10 Best CySec Regulated Forex Brokers
Which regulators are the most reputable? Well, the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) is one of the most reputable regulators.
Over the last decade, it has become the major center for forex brokers to set up shops in Europe.
Given the fact that Cyprus is a member of the European Union, forex brokers are permitted to carry the authorization issued by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission and operate legally in other member states within the European Union.
In this article, we’ll explore the CySEC regulation and also show you the best CySEC-regulated Forex Brokers in 2023.
Before we continue to the list of the best CySEC-regulated brokers, it is important to know what CySEC regulations mean, so that brings us to the question;
What is CySEC regulation?
The Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission, or CySEC, as it is often known, is the regulator for the financial industry in Cyprus.
Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, and as a member state of the European Union, it is required to abide by the regulatory framework as established under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.
Before a forex broker can be issued a Cyprus Investment Firm by CySEC, it must first be able to meet certain guidelines.
Since the majority of Europe’s regulated forex brokers fall under the jurisdiction of CySEC, the regulations imposed by CySEC have a strong impact on investors’ protection.
It implies that forex brokers under the oversight of CySEC are required to operate with transparency and in a fair manner.
So what are the top 10 best CySEC-regulated brokers of 2024?
Many brokers are seeking licensure by this European regulator. But it is not so easy to get a CySEC license, so here’s the list of the top 10 CySEC-regulated brokers of 2023 in no particular order.
IC Markets
IC Markets competes as one of the best low-spread forex brokers that’s regulated by Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. IC Markets was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2007.
While the broker offers services and features designed for both beginner and professional traders, the company provides a wide range of tradable products with reliable customer support and an impressive library of educational material and videos.
Exness
Exness was founded in 2008 and registered in Seychelles. It is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles and CySEC.
The broker offers clients the ability to trade on more than 200 financial instruments covering Forex and cryptocurrencies. It has the availability of Commission-free trading, and Fee-free deposits and withdrawal.
eToro
eToro is an online trading platform that was founded in 2007 in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is another one of the top CySEC-regulated forex brokers in 2023.
eToro distinguishes itself from other forex brokers on this list by being a specialist in social trading. It has made the markets accessible to everyone by creating a user-friendly environment.
What really sets eToro apart is its copy trading feature.
With this copy trading platform, traders can mimic the moves of more experienced forex traders automatically. Other advantages include a wide range of assets to trade with and the ability to earn a 2% management fee as an investor trader.
FxPro
FxPro takes a different approach to forex trading than most top CySEC-regulated forex brokers. Instead of passing trades through a dealing desk, the platform sends trades directly to the market for execution.
FxPro is a leading CySEC-regulated market maker broker that provides low latency, fast trade execution, and offers direct trading on more than 70 forex pairs.
FBS
FBS is a large international broker with low minimum deposits and two beginner-friendly low-risk accounts. FBS has been CySEC-regulated since 2017.
This platform is well-regulated around the world, with major cryptocurrency pairs to trade and many less common crypto coins.
FBS is also one of the better brokers in terms of education and market analysis. The education section is helpful and well-structured, and market analysis is frequent and well-explained.
XM
XM is a CySEC-regulated market maker broker with an excellent repository of educational and market analysis materials.
XM’s educational content focuses on instruction in video format, which is aimed at traders of all experience levels, from beginner, to intermediate, and advanced.
Topics range from the basics of Forex trading to learning how to use multiple time frame techniques with real-time simulated trading conditions.
Pepperstone
Pepperstone is one of the only CySEC-regulated forex brokers we’ve seen that doesn’t require traders to make a minimum deposit.
Traders at Pepperstone have access to a wide variety of trading platforms. They can set up automated trading strategies, build custom technical indicators, and much more.
Pepperstone isn’t just regulated by CySEC for Europe, they are also regulated by other regulators in Europe.
This makes Pepperstone an excellent choice, as you can be absolutely sure Pepperstone is following the highest regulatory standards available for traders in Europe.
Tickmill
Tickmill is one of the largest Forex brokers and is well known for offering their clients a choice of fixed or floating spreads.
It was established in 2014 in the Seychelles, where it is regulated by the Financial Services Authority and the CySEC.
Tickmill is an excellent platform for professional trading. It is most valuable to high-volume, high-balance traders who are looking to trade only the most popular forex instruments.
Tickmill's educational content is nearly on the same level as the average industry offering.
It does grant access to a large catalog of archived webinars, but Tickmill lacks a variety of educational videos and articles compared to other CySEC-regulated brokers.
Admiral Markets
Admiral Markets is a global forex and CFD broker founded in 2001. It is regulated by the CySEC and multiple other regulators in the various regions it serves.
This broker gives traders access to major markets like currencies, indices, commodities, and shares, along with cryptocurrencies.
Not only that, deposit and withdrawal are fast and mostly free, with multiple available options, including credit/debit cards and electronic wallets.
Admiral Markets is one of the few brokers that offer cryptocurrency trading options and over 4000 different instruments to trade, including over 47 currency pairs.
