ATFX Review
ATFX is a forex and CFD broker that is principally registered to the islands of St.Vincent & the Grenadines. However today we will be looking at the arm of the company registered to the UK, based in London, which is AT Global Markets (UK) limited and is authorized and regulated by the FCA in the UK.
ATFX offers its clients access to hundreds financial instruments such as commodities, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, indices, forex, stocks and even Spread betting. Offering NDD trading mode, clients of ATFX should be able to obtain a more competitive bid and ask price, as we will explore over the course of this review.
The ATFX brand is managed by AT Global Markets Limited, which is part of the AT Group. The AT Group has sister companies regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC), AT Global Markets Ltd falls under the jurisdiction of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (FSA) as an authorized International Business Company. What you can take from this is the fact that whether you are working with a highly regulated FCA or CySEC brand, or with a St. Vincent & Grenadines Brand really depends on where you are based.
ATFX Video Review
VIDEO
Investor Protection & Regulations
“International Business Company for international clients but regulated jurisdictions for UK and Cyprus,”
The ATFX brand is adopted by different companies under the AT Group. For international clients, they are serviced by AT Global Markets Ltd based on the islands of St.Vincent & the Grenadines under the registration number 24226 IBC 2017.
For clients in the UK, they are serviced by AT Global Markets (UK) Limited which is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority under the FCA registration number (760555). Clients from within the European Economic Area (EEA) are serviced under ATFX Global Markets (CY) Ltd which is regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) under the license no. 285/15.
In terms of regulations, international clients of ATFX do not have any form of investor protection or financial regulatory oversight from an International Business Company under the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (FSA). However, for ATFX clients that are trading from the UK, their consumer legal interests are looked after by the UK’s FCA and are entitled to coverage under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Under the FSCS, traders can file a claim of up to a maximum of £50,000 should ever AT Global Markets (UK) Limited turns insolvent.
ATFX’s traders from the European Economic Area (EEA) have their legal interest protected by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC). They are also entitled to coverage under the Investor Compensation Scheme managed by CySEC which covers claims of up to a maximum of 20,000 euros.
Although AT Global Markets Ltd is not regulated by a regulatory body as prestigious as the UK’s FCA or by CySEC, it still operates under the same high standard as its sister companies. For example, the clients’ funds are all kept in segregated accounts. In addition, the broker uses a proprietary accounting system that only permits complete withdrawal once the account identity matches the identity of a person making the withdrawal.
* according to the broker’s website.
With regards to transparency and security protocols, ATFX has implemented seemingly advanced security encryption, using SSL technology, in order to protect client data and banking information.
Tradable Products
“Over one hundred instruments covering 6 asset classes.”
ATFX offers traders more than a hundred different types of financial assets to trade with. The available asset classes covered by ATFX are two commodities, four cryptocurrencies, 43 forex pairs, two precious metals, 11 market indices, and 50 shares. The following table below shows all the assets which can be traded on the ATFX trading platform.
Commodities
US WTI Crude
UK BRENT Crude
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Litecoin
Ripple
Forex
AUDCAD
AUDCHF
AUDJPY
AUDNZD
AUDUSD
CADCHF
CADJPY
CHFJPY
EURAUD
EURCAD
EURCHF
EURGBP
EURHUF
EURJPY
EURNZD
EURPLN
EURUSD
GBPAUD
GBPCAD
GBPCHF
GBPJPY
GBPNZD
GBPUSD
NZDCAD
NZDCHF
NZDJPY
NZDUSD
USDCAD
USDCHF
USDCNH
USDCZK
USDDKK
USDHKD
USDHUF
USDJPY
USDMXN
USDNOK
USDPLN
USDRUB
USDSEK
USDSGD
USDTRY
USDZAR
Indices
Australian ASX Index
STOXX 50 Index
CAC 40 Index
China A50 Index
German 30 Index
HK HSI 50 Index
Nikkei 225 Index
NASDAQ 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
S&P 500 Index
Wall Street 30 Index
Metals
XAUUSD (Gold)
XAGUSD (Silver)
Shares
Apple
American Intnll Grp
com, Inc.
American Express
Boeing
Alibaba
Bank of America
Citigroup
Cisco Systems, Inc
Chevron Corporation
eBay Inc.
Ford
Facebook
FedEx Corporation
General Electric
General Motors
Google
Goldman Sachs
Hewlett-Packard
IBM
Intel Corporation
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan
Coca-Cola Company
MasterCard
McDonald’s
Microsoft
Netflix, Inc.
Oracle Corporation
Pfizer Inc.
Procter & Gamble
Qualcomm
Ferrari
AT&T Inc.
Tesla Motors, Inc
Twitter, Inc
Visa, Inc.
Exxon Mobil
Adidas AG
Allianz AG
Bayer AG
BMW
Commerzbank AG
Daimler AG
Deutsche Bank AG
Deutsche Post
On AG
Lufthansa AG
Siemens AG
Volkswagen AG
Account Opening
“Standard account and edge account plus professional account and demo account with simple account opening process.”
