FP Markets Review [year]

Editor’s Verdict

FP Markets offers traders a competitive commission-based Forex cost structure, over 70 currency pairs, and it upgrades the core MT4 trading platform with twelve plug-ins, ensuring an edge for its clients. Does its NDD execution model suffice to provide Forex traders the environment they require to manage profitable portfolios?

Overview

A social trading broker with its proprietary CrowdTrading platform.

FP Markets is an Australian multi-asset broker with more than $1 billion in daily trading volume, serving clients from 80+ countries. Founded in 2005 in Australia, FP Markets grew into a trusted brand over the past 15+ years with more than 100 employees. The upgraded MT4/MT5 trading platforms, via the Trader Tools consisting of twelve plug-ins, present clients with a competitive edge. We have conducted an in-depth review of this CFD broker to provide traders with a complete overview of the trading environment at FP Markets.

FP Markets offers a range of value-added services, consisting of VPS hosting for automated trading solutions, the MT4 Myfxbook service for copy trading, and the MT4 MAM/PAMM module for retail account management. The latest development of the in-house social trading service at FP Markets introduced it to the resurgence in demand from retail traders for this sub-sector of trading. Investing in social trading represents an intelligent management decision and shows a fluid broker seeking to offer the best services to clients.

FP Markets Regulation and Security

Traders should always trade with a regulated broker but ensure that the trading environment remains competitive. Australian clients will deal with the subsidiary, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – a tier 1 regulator, First Prudential Markets PTY LTD. FP Markets operates under the protection of the Act of Grace mechanism under section 65 of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Australian clients remain shielded from potential damages by the Scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA Scheme).

First Prudential Markets LTD remains authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), a leading tier 1 Forex regulator. EEA traders get an investor compensation fund limited to €20,000 per client.

FP Markets (Pty) Ltd is now a Financial Services Provider authorized and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa (FSP Number 50926), which emerged as one of the good go-to regulators following uncompetitive regulatory changes in Tier-1 jurisdictions, like Europe and Australia.

Kenyan resident clients will be serviced through through the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA) regulated subsidiary.

Traders should always trade with a regulated broker but ensure that the trading environment remains competitive. Australian clients will deal with the subsidiary, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), First Prudential Markets PTY LTD. FP Markets operates under the protection of the Act of Grace mechanism under section 65 of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Australian clients remain shielded from potential damages by the Scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA Scheme).

First Prudential Markets LTD remains authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), a leading Forex regulator. EEA traders get an investor compensation fund limited to €20,000 per client.

FP Markets (Pty) Ltd is now a Financial Services Provider authorized and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa (FSP Number 50926), which emerged as one of the go-to regulators following uncompetitive regulatory changes in Tier-1 jurisdictions, like Europe and Australia.

Other global clients will deal with First Prudential Markets LLC, an unregulated entity. This unit remains registered as an international business company (IBC) with St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (FSA), but brokers remain unregulated in that country. Traders should not confuse this setup, as all brokers out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are unregulated. Clients must rely solely on the reputation of FP Markets, as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection, as available and implemented by other brokers.

Founded in 2005, FP Markets is an experienced broker with a clean track record. Therefore, traders can rest assured that their deposits, segregated from corporate funds, are safe. The NDD execution model allows for conflict-free trade execution, and external financial audits exist, but FP Markets does not provide details about the auditor. Overall, FP Markets is a transparent and trustworthy broker, one of the best out of Australia, and highly competitive globally.

FP Markets Fees

Trading fees have the most notable direct impact on any strategy, and FP Markets offers two pricing models. The commission-free Standard account shows an average mark-up of 1.15 for the EUR/USD. It equals $11.50 per 1.0 standard lots.

FP Markets delivers a very competitive commission-based alternative with raw spreads of 0.0 pips for a commission of $6.00 per round lot. Commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies remain free of additional costs, which remain included in the markup. Equity CFDs and DMA traders face a fee between 0.06% and 0.30% with a minimum of $10 or a currency equivalent. The equity trading charges depend on the country of the listed underlying asset, and the pricing environment remains average compared to other brokers.

Other costs traders must consider are swap rates on leveraged overnight positions. One of the benefits of trading Forex is leverage, which means borrowing funds from the broker to manage more significant trading positions. It incurs financing costs, known as swap rates, and the longer a trade remains open, the higher the fees. Third-party withdrawal charges may apply, but there is no inactivity fee at FP Markets.

MT4/MT5 traders can access swap rates from their platform by following these steps:

1. Right-click on the desired symbol in the Market Watch window and select Specification.

2. Scroll down until you see Swap Long and Swap Short.

Comparing trading costs is challenging, with many variables impacting the final fees. We evaluated the spreads of the EUR/USD, gold, the S&P 500, and WTI crude, four of the most traded assets, available at all brokers.

