BlackStone Futures Review

Blackstonefutures.co.za in short

BlackStone Futures is a trading name of BlackStone Futures (Pty) Limited. It was founded in 2009 and is currently appointed representative of Trade Nation Financial (Pty) Limited, which is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa. The company is headquartered in Rosebank/Johannesburg. It is a local forex and CFDs brokerage calling itself one of the best forex brokers in South Africa. Transparency, fairness, and customer support on an individual level is what best describes the company, they say. Customers can trade CFDs on currency pairs, indices, commodities, and local shares via the popular trading terminal – MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and its own developed platform called CloudTrade. The minimum initial deposit is ZAR1,000/USD100.

Regulation

Before opening an account, it would be good to check the company’s regulations. BlackStone Futures is a trading name of BlackStone Futures (Pty) Limited, which is appointed representative of Trade Nation Financial (Pty). Trade Nation Financial (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2018/418755/07) is authorized and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as a Financial Services Provider (FSP) with registration number 49846. In addition, Trade Nation is a trading name of Finsa Europe Ltd, a financial services company authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 525164. Finsa Europe Ltd is the liquidity provider of the BlackStone Futures. Client funds are kept separate in a segregated account and are monitored daily.

Account Types

There is only one type of live account and trading conditions are equal for all categories of traders. The minimum required deposit is ZAR1,000/USD100 and spreads for major currency pairs start from 0.6 pips. The leverage can be up to 1:200. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. You can trade 33 currency pairs, 9 commodities,13 indices, and local shares.

What Type of Broker the Company is?

The Client Agreement file shows that BlackStone Futures will accept orders and enter into all transactions as principal and not as your agent. It is also written ” We reserve the right to aggregate orders. Aggregating an order means that we combine your order with the orders of other clients for execution as a single order. You acknowledge and agree that we shall not, under any such circumstances, have any liability to you as a result of any such working or aggregation of your orders. In other words, BlackStone Futures is the sole execution venue and takes all the risk by itself, acting as a market maker. Being a market maker involves a conflict of interest because when the company executes orders, it keeps the risk to itself. Every loss for customers is a profit for the company.

The same file warns about the occurrence of slippage. It is written that the execution of an order is not guaranteed and is subject to gapping. In such instances, the order will be executed at the next available market price. All types of orders (including stop loss orders) are subject to slippage; therefore, stop loss orders are not guaranteed.

The company also offers guaranteed stop orders on certain instruments. BlackStone Futures guarantees that this order will be executed as the specified price, irrespective of the market conditions. The company warns it has a right to reject any guaranteed stop order on its sole discretion. These orders are not free, and you must pay a premium when placing such an order. If you want to change the price that already has been set, you must pay an additional premium. If you cancel the guaranteed stop order, the premium will not be reimbursed.

The Client Agreement also shows that if you have a negative cash balance, the full amount of that balance is due immediately. Payment must be made in the currency in which the debit balance is denominated. The company will require immediate payment of any negative cash balance by either telegraphic transfer, debit/credit card, direct debit, or any other method of immediate/electronic funds by 4.30 pm on the same business day that the negative cash balance became due. This means that there is no Negative Balance Protection, and, in the end, you may owe money to this company.

Fees

There is not an inactivity fee but if you have not placed a trade or order on your account within the previous 90 days, your account will be considered inactive and the company reserves the right to remove any bonuses or credits that have been applied to your account. If your account has been inactive for more than 180 days, it will be considered as a dormant and may be closed. In the event of your account being classified as a dormant account for a period of 6 years the company will contact you and you will have 28 days thereafter to claim the funds from your account before it is legally allowed to give the remaining funds to the charity.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Customers can use several deposit methods such as wire transfer, credit/debit cards, and alternative payment methods such as Ozow, Neteller and Skrill. The minimum first deposit is ZAR1,000 or USD100. The payment can take up to 48 hours to reflect on your trading account. Ozow is a service that allows you to do instant funds transfer from any bank account without any additional fee. The only limitation is that you can only fund a ZAR based trading account.

Although there are multiple different methods to fund your, all withdrawals are made to your nominated bank account irrelative to your deposit method. All withdrawals are made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and can be successfully done to all banks in SA as well as bordering countries with the same banks. All withdrawals requested before 13:00 GMT+2 on business days are processed and paid out the same day. Depending on your bank and location it may take up to 24 – 72 hours to reflect.

Trading Platforms

Customers can trade through one of the most comprehensive trading terminals in the world – MetaTrader 4 (MT4). MT4 is reliable and secure, with a highly customizable and user-friendly interface. The platform offers the ability to run Expert Advisors (EA) or Automated Trading Systems. MT4 fits perfectly for traders with all skill levels. It can be downloaded for Windows OS and MAC machines. It is also available as a mobile application for iOS and Android devices.

In addition, the web based CloudTrade Platform has been developed by BlackStone Futures making it easy to use without compromising on functionality. It allows an instant execution of market orders and provides several other order types. The charting package is comprehensive and covers all the needs of technical analysis, the company claims. It can be downloaded from Google Play and App Store as well.

Assets

Forex – 33 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. The minimum spread for the EUR/USD pair is 0.6 pips. Trading is commission free and the leverage is 1:200.

Indices – Clients can trade 13 of the major and minor indices globally, such as DAX, ASX200, UK100, DJIA, etc. The minimum spread for the DAX and DJIA indices is 1 point.

Commodities – 7 metals and 2 energy commodities are available for trading. The minimum spread for Gold is USD0.40, while for Crude Oil it is USD0.03.

Shares – CFDs on local shares are available for trading. Spreads start from 1% of their value and the necessary margin is 7.5%.

Summary

BlackStone Futures (Pty) Limited is appointed representative of Trade Nation Financial (Pty), which has a South African license. It allows the company to provide financial services globally. BlackStone Futures is a market maker, and the main conflict of interest exists. The company provides a wide range of trading instruments via the most popular trading terminal MT4. It also offers its own platform – CloudTrade. The minimum initial deposit is ZAR1,000/USD100.