IronFX Review

IronFX briefly

IronFX was founded in Cyprus in December 2010 and holds licenses from FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, ASIC in Australia, and FSCA in South Africa. IronFX is a trade name of Notesco UK Limited, Notesco Financial Services, Notesco Pty Limited and Notesco SA (Pty) Limited. The company defines itself as a global multi-asset broker offering over 200 instruments divided into currency pairs, metals, shares, indices, and commodities. Information on the Internet shows that the company has been fined several times and has applied bad practices in recent years.

Regulation

The company regulation shows how trustworthy it is. Notesco UK Limited is an investment company, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom under firm reference number 585561; Notesco Pty Limited is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) under license number 417482; Notesco Financial Services Limited is authorized and regulated by the  Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 125/10; Notesco SA (Pty) Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa under license number 45276. The previous names of the company were IronFX Global Limited and IronFX Limited.

Account Types

There are a variety of trading accounts intended to meet the needs and style of any trader. There are two main types of live accounts: Live Floating/Live Fixed and STP/ECN.

Live Floating/Live Fixed accounts are four:

Standard Account – Spreads start from 1.8 pips for major currency pairs and trading is commission free.

Premium Account – Spreads start from 1.6 pips for major currency pairs and trading is commission free.

VIP Account – Spreads start from 1.4 pips for major currency pairs and trading is commission free.

Zero Fixed Account – Spreads are fixed and are close to zero for major currency pairs. Trading is commission free.

STP/ECN Accounts are three:

No Commission Account – Spreads start from 1.7 pips for major currency pairs and trading is commission free.

Zero Spread Account – Spreads start from 0 pips and trading is charged a commission.

Absolute Zero Account – Spreads are close to zero at the expense of the commission.

The minimum deposit amount is USD500.

What Type of Broker the Company Is

There are two types of the Trading Terms and Conditions document – for floating spreads accounts and for STP/ECN accounts. The file for the floating spreads shows that the company will enter into transactions with the client as principal (counterparty) and not as an agent. The company will act as the sole execution venue for all client orders. This means that in this case IronFX is a market maker and the main conflict of interest exists. When the company executes orders, it keeps the risk to itself. Every loss for customers is a profit for the company.

The Trading Terms and Conditions STP/ECN text reveals that the company will enter into transactions with the client as principal (counterparty) but the company will nonetheless act on behalf of the client in the capacity of agent for all STP/ECN client account transactions. The company will be the contractual counterparty to the client. Although the company executes orders on behalf of its clients via the STP/ECN model, it will always act as principal (counterparty) and it is the sole execution venue for all client orders. In other words, IronFX again acts as a market maker but it declares it will transmit each client order to the liquidity providers, hedging the risk. So, the things are unclear – it is not the pure STP model to execute orders, so the company still acts as a market maker and the conflict of interest exists.

It is also written that stop loss orders are executed at the requested price but during periods of volatile market conditions, they may not be filled at the requested price. Instead, they will be executed at the next available market price. So, the stop loss orders will not necessarily limit the client losses at the intended amount. This means that all orders are subject to slippage and the stop loss orders are not guaranteed.

The same file confirms that the client will not be required to cover losses exceeding his invested capital as the company applies a negative balance protection policy.

Fees

In addition to spreads and swaps, the company may charge a so-called inactivity fee. In case of no activity, including funding or trading, within 12 months, the company will charge an annual fixed administrative fee of USD50 until the client has sufficient funds available. If the account balance is below USD50, the company will charge any remaining balance.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Deposits can be completed by bank transfer, credit/debit cards or by e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill, FasaPay, etc. The company does not charge fees on deposits. However, when depositing funds by domestic/international bank wire, you may be subject to external charges charged by your bank(s)/intermediary bank(s), the company warns.

Withdrawals should be made using the same methods used by the client to fund his account and to the same remitter. In cases where deposits and withdrawals are conducted on the client account without trading activity, the company will charge an administration fee of 3% of the deposited funds to cover any fees or transaction costs incurred by the company.

Trading Platforms

Trading is available through the well-known MetaTrader 4 (MT4) terminal on both desktop machines (Windows and MAC) and mobile devices (iOS and Android), as well as through a web browser. MT4 is one of the most reliable and popular trading platforms that provides essential tools and resources needed for successful online trading performance. It provides advanced trading signals and features through a customizable interface, which allows traders to open multiple screens at once with preferred technical indicators.

Assets

More than 200 instruments are available for online trading.

Forex – Over 80 popular major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. The minimum spread for the EUR/USD pair is 0.7 pip and the average one is 1.2.

Indices – You can trade CFDs on spots of 16 global indices, such as DJIA, US500 etc.

Commodities – 6 precious metals and 3 energy products are available for online trading such as Gold, Silver, Oil and Brent. The minimum spread for Gold is USD0.50 and for Silver is USD0.04.

Shares – You can trade 95 US shares, 18 UK shares, 7 French, 12 German shares and 9 Spanish shares. The minimum spread for the Apple shares is USD0.61. Trades are charged a commission.

Fines Imposed

According to Internet sources, in August 2015, CySEC announced that IronFX was under investigation. In November of that year, all charges against IronFX were settled, reaching an agreement on a fine of EUR350,000. Again in 2015 IronFX officially informed that the company voluntarily left 4 other regulations including CRFIN of Russia, BaFin of Germany, CONSOB of Italy and FSP of New Zealand. In June 2018, the Cypriot regulator imposed a new fine on IronFX in the amount of EUR2,000, as the company did not submit its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016 within the time limit set by law.

Summary

IronFX is regulated by several financial authorities, including CySEC and the FCA. However, the company does not have such a clean history and has been involved in fraudulent practices. It acts as a market maker, no matter that it claims it uses the STP/ECN model to execute orders You can trade a wide range of instruments through the popular MT4 platform. To start trading you must invest at least USD500. If you plan to trade through this company, be careful with which branch you enter into a contract and make sure that IronFX has broken with the scam practices.