Here is a screenshot of a live FP Markets MT4 trading account during the London-New York overlap session, the most liquid one, where traders usually get the lowest spreads.

Here is a screenshot of swap rates at FP Markets for the EUR/USD from the MT4 trading platform.

Traders who buy the EUR/USD without leverage, a 0.0 spread, and hold it for one night will pay $4.48 per day per 1.0 standard lot, but traders who sell the EUR/USD will receive $0.22. Leverage will decrease the costs marginally, as swap rates apply only to the amount borrowed, in this example, 100%. Using a 1:500 leveraged trade will lower the borrowed amount to 99.8%, improving the swap long by $0.01 to -$4.47 and resulting in no change for the swap short. Swap rates apply with a T+2 formula to account for weekends, which means each Wednesday, most Forex positions incur a triple fee. Some exceptions exist depending on the currency pair, and a T+1 applies.

Taking a 1.0 standard lot buy position in the EUR/USD with 1:500 leverage and holding it for one night will cost the following:

$6.00 commission + $4.47 swap rate = $10.47

Holding the same trade for seven nights accumulates the following costs:

$6.00 commission + $31.29 swap rate (7 x $4.47) = $37.29

The $6.00 commission for Forex traders per 1.0 standard lots remains among the best industry wide.

Our review focused on the MT4 trading platform, available to all clients at FP Markets. The Iress trading platform, restricted by geographical location, focused on global equity trading, features numerous additional costs. They can total above $200 per month for low-frequency traders, but FP Markets has a program in place for active traders to receive reimbursement for most costs. While non-equity trading costs remain very competitive, equity trading tends toward the industry average.

What products does FP Markets offer?

• 70+ currency pairs
• 11 cryptocurrency pairs available
• 22 commodities and metals
• 24 index CFDs
• 159 equity CFDs
• Over 290 ETFs
• 2 bonds

Asset Selection Summary

• Good Forex selection
• Limited cryptocurrency selection
• Good commodity and metals selection
• Good index selection
• Below average MT4/MT5 equity selection

The asset selection for MT4/MT5 traders consists of more than 250 trading instruments, an adequate level of choice for most traders. Forex traders get 70+ currency pairs, and diversification opportunities exist via cryptocurrencies, commodities and metals, indices, equity CFDs (available through the MT5 trading platform), and bonds. The IRESS trading platform lists over 10,000 equity CFDs and a few futures contracts, but its availability remains geographically restricted.

Asset List

FP Markets Leverage

The maximum leverage offered through the FP Markets St. Vincent and Grenadines subsidiary is 1:500 for Forex traders. Negative balance protection exists, creating ideal conditions for scalpers and traders seeking highly leveraged trading accounts. The Cyprus and Australian regulated units limit retail leverage to a maximum of 1:30.

FP Markets Trading Hours (GMT +2 Server Time)

Please note that equity markets open and close each trading and are not operational continuously like Forex and cryptocurrencies.

I recommend the following step for MT4/MT5 traders to access trading hours:

1. Right-click on the desired symbol in the Market Watch window and select Specification.

2. Scroll down until you see Sessions.

FP Markets Account Types

Traders can opt for the commission-free Standard Account or the commission-based Raw Account. We highly recommend Forex traders to opt for the Raw Account, as trading costs remain notably lower, while the minimum deposit is $100 with a maximum leverage of 1:500 for non-EU traders. All other trading conditions remain identical.

FP Markets offers Islamic traders the option of opening an Islamic account. Supporting documentation proving Islamic status may be required from the client in some cases.

Below is an example of the difference in trading costs for a 1.0 standard lot buy position in the EUR/USD, held for seven nights with leverage of 1:500, and a minimum commission-free spread of 1.0 pips, and the 0.0 pips alternative in the commission-based account.

Standard Account: $10 (1.0 pips spread) + $31.29 (swap rate for seven nights) = $41.29

Raw Account: $6 (commission) + $31.29 (swap rate for seven nights) = $37.29

The $4.00 per trade difference adds up over time and trading volume, allowing traders to save hundreds and even thousands in fees per month.

FP Markets offers traders two MT4/MT5 account choices.

FP Markets Demo Account

Traders can open unlimited MT4/MT5 demo accounts at FP Markets. These are ideal for algorithmic traders to test EAs and fix bugs. Given the flexibility of the MT4/MT5 demo accounts, traders should select a deposit size roughly equal to their intended real money deposit to ensure demo trading conditions and results reflect reality as much as possible. Demo trading cannot duplicate live trading.

