FXCM Review 2024

Rating 7/10

Max. Leverage

1:1,000

for Forex

Minimum Deposit

$50 (MYR 230)

EUR/USD Spread

1.3 pips

Benchmark

Visit FXCM

FXCM is a Forex and CFDs broker offering CFDs trading on foreign exchange currency pairs, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and shares. FXCM was established in 1999, is regulated by top-tier financial regulators, and has offices in Australia, the UK, South Africa, and Cyprus.

In our review of FXCM, we examine the safety of funds with the broker, deposit/withdrawal options, fees, account types, opening account process, leverage information, tradable instruments, and trading conditions.

FXCM is the trading name of Forex Capital Markets, a company owned by Leucadia Investments/Jefferies Financial Group.

The FXCM Group is regulated in various jurisdictions under different names. Find a list of the regulations of FXCM below:

1) Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVGFSA): FXCM is incorporated in SVG as ‘FXCM Markets LLC’ with registration Number 1776 LLC, issued in 2022. Traders in Malaysia are registered under this regulation. Note that because FXCM is not regulated by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, you will be trading at your own risk as foreign regulations may not protect Malaysian traders.

2) Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): FXCM is regulated by the FCA as ‘Forex Capital Markets Limited’ and authorized to offer financial services in the UK, with reference number 217689, issued in 2003.

3) Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC): FXCM is regulated in Australia by the ASIC as ‘FXCM Australia Pty. Limited’ and licensed to offer financial services, with ACN (Australia Company Number) 121 934 432, issued in 2016.

4) Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC): FXCM is regulated in Europe as ‘FXCM EU Ltd’ by the CySEC and licensed to offer investment services with license number 392/20, issued in 2020.

Leverage on FXCM depends on the instrument you are trading and the size of your equity. Accounts with equity of less than $5,000 have a maximum leverage of 1:1,000. This means that you can open a trade position worth up to 1,000 times the value of your deposit. For example, with a $100 deposit, you can open a trade position of $100,000.

The leverage amount of 1:1,000 applies to both Forex and CFD trades when your account equity is below $50,000. If your account equity is between $5,000 to $50,000, the maximum leverage is 1:400, when your equity is more than $50,000, your maximum leverage is reduced to 1:100 for forex and 1:200 for CFDs.

It is advisable not to use all your leverage as it increases your risk of losing your money. Only trade leveraged products/CFDs if you understand it because of the risk involved.

FXCM has only one account type for retail traders which is the Standard Account. FXCM also offers Active Trader account status to clients who trade large volumes of financial instruments as well as Corporate Accounts for companies.

FXCM offers interest-free Islamic Accounts to Muslim traders as well as demo accounts for new traders. Find an overview of the account types on FXCM below:

1) Standard Account: The FXCM Retail Account is designed for retail clients and can be accessed with the MT4 trading application. You can engage in CFD trading with this account and trade the available markets of forex pairs, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and shares.

You do not pay any commission fees with this account. Spread fees start from an average of 1.3 pips for major pairs like the EURUSD and you pay swap fees whenever your trade position is kept open and it rolls over to the next trading day.

You need to deposit a minimum of $50 (MYR 230) to start trading, with a required minimum trade size of 1 micro lot and maximum leverage of 1:1,000. Retail Accounts on FXCM have negative balance protection, which means that you cannot lose more than the money you deposited if a trade is unsuccessful and you have a loss.

2) Islamic Account: FXCM offers Islamic Accounts to Muslim Traders which comply with the sharia law of no-riba. Islamic Accounts on FXCM are interest-free, which means that you will not pay any overnight funding fees if you keep a trade position open past the closing time of the market.

You can have an Islamic Account as a retail trader or professional trader. To get your Retail or Professional Account converted to Islamic Account status, send a message to customer support. You will be required to fill out an application form and submit additional documentation before your application is approved.

Note that the spread fees for Islamic Accounts are higher because they pay no interest.

3) Active Trader: The FXCM Active Trader Account is an account status accorded to professional traders who trade large volumes of financial instruments and have a minimum notional trade volume of US$10 million (MYR 4,46,75,000). The equity is calculated as your deposit plus the floating profits of your open trade positions.

As an Active Trader on FXCM, you are assigned a dedicated account manager and receive priority customer support. You will also pay lower spreads on trades and gain access to exclusive market data.

With this account status, you get cash rebates when your trades exceed US$10 million (MYR 4,46,75,000) in a month and receive rebates per million traded starting from $1 and can be up to $10,000 (MYR 44,500) depending on the instruments you traded and the notional value of the trade.

FXCM Base Account Currency

FXCM offers only one trading account base currency to traders in Malaysia, which is the United States Dollar – USD. Although you can make deposits via your card or bank transfer in MYR, the funds will be converted to USD in your trading account.

All your trades, deposits/withdrawals will be measured in your base account currency.

Fees on FXCM depend on your account type, the instrument you are trading and the size of your trade. Find an overview of trading and non-trading fees on FXCM.

Trading fees

1) Spread: Whenever you trade an instrument on FXCM, you pay a spread fee which is the difference between the bid and ask price of the instrument. Find the average spreads charges on FXCM for major instrument pairs on the table below:

2) Commission fees: FXCM offers commission-free trading for all instruments on all account types, except for Active Traders. This means that whenever you open or close a trade position, you will not be required to pay any commission fees.

Active Traders pay commission fees of $50 (MYR 230) to $60 (MYR 268) round turn per million worth of trade.

3) Swap fees: Whenever you keep a trade position open past the closing time of the market, which is 5 PM EST, you incur a rollover cost or swap fees. This cost is added to your profit or loss when you close the trade and is calculated based on the size of your trade, the number of days for which it was open, and whether it was a short (sell) or long (buy) position.

