IC Markets Review

Point Summary

Is IC Markets safe or a scam

IC Markets is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles. Trade with a peace of mind knowing IC Markets is monitored by one of the strictest financial regulatory body in the world.

FSA has in place capital adequacy requirements and requires licence holders to have in place internal risk management and staff training procedures. External audits supplement IC Markets’ operational and accounting processes and ensure regulatory compliance. IC Markets keeps the same high standards

Beside that,IC Markets is considered a safe broker as it is regulated and authorized by the ASIC (license 335692) since 2009. The ASIC constantly oversees, and audits brokers enlisted under its regulations and authorities to ensure that business is conducted transparently, fairly and securely.

The ASIC is one of the strictest and demanding authorities in Australia and amidst other requirements, IC Markets is required to keep clients’ funds in segregated accounts which prohibits IC Markets from using these funds for operational purposes.

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


International Capital Markets hold an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) No. 335692 and is authorised to carry on a financial services business in Australia, limited to the financial services covered by our AFSL.

IC Markets is committed to having strict management discipline and first-class controls in our compliance environment. As a regulated entity IC Markets is required to meet strict financial standards, including capital adequacy and audit requirements.

IC Markets maintains appropriate controls and monitors the transfer of confidential and sensitive client information within and outside the Company on a need-to-know basis. IC Markets does not deliberately disclose client information unless this is upon request of the client, or as required to do so by law.

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.

How are you protected?

They holds client money separately to company funds and does not use these funds for any operational expenses or purposes.

• 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.

 

Accounts

IC Markets offers three main types of trading accounts which includes: Raw Spread (cTrader), Raw Spread(Meta Trader), Stand(Meta Trader)

Each account comes with a designated trading platform, commission fees, spreads and owner types. All accounts are available in Islamic accounts, which are swap-free accounts. and also Demo account.

The main difference between them is the spread, which starts at 1.5 pips for Classic, 1.1 pips for VIP and 0.3 pips for RAW (however, in the latter case the client will have to pay a commission per round lot). Keep in mind the spreads are floating, which means they change according to market conditions.

Compare account features

h1	Account cTrader	POPULAR Account Raw Spread	Account Standard
Trading Platform	cTrader	MetaTrader	MetaTrader
Commission (per lot)	$3.0 ($6.0 per lot roundturn)	$3.5 ($7.0 per lot roundturn)	$0.0
Spreads from (pips)	0.0	0.0	1.0
Starting Deposit (USD)	$200	$200	$200
Leverage	500:1	500:1	500:1
Server Location	London	New York	New York
Micro Lot Trading (0.01)
Currency Pairs	64	64	64
Index CFD Trading
Stop Out Level	50%	50%	50%
One Click Trading
Islamic Accounts
Trading Styles Allowed	All	All	All
Order Distance Restriction	None	None	None
Programming Language	C#	MQL4	MQL4
Suitable For	Day Traders Scalpers	EAs Scalpers	Discretionary Traders

The features listed above are useful for both the beginner and the advanced trader. The most popular account is Raw Spread account offers some of the lowest possible spreads available. Their average EUR/USD spread is 0.1 pips, with only a small commission of $3.50 per lot payable per side. With aggregated source of pricing from up to 25 institutional grade sources sources IC Markets Raw Spread account was built for day traders, scalpers and expert advisors.

How to open new account at IC Markets

Opening a live account, or a demo trading account, seems quick and easy by clicking one of the options of their website www.icmarkets.com, as shown below:

Click on the Start Trading button to Open Live Account and complete your application form below:

Once your on-line application form has been approved by their accounts team you will be emailed your trading account login details and password.

After that, 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:


Demo account

The Forex market offers attractive opportunities for traders, but also involves risk. That’s why before diving into Forex trading with a live account, it’s best to open a risk-free Forex demo account. The IC Markets Demo Account provides the same Forex trading experience as real accounts. The only difference is that the funds on the Forex demo account are simulated. You don’t trade with real money, so it is completely risk-free.

Pacticing with unlimited demo dollars helps you better understand how to execute trades, as well as your risk exposure.

If you are a new client, please click open a new demo account. If you are an existing client of IC Markets, you can open an additional demo account from within your Client Area.

Demo accounts will only expire after 30 days of inactivity.

