FTM Brokers Review

FTM Brokers briefly

Founded in 2016, FTM Brokers is a Belarusian brokerage company, when the licensed company Forexline renamed itself to FTM Brokers. It was included in the register of the National Bank of Belarus. You can trade various assets of currency pairs, commodities, and indices via the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform.

Regulation

In 2016, FTM Brokers OOO was registered and included in the register of Forex companies by the National Bank of Belarus, which also is a regulator of the forex industry in the country. Regulation allows FTM Brokers to improve the quality of services and increase the security of market participants. The company complies with the requirements for professional provision of brokerage services, capital requirements, as well as the principles of business ethics and fair competition, it claims.

Account Types

There are three types of real accounts available that differ in the minimum deposit requirements, stop out level, minimum spread, and commissions.

The FTM.Comfort account does not require any minimum deposit amount, the stop out level is at 30% and the spread for the EUR/USD is fixed at 2 pips.

The FTM.Standard account requires USD200 to open, the stop out level is at 40% and the spread for the EUR/USD pair starts from 0.9 pips.

You must invest at least USD1,000 to open the FTM.PRO account. The stop out level is at 50% and the spread for major currency pairs is close to zero. There is a commission of 0.006% of the order for major pairs, precious metals, and crude oil.

You can also open a demo account where you can trade risk free because the money is virtual. The demo account offers access to all the same features as the real one. You can try your strategies here before implementing them into the real account.

Keep in mind that all profits and losses here are real.

What Type of Broker the Company Is

We have found in the Order Execution Policy document that the price at which the order is executed may significantly differ from the price specified in the order, if there is volatility in the price of the basic asset or at the beginning of the operating time of the basic asset. The company has the right to execute the order at an affordable price if at the time of execution, the price indicated in the order will significantly differ from the price of the basic asset (gap, price gap). This means that all types of orders are subject to slippage and will be filled at the first available market price.

The Client Agreement file shows that if, as a result of forced closing of positions, the balance of the client’s account has become negative, the company is entitled to transfer a compensation for such an account in the amount necessary to bring the account status to zero. The company can bring the status of the account to zero by using funds on other accounts of the client. This means that there is no negative balance protection and your account balance may become negative and you will owe money to this company.

We could not find any explanation in the legal documents what type of broker the company is. However, it is always said that FTM Brokers executes client’s orders, which probably means the company acts as a market maker. That means it is a counterparty to the client deals and may not forward every deal to other liquidity providers. The company earns money not only from the spread and commission but from the client’s losses, which automatically leads to some conflict of interests.

Fees

In addition to usual fees, there are commissions that depend on the account type. If your account is FTM.PRO then the commission will be 0.006% for an order of EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, Precious Metals and Oil. For other currency pairs the commission is 0.009% for an order. The commission on indices is 0.01% for an order in FTM.PRO account and the commission on shares is 0.04% for an order.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Clients can fund their accounts via bank transfer, credit/debit card using WEBPAY and using the Belarusian USIS system. When depositing with a bank card, funds are credited to the client’s account instantly. Deposits by bank transfers are processed within 1-3 business days.

Withdrawal of funds is carried out by bank transfer to the client’s currency bank account or to the client’s bank card account. Funds can be transferred to a client’s account opened in the same jurisdiction where the client’s card was issued with which the account was funded. The withdrawal request will be processed by FTM Brokers and the funds will be credited to the client within 1-5 business days. FTM Brokers does not limit clients in the frequency and amount of withdrawals from their account. The company does not charge any commission on withdrawal but keep in mind that the servicing banks do.

Trading Platforms

You can trade via the most popular trading terminal worldwide – MetaTrader 4 (MT4). It collects the resources of fundamental and technical analysis, is simple and reliable. The terminal is suitable for both professional and novice traders. You can install it on PC, Mac, or mobile device. If you are a fan of automated trading, you can create your own indicators and expert advisors. You also have a set of technical analysis tools and intuitive interface. The mobile application has the optimal functionality, graphical tools, and news feed. It is adapted to work on portable devices.

Assets

Currency pairs – Nearly 50 popular major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. The spread for the EUR/USD pair starts from 0.1 pips in the FTM.PRO account and from 2 pips in the FTM.COMFORT account.

Indices – You can trade 10 of the most popular major and minor indices globally, such as ASX, DJIA, US500, FTSE100, IBEX35 etc. The minimum spread for the DJIA is 6 points in the FTM.PRO account and is 8 points in the FTM.COMFORT account.

Commodities – 7 of the most traded commodities are available such as Gold, Silver, Oil and Brent. The minimum spread for the Gold is USD0.59 for the FTM.PRO account and USD0.75 for the FTM.COMFORT account.

Shares – 65 of most traded global shares such as Apple, Google, Twitter, Gazprom, Lukoil etc. The minimum spread for the Apple share is USD4 and for the Google share is USD81.

Education

There is a dedicated educational section on the web page, but it is not available without having a live account. Your account manager is the person who will provide access to the educational resources such as tutorials for beginners, in-depth trading (available upon request) and for experts (valid when you open a live account with at least USD5,000).

Partnership

There is an affiliate partner program and if you are a registered partner, you will be rewarded for every attracted active client. If you are a trader, blogger, or owner of the website, you can become the company’s partner.

Summary

FTM Brokers is a Belarusian brokerage company, which is regulated by the National Bank of Belarus. It probably acts as a market maker, so the conflict of interest exists. You can trade currency pairs, commodities, indices and shares through the MT4 terminal, available as a desktop version or as a mobile app. You can deposit by bank wire or debit/credit cards and the withdrawals are usually filled within 1-5 business days. Keep in mind that narrow spreads in the FTM.PRO account are at the expense of commissions.