ETO Markets Review

etomarkets.com in brief

ETO Markets is an Australian financial company established in Sydney in 2013. It is headquartered in Sydney and is supervised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Customers can trade hundreds of trading products including currency pairs, indices, and commodities through one of the world’s most widely used trading terminals – MetaTrader 4 (MT4) with floating spreads. The company claims it uses the Straight Through Processing (STP) model to execute orders. You can start trading with USD200.

Regulation

It is important to know about the company’s regulation. ETO markets is a trading name of ETO Group Pty Ltd, which is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under license number 420224. The ASIC is the Australian banking, securities, foreign exchange, and retail industry regulator. Under the client money regulations, ETO Markets keeps the company’s funds independently and separately from the client’s funds, deposited in the four major banks. 

Account Types

There are two types of trading accounts, which differ mainly in the minimum required deposit and the spreads offered.

Standard Account – The minimum deposit is USD200 and the spread for the major currency pairs starts at 1.6 pips. Trading is commission free.

Pro Account – You must invest at least USD20,000 to open this type of account. The spread for the major currency pairs is close to zero at the expense of the USD7 commission per closed transaction.

There are no differences in the trading sizes and trading platforms for both accounts.

What Type of Brokerage the Company Is?

Although the company claims it uses the STP model to execute client’s orders, the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) document shows that ETO Group offers prices for the products based on its market making pricing model. ETO Group acts as a principal to clients and it is responsible for setting the prices. ETO Group does not act as an agent on behalf of the client to find the best prices. In other words, the company is a market maker and counterparty to all client orders. Being a market maker involves a conflict of interest because ETO Group sets the price of each instrument and the company may enter into transactions with others at different prices or rates.

The same document informs that there may be times where, due to an increase in volatility or volume or other market conditions, some price ‘slippage’ may occur. This generally occurs during significant news events or ‘gapping’. It is also written that stop loss orders and limit orders are non-guaranteed orders. Once the stop loss price is reached, the stop loss order becomes a market order. Due to market volatility and liquidity, if it is not possible to fill the stop loss order at the requested price, ETO Group will fill it at the nearest available price.

The same file warns that you may lose substantially more than your initial investment. You may incur losses to the extent of your total exposure to the company and any additional fees and charges that apply. These losses may be far greater than the money that you have deposited into your account.

Fees

There is no inactivity fee, so you can determine the time frame in which you want to trade. Of course, there are common fees such as spread, swap and rollover.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Deposits can be made by bank transfer, credit/debit cards, and e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill, etc. Some methods are instant such as credit/debit cards, POLi, Neteller and Skrill, while bank transfers usually take longer (up to 3 business days). The company does not charge any additional fees.

Withdrawals can also be made by bank transfer, credit/debit cards and e-wallets. Withdrawals usually take a couple of business days. Withdrawals are made using the same channel as deposits.

To avoid complications with processing refunds, all credit card withdrawals are completed after 60 days of the request, the company informs.

Some banks or intermediate banks have an extra charge for international money transfers and the amount you are charged will depend on the bank. ETO Markets does not charge any withdrawal fees.

Trading Platforms

You can trade via one of the most popular trading platforms in the industry – MetaTrader 4 (MT4). The interface is intuitive and highly customizable. Flexibility and customization allow traders to optimize their trading strategies. There are easy-to-use charts and a large number of technical indicators. With MT4 you can create automated trading operations, develop, test, and optimize automated trading strategies. MT4 offers automated trading through the so-called Expert Advisors (EAs). This is an automated trading software, which places, modifies, and closes positions. The MQL language is available and you can write your own advisors. The platform is available as a downloadable version for Windows and Mac OS and as a mobile application for Android and iOS devices.

Assets

There are more than 80 instruments available for trading

Forex – 60 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. The minimum spread for the EUR/USD pair is 1.8 pips for the Standard account and close to zero for the Pro Account. The liquidity comes from 3 prime brokers and over 20 liquidity providers. The leverage can be up to 1:200.

Indices – You can trade 11 CFDs on the most popular major and minor indices globally, such as DJIA, S&P500, and FTSE100. The average spread for DAX30 is 0.68 points and for DJIA it is 3.6 points.

Commodities – 2 precious metals (Gold and Silver), and 2 energies (WTI Crude Oil and Brent Oil). The average spread for Gold is USD0.41 and for Crude Oil it is USD0.06.

Data Center

ETO Markets claims it uses the newest Equinix data centers in NY4, New York, which allows it to provide customers with greater liquidity and low latency, as well as a high level of security and maximum performance. The company explains that Equinix NY4 (New York) is the data center for more than 60 stock exchanges, over 400 trading companies, and more than 150 financial service providers. Equinix is known as the world’s most reliable data center.

Education Section

There is a section called Education, which contains a glossary of financial terms and some trading tips. No special materials can be found in this section.

Summary

ETO Group has an ASIC regulation and although it claims that it uses the STP model to execute orders, the company is a market maker, and the main conflict of interest exists. The company provides three instrument classes for trading via the well-known terminal MT4. There are two types of real accounts – Standard and Pro. The Standard account offers close to zero spreads at the expense of USD7 commission per closed transaction. You can start with as low as USD200.