Admiral Markets supports a wide range of languages, including English, Spanish, Hungarian, and Bulgarian.
LiberTex
Libertex is a broker based in Cyprus. As a beginner trader, one may find this brokerage firm more accessible than other platforms.
Libertex is one of the leading CySEC-regulated brokers to trade CFDs with underlying assets such as commodities, forex, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and others.
Commissions are fixed and clear; there are no hidden costs.
Like other CySEC-regulated brokers, the platform offers a free demo account and also accepts deposits in a variety of payment methods, from bank transfers and credit cards to debit cards and electronic payment gateways.
How to check if a broker is CySEC regulated
By visiting the European Securities and Markets Authority's website, you can easily and quickly check the broker's regulator.
On the other hand, if you would like to check if a broker is CySEC regulated, you can simply go to the CySEC official website and type the name of the broker into the search bar, where you will find all of the information you need.
CySec Regulated Brokers Limitations
The European Securities Markets Authority, an EU task force that examines financial risk, announced new regulations on all financial trading in the European Union, and all CySEC-regulated brokers will have the following limitations as a result:
Leverage restriction
Maximum leverage of 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on all other pairs, 5:1 on equities, and 2:1 on cryptocurrencies.
Negative Balance Protection: All brokers must guarantee negative balance protection for all traders.
Margin Call
Brokers will be required to close a client’s open positions when the account equity reaches 50% of the required minimum margin for all open positions.
Risk Warning
All brokers will be required to display a standard risk warning showing what percentage of clients lose money with them.
How to Choose a CySec Regulated Broker?
There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing the best CySEC-regulated forex brokers. Here are some of the key things we looked for in our reviews.
Regulation
All CySEC-regulated brokers are regulated by CySEC, but many are regulated in other jurisdictions as well. For example UFX being regulated by two commissions SySEC (Cyprus) and VFSC (Vanuatu)
Range of Forex Pairs
The best CySEC-regulated forex brokers offer trading on all of the major and minor forex pairs, plus a selection of exotics.
Fees
Spreads and commissions can make a big difference when choosing between forex brokers that offer similar trading pairs and similar trading platforms. CySEC-regulated brokers have lower fees.
Brokerage Fees And Commissions ExplainedMinimum Deposit
The minimum deposit at CySEC-regulated brokers ranges from $0 to $500. Traders who are just starting out in forex can benefit from brokerages that don’t require a large cash outlay to get started.
Demo Account
Many CySEC-regulated forex brokers offer demo accounts so traders can test out their platforms and features.
Payment Methods
Most CySEC-regulated forex brokers accept bank transfers, and many also accept credit and debit card payments and e-wallets.
Customer Service
The best CySEC-regulated brokers offer customer support 24/5 or 24/7, usually by phone, email, or live chat.
Conclusion
Although an unregulated forex broker does not necessarily mean that the broker is in any way inferior to a CySEC-regulated broker, we have to bear in mind that CySEC’s main objective is to protect the interests of investors.
It has no other vested interests except to maintain the reputation of Cyprus as a major international financial center.
So ask yourself this, why should you accept any less from a broker when you obviously have a better choice in terms of a CySEC-regulated forex broker?
FAQ
Is CySEC regulation good?
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission is considered a top-tier global financial regulator. It oversees many of the world’s top forex brokers.
Where is CySEC located?
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is an agency of Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus is a member of the European Union.
Which CySEC-regulated forex broker is best for beginners?
There are many brokers that provide excellent trading conditions. You can read reviews, and client feedback and test a demo account on several brokerage platforms to decide which one suits you best.
You should also analyze the minimum deposit amount. For beginners, it is advisable to start with the smallest investments.
How do you know if a broker is regulated by CySEC?
This information can be found on the official site of the regulator.
Methodology for compiling our ratings of Forex brokers
Traders Union applies a rigorous methodology to evaluate brokers using over 100 quantitative and qualitative criteria. Multiple parameters are given individual scores that feed into an overall rating.
Key aspects of the assessment include:
Regulation and safety. Brokers are evaluated based on the level/reputation of licenses and regulations they operate under.
User reviews. Client reviews and feedback are analyzed to determine customer satisfaction levels. Reviews are fact-checked and verified.
Trading instruments. Brokers are evaluated on the range of assets offered, as well as the breadth and depth of available markets.
Fees and commissions. All trading fees and commissions are analyzed comprehensively to determine overall costs for clients.
Trading platforms. Brokers are assessed based on the variety, quality, and features of platforms offered to clients.
Other factors like brand popularity, client support, and educational resources are also evaluated.
Find out more about the unique broker assessment methodology developed by Traders Union specialists.
Team that worked on the article
Oleg Tkachenko is an economic analyst and risk manager having more than 14 years of experience in working with systemically important banks, investment companies, and analytical platforms. He has been a Traders Union analyst since 2018. His primary specialties are analysis and prediction of price tendencies in the Forex, stock, commodity, and cryptocurrency markets, as well as the development of trading strategies and individual risk management systems. He also analyzes nonstandard investing markets and studies trading psychology.
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!