Note:
IC Markets does not accept applications from residents of the U.S, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Japan and Islamic Republic of Iran.

Products

A wide range of markets and products are available to trade on with IC Markets. Clients can trade more than 236+ financial instruments covering Forex CFDs, ECN, Futures with 60 Forex pairs, 23 Indices, Over 19 commodities, 120+ stocks from ASX, Nasdaq NYSE, Over 6 Bonds, 10 Cryptocurrencies, 4 Global Futures.

Below is a list of just some of the markets available for trading:

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:

Trading Platforms

There are a couple of different trading platforms you can choose from with IC Markets. They offers clients MetaTrader 4, 5 and cTrader. MetaTrader 4 and 5 are downloadable platforms, Each of the platforms offered by IC Markets can be accessed either through the web, or be downloaded onto mobile devices and desktop computers, which contributes to the ease of access and the ability to access the platforms from anywhere in the world.

Each of these trading platforms delivers powerful trading features and auto trading is compatible witch each of them Each platform has an array of functions and features which is suited for every trader’s needs.

Go to "Downloads", clients can download and use the wide range of trading software available. The following trading platforms are available:


Web Desktop Trading Platforms

MT4 and MT5

The new and improved Metatrader platform, the MetaTrader5 boasts state-of-the-art features including options for hedging, while MetaTrader4 is slightly less advanced and more suited to traders who are new to the markets. Not sure which one to go for? We compare and contrast the two MetaTrader platforms for you in the table below.

The benefits of MT4 in IC Markets

• Market leading spreads and low commissions
• Leverage up to 1:500
• Minimum lot size of 0.01
• Flexible funding and withdrawal options
• No trading restrictions
• Lightning-fast order execution

The benefits of MT5 in IC Markets

MetaTrader WebTrader

MetaTrader WebTrader offers fast order execution capabilities of MetaTrader with ease and convenience of being a web-based application. MetaTrader WebTrader is a user friendly web-based trading platform allowing you to enjoy trading in the IC Markets trading environment with no dealing desk from anywhere in the world.

MetaTrader WebTrader has the same tight spreads, Level II Pricing, and one-click trading as the MetaTrader desktop version along with features such as a personalized trader dashboard to allow monitoring of your positions at a glance.

Features of MetaTrader WebTrader

Benefits of MetaTrader WebTrader

A screenshot of it is shown below:

cTrader

cTrader Web offers the fast order execution capabilities of cTrader with the ease and convenience of being a web-based application. cTrader Web is a user friendly web-based trading platform allowing you to enjoy trading with IC Markets from anywhere in the world..

cTrader Web has the same tight spreads, Level II Pricing, and one-click trading as the cTrader desktop version along with features such as a personalized trader dashboard to allow monitoring of your positions at a glance.

Go to "Downloads", clients can download open

Features of cTrader

• Trade from any location
• Take advantage of Raw spreads
• No order or trade restrictions
• Trade micro lots 0.01 with no maximum
• Level II pricing – full market depth
• One click trade execution
• Multiple order types
• Real time trade reporting
• Advanced charting and technical analysis
• Leverage of up to 1:500

Benefits of cTrader

• Trade against the market with no dealing desk intervention
• Save money every time you trade with low costs
• Enjoy one of the fastest ultra low latency execution possible
• Have greater control over your risk with micro lots
• Move money in and out of your trading account with ease
• All major browsers supported
• Use the same account on cTrader and cTrader Web

Language Support: English, Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Arabic and German.

Mobile Platform

Which trading platform is better for you?

Most seasoned traders will tell you that all they really want from a trading platform is something that is reliable and easy to use, intuitive, and doesn’t crash. Each platform is unique and has its own pros and cons, so it is best to understand what you want in a forex account, and platform before you get started.

How to place a trade at IC Markets

Once you have downloaded and installed the trading platform, simply log in and double click on an instrument in the Market Watch screen.
In the Order window that appears next, enter your desired trading volume and then click on ‘buy market’ or ‘sell market’. A market execution order will then be processed.

The MetaTrader 4 platform will automatically fill your order providing there are sufficient funds in your trading account. Your open position will appear in the trading terminal and the profit / loss and margin will be calculated in real time according to price movement.

Deposits and Withdrawals

IC Markets have a wide range of payment methods gives you greater flexibility when it comes to deposits and withdrawals.

