Best Forex Brokers In Europe 2021

IC Markets Is The Leading European ECN Broker

IC Markets is one of the best ECN forex brokers in Europe. With a trading volume of $830 billion (as of September 2020) and over 150,000 clients internationally, IC Markets is the largest CFD and FX broker worldwide in terms of Forex volume (according to Finance Magnates Q2 2020 Intelligence Report).

IC Markets is an Australia-based brokerage that complies with strict regulatory standards of two of the most reputable regulatory bodies internationally – the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). IC Markets are authorised to conduct online trading business in the following jurisdictions through its subsidiaries:

• European Economic Area (EEA) – IC Markets (EU) Ltd, regulated by the Cyprus-based CySEC
• Australia – International Capital Markets Pty Ltd, regulated by the ASIC
• Internationally – Raw Trading Ltd, known as IC Markets (SC), regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA)

Raw Pricing for European Clients

Since IC Markets has a diverse, proprietary liquidity mix coming from over 25 top-tier liquidity providers, the brokerage is able to ensure raw pricing with no re-quotes and no restrictions on limit orders across its entire Forex and CFD product list for its Europe-based clients.

This means the broker can offer ultra-low spreads of 0.0 pips, 24 hours a day, 5 days a week for major currency pairs with the MetaTrader and cTrader Raw Spread account types. IC Markets deep liquidity ensures that spreads remain tight during periods of heightened market volatility such as central bank announcements and political elections.

The average spread on EUR/USD remains at 0.1 pips on the broker’s Raw Spread trading account, which is one of the most competitive among top Forex brokers worldwide.

ECN Execution Speed

Along with deep liquidity and low spreads, European clients can take advantage of low latency and ultra-fast order execution. According to the Australian online broker:

• Its MetaTrader 4 server is collocated in the NY4 data centre
• cTrader server is located in the LD5 IBX Equinix Data Centre in London

In addition, with IC Markets, European Forex traders can enjoy an average order execution speed of 36.5 ms.

Another notable advantage includes no restrictions on trading on all three platforms offered by IC Markets – MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader. This means trade orders, including Stop-Loss orders, can be placed anywhere near the current market price.

IC Markets MetaTrader 4 also allows for position hedging, because of no “first in first out” rule.

Funding Methods

The minimum deposit required is $200, with all three account types (Standard, Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread) supporting ten base currencies (EUR, USD, AUD, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD and CAD). The broker allows account funding via a wide range of payment options, including PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, bank wire transfer, or Credit/Debit Cards.

Conclusion – Best ECN Forex Brokers in Europe

Overall, the broker offers some of the best ECN Forex trading conditions, which may suit a variety of trading styles, including scalping, high-frequency trading and day trading. We should also not forget that IC Markets offers a free demo account, which is configured to support all account types, all trading platforms and all Forex and CFD products.

Markets.com – Top broker for share dealing in Europe

The top broker to buy stocks is Markets.com because of its large selection of share dealings (+7,500 stocks). Markets.com is a trading name of TradeTech Group, a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed Fintech company Playtech.

Tradetech Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd is authorised and regulated in Australia by the ASIC, while Safecap Investments Limited is authorised to offer financial services to residents in Europe, where it is regulated by the CySEC, and also in South Africa, where it is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

Best Share Dealing Account for EU Trading

Markets.com’s Marketsi investing platform offers European clients an opportunity to deal in thousands of Stocks and build a portfolio of their own with the use of a full suite of data and analytics tools. Clients are granted direct access to 16 major stock exchanges and nearly 7,500 Stocks and IPOs in Europe, Australia and the United States. The broker allows access to the following exchanges:

• AMS – Euronext Amsterdam
• ASX – Australian Securities Exchange
• BRU – Euronext Brussels
• CSE – NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen
• FSE – Deutsche Börse (XETRA)
• HSE – NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
• ISE – Euronext Dublin
• LISB – Euