Forex / Brokers / International

Brokers for International Traders

This page is for traders who reside outside of the regions covered by our other broker pages ( Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe). If you live in one of those regions, visit the respective page for broker options specific to your local regulatory environment.

For everyone else, the broker options available to you are typically regulated by offshore financial authorities. "Offshore" does not mean unregulated — it means the broker operates under the regulatory framework of a jurisdiction outside of the major Western financial centers. The level of oversight, client fund protections, and recourse available to you will vary depending on the regulator.

As always, we encourage traders to do their own due diligence on any broker before opening an account. Understand who regulates the entity you are opening an account with, what protections exist for your funds, and what recourse you have should something go wrong.

Regulatory Overview

The following is a brief overview of the offshore regulatory bodies most commonly seen in the international forex brokerage space. These are the regulators that oversee the broker entities available to international clients.

Financial Services Authority (FSA) — Seychelles

The FSA was established under the Financial Services Authority Act, 2013. The FSA is responsible for licensing, regulating, and supervising the conduct of business in the non-bank financial services sector in Seychelles. This includes securities dealers, which is the license category that forex and CFD brokers fall under. The FSA operates under the Securities Act, 2007 for the regulation of securities dealers.

The Seychelles FSA is one of the more commonly seen offshore regulators in the retail forex industry. It provides a regulatory framework that includes licensing requirements and ongoing compliance obligations for brokers, though the level of client fund protections is not as extensive as what you would find with regulators like the ASIC or FCA.

Financial Services Commission (FSC) — Mauritius

The FSC was established in 2001 and operates under the Financial Services Act, 2007. The FSC is responsible for licensing, regulating, monitoring, and supervising the conduct of business activities in the non-banking financial services sector in Mauritius. Forex and CFD brokers operating out of Mauritius hold an Investment Dealer license issued by the FSC.

Mauritius has been growing as an international financial center and the FSC has been actively developing its regulatory framework. The jurisdiction requires licensed entities to maintain local offices and appoint resident directors.

Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) — South Africa

The FSCA is the market conduct regulator for financial institutions in South Africa. It operates under the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017. Forex and CFD brokers operating in South Africa hold a Financial Service Provider (FSP) license issued by the FSCA.

South Africa has a relatively well-developed financial regulatory environment compared to other offshore jurisdictions, and the FSCA has been increasingly active in regulating the retail forex space.

International Broker

The following broker accepts international clients and is regulated across multiple jurisdictions. The team at Volatility.RED uses them personally and has extensive firsthand experience with them. We consider them a trusted option for traders in the international community.

Pacific Union Prime

https://puprime.com

Pacific Union Prime has roots in institutional forex trading services going back to 2015, and has since opened up to retail clients. They are a global broker with offices and regulated entities across multiple jurisdictions, primarily based out of Australia where they hold an ASIC license (AFSL No. 410681). For international clients, PU Prime operates through their offshore regulated entities.

PU Prime currently holds licenses and registrations in the following jurisdictions:

ASIC (Australia) — PU Prime Trading Pty Ltd, AFSL No. 410681
FSA (Seychelles) — PU Prime Limited, License No. SD050
FSC (Mauritius) — PU Prime Ltd, License No. GB23202672
FSCA (South Africa) — PU Prime (Pty) Ltd, FSP No. 52218
CMA (UAE) — PU Prime Financial Services LLC, License No. 20200000388

International clients will typically be onboarded through one of the offshore entities (Seychelles, Mauritius, or South Africa) depending on your country of residence.

Pricing: Competitive spreads starting from 0.0 pips on Prime Account ($3.50 commission per side per lot), or from 1.3 pips on Standard Account with no commission
Leverage: Up to 1000:1 (though we at Volatility.RED recommend not employing leverage much higher than 100:1 even for active day traders)
Minimum Deposit: $50 USD on Standard Account, $1,000 on Prime Account
Base Currencies: USD, GBP, CAD, AUD, EUR, SGD, NZD, HKD, JPY
Products: Forex, Metals, Indices, Commodities, Shares, ETFs, and Bonds — over 1,000 tradable instruments
Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, PU Prime Web Trader, PU Prime App (iOS and Android)
Notes:
- Islamic account types (swap/interest free) available on Standard, Prime, and Cent accounts
- Copy trading available through PU Prime's proprietary copy trading platform
- Cent account available with a $20 minimum deposit for traders who want to trade with minimal capital
- No-fee Visa Debit, MasterCard Debit, and Credit Card deposits and withdrawals
- Client funds insurance program in place