Brokers for Australians
Australians have two directions they can go when selecting a broker: Locally regulated brokers with Australians offices, or offshore brokers with no connection to the Aussie regulatory framework.
Local brokers are overseen by the ASIC, Australia's national regulator, and ASIC is responsible for regulating not just forex but most tradable securities in Australia. By choosing an Australian regulated broker, you'll have a local regulatory body to work with should anything go wrong with your broker.
ASIC sets leverage and product restrictions for all regulated brokerages in Australia. ASIC and the Australian retail forex market uniquely classifies all retail forex products (for trading, not delivery,) as CFDs, and thus, there might be some terminology confusion when seeking out information online on forex and CFD trading. While not incorrect, as CFD is a very loose term related to any contractual obligation between two parties on the difference in price of a tracked asset, most literature and marketing from international brokers will define forex trading differently than CFDs.
Currently ASIC regulated brokers are offering up to 500:1 (max, set by ASIC) leverage on CFD products including Forex
Recently, proposed changes by the ASIC will greatly restrict leverage available to retail traders. The proposed changes are as such:
- Reduction of leverage from 500:1 max to 30:1 max across the board.
- Margin calls and margin closeout of positions must take place well before the client is in a position where the entirety of their balance can be lost.
- Addition of required negative balance protection for all clients.
- Restricting the use of bonuses or free gift incentives for new clients.
These changes come into effect March 29th, 2021
"Onshore" Brokers
Pepperstone AU
Pepperstone was founded in 2010 and quickly grew to become one of the largest forex brokers in the world thanks to execelent execution quality and great customer service. Pepperstone is well regualated and has a history of doing right by their clients.
- Regulation: Regulated in Australia by the ASIC (also has entities regulated in the UK by the FCA, in the Bahamas by the SCB, and in Dubai by the DFSA)
- Pricing: Competitive spreads of 0-0.2 on Razor ECN account, and average spreads of 1.2 pips on Standard account
- Leverage: 500:1 in all regions except for the UK / Europe where FCA regulations set leverage at 30:1
- Account Minimums: $200 USD or AUD for all account types
- Products: Forex, CFDs on Equity Indicies, US Dollar Index, Commodities, Crypto, and US Shares
- Platforms: [MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, **cTrader**](https://fxgears.com/go/pepperstone/r/platforms) (*cTrader also comes with cAlgo, a C# based algotrading platform for automated trading*)
- Notes:
- Islamic account types (swap/interest free) available
- NEW - UK residents have access to tax free [spread betting accounts](http://fxgears.com/go/pepperstone/r/spreadbetting)
- NEW - Currently running an [introductory offer where your first 20 trades are commission free.](https://geni.us/pepperstone20trades) *Not available to UK or European residents*