Best Forex Brokers in Australia

When it comes to trading Forex in Australia, Pepperstone is one of the best routes you can take. For both beginners and advanced traders, the platform has a lot to offer.

Pepperstone is widely considered a safe platform — and for good reason. It’s regulated by two tier-1 regulatory watchdogs: the ASIC and the FCA. The platform is also regulated byBaFin, CySec, DFSA, SCB, and CMA. Available assets include Forex, CFDs, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. Here are some of the platform’s highlights:

• Regulated by: ASIC (AUS) and FCA (UK)
• Highlight: Low fees
• Best suited to: Beginners and advanced traders
• Minimum deposit: $200

For most investors, its most attractive feature is the low fees. With Pepperstone, there’s no withdrawal fees nor inactivity fees. Through its MT4 Razor account, other fees are as follows:

• EUR/USD: $3.50 commission per lot, per trade. Spread cost: 0.09 pips.
• GBP/USD: $3.50 commission per lot, per trade. Spread cost: 0.28 pips.
• S&P 500 CFD: Spread cost is 0.4 pips.

It’s important to note that when compared to other top Forex brokers in Australia, Pepperstone has relatively low fees. Many investors find this feature particularly attractive, but the platform offers additional benefits as well.

For beginners, Pepperstone has a number of educational resources including its own YouTube channel. It also offers a demo account where users can place virtual trades to become familiar with the platform.

Another unique feature of the platform is its social or copy trading capability. Pepperstone offers nearly every copy trading tool you can find, allowing its users to copy the trades of professionals.

Pepperstone’s customer service is also top notch. They can be contacted via phone, live chat, email, or on social media. You’ll be able to find a representative who speaks English, Russian, Vietnamese, or Thai. They’re also very quick to respond — in our own hands-on Pepperstone review, we tested their live chat function and received a helpful response in under a minute.

2. Best Premium Service: IG

Founded in 1974, IG is highly regulated across six tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe bet for forex brokers. IG provides a superb offering of trading platforms and tools with widespread functionality that serves traders of all levels.

IG’s sheer size allows it to offer competitive pricing all round on all products with a particular highlight being its active traders prices accessible to traders with Forex Direct accounts.

• Regulated by: ASIC
• Best suited to: Advanced traders and market professionals
• Minimum deposit: $300

Traders can utilize a comprehensive and quality selection of market research provided from both the company’s in-house experts including IGTV, and third-party providers. For example, traders can benefit from Real Vision TV, premium research for those with $5,000 or more in an IG account.

Customer service is another highlight of the broker with an average waiting time of under 1 minute, and professional and helpful support provided. For more info, our IG review has you covered.

3. Best for VIP Clients: Saxo Bank

Saxo Bank is a leading retail forex and multi-asset brokerage, established in 1992 and regulated across 15 jurisdictions including Australia, UK, and Denmark.

Traders who can meet the higher minimum deposit of USD 10,000 will benefit from Saxo’s advanced trading platforms, over 40,000 instruments, competitive pricing, in-depth research, and reliable customer service.

Saxo also offers VIP accounts with a minimum deposit of 200,00 and 1,000,000 but if this is too high then IG might be a better option.

• Regulated by: ASIC in Australia
• Highlight: Advanced trading platform
• Best suited to: VIP Clients
• Minimum deposit: Between $600-10,00

Spreads average on 0.6 pips for a EUR/USD pair but the bank does focus on spread-only pricing which has $0 commission fees and is available to all traders. That said, its volume based pricing does charge a default commission of 0.5 pips which could be worth it for active traders.

Saxo’s forex trading platforms SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPRO are streamlined and a robust choice for any trader.

The in-house research provided by third-party sources creates a quality experience for traders prioritizing research. The customer support offered is up there with the best, with a response time averaging under 1 minute, and overall helpful responses.

4. Best for Low Broker Spreads on EUR/USD: IC Markets

Founded in 2007, IC Markets (International Capital Markets Pty Ltd) is based in Kent Street Sydney, NSW, along with another in Limassol Cyprus.

Advanced and experienced forex traders are best suited to IC Markets with an offering of the lowest average spread out of competitors, advanced trading platforms and offers quick execution. Other attractive offerings include a leverage of up to 500:1, no deposit or withdrawal fees and competitive commission of $3.50 per low.

• Regulated by: ASIC and FSA
• Highlight: Lowest average spread available
• Best suited to: Advanced & Beginner traders
• Minimum deposit: $200

IC Markets offers some limited research tools and educational material is for forex traders, including a blog outlining fundamental and technical analysis, third party content from trading central, ZuluTrader for social/copy trading, an economic calendar, and Myfxbook news headlines.

Those looking for some face to face support can visit IC Market’s office in 306 Kent Street Sydney, NSW 2000. The team is also contactable through email, skype and by phone, for CFD traders.

Customer support is contactable 24 hours, five days a week and the team in Sydney generally respond within 15 minutes, with more complex issues taking a day. Live chat is available for quicker answers.

In addition, IC Markets forex brokerage prioritizes its educational center, which includes articles and videos, and proves to be a good source of information for those starting out.

5. One of the Best for CFD Experienced Traders: Plus500

Plus500 is a CFD provider that’s been around for over a decade. The company is regulated in several countries including Australia, the UK and Cyprus. Its trading platform is simple and easy to use but only if you have some serious trading experience. As CFD trading is generally not suitable for beginners, the platform is tailored for expert traders.

