FXCM Review – Is it Legit? (December 2023)

Active for more than 20 years as a broker, FXCM is very much in the category of highly trusted brokers you can choose from. This comes not only from the length of time and longstanding reputation they have built but also from other areas such as the accolades they have won throughout this time.

Being a multi-award-winning broker shows the levels of respect that are held by others in the industry for FXCM and brings their commitment to providing a great trading environment to life. They have collected more than 25 awards over the years, even including some in 2020.

At the core of this trusted broker is the regulation they have in place. This comes from multiple top-tier bodies including the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, and the FSCA in South Africa as well as the IIROC in Canada. This level of compliance around the world shows the FXCM commitment to trader security and providing the safest possible venue for you to trade.

Further protections that enhance levels of trust at the broker include having negative balance protection in place and only storing your funds with top-tier institutions and in segregated accounts at these banks for complete protection. If you are regulated as a UK or European trader under the FCA you will also benefit from a compensation fund that can provide protection in the event of loss, as well as having a broker that is fully ESMA compliant.

While FXCM is a very well-respected and experienced broker, their asset offering is limited to just around 100 available assets in the different categories to trade. These can all be traded as CFDs are well suited if you are an experienced trader looking for specific markets or new traders who would like to focus on certain assets.

Even though the total selection is a little limited, the broker still offers close to 40 forex currency pairs in a selection that include major, minor, and exotic pairs. They also offer a unique selection of “forex baskets”. This is a specialized product you can invest in with assets that are designed to move against certain currency trends, for example, the USD basket should perform well when the Dollar performs well.

A small but high-quality selection of commodities, indices, stocks, and crypto assets alongside a similar “stock baskets” investment product are also available to ensure you have sufficiently varied choices when investing through FXCM.

Commissions and fees are generally excellent for low-cost trading at FXCM. You will find that they generally don’t charge commission on trading with any of their account types of assets and so, you just have to consider the spread and any non-trading fees. Both of these remain very competitive throughout.

This spread is only offered as a floating spread and generally starts from 0.6 pips on major forex pairs. You can though lower your starting spread to as little as 0.1 pips if you qualify for the FXCM active trader program. Shares CFDs are also traded through FXCM on a commission-free basis.

When it comes to non-trading fees you will notice that both deposits and withdrawals are fee-free from the FXCM side so you will only need to think about any overnight fees that apply if you want to hold a position overnight and can be checked in your trading platform, and the inactivity fee which is only applied after 12 months of no activity and is charged at $50 per year.

FXCM really starts to excel when it comes to the variety of trading platforms they offer. You will be able to choose from the industry favorite MT4 which is available on desktop and mobile with all of the customizability, charting indicators, and trading tools that have made it popular over the years.

Also available you will find both proprietary and third-party trading platform options that are all at the top of the sector. FXCM Trading Station is their proprietary offering that you can utilize as a web trader and which provides fast, intuitive access to all trading markets and a wide array of tools you need through your forex journey. This platform is well-formed and executes at high speed for the STP broker meaning you never miss a market move. Here you also have easy access to the latest news, research, and analysis all from within the trading platform.

On offer from FXCM too is the great third-party NinjaTrader. This brings a great range of advanced charting tools and analytics particularly suited to more experienced traders and those who are interested to program their own trading strategies within the platform.

If this type of analytics and strategy testing is something that interests you, you will certainly also benefit from the free one-year premium subscription that the broker provides to Tradingview third-party software for all traders.

With more than 10 languages available and offices located around the world, there is excellent customer support provided for all traders by FXCM.

They are available around the clock through phone contact, email, or their website-based live chat service. You can also access some helpful information through the FXCM website directly that can often help to answer any questions you may have.

In all, you will find a professional, knowledgeable, and experienced global team at your disposal when you contact FXCM customer support.

FXCM is well-stocked with quality educational content that can suit your needs either as a new or experienced trader. Of course, you will have resources within their proprietary trading platform to access news and insight but you can also avail of a detailed educational section.

Within this area, you will find helpful guides, tutorials, blog posts, and regular webinars covering every aspect of the broker and trading in general. It is clear FXCM recognizes the importance of education and has put together an impressive area to service this need.

Overall, FXCM is a vastly experienced broker who does a great job in putting all of this experience and knowledge to work in providing a great offering for you no matter your needs as a trader. They are highly-respected, well-regulated, and with a small but high-quality range of assets to trade through a number of top trading platforms.

FXCM then is an ideal broker choice at any step of your trading journey and the sheer size of this industry leader makes them huge accessible for you to start trading from almost anywhere in the world.

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