Islamic Accounts are swap-free (interest-free) and do not pay any swap fees whenever they keep a position open beyond the market closing time.

Non-trading fees

1) Deposit and Withdrawal fees: FXCM does not charge any fees for depositing funds into your account. When withdrawing funds from your account, withdrawals via cards and e-wallets are free of charge, while local bank wire transfers attract a cost of US$40 per withdrawal to accounts outside of the US or UK.

2) Account Inactivity charges: If you do not place any trade with your FXCM for one year, you will be charged an inactive account fee every year of $50 (MYR 230), which will be deducted from any balance in your account.

If you do not have any funds in the account, your account will not be debited and you will not accumulate any negative balance.

FXCM Non-Trading fees Table

*Note that your payment processing company may charge some independent transaction fee.

How to Open FXCM Account in Malaysia?

Follow these steps to open a trading account on FXCM.

Step 1) Go to the FXCM Malaysia website at www.fxcm.com and click on ‘OPEN ACCOUNT’.

Step 2) Select your country of residence (Malaysia will be selected automatically) and choose your preferred trading platform, then click ‘BEGIN APPLICATION’.

Step 3) Type in your email address and click ‘CONTINUE’.

Step 4) Select your preferred trading platform, create a username and password and then click ‘CONTINUE’.

Step 5) Provide your full name, date of birth, ID number, citizenship, phone number, and address then click ‘CONTINUE’.

Step 6) Answer questions about your employment, financial status, trading experience, and intentions for trading then click ‘CONTINUE’.

Step 7) Click on ‘AGREE AND FINISH’ to prove you have read and agree to the terms of business of FXCM to continue with your account registration.

Step 8) Upload an ID Card or utility bill to verify your identity and address to verify your account.

After verifying your account, you can now deposit funds and start trading.

Payment methods accepted on FXCM for deposits and withdrawals are bank transfers, cards, crypto and e-wallets (Skrill & Neteller). Find an overview of deposits and withdrawals on FXCM below:

FXCM Deposit Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods accepted by FXCM for deposits.

FXCM Withdrawal Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods for withdrawals accepted on FXCM.

What is the FXCM Minimum deposit?

The minimum deposit on FXCM is $50 (MYR 230) for all account types for all payment methods.

How do I deposit money into FXCM?

To deposit funds on FXCM, log in to your account via www.myfxcm.com, then click on Funds and select Deposit Funds. Choose a deposit method and follow the on-screen instructions to complete your deposit.

What is the FXCM Minimum withdrawal?

There is no mandatory minimum withdrawal amount on FXCM. All withdrawals are processed within 1-3 days by the accounts department. It can take up to 5 business days for you to receive the funds, depending on your financial institution.

How do I withdraw money from FXCM?

To withdraw funds from FXCM, log in to your account, then click on Funds and select Withdraw. Choose a withdrawal method, enter the amount you want to withdraw and follow the on-screen instructions to complete your withdrawal.

You can trade over the following financial instruments on FXCM:

Trading platforms supported by FXCM are:

1) MetaTrader 4: You can trade FXCM financial markets on the MT4 trading application, available on the web, desktop (Windows and macOS), and mobile devices (Android & iOS).

2) FXCM Trading Station: This is a proprietary trading platform developed by FXCM and can be accessed on the web, desktop, or download mobile versions on Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

3) TradingView Pro: FXCM also supports the TradingView Pro platform for trading FXCM financial markets. NinjaTrader is available on the web.

FXCM offers 24/5 (Monday to Friday) customer support to traders via the following channels:

1) Live chat support: FXCM offers live chat support to traders, which can be accessed on their website and is available 24/5.

When our team tested, we got a response from a live agent within 2 minutes and the answers to our questions were relevant. When you first initiate a chat, you will be required to submit your name and email before you are connected to a live agent.

2) Email support: FXCM also offers email support for customers that is available 24/5. When our team tested, we got an autogenerated reply immediately and a live agent responded after 40 minutes requesting that we submit a number they can call us on to answer our questions. The FXCM email address is [email protected] or [email protected].

3) Phone support: FXCM offers phone support to traders as well. You can call the FXCM phone number during business hours on working days. The FXCM phone number for international support is +1 646 253 1401.

Is FXCM a Prime Broker

FXCM provides prime brokerage services to institutional clients who require access to market data and execution across multiple trading venues with settlements managed through a centralized source.

FXCM Prime offers various services to clients such as high-frequency trading firms, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, and small regional and emerging market banks.

Their services include centralized clearing, risk management solutions, and access to multiple trading venues. However, to use FXCM Prime’s services, customers must maintain a minimum balance of more than $250,000.

Do we Recommend FXCM Malaysia?

FXCM is regulated by Tier 1 and Tier 2 regulators which means they are compliant with the regulations to safeguard clients’ funds. Although they are not regulated in Malaysia, so trading with them is at your own risk.

The fees on FXCM are moderate because you do not pay commission for trades on the Standard Account, inactive account fees start after 1 year, and you can have lower spreads if you trade large volumes and become an active trader. You can escape the high withdrawal fee for bank transfers by using cards and other payment methods.

FXCM is also good for beginners because you can open a demo account and access educational materials to boost your knowledge. You can also get an interest-free account for Muslim traders or cash rebate benefits if you trade large volumes.

Retail clients also have negative balance protection and cannot lose more than the money in their accounts. FXCM also supports multiple platforms for trading although they offer relatively fewer instruments.

The customer service on FXCM is fair, live chat agents and email support are available 24/5 and respond promptly. Although there are other brokers whose customer support is more responsive and available 24/7.

We recommend that you read up more on the FXCM website and probably chat with the customer to ask any questions you may have to help you decide if they are right for you.

FXCM Malaysia FAQs