They offers over 15 flexible funding options in 10 different base currencies.This includes Credi/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. Currencies Accepted: AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, HKD, CHF, CAD

Deposits

Each of these options has different processing times and most of them is instant, as the example screenshot below shows:

How do I deposit money into my trading account?

Click "DEPOSIT", fill in all the info as the picture below, click "PROCEED"


What is the minimum deposit amount at IC Markets?

IC Markets allows clients to open an account with as little as USD $200 or currency equivalent.

How long does a Deposit take?

The time it takes for a deposit to reach a trading account depends on the deposit method used.

Typically, credit/debit card, Paypal, Neteller, Neteller VIP, Skrill, UnionPay, FasaPay, POLI, Rapidpay, Klarna, Vietnamese Internet Banking deposits are instant. While Wire Transfer, Broker to Broker takes 2-5 business days. Bpay takes 12 - 48 hr, Thai Internet Banking takes 15 - 30 min, Bitcoin Wallet takes 1-2 hr

Deposit Fees?

IC Markets does not charge any additional fees for deposits or withdrawals. You should however be aware that you may incur fees on payments to and from some international banking institutions. IC Markets accepts no responsibility for any such bank fees.


Withdrawals

What is the minimum withdrawal amount?

There are no minimum or maximum withdrawal limits on ICMarkets. In addition, traders can actually withdraw more money to a credit card than was initially deposited with the credit card method. However, the trader must perform full credit card verification before this can be done.

Does IC Markets charge withdrawal fees?

IC Markets does not charge any additional fees for deposits or withdrawals. You should however be aware that you may incur fees on payments to and from some international banking institutions. IC Markets accepts no responsibility for any such bank fees.

However, For International Bank Wire Transfers, a processing fee of 20 AUD or currency equivalent is charged by their banking institution. IC Markets will deduct this fee from your withdrawal amount. However, this may vary depending on your jurisdiction and the bank you use, and it may take up to 14 days and incur additional intermediary fees.

How can I withdraw my profits?

Go go "Transfer" Click "Withdraw Funds", Fill in all the info below, click "SUBMIT"


How long does it take to receive a withdrawal?

Typically, if a withdrawal request is received before 01:00 GMT (12:00 AEST) it will be processed on the day of receipt. If your withdrawal request is received after this time, it will be processed on the following business day. Once we have processed your withdrawal request, you should allow at least 3 business days for the funds to reach you. This will vary depending on the withdrawal method used. Usually, withdrawals processed using Paypal or credit card are much faster than wire transfer. You can find additional information regarding available withdrawal methods from the Withdrawal page in your Client Area

Credit / Debit Card withdrawals* are processed free of charge. Once processed, Credit / Debit Card withdrawals may take 3-5 business days to reach you credit card. You should however be aware that in some rare occasions, this may sometimes take up to 10 business days depending on the banks end.

Commissions and Fees

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.

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 Indices


Spreads for Commodities

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.

Bonuses and Promotions

At the time of this IC Markets review, the brokerage did not offer deposit bonuses or host promotions. But this could change over time.

Trading Features

IC Markets offers additional trading products such as MAM / PAMM, Virtual Private Service, Social Trading (MyFXbook AutoTrade, ZuluTrade), as well as an Advanced Trading Tools package for MetaTrader 4 and access to Trading Central.

MAM / PAMM

The software is ideal for traders or money managers utilising Expert Advisors (EAs) and enhances the functionality of the MetaTrader 4 platform by allowing multiple accounts to be managed from 1 simple interface. Block orders can be executed with 1 click from the Master Account with preset allocation methods. Thousands of accounts can be traded with 1 click and with virtually no additional latency.

The features of MAM / PAMM

• MAM manager to adjust trading parameter in real time
• Unlimited trading accounts and deposit amount
• Trades – Full, Mini Micro Lot accounts for best allocation advantage
• Allocations to accounts at as little as 0.01 lots (1000 units)
• All normal order types accepted: Market, Stop, Limit
• All unique order types accepted: Trailing Stop, Close by and Close all
• Manage multiple master accounts having different strategies
• Allows Expert Advisor (EA) trading of managed accounts from client side
• Each Sub Account has an output to screen report
• Market watch window within MAM
• Live order management monitoring within MAM including PL
• STP on master account for bulk order execution, with instant allocation to sub accounts
• Monitor commissions and performance in real time
• Manage Monthly, Quarterly and Annual client reports through the MetaTrader Manager

How to apply for a MAM / PAMM account

1. go to Platforms -- MAM / PAMM

2. Scrow down to the end of the page, fill in the form below, click "Submit"


Virtual Private Server

Having a VPS in place ensures that you can run your EAs in a trouble-free environment without the need for any additional computer hardware, backup internet, or power supply. IC Markets recommends VPS providers co-located inside Equinix data centres with direct cross connects to their trading servers in Equinix NY4.

