than that of the top brokers.
| 💰 Account currency: | EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, TRY, PLN, SEK, NOK, SGD, XGD, HUF, CZK |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Minimum deposit: | From $1,000 |
| ⚖️ Leverage: | Up to 1:400 |
| 💱 Spread: | From 1.1 p |
| 🔧 Instruments: | Currencies, CFD, precious metals, stock indices, bonds, commodities, cryptocurrencies |
| 💹 Margin Call / Stop Out: | 100/30% |
Pros and cons of Swissquote Bank SA
👍 Advantages of trading with Swissquote Bank SA:
•availability of a license from an authoritative regulator;
•a wide range of financial services;
•a large selection of deposit currencies.
👎 Disadvantages of Swissquote Bank SA:
•not very informative and slow working site;
•high spreads and commissions;
•large deposit;
•lack of multilingual support in the live chat;
•few promotions, bonuses, contests, or other special offers;
•a very complicated registration procedure that requires mandatory verification.
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 Swissquote Bank SA Regulated? Broker’s license
Security (Protection for Investors)
Information
Swissquote Bank is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
FINMA — a reliable government regulator that checks the activities of its licensees, and also controls their work.
👍 Advantages
- Licensed by a reputable government regulator
👎 Disadvantages
- The broker solves all controversial issues independently, the regulator does not accept claims from traders
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 Swissquote Bank SA, which you can see below.
Swissquote's commissions and trading conditions have been scrutinized by Traders Union analysts for explicit and implicit commissions. There are no hidden fees, but the fee charged for replenishing an account with Visa, Mastercard is 1.9% fees for residents of the SEPA Zone, 0% fees for all other clients. When replenishing the account by bank transfer, there is no company commission, and the client pays the bank commission himself. The commission for withdrawing money from the account starts from 2 euros, depending on the region from where funds are sent.
| Account type | Spread (minimum value) | Withdrawal commission |
| Standard | From $17 | Yes |
| Premium | From $14 | Yes |
| Professional | Individual | Yes |
| Prime | From $11 | Yes |
Brokers that are similar to Swissquote Bank SA
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 Swissquote Bank SA conditions with its closest competitors.
Comparison of Swissquote Bank SA with other Brokers
| Swissquote Bank SA | RoboForex | Pocket Option | Exness | IC Markets | 4XC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trading platform |
MT4, MobileTrading, WebTrader, Advanced Trader |
MT4, MT5, R MobileTrader, R StocksTrader, R WebTrader |
Pocket Option, MT5, MT4 |
Exness Trade App (mobile), Exness Terminal (web), MetaTrader5, MetaTrader4 |
MT4, cTrader, MT5, TradingView |
MT5, MT4, WebTrader |
Min deposit |
$1000 |
$10 |
$5 |
$10 |
$200 |
$50 |
Leverage |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
From 1:1 |
Trust management |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Accrual of % on the balance |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Spread |
From 1.4 point |
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 |
$50 |
Cent accounts |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Swissquote is a broker that targets primarily large investors. The company is licensed by the reputable regulator FINMA and that ensures reliable protection of funds and interests of clients or investors in the event of disputes and conflicts. But for ordinary traders, Swissquote is not very convenient due to its unattractive working conditions. Swissquote is worth considering for those looking to invest from $1 million. If you are one of them, send us an email, and we will consult with you separately and help you do everything as quickly and reliably as possible. For ordinary traders, however, Swissquote is significantly inferior to its competitors in all respects.
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.
IC Markets Trading Company is a great broker for scalping enthusiasts, automated trading lovers, and beginner traders.
The broker is suitable for traders with a basic trading experience, who are prepared to start trading on a real account right away.
Conclusions
Swissquote Bank SA is a quite reliable broker for trading. Swissquote Bank SA 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.