IFC Markets Review

ifcm.co.uk in brief

The ifcm.co.uk website is owned and operated by IFCMARKETS.CORP, which is licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The company provides online trading of more than 600 financial assets distributed as currency pairs, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and shares through the industry standard trading terminals such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The leverage can be up to 1:400 and you can start trading by investing just USD 1. The company claims to use an automatic transfer of aggregated and large clients’ orders to the interbank market or exchange by DMA/STP model.

Regulation

One of the first things that needs to be checked is where and by whom the company is regulated. IFC Markets is the brand name of “IFCMARKETS. CORP.”, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands under registration number 669838 and is licensed by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) to carry out investment business. The company holds an Investment Business License number SIBA/L/14/1073. IFCMARKETS. CORP. holds professional indemnity for insurance of financial institutions in AIG EUROPE LIMITED, the company claims. Keep in mind, however, that the company has only offshore regulation. There is another company in the IFCM Group called IFCM Cyprus Ltd, which is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 147/11.

Account Types

There are three trading platforms, and each offers two types of live accounts – Standard and Micro.

Standard-Fixed & Floating account through the NetTradeX platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1,000; spreads are both fixed and variable and start from 0.4 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 10,000 units and the leverage can be up to 1:200.

Beginner-Fixed & Floating account through the NetTradeX platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1, and the maximum equity is USD 5,000. Spreads are both fixed and variable and start from 0.4 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 100 units, and the leverage can be up to 1:400.

Standard-Fixed account through the MetaTrader 4 platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1,000; spreads are fixed and start from 1.8 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 0.1 lot (10,000 units) and the leverage can be up to 1:200.

Micro-Fixed account through the MetaTrader 4 platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1, and the maximum equity is USD 5,000. Spreads are fixed and start from 1.8 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 0.01 lots (1,000 units) and the leverage can be up to 1:400.

Standard-Floating account through the MetaTrader 5 platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1,000; spreads are floating and start from 0.4 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 0.1 lot (10,000 units) and the leverage can be up to 1:200.

Micro-Floating account through the MetaTrader 5 platform – The minimum required deposit is USD 1, and the maximum equity is USD 5,000. Spreads are floating and start from 0.4 pips for major currency pairs. The minimum traded amount is 0.01 lots (1,000 units) and the leverage can be up to 1:400.

What Type of Broker the Company Is

The “Customer Agreement” document warns that in certain markets, including the foreign exchange markets and CFD Contracts, the company may act as a “Market Maker”, i.e., ICFM may take the risk of holding a certain number of trading instruments and filling orders received in respect to such trading instruments from the company’s own inventory. The company announces that being a market maker, it is the customer’s immediate counterpart in relation to any transaction. 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.

It is also written that a stop loss order is executed at a price set by the client, except in the cases of price gaps, when the order may be executed at the first price available in the market. This means that stop loss orders are not guaranteed and will be filled at the first available market price. In addition, all other types of orders are subject to slippage.

The “Risk Warning” text warns that trading spot forex instruments and CFDs may not be suitable for all investors. You may lose a substantial amount of money in a very short period. The amount you may lose is potentially unlimited and can exceed the amount you originally deposit with your IFCMARKETS account. In other words, you are not covered by the Negative Balance Protection policy and in the end, you may owe money to this company.

Fees

The “Client Agreement” file reveals that in addition to the commissions, common fees and charges, you shall be responsible for the payment of any other fees and charges that may be incurred as a result of the provision of company’s services to you, including, without limitation, all applicable VAT (if any) and other duties and/or taxes, and all other fees incurred by us in connection with any transaction and/or in connection with maintaining a customer relationship with you. So be careful what kind of fee you will be charged.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Deposits can be accomplished by bank transfer, credit/debit cards, crypto currencies, or by e-wallets such as bitwallet and WebMoney. Withdrawals can be made in the same ways as deposits and are processed within the company’s working hours. Each method is associated with fees and commissions, described in the relevant section of the company’s website.

Trading Platforms

You can trade via the two of the most popular trading terminals worldwide – MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). MT4 is available on PC, iOS, Mac OS, and Android, as well as a web version. Traders who prefer automated trading can use the MQL4 programming language integrated into the MT4 trading platform, which allows traders to create robots and trading advisors. The MT5 platform is available only on Windows computers. Compared to the popular MT4 platform, MT5 provides traders with an expanded list of technical indicators and many chart intervals. There is also a company’s own trading platform entitled NetTradeX. You can compare the available platforms in detail from the table below:

Assets

You can trade CFDs on over 600 financial instruments such as currency pairs, shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Currency pairs – 50 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. The spread for the major currency pairs depends on the account type and starts at 0.4 pips in the Standard-Floating account and is fixed at 1.8 pip in the Standard-Fixed account. The leverage also depends on the account type and can be up to 1:400 for currency pairs.

Indices – You can trade 12 of the major and minor global indices, such as DAX40 and ASX200. The minimum spread for the DAX40 starts at 6 points.

Commodities – You can trade 20 of the most traded commodities and 4 precious metals. The minimum spread for Gold starts at USD 0.55 and for Oil is USD0.06.

Shares – CFDs on shares of companies from Australia, Canada, USA, Japan, China, and Europe can be traded. You will be charged a commission that depends on the exchange where the specific share is traded.

Cryptocurrencies – You can trade CFDs on Bitcoin and Ethereum. The minimum spread for Bitcoin is USD 50.

Summary

IFC Market is regulated and licensed in the British Virgin Islands and unless you sign a contract through their European website, you will deal with the offshore company. It acts as a market maker, so the general conflict of interest exists. You can trade currency pairs, commodities, indices, shares, and cryptocurrencies through the MT4 and MT5 terminals, as well as through the company’s own platform called NetTradeX. You can deposit by bank transfer, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets. A real account can be opened with an investment of only USD 1. Spreads depend on the type of account and can be fixed and variable.