In fact, an Australian CFD report by Investment trends, awarded Plus500 the best platform for its easy to use desktop and webtrader interface, advanced mobile CFD platform, and Security features.

• Regulated by: ASIC, FCA
• Highlight: Customer support
• Best suited to: Experts
• Minimum deposit: $100

Spread rates vary and are sometimes charged a bit higher than some competitors. However, Plus500 makes up for this by offering 2,500 available CFD products for trading.

When it comes to educational resources and tools, Plus500 offers no educational material. Furthermore, no research material or technical analysis is provided. However, most agree that Plus500’s commissions and fees make up for the lack of educational and research offerings.

As far as customer support goes, Plus500 offers clients bilingual, fast and knowledgeable responses. Chat support is available 24/7 in an impressive 16 languages. Even better, the platform is available in over 30 different languages and you can access it online any time you want.

Times of Crisis: COVID-19 and the Forex Market 😷

The Forex market can also be susceptible to severe volatility from economic turbulence, which we are witnessing with the spread of the coronavirus. Currently, the market is seeing almost unprecedented highs and lows with the US dollar increasing against the Australian dollar, and other currencies.

While the economic effects of the financial crisis in 2008 were dire, and included a loss of 8.7 million jobs losses throughout, early COVID-19 predictions suggest job losses in the US alone could hit 1 million per month between now until June 2020. A price war has already been unleashed in the oil industry, between Russia, OPEC, and shale producers, due to market contractions. This will put serious pressure on the indebted energy sector, and could cause a cycle of debt-inflation that will affect the world’s immense corporate debt.

While it may be too early to predict the global economic effects that the coronavirus will cause, it is strongly looking like we’re about to face a repeat of the same consequences. At the least, a recession could be on the cards.

Is Forex Trading Legal in Australia? 🚓

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) regulates the Forex market in Australia and has played a part in it since the 1990s. All Forex brokers in Australia must register with ASIC and adhere to strict regulatory guidelines that aim to protect consumers by maintaining a fair and transparent financial environment.

The ASIC works similarly to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which governs the leading Forex trading platforms in the UK. In Australia specifically, there are a number of ASIC-regulated Forex brokers.

Regulation in the Australian Forex Market 🇦🇺

Regulation plays a crucial role in the Australian Forex market because, primarily, it helps prevent fraudulent and illegal behaviour. We’ve seen in the past the drastic effects that an insufficiently regulated market can have on traders.

For example, during the U.S financial crisis in 2007-2010, where regulation favored banks and financial institutions, and thus, failed to sufficiently protect the consumer, until it was reformed by the Obama administration in July 2010.

Due to dire examples like this, reputable authorities help to minimize these risks and maintain the integrity and transparency of the Forex market.

Key ASIC Provisions 🔑

Here we have outlined some of ASIC’s key provisions that regulated brokers in Australia must adhere to.

A Valid License ✅

In order to offer financial services to clients the broker must hold a valid Australian Financial Services License (AFSL). To check if a broker has a valid license just search for the broker’s name on ASIC Connect. Don’t think that just because the broker’s name appears that it is a safe and legitimate company. This is one of several requirements of ASIC and doing a more thorough company check is the smart thing to do.

An Office in Australia ✅

The broker must have an office based in Australia in order to ensure better accountability and trader confidence.

Periodic Audit Report Submissions ✅

ASIC regulated brokers must submit regular audit reports that require full financial transparency to prevent fraudulent activity.

• Segregated Funds

Brokers have to keep their funds in a segregated account to that of clients.

• Seamless trading platforms & efficient consumer resolution

ASIC regulated brokers must provide seamless trading on fast and efficient platforms. They must also aim to resolve customer complaints in a time efficient manner.

All ASIC requirements, including those mentioned above help protect and reduce the risk that traders face when entering the Forex market.

ASIC Regulated Forex Brokers ✅

An ASIC registered broker has an individual ASFL number that you can verify on the ASIC website. Usually, this is placed on the “About Us” page and the homepage of a brokers website.

You’ll also find a brief history of all its regulated brokers on the site. This will help you get a better understanding of the company before signing up with them.

How ASIC will Improve Your Trading Journey 🚀

ASIC regularly and continuously monitors its registered members, in addition to requiring regular audit reports. This means you don’t need to worry about whether or not a broker is currently upholding its standards and actively implementing them.

If any erroneous activity or information does arise, ASIC will launch an investigation immediately. As you can see, ASIC compliance is a crucial factor when determining Australia’s best Forex broker.

Creating an Enhanced Customer Relationship 👍

Not only does ASIC monitor Forex brokers, it also aims to encourage and promote confidence in traders. It does this through some of the following initiatives and projects.

• A compensation scheme that ensures clients will be compensated in the event of broker insolvency.
• Creative projects like MoneySmart, an educational program that aims to help traders of all ages enhance their financial skills.
• Trustworthy services to help protect your trader rights such as, reclaiming money in dormant accounts.
• Strict codes of practice for traders to become familiar with before trading in the financial market.
• An efficient and thorough system to handle customer complaints made against member firms or ASIC staff. Complaints can be filed to ASIC’s customer helpline, including fraud and financial malpractice.

Needless to say, ASIC is one of the most respected financial regulators in the world. While other jurisdictions are ripe with scams, ASIC will actually help you learn how to spot a Forex scam.

About the author

Tim Fries

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Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.