Interview with FP Markets

FP Markets is a provider of CFD and Forex trade platforms providing execution services to clients from over 100 countries from around the world. The business is 100% Australia owned with its headquarters in Sydney. Founded and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in 2005, FP Markets has a strong operational track record over the past 14 years.

The company now has offices worldwide and it services thousands of clients from around the world and executes billions of dollars of transactions each month.

FP Markets offers over 10,000 trading instruments across Equity CFDs, Futures CFDs, Indices, Forex and Bitcoin, making it one of the largest offerings in the industry.
We will learn more about FP Markets from the company’s Managing Director, Matthew Murphie.

• FP Markets have been around for several years, can you tell me a little more about the history of the company?

FP Markets was regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission in May 2005 and rapidly became the largest equity CFD broker offering DMA (Direct Market Access) equities in Australia. In 2013, the company extended it’s offering to Forex, Commodities, and Indices and more recently Cryptocurrencies, all offered via a true ECN model, in line with the company’s heritage.  

The company’s long history has enabled it to learn many lessons about combining outstanding pricing, technology, and support which has enabled it to be one of the largest and most popular brokers in Australia.  

FP Markets executes billions of dollars’ worth of transactions daily and has thousands of clients from around the world who are supported from our head offices in Sydney and London, along with support offices around the world.  

• In this competitive and crowded industry, what sets FP Markets apart from other brokers?

Despite tough competition, we remain one of the most awarded brokers for what matters most: fastest execution speeds, value for money and customer service. We are officially home to the most satisfied clients in the world according to Investment Trends, which is the largest independent industry research provider.

The fact that clients are increasingly well-educated in the market provides us with a great advantage, as they understand not only the cost savings we offer through unbelievably tight pricing, but also the benefits of reliable pricing and other associated benefits that come via our cutting-edge technology. The clear benefits that we offer over European brokers operating in Australia mean we have competed fiercely, and we are confident that the trading environment we offer will set us apart in Europe as it has in Australia.   Our heritage is in DMA/ECN and that very much remains in the company’s DNA to this day with our multi-product offering across several platforms, including MT4, MT5, and IRESS.

FP Markets has invested millions in combining bespoke infrastructure, client portals, analytics and reporting with the industry’s most popular and robust trading platforms (MT4/5 and IRESS) and Equinix NY4 Data Centers (for the speed of execution) and advanced price-aggregation technology to ensure the best available prices are offered. This has earned FP Markets a strong reputation in Australia and in other global markets.

• What is your view on the recent ESMA legislation around leverage and do you expect ASIC to bring margin rates and bonus promotion rules in line with ESMA?

I support the improvements in regulation, however, at the same time, I feel that the focus on education should center around risk management and risks of the product itself rather than capping leverage.  There is no doubt that clients should be well-informed before trading any high-risk product. Ultimately, I believe in free will, and, provided clients have the knowledge required, I do not believe that the decision-making process should be taken out of their hands completely. The knock-on effect of over-regulation is inevitably traders seeking unregulated, offshore trading firms to continue trading as usual. Ultimately, people want to trade and that is not going to change.

Regarding ASIC, it is increasingly likely that there will likely be some consolidation in the market and a move towards addressing some of the issues that ESMA have attempted to address with their new regulations.

My prediction for 2019, is that increased regulation ESMA and its effects will continue to re-shape the business. The main reason that this legislation was brought in was to eradicate the rogue element of unregulated and unscrupulous brokers and I hope that this continues so that we are left with a smaller number of well-regulated and compliant brokers who are battling with one another to offer clients the most competitive trading conditions.

• Where is FP Markets regulated and what are the most significant regulation updates for 2018/2019?

Founded and regulated by ASIC in 2005, FP Markets has a strong operational track record over the past 14 years. The company has headquarters in Sydney and has offices in several cities worldwide and is in the process of becoming regulated in the EU.

With regards to regulation, as stated I think we will see a knock-on effect from ESMA’s leverage restrictions with other regulators taking steps to follow suit in some way.  Another topic worth following closely is the fast-evolving issue of ‘social regulation’ and power of quasi-regulators (such as Google, Apple, Mastercard, and other payment providers.

• What are the main reasons that FP Markets has grown so quickly over the past 2 years?

FP Markets has grown quickly as a decision was taken to take the company to a different level to make it recognized globally, as it currently is in Australia, as the leading industry brand.

We brought Craig Allison on board as our Global Head of Development and working together closely, we have implemented a clear strategy making key improvements and continue to strengthen our global team with key appointments. The arrival of Craig has driven our expansion to add other offices and markets to our already strong client base of Australia and our aim is to continue to grow and improve the business at a similar pace by investing in people and technology and by continuing to put clients’ needs at the heart of our offering.