FP Markets Trading Platforms

FP Markets offers all traders the MT4/MT5 and cTrader trading platforms and select clients may qualify for the Iress trading platform, restricted by geographical location. MT4/MT5 and cTrader are available as desktop clients, a webtrader, and a mobile app. The out-of-the-box MT4/MT5 versions remain substandard, but FP Markets offers twelve plug-ins with its Trading Tools package, plus the Autochartist plug-in and Trading Central services. It delivers a competitive edge to traders at FP Markets from a trading platform perspective.

FP Markets also maintains the MAM/PAMM module, enabling retail account management. A built-in copy trading function is equally available across MT4/MT5 and cTrader, which all support algorithmic trading. MT4 is the market leader for automated trading solutions, while many consider MT5 the failed successor amid a lack of backward compatibility.

Here is a screenshot after launching the FP Markets MT4 trading platform following installation, without modifications.

The user interface is the same as when MT4 launched in 2005, featuring a dated design, but plug-ins exist to change it. Trading with MT4 is simple and does not require a lot of time for new traders to learn.

Below is the MT4 with a few customizations to the charts.

New traders should familiarize themselves with the top menu icons, which offer several advantages.

MT4 has several options to enter orders and fully supports automated trading via EAs. FP Markets does not offer APIs to allow third-party solutions to connect.

Mobile Trading Apps

Mobile trading is widespread among millennial and GenZ traders, copy traders, and those from emerging and frontier Forex markets. FP Markets offers four mobile apps, including its proprietary option.

Which FP Markets mobile trading apps are available?

• FP Markets Trading App - Acceptable introduction supporting basic functions.
• MT4 - Well-established trading mobile app, including streaming news, mobile chat, and e-mail alerts.
• MT5 - Like MT4, but with improved technical analytics and advanced trading functions.
• cTrader - The most advanced out-of-the-box mobile trading app.

How user-friendly are the FP Markets mobile apps?

All 4 FP Markets mobile apps are optimized for mobile phones and remain user-friendly. They are ideal for monitoring portfolios on the go, managing existing positions, and copy trading. Given the relatively small screen, mobile apps are best for portfolio management rather than complex trade analysis, but MT4, MT5, and cTrader offer advanced, technical, analytical suites. None support algorithmic trading, only available on the desktop versions of MT4/MT5 but included in the cTrader web-based platform.

What charting tools exist on the FP Markets mobile apps?

While the FP Markets Trading App only supports rudimentary charting tools, MT4, MT5, and cTrader come with a similarly advanced package as its more powerful desktop versions. Despite the availability, the screen size and absence of multi-screen support make complex analytics impossible to conduct.

Do the FP Markets mobile apps feature trading tools?

Since mobile apps cater more to portfolio management, up-to-date developments, and copy trading, they offer the necessary tools to achieve the above. They include economic calendars, streaming news, and watch lists but do not include the cutting-edge trading tools FP Markets offers for its desktop trading platforms.

FP Markets Mobile Apps Comparison

FP Markets Unique Trading Features

Besides the build-in MT4 copy trading functionality, FP Markets partnered with Myfxbook Autotrade, also available from within the MT4 trading platform. The most recent expansion includes a proprietary copy trading service, FP Markets Copy Trading. VPS hosting is available, but minimum requirements exist to receive it free of charge. On the downside, the Iress trading platform remains geographically restricted and subject to non-trading related fees unless traders fulfill monthly trading volume requirements, which adds pressure to trade. Regrettably, the 10,000 equity CFDs are only available on Iress.

Clients can access the trading tools from the back office of their trading account.

Research and Education

• Daily Research
• Daily Trading Recommendations
• Streaming News
• Quality Educational Content
• Live Webinars

The FP Markets Traders Hub provided daily research and trading ideas, presented in a quality format. Streaming news service is available as one of the twelve plug-ins for MT4, offering traders a valuable service embedded with the trading platform. New traders can benefit from educational resources, including webinars and videos. FP Markets also offers an Academy for traders, providing trading courses, live webinars, podcasts, trading guides, and more. Overall, the research & education at FP Markets are of high quality and add value to the core trading environment.

The FP Markets Traders Hub provides traders with valuable content.

Customer Support

Customer Support Methods
Support Hours	24/7
Website Languages	EN ES AR IT FR DE RU PT TH PL Other

• 24/7 customer support
• Multilingual support
• Live chat
• Phone support
• Call-back option
• Quality FAQ section

From a customer support perspective, FP Markets delivers across the board. The multilingual customer support is available in 34 languages, 24/7. Clients may reach out via e-mail, live chat, phone, or the call-back option. A quality FAQ section answers many questions, and most traders may require additional assistance only during emergencies.