ATFX offers a variety of types of accounts, including a standard account and an edge account plus a professional account, for institutional or high volume traders and a demo account too. Additionally, there is a Spread Betting account for the UK market.
To open an account with ATFX, you need to first fill out a registration form. You will be required to provide your full name, email address, telephone number, select the investment amount and agree to the terms and conditions before the account opening procedure can be completed. Furthermore, you will need to supply identity documents as this is a regulated brand.
From our observation, we noted that there is a lack of explanation for the steps that you have to go through especially with regards to the investment amount field. In the form, you are only provided with two choices, $50,000 and $100,000 even if you are just opening a demo account. Once you have filled in all the required details in the form, you can then click on the “Create Account” button. Once you have created your account, you will be presented with choices of the various MT4 trading platform versions that you want to use. You also have to option on this page to create a live trading account.
Account opening at ATFX is opened for traders from all over the world except for the following countries:
Afghanistan
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Laos
Provinces of British Columbia
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Syria
Uganda
USA
Vanuatu
Yemen
Like all online financial services provider, ATFX abides by all international legislation regarding anti-money laundering activities. All accounts need to be verified with regards to the account holder’s identity and address.
Deposit & Withdrawals options
“Support bank wire transfer, credit/ debit cards, and online payment methods.”
Deposits and withdrawals are initiated through your trading account dashboard. The process is straightforward requiring you to only specify the amount and the method to deposit or withdrawal. Supported methods used for making deposits or withdrawals include bank transfer, credit cards, debit cards and online payment portals such as Skrill and Neteller. Credit/debit cards and e-wallet transactions are free of charge (unless your own banking provider charges you directly) and the transactions are processed within 30 minutes. Bank transfers take around one day to hit your bank. The only circumstance where you may be charged for withdrawing is if the withdrawal amount is lower than $100 or if withdrawal without trading volume since last deposit. *This is according to the brokers’ website.
Deposits
DEPOSIT METHOD
ACCEPTED CURRENCIES
FEES AND CHARGES
PROCESSING TIME
CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
Usually within 30 minutes
E-WALLET
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
Usually within 30 minutes
BANK TRANSFER
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
Funds are credited into your trading account within one working day from the time we receive funds into our bank account.
Please Note: ATFX accepts no liability if a client is unable to deposit funds due to technical issues and clients should always make sure they have excess funds available in their account.
* If you are using a non-UK debit/credit card there may be instances where a small fee is charged by your provider, which can be refunded to your trading account upon receipt of proof of charges.
Withdrawals
WITHDRAWAL METHOD
ACCEPTED CURRENCIES
FEES AND CHARGES
PROCESSING TIME
CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
1 Working Day*
E – WALLET
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
1 Working Day*
BANK TRANSFER
EUR, GBP, USD
NO FEES*
1 Working Day*
Web & Desktop Trading Platforms
“MetaTrader 4 trading platform with support for WebTrader and mobile trading.”
The trading platform which ATFX has adopted for its clients is the popular MetaTrader 4 trading platform. The MT4 platform is available in several versions as a desktop client, WebTrader, mobile trading apps for Apple and Android.
MT4 Desktop Platform
The desktop version of the MT4 trading platform is only available as downloadable software which needs to be installed onto the computer. The MT4 platform features an advanced charting package with can display charts in different timeframes. It also comes with a large library of technical indicators which can be integrated into the trading charts. The MT4 trading platform is also able to support multiple order types and automated trading through scripts called Expert Advisors (EAs). In addition, the MT4 comes with robust security. All data transmitted between the client terminal and the server are encrypted.
Apart from the desktop version of the MT4 trading platform, ATFX also provides its clients with the MT4 WebTrader.
With this version, you don’t need to download a software, rather you will log in using your sign up details from any web browser. The MT4 WebTrader also has all the advanced trading tools that are found on the desktop version of the MT4. These include one-click trading, a wide variety of indicators, multiple timeframes, trading history, and limit orders.
Really, the main difference with the MT4 WebTrader and the desktop version of the MT4 is there is no requirement to download and install any software onto your computer.
Mobile Trading Platforms
“Mobile MT4 trading apps available for both iOS and Android devices.”
For traders who are like to trade and manage their accounts on the move, ATFX has provided them with mobile-friendly versions of the MT4 trading platform. These mobile apps are optimized for smartphone and mobile devices. With the mobile MT4, you can seamlessly integrate it with your desktop client, meaning using the same wallet and account details. It has all the major functionalities of the desktop MT4 hence ensuring that you will not miss out on any opportunities regardless of where you are. This includes trading, monitoring assets, browsing trade history, viewing 9 timeframes and the use of 30 of the most popular technical indicators. The mobile MT4 provided by ATFX is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Trading Features
“No frills broker offering NDD trading services with high leverage.”
With regards to all the trading features available on ATFX, the broker offers leverage trading with a ratio as high as 1:200 for professional account clients. As mentioned earlier, the MT4 is a reliable and widely adopted trading platform. The trading platform is well used and favored by traders all over the world due to its proven efficiency and robustness. Apart from the wide range of tools that are found on the MT4 trading platform, users of the MT4 trading platform can customize the user interface in the language of their preference. For those who want to get a feel of the performance of the MT4 trading platform, ATFX has provided a demo account for this purpose. With the demo account, you can trade the markets with $100,000 virtual money without having to risk any real money.