VPS servers are available with three providers: Forex VPS, Beeks FX VPS, New York City Servers


Social Trading

IC Markets account holders can integrate their accounts with popular social trading platforms ZuluTrade and MyFXbook.
1. Open a new Autotrade Trading account

New Clients
Existing Clients
2. Connect your trading account to Myfxbook AutoTrade by complete the form on the Myfxbook website.

ZuluTrade


Advanced Trading Tools

As a part of improving the overall trading experience for users, IC Markets has introduced 20 exclusive trading tools previously not available on MetaTrader 4. With the help of these advanced trading tools, the worlds best trading platform is now even better, providing traders with a competitive edge.

The apps give traders institutional quality tools over and above those provided in the underlying trading platform. In addition to having some of the most feature rich trade execution and management tools, the list also includes apps that assist in making trade decisions along with handy tools like sophisticated alarms, messaging broadcasting facilities, market data more aimed at enhancing the overall trading experience. The following Advanced trader tools are exclusively available for Live account holders.

1. Alarm Manager
   A personal trading assistant which can notify the trader or even their followers on social media.
2. Correlation Matrix
   Gives trader market info on different time scales and enables them to make better decisions.
3. Correlation Trader
   Lets traders compare correlation between two symbols, and trade emerging differences.
4. Trade Terminal
   A feature-rich trade execution and analysis tool which offers precision trading, ordering template more.
5. Market Manager
   Provides full control over symbol watch-lists and all order activity from one small and convenient window.
6. Sentiment Trader
   Shows sentiment based on real open positions: the number of traders who are currently long or short.
7. Session Map
   Gives the trader a quick market overview through the world’s key marketsand their time zones.
8. Smart Lines
   This tool uses line objects as the stop-loss or take-profit for positions. Features include a trend-line stop-loss, multiple partial stops and time-based stops.
9. Stealth Orders
   App lets traders hide their pending orders from other market participants with more functionalities.
10. Tick Chart Trader
    Displays variety of tick charts, including traditional line charts, timed tick charts, and tick bars/candles.

Customer Support

Research Education

Learn general concepts about the Forex (foreign exchange) market and become familiar with some of the basics of forex. Begin your journey into forex and understand the way in which the forex market operates, the basics of technical and fundamental analysis and what influences the forex market.

Educational

IC Markets team has a significant amount of experience within the forex industry, hence understands what traders want and need exactly. Educational materials provided on a free basis and allows to obtain a clear vision of the topic through regular technical analysis reports, video tutorials, informational tools, webinars and more.

Research

IC Markets offers traders research tools pertaining to trading ideas which are based on technical indicators, charting tools and a news feed which allows traders to keep up to date with the latest news.

IC Markets also makes provision for a market analysis blog, an economic calendar and forex news along with its own calendar. IC Markets market analysis section can also be accessed through their trading platforms.

Conclusion

IC Markets is Australias no. 1 and one of the world’s leading online Forex brokers providing an exclusive ECN trading environment.

IC Markets has leading ASIC regulation. It is truly has one of the very best trading offerings when compared to other brokers. Not only are traders able to choose from a variety of financial instruments, but also a variety of trading platforms, accounts and other features and tools.

IC Markets’ offering is tailored to any kind of trader, from beginner through to advanced traders who trade high volumes. If you are new to trading, IC Markets offers best-in-class support to help you get started. If you are an experienced trader looking for an ECN broker with the best trading conditions and fast execution

IC Markets has technical optimization that is significantly strong when considering the terms of execution along with platform optimization, range of tools and as well as a strong customer support service.

IC Markets are a great choice for you to choose.

Yet, we would be glad to know your personal opinion about this platform, you may share your experience in the comment area below, or ask us for some additional information if required.