IC Markets Review 2021

IC Markets Video Review

Investor Protection & Regulations

“IC Markets offers regulatory oversight from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA), as well as transparency on their auditing, insurance and banking relationships.”

IC Markets is registered with the globally recognised Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under International Capital Markets PTY Ltd (trading as IC Markets), as confirmed on the ASIC register below:

The company also holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, as confirmed below:

IC Markets is also registered and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA), under the business name Raw Trading Ltd, as confirmed on the FSA’s regulated entity section of their website:

The company’s additional regulation by the FSA of Seychelles came into effect in July 2019 due to changing global regulations for CFD providers. Through this regulatory scheme, some IC Markets clients outside of Australia can continue to trade with conditions available to Australian clients, such as higher leverage.

According to the broker’s website, IC Markets also offers further protection to clients by:

• Segregating client funds with tier one banks:
  • IC Markets (Australia) holds segregated funds with National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac).
  • IC Markets (Seychelles) holds segregated funds with Barclays Bank Seychelles.
• Being a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
• Appointing external auditors to ensure compliance with regulatory obligations.

However, under the current regulations of ASIC and the FSA, there is no investor-compensation scheme in the event the company becomes insolvent but this could change in the future.

IC Markets is also registered and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), as shown below:

Tradable Products

“At IC Markets, clients can trade more than 236+ financial instruments covering Forex ECN, CFDs and Futures with 60 Forex pairs, 120 Stocks, 17 Indices, 19 Commodities, 5 Bonds and 10 Cryptocurrencies.”

A wide range of markets and products are available to trade on with IC Markets. Below is a list of just some of the markets available:

* Details regarding the available assets are taken from the IC Markets website and trading platform and are correct at the time of this review.

Trading costs such as spreads, commissions and overnight funding (swap) rates vary depending on the instrument being traded and account type opened and are covered further down this review.

Account Opening

“IC Markets offers three main types of live trading accounts called Raw Spread (cTrader), Raw Spread (MetaTrader) and the Standard Account (MetaTrader). They also offer Islamic swap-free accounts and the use of a free demo trading account.”

IC Markets offers some unique features for each of their account types. Some of the features are listed below:

The features listed above are useful for both the beginner and the advanced trader. The IC Markets Raw Spread account offers liquidity from over 50 different banks and dark pool liquidity sources.

Opening a live account, or a demo trading account, seems quick and easy by clicking one of the options on the top banner of their website, as shown below:

After clicking ‘Start Trading’ or ‘Try a Free Demo’, this will then open up an account registration page involving four steps to create a live trading account or just one step for a demo trading account, as shown below:

Once registered, users have access to the IC Markets Client Portal area. To gain full access to services, users will need to upload proof of address and proof of identity documents, as shown below:

IC Markets also offer swap-free (Islamic) accounts but do not accept applications from residents of the United States, Canada, Israel or the Republic of Iran.

Deposit & Withdrawals options

“IC Markets offers a variety of funding options in 10 different base currencies using credit and debit cards, wire transfer, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, Union Pay, Bpay, FasaPay and many more.”

Clients of IC Markets have a range of options available to them when depositing funds in their trading account. This includes credit and debit cards, PayPal, Neteller, Neteller VIP, Skrill, UnionPay, Wire Transfer, Bpay, FasaPay, Broker to Broker, POLI, Thai Internet Banking, Rapidpay, Klarna, Bitcoin Wallet (for BTC deposits) and Vietnamese Internet Banking. Each of these options has different processing times and account currency options which are detailed clearly on their website, as the example screenshot below shows:

Traders can deposit funds in a wide range of accepted currencies including AUD, NZD, USD, JPY, EUR, HKD, CAD, CHF, GBP and SGD.

Through the ‘Secure Client Area,’ traders can fund their accounts in real-time using a credit card or Skrill, as well as discover the options available for fund withdrawals, as shown below:

Withdrawal times vary depending on the method with instant withdrawals using PayPal, Neteller or Skrill, and the usual 3 – 5 business days when withdrawing to credit or debit cards.

IC Markets does not charge any additional fees for deposits or withdrawals.

Web & Desktop Trading Platforms

“IC Markets offers an impressive suite of trading platforms for Web and Desktop including cTrader, cTrader Web, cTrader Algo, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader Web and MetaTrader 4 and 5 for Mac.”

Through the IC Markets ‘Secure Client Area’ clients can download and use the wide range of trading software available. The following trading platforms are available:

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Downloads:

The MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms offer a variety of features including:

• Access via Raw Spread and Standard Accounts.
• Ultra-low latency and fast execution of trades due to the IC Markets MetaTrader server location in the Equinix NY4 data centre in New York.
• No restrictions on trading, including the ability to place orders between the spread – ideal for scalping and high-frequency traders.
• The ability to hedge positions, with trade sizes as small as one micro-lot (0.01).

cTrader Downloads:

The cTrader trading platform offers a variety of features including:

• Raw spreads and deep liquidity on currencies and indices.
• Ultrafast order execution due to IC Markets cTrader server location in the LD5 IBX Equinix Data Centre in London – a financial ecosystem home to over 600 buy and sell-side firms, exchanges and trading venues.
• No restrictions on trading, including the ability to place orders between the spread and access to the cTrader Smart Stop Out function – ideal for scalping and high-frequency traders.
• Level II pricing showing the market depth on the full range of executable prices from IC Markets liquidity providers.

