What is IC Markets, what are its origins and rules of operation?

IC Markets is an international brokerage firm focused on the Forex market, headquartered in Australia and founded in Sydney in 2007. The company has several subsidiaries that give it access to licences and regulations, for example from the Cyprus Commission (CySEC), the Seychelles FSA and of course the Australian Commission (ASIC).

While these types of regulations are evident in controlling some of its activities as a financial intermediary, there are doubts about the existence of loopholes in relation to transactions carried out by traders from outside Australia and the measures that may be taken regarding them Market strategies are taken.

The Forex and CFD broker with over a decade of experience touts on its website that it has over 150,000 active users and a good TrustPilot rating, thanks to its supposedly superior service and transparency. User accounts are isolated from customers at leading Australian banks and are not used for company operational purposes.

Therefore, there is a rather negative perception that transactions with this intermediary that are not processed with banks located in Australia may incur additional fees or requests with longer processing times, regardless of whether capital is withdrawn or deposited.

But all departments, whether headquartered in Australia or branches in Cyprus or Seychelles, are subject to independent external audits for compliance with regulatory requirements and other operational processes. In addition, they adhere to global anti-money laundering guidelines.

Key advantages and disadvantages of IC Markets

As with other brokers, sometimes it depends on the details of the competition. The Australian Forex giant has betting strengths that will appeal to high-volume traders, but there are also areas where its users are forced to compromise or forego features and services.

The loss of these opportunities is reflected in the lack of instruments for trading some assets, as well as in many cases low investor protection and commissions that are not protected in the event of a negative balance.

We will have a closer look at the main advantages and disadvantages below:

Advantages

•  Low fees in general and no fees for standard deposits and withdrawals;
•  No fee for account inactivity;
•  High leverage (1:500) for some asset classes – ideal for experts or traders with high trading volume;
•  Possibility of trading without commission on some accounts;
•  Possibility of spread trading on some accounts;
•  Ability to apply all trading strategies, including hedging and scalping;
•  Easy and quick registration, login in just a few minutes;
•  With a free demo account, you can familiarize yourself with all trading types and markets;
•  Three main trading platforms: cTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 via web, app and mobile devices.

Disadvantages

• Applications from citizens of the USA, Canada, Israel and Iran are not supported;
•  Non-Australian third-country nationals only trade through the subsidiary in the Seychelles;
•  No investor protection (except for EEA citizens);
•  A transfer fee applies ($20);
•  High leverage and a low number of protections are a bad combination for beginners ;
• Lack of protection against negative balance;
•  High funding rates and minimum amounts for CFDs;
•  Low research opportunities compared to competitors;
•  No bonus offers.