FP Markets Bonuses and Promotions

At the time of this review, FP Markets neither provides bonuses nor grants special promotions.

Opening an Account

• Online application process
• Medium amount of personal information
• Medium minimum deposit requirements:
• Swift verification procedure
• User-friendly back office

The online account opening process remains straightforward, but FP Markets collects more data than some other brokers. It does offer traders to complete the first step via a Google or Facebook account. The application grants access to a clean back-office, from where traders can manage all their trading accounts and financial transactions. Account verification remains mandatory but a swift process at FP Markets. Most traders will satisfy AML/KYC requirements by submitting a copy of their ID along with one proof of residency document.

The account opening process at FP Markets follows well-established industry practices but requires some more data than many international competitors.

FP Markets Deposits and Withdrawals

The minimum deposit at FP Markets is $100, which is average.

• Third-party online deposit & withdrawal methods
• Availability of cryptocurrencies
• Absence of internal withdrawal Fee
• Withdrawal processing times
• Easy of withdrawal process

FP Markets maintains 30 funding methods. They include bank wires, credit/debit cards, online payment processors, and cryptocurrencies. Clients may access all available options from their back office, where FP Markets lists all payment processors transparently. The availability depends on the country of residence, and not all traders may have access to all payment processors.

The withdrawal process remains swift and hassle-free, earning FP Markets a top rating in this category. The back office makes it easy to request a withdrawal, which takes a few seconds. There are no internal withdrawal costs at FP Markets, but third-party charges may apply, dependent on the selected method. Processing times also depend on the chosen method, and FP Markets notes one business day for internal processing times. Per AML guidelines, the name on the trading account and payment processor must be identical.

Payment Methods

Withdrawal options
Deposit options

FP Markets User Experience

FP Markets has catered to international Forex traders for 15+ years. Therefore, it has stood the test of time and adds an exceptional regulatory track record, but how does that translate into the FP Markets user experience?

According to five leading user-review and broker ranking sites, FP Markets ranks exceptionally well. Traders should always exercise caution when reading user reviews, especially for overly positive or negative remarks. Our in-house research confirms an excellent FP Markets User Experience.

Bottom Line

FP Markets is a trustworthy and reliable broker, best suited for pure Forex traders who seek a competitive commission-based trading environment from an upgraded MT4 trading platform. The withdrawal options and processes remain excellent.

FAQs

Is FP Markets a market maker?

By default, all ASIC-regulated brokers are market makers, but FP Markets deploys a no dealing desk (NDD) execution model. It may act as a market maker if it chooses or needs to do so.

Is FP Markets an ECN broker?

FP Markets offers an ECN execution with its Raw Spread Account.

Is FP Markets a legit Forex broker?

FP Markets is compliant with two regulators and operates as an authorized entity out of one jurisdiction. Therefore, FP Markets is legit.

Is FP Markets a reliable Forex broker?

FP Markets is operational since 2005. It maintains an elevated level of transparency and has established itself as a reliable broker. It continues to earn the trust of clients for over fifteen years and counting.

What are the FP Markets' withdrawal options?

FP Markets maintains 21 withdrawal options, including bank wires, credit/debit cards, Neteller, Skrill, Fasapay, Paytrust88, Ngan Luong, and broker-to-broker transfers.

Is FP Markets good?

FP Markets offers traders a competitive commission-based cost structure, quality trading tools, deep liquidity, and fast order execution. Therefore, FP Markets ranks among the leading brokers industry wide.

Is FP Markets good for beginners?

Beginner traders have access to quality educational content, in-house research, services provided by Trading Central, copy trading, and retail account management. It makes FP Markets ideal for beginner traders.

Is FP Markets regulated?

FP Markets remains regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

What type of broker is FP Markets?

FP Markets deploys a hybrid market maker/ECN model with NDD order execution.

What is the highest leverage offered by FP Markets?

The highest FP Markets leverage is for Forex traders at 1:500 from its St. Vincent and the Grenadines subsidiary.

Is FP Markets free?

All brokers charge some kind of fee to their traders. FP Markets offers one commission-free trading account, but trading costs are higher there than in its commission-based alternative. Equity traders using IRESS will face monthly fees. Active traders get rebates, lowering subscription fees or eliminating them.

How long does FP Markets withdrawal take?

FP Markets processes most withdrawals within one business day. Some payment processors feature instant to near-instant processing, while bank wires and credit/debit cards can take two to ten business days.

What is the minimum deposit for FP Markets?

The FP Markets minimum deposit is $100.

What country is FP Markets from?

FP Markets has its headquarters in Australia.

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