Customer support is offered in multiple languages including English, Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai and Vietnamese. All the trading platforms on offer provide unique advantages to both beginner and professional traders due to their worldwide popularity. The use of a demo trading account is useful for traders to test out any one of the platforms offered by IC Markets.

Mobile Trading Platforms

“IC Markets offers browser-based mobile trading as well as iOS and Android trading apps for both the MetaTrader and cTrader platforms.”

Traders can download MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 for both the iOS and Android operating systems, through the respective app stores, as the screenshot below from the Trading Tools->Downloads section in the ‘Secure Client Area’ shows:

The IC Markets MetaTrader mobile trading app for Android and iOS users offer the following features:

• Real-time Forex and CFD quotes.
• Multiple trading orders, including pending orders.
• 30+ technical trading indicators.
• Multiple timeframes and chart types including bars, candlesticks and line.

Android users can also download the cTrader mobile trading platform app and iPhone users can use the cTrader mobile web browser to trade on the move.

IC Markets offers an impressive suite of mobile trading solutions for both Android and iOS users.

Trading Features

“IC Markets offers additional trading products such as social trading integration with ZuluTrade and MyFXbook, as well as an Advanced Trading Tools package for MetaTrader 4 and access to Trading Central.”

Clients trading with IC Markets have access to some unique additional features, such as:

• Advanced Trading Tools. MetaTrader 4 users can download an ‘Advanced Trading Tools’ package which includes a Correlation Matrix, Advanced Trade Terminal, Sentiment Trader and Stealth Order functionality and much more.
• Social Trading. IC Markets account holders can integrate their accounts with popular social trading platforms ZuluTrade and MyFXbook.
• API Trading. IC Markets offers a FIX API for institutional and high volume clients looking for direct access to their liquidity providers.
• Trading Central. Automated analytics and featured ideas as shown below:

Commissions & Spreads

“IC Markets offers commission-free trading on some accounts, as well as commission-based trading with spreads as low as 0.0 pips depending on the type of trading account opened.”

IC Markets trading costs depend on the type of account opened: Raw Spreads (cTrader), Raw Spreads (MetaTrader) or the Standard Account (MetaTrader). As the broker offers institutional grade liquidity the spreads are variable as prices are derived from multiple liquidity providers.

Some examples are provided below and more can be found on their website:

Forex Spreads

MetaTrader Commissions

Trading commissions for MetaTrader 4 Raw Spread accounts are shown below:

cTrader Commissions

Commission for cTrader accounts are shown below:

Spreads for Commodities

Spreads for Indices

Commissions

IC Markets offers commission-free trading on Indices, Bonds, Futures and Cryptocurrencies across all account types, as well as on the Standard Account for ECN Forex trading.

Swap Rates

Swap rates for holding positions overnight vary and can be found in both the MetaTrader and cTrader trading platforms.

Bonus & Promotions

“Currently, IC Markets do not have any bonus or promotional offers.”

Currently, IC Markets do not have any bonus or promotional offers but this could change over time.

Customer Support

“IC Markets offers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week multilingual Live Chat support as well as through email and phone.”

IC Markets offers multilingual customer support in a wide variety of languages including IC Markets offers customer support in multiple languages including English, Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai and Vietnamese.

Clients can get in touch with IC Markets in several ways, including via Live Chat. However, clients are first asked to type in their question in the Help Centre to get an instant answer as shown below:

The broker also offers a live chat facility, as shown below:

Contact Information:

• Address:
  • International Capital Markets Pty Ltd, Level 4 50 Carrington Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 AUSTRALIA
• Email:
  • Client Relations: rm@icmarkets.com
  • Support AU: support@icmarkets.com
  • Accounts: accounts@icmarkets.com
• 24/7 Live Chat (weekdays and weekends)
• Phone:
  • General: +61 (0)2 8014 4280
  • Fax: +61 (0)2 8072 2120
  • Australia: +1300 600 644
  • United Kingdom: +44 800 014 8775
  • Thailand: +661800012799
  • Indonesia: +6278033212195
  • Germany: +498007238442
  • Spain: +34900838243
  • Brazil: +558008783186
  • Malaysia +601800819013
  • South Africa: +27800172944
  • Poland: +488001125138
  • Cyprus: +35725123504
• Social Media:
  • https://www.facebook.com/icmarkets
  • https://twitter.com/IC_Markets
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/icmarkets
  • YouTube
  • Google+

There are also separate contact details for IC Markets Chinese Support Center with its own Live Chat option found on the website. Or by phone at +86 400 609 6783, or by using the email address support.cn@icmarkets.com.