What is truly noteworthy about ATFX is the fact that the broker has attempted to offer a decent level of services with almost no restrictions. With the use of the MT4 trading platform, automated trading is available and the broker permits scalping as well.
Commissions & Spreads
“Commission-free trading and competitive spreads with spreads as low as 0.05 pips for share CFDs.”
ATFX maintains a No Dealing Desk (NDD) policy, so it does not intervene in the trades executed on its trading platform by its clients. This means traders at ATFX can be assured of a transparent trading environment as ATFX is not taking the other side of the trades. ATFX does not charge any commission but instead charges a small spread on the Bid and Ask price. The spreads at ATFX are fairly competitive. For example, the minimum spread for the benchmark EUR/USD is 0.6 pips. For share CFDs, the spreads can be as low as 0.05 pips. * These prices are according to the broker website and are correct at time of writing.
Bonus & Promotions
“$100 welcome bonus and cash rebate up to $2500, no promotions for FCA or CySEC traders.”
Currently, all new account holders at the non-FCA, Non-EEA branch are entitled to a $100 welcome credit. To claim this $100 welcome credit, the account holder must make a minimum deposit of $200 within 14 days of the account registration. Once the account holder has traded 6 lots during the promotional period, the $100 welcome credit can be withdrawn.
ATFX also has a rebate promotion for loyal clients. There are 5 levels of cash back rebates. The maximum payout for level one is $100 while the maximum payout for level 5 is $2500.
CySEC and FCA traders cannot access promotions through AFTX.
ATFX provides traditional affiliates programme. ATFX Partners are compensated on a CPA basis. Compensation is also granted on referring affiliates to the programme. To find out more about ATFX Partners Affiliate programme please click here
Customer Support
“Support in 6 languages from UK branch or 13 different languages from a non-regulated branch.”
ATFX offers customer support over the phone from 9-5 during the working week(24/5). The support service is available on a multilingual basis with support for 6 languages for the FCA branch, namely Arabic, Chinese, Chinese Simplified, German, English, French and Italian and 13 languages namely Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Arabic, English, Hindu, Persian, Uyghur and Thai.
The supported communication channels for customer support include email, live chat, and telephone. For telephone support, you can call from inside or outside the UK from different numbers.
Inside UK: 0800 279 6219
Outside UK: +44 203 957 7777
Apart from the above methods of communicating with ATFX’s customer support, the broker also maintains a presence on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Linkedin Twitter and Instagram. While ATFX responds within just 2 minutes on live chat, they typically take a day to respond through email and social media.
Research
“Access to Trading Central for market research and analysis.”
For market research, ATFX has provided its clients trading access to Trading Central. Trading Central is the financial industry leader in market research and analysis. The company has been providing research services since 1999. The company’s research team comprises senior analysts with professional qualifications based in major financial centers around the world such as Paris, Hong Kong, and Ottawa. This enables Trading Central to provide its clients with up to date round the clock coverage of the global financial markets.
Trading Experience
“More suited towards experienced traders rather than novices.”
From the lack of any educational resources and comprehensive FAQs, this implies that the services of ATFX are targeted for traders who know what they are doing. Without prior knowledge of the MT4 trading platform or financial markets, a beginner trader can easily be overwhelmed trying to navigate around the ATFX’s website. On the other hand, an experienced trader will find that the ATFX platform is a straightforward platform and simple to use. The main navigation tabs are clearly laid out and one simply has to click on the tabs to get directly to trading.
FAQ
For clients based in the UK and Cyprus, ATFX is regulated by the FCA and CySEC respectively. For international clients, ATFX operates through AT Global Markets Ltd and is regulated only as an International Business Company (IBC) by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority.
ATFX is based at 1st Floor, 32 Cornhill, London EC3V 3SG. United Kingdom
How does ATFX make money?
ATFX makes its money by charging its clients a small spread on the Bid and Ask price.
How do I deposit in ATFX account?
To deposit funds into your ATFX account, you can do it by bank wire transfer, credit/debit cards, and online payment portals.
What is the minimum deposit for ATFX?
The minimum deposit requirement for ATFX is $200.
What is the max leverage in ATFX?
ATFX offers a maximum trading leverage ratio of 1:200 for professional account traders.
How do I open an account with ATFX?
To open an account with ATFX, you need to complete the registration form will your personal details such as your name, email and telephone number.
Does ATFX use MetaTrader?
Yes, ATFX uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. The MT4 platform is available as a desktop client, web trader or mobile trader.
Conclusion
At ATFX, you will not be able to find any fussy details. The broker’s primary goal is to offer its clients a decent level of service at a competitive price. While it doesn’t have any educational resources for beginner traders to firm up their knowledge base, ATFX makes up for this by providing its traders with a cross-platform selection of the most popular trading platform the MT4.
