LiteForex Review

Trust

This section will cover how the different entities of LiteForex are regulated and how this impacts you as a trader. We rate regulators on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 reflecting the highest level of trust.

• Liteforex Europe Limited is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 093/08. We rate CySEC as a Tier 1 regulator.
• LiteFinance Global LLC is incorporated in St. Vincent & the Grenadines as a Limited Liability Company with registration number 931 LLC 2021. We rate brokers overseen by the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (FSA) as unregulated.

Why is it important to know where your broker subsidiary (entity) is regulated?

Different regulators provide different levels of protection.

LiteForex clients in Europe benefit from the oversight of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). CySEC requires that clients have negative balance protection, which means they cannot lose more than their deposit. In addition, when trading with a broker regulated by CySEC, client funds are insured by the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) for up to €20,000.

By contrast, a trader working with a broker entity regulated offshore is not necessarily guaranteed these benefits.

The table below breaks down the protections and benefits by the entity, regulator, and region.

Regulatory requirements are subject to change. We gathered the data listed above in April 2022.

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focus on how long the broker has been in business, the size of the company, and how transparent they are in terms of information being readily available.

LiteForex has a long operating history of 17 years. According to the company’s LinkedIn page, the global entity is based in the Marshall Islands and has 51-200 employees. In our research, LiteForex showed adequate transparency in its regulatory status, and has a page dedicated to its legal documents.

LiteForex outlines spreads and swap fees in the Trading Assets section. Withdrawal fees are displayed in the finance section of the client portal. There is little information about the management or the company’s history on the website. We rated LiteForex as having average transparency for the industry.

Fees

Trading Fees

We tested the spreads at LiteForex across different asset classes using the MetaTrader 4 platform at 8 AM GMT and 4 PM GMT on April 20th, 2022. 8 AM GMT is the London open when there is a great deal of liquidity in the forex market, and tighter spreads in currency pairs. 4 PM GMT is during the New York trading session.

Swap Fees

Swap fees (the cost of holding a position overnight) were average at LiteForex.

In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of maintaining a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract. A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). We recorded the data on April 20th.

Non-Trading Fees

If an account is inactive for 180 consecutive days, LiteForex charges a maintenance fee of €3 per month.

Are the Fees at LiteForex Competitive?

The fees at LiteForex are not highly competitive. For beginners and casual traders, it may not make a big difference, but for active traders, it can be a hurdle to overcome in achieving profitability.

Platforms and Tools

LiteForex Web Platform

The LiteForex web platform is user-friendly and has many popular features such as watchlists, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart. Copy Trading capability is built into the platform, making it easy to browse through traders and start replicating their trades.

There are helpful built-in features such as the availability of sentiment data, showing you the percentage of clients that are buyers and sellers. Traders can sort instruments by popularity and volatility, which allows you to identify the market movers and assets in play for the day. The search function is good and makes it easy to quickly pull up different trading instruments. One drawback is that the layout of the platform is not highly customizable.

Order Types

The web platform has all the basic order types: market orders, limit orders, and stop-loss orders.

Charting

Charting via the web platform is provided by TradingView. A leader in the world of charting, TradingView features over 100 indicators, 50 drawing tools, 9 time frames, and 11 chart types.

LiteFinance Mobile App

For mobile trading, LiteForex offers the LiteFinance mobile app, available for Android and iOS. The app provides the same features and order types as the web platform. Traders can use watchlists to track their favorite instruments, 1-click trading for speedy order entry, trading from the chart, Copy Trading, and robust TradingView charts.

The app makes it easy to trade on the go and track your portfolio and trading history. Deposits/withdrawals and chat support are also available via the app.

Desktop

LiteForex offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 for desktop. The platform includes advanced functions such as copy trading and automated trading.

MetaTrader 4 is available in 39 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese. The platform provides popular features such as:

• Alerts. This feature allows traders to be updated when an instrument reaches a specific price level. Alerts can be delivered via audio, email, or push notification to a mobile device.
• Watchlists. Traders can set up a list of their favorite instruments and follow live quotes in a Market Watch panel.
• One-click trading. This feature allows traders to execute orders with a single click and no secondary confirmation. Placing a trade with a single click saves time and is especially useful for short-term traders.
• Trading from the chart. MT4 also allows users the convenience of trading directly from the chart.

MetaTrader also delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The platform offers the following order types:

• Market Order: an order to buy or sell an instrument at the current best available price.
• Limit Order: an order to buy or sell an instrument at a specified price or better.
• Stop Loss Order: an order to buy or sell an instrument triggered when the price reaches a specified level.
• Trailing-Stop Order: a stop-loss order that traders set at a defined percentage or dollar amount away from an instrument’s current market price. It can secure profits when you are in a winning trade while not having to exit the position.

Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 4 offers:

• 30 technical indicators. These include classic trend indicators, volume indicators, and oscillators.
• 23 analytical objects. These include lines, channels, Gann, and Fibonacci tools.
• 9 time frames. Traders can view each instrument in nine time frames, from one minute to one month.
• 3 chart types. Traders can choose between Bar Charts, Japanese Candlestick Charts, and Line Charts.

MetaTrader is also popular due to its automated trading and backtesting features.

• Trading Signals. Signals in MetaTrader 4 allow users to copy the activity of other traders automatically.
• Automated trading. MetaTrader 4 allows users to develop, test, and apply Expert Advisors (EAs). EAs are programs that monitor and trade markets using algorithms. They find opportunities according to set parameters and then create a notification or automatically open a trade.

The MetaTrader 4 desktop platform is one of the world’s most feature-rich and popular trading platforms. It does not have the most attractive interface, and it requires some time and effort to learn, but that is typical of advanced platforms.

Order Execution

LiteForex is a Straight Through Processing (STP) broker. STP is a forex brokerage model that routes client orders directly to the market without passing them through an internal dealing desk.

Tradable Instruments

CFDs (Contract for Differences) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at LiteForex include the following:

• 57 Currency Pairs. A currency pair combines two different currencies, with the value of one currency quoted against the other. For example, EUR/USD, which reflects the value of the euro measured in dollars.
• 11 Index CFDs. An index is a basket of trading instruments used to gauge a market sector, stocks within an exchange, or a country’s economy.
• 85 Stock CFDs. A stock is a security that represents partial ownership of a corporation. Keep in mind that when trading stock CFDs, you speculate on the price of a stock without actually taking ownership of the underlying company.
• 4 Commodity CFDs. Commodities are raw products, such as gold, oil, and metals.

In the tables below, you can see a selection highlighting the variety of instruments available at LiteForex:

Customer Support

Support responses were fast via chat and email at LiteForex, with chat operators being available within a minute and email inquiries usually responded to the same day. Phone support was unavailable when we conducted our tests.

We tested support with various questions, for example whether LiteForex charges an inactivity fee and how client orders are executed.

Support agents were helpful, and there was no need to navigate through a chatbot before reaching a human agent. Disregarding the problem with phone support, we rated the customer support experience at LiteForex as good.

At LiteForex Europe, support is available in seven languages.

Deposits & Withdrawals

The tables below break down the fees and processing times for each deposit and withdrawal method at LiteForex Europe.

Deposits

Withdrawals

Note: withdrawal of funds must be carried out using the same method and currency as the deposit.

Account Types and Terms

Account Application

To open an individual account at LiteForex Europe, prospective clients must provide the following information.

• Nationality.
• Birthplace.
• Whether you are a US resident for tax purposes.
• Whether you are a “politically exposed person.”
• The purpose/reason for opening a trading account.
• The type of trading you plan to do.
• How much you plan to invest.
• The source of funds to be invested.
• Your profession.
• Your total annual income.
• Your regular financial commitments.
• Your net worth.
• Which financial instruments you have traded.
• Ηow long you have been trading with leveraged products.
• The average annual amount of your past transactions.
• The leverage you used in trading CFDs during the past year.
• The average volume of transactions with leveraged products you made during the past year.
• Knowledge test relating to forex and CFDs.
• Your level of education.
• Whether you have education in finance, business administration, banking or accounting and whether you have worked in the financial sector.
• Your level of experience in Copy Trading.
• Your risk tolerance level.
• The purpose of your investment activities.
• Verify your identity and address using your passport and a bank statement or utility bill.

There are two main account types at LiteForex: Classic and ECN. The Classic account is geared more towards beginners, and the ECN account is intended for experienced traders and investors. The main difference is that the ECN account has tighter spreads, but also charges commissions.

The features of each account are broken down in the table below.

Demo Accounts

LiteForex offers demo accounts for the web-based platform, mobile app and MetaTrader desktop platform. Demo accounts are beneficial for beginners as they allow them to practice their strategies and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking any real money.

The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions in assets such as forex and CFDs on commodities and indices. Once users have gotten up to speed on a demo account, they can easily switch to a live version.

Islamic Accounts

LiteForex offers a swap-free Islamic account that adheres to the principles of Sharia law.

Leverage

One of the reasons traders are attracted to the forex and CFD markets is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account.

With a Classic Account at LiteForex Europe, the maximum leverage is 1:30. This means that with an account of €1,000, you can control up to €30,000 worth of positions in the market. The offshore entity provides leverage of 1:500, and 1:1000 is available by request.

Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it can hurt you as much as it helps you. Traders must remember that it can amplify both their profits and their losses.

Supported Countries

Liteforex Europe Limited provides services only to the residents of countries from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Arab Emirates, and the Marshall Islands. LiteFinance Global LLC accepts clients from most countries but does not provide service to residents of EEA countries, USA, Israel, Russia, Japan, and some other countries.

Research

LiteForex publishes a report on their website and trading platform called Morning Market Review. The analysis is published daily, covers economic news, and includes key technical levels.

We judged this material to be well-written and insightful. A report focused on Ichimoku indicators is released multiple times daily for purely technical traders. These reports include concrete buy and sell signals with take profit and stop-loss levels.

There is a helpful analytics feed within the web trading platform that includes multiple updates daily. Reports feature technical analysis, including Elliott Wave and Fibonacci analysis across shares, stock indices, commodities, and forex. Fundamental reports cover analysis of major economic releases.

The analytics section of the web trading platform also has an economic calendar and trading signals. Trading recommendations are based on technical indicators such as moving averages, MACD, Bollinger Bands, Ichimoku, and Stochastics. Signals can be filtered by seven time frames ranging from one minute to one day.

Education

As with their research section, LiteForex has made an impressive effort with its educational materials. There is an in-depth collection of articles for beginners, covering topics ranging from basic forex concepts to risk management and creating a trading strategy.

There is a good section explaining specific rule-based trading strategies. For example, the ‘Three Ducks Strategy’, which uses multiple time frames and the 60-period moving average. The LiteFinance YouTube channel has hundreds of educational videos, many of which are focused on trading strategies and analysis of specific markets.

The Bottom Line

With its intuitive platform and wide range of tools, LiteForex provides a solid offering for new traders. The fees are not highly competitive, but this may not be a significant factor for casual traders. Reliable support via chat and email and the availability of a personal account manager are a plus for this broker. Traders with the European entity benefit from the protections guaranteed by CySEC. Those trading with the offshore entity have access to a broader range of markets and greater leverage but should be mindful that regulatory oversight is limited.

FAQ