Research

“IC Markets offers detailed market analysis and commentary through their blog page called Information Hub for Serious Traders.”

Traders can stay up to date with market developments through the IC Markets blog page, called the Information Hub for Serious Traders, which offers several categories including Company News, Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Education and Trading Data, as the screenshot below shows:

Within the IC Markets blog, traders can enjoy regular market updates, as well as a Weekly Technical Outlook and Review post. On their homepage, there is also access to an economic calendar and a Forex calculator page. The IC Markets market analysis section can also be accessed through their trading platforms.

Trader Education

“IC Markets offers a wide range of educational resources such as a Forex Trading 101 and Technical Analysis 101 section, as well as videos and much more.”

The trader education offered from IC Markets can be found on their blog page and covers different aspects of the trading process, including:

• Forex Trading 101
• Technical Analysis 101
• Fundamental Analysis 101
• Risk Management 101
• Trading Psychology 101
• Trading Plan 101

These come in the form of blog posts and videos covering different topics within each category. An example of their Forex Trading 101 Education page is shown below:

For beginner traders, a wide range of MetaTrader and cTrader video tutorials can be found on the IC Markets YouTube page, as shown below:

Trading Experience

“IC Markets offers a suite of trading platforms, accounts and services that offer unique advantages to both beginner and advanced traders.”

From our observations, the services offered by IC Markets are suitable for both beginner and advanced traders. Having access to a wide range of trading platforms with video tutorials, a free demo trading account, a large educational library and 24/7 Live Chat support can help beginner traders to get started on their journey.

Advanced traders will enjoy the multi-platform offering across desktop, web and mobile, from MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and additional trading features such as social trading with ZuluTrade and MyFXbook. Users can also access commission-free or commission-based trading accounts.

Scalpers and algo traders will particularly appreciate the ‘no restriction and no re-quote’ environment offered by the IC Markets ECN account providing an average 0.1 pip spread on EUR/USD. The server location will also help high-frequency automated traders receive the best possible execution.

FAQ

Is IC Markets regulated?

Yes, IC Markets is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Where is IC Markets based?

IC Markets is based at Level 4 50 Carrington Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 AUSTRALIA.

How does IC Markets make money?

IC Markets makes money through spreads, swaps and commissions on certain trading accounts and instruments.

How do I deposit in IC Markets account?

Funds can be deposited into a trading account through a variety of mediums, including credit and debit cards, PayPal, Neteller, Neteller VIP, Skrill, UnionPay, Wire Transfer, Bpay, FasaPay, Broker to Broker, POLI, Thai Internet Banking, Rapidpay, Klarna, Bitcoin Wallet (for BTC deposits) and Vietnamese Internet Banking.

What is the min. deposit for IC Markets?

The minimum deposit to open a trading account is $200.

How do I withdraw money from IC Markets?

Withdrawals can be made from IC Markets through the ‘Secure Client Area’ found on their homepage and can be withdrawn to credit and debit cards, as well as PayPal, Neteller and Skrill for instant processing.

What is the max leverage in IC Markets?

The maximum leverage offered by IC Markets is 500:1 across all three account types.

How do I open an account with IC Markets?

An account can be opened at the click of a button on the IC Markets website and can be done in just four steps.

Does IC Markets use MetaTrader?

Yes, IC Markets does offer MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

Conclusion

“IC Markets (International Capital Markets) is a regulated Forex ECN and CFD broker headquartered in Australia, offering to trade on more than 236+ financial instruments across Forex, Commodities, Indices, Bonds, Cryptocurrency, Stocks and Futures on the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader platforms for desktop, web and mobile.”

IC Markets was founded in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), as well as the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The broker offers three core trading accounts called Raw Spread (cTrader), Raw Spread (MetaTrader) and a Standard Account (MetaTrader). Spreads start from zero pips on the Raw Spread accounts with commissions-payable. The Standard Account offers commission-free trading with spreads from just one pip. The broker also offers demo trading accounts and Islamic swap-free accounts.

While the broker offers services and features designed for both beginner and professional traders, the company promotes themselves as the ‘go to’ choice for high volume traders, scalpers and trading algos due to their New York Equinix NY4 data centre – processing over 500,000 trades per day. The broker also offers additional trading features such as social trading integration with ZuluTrade and MyFXbook.

• ASIC, CySEC and FSA regulated, offering high transparency with client trading funds segregated and held with named tier one banks.
• Commission-free trading accounts available and commission-based trading accounts available with spreads from 0 pips.
• More than 236 tradable assets across Forex, Stocks, Commodities, Indices, Bonds and Cryptocurrency markets.
• A wide range of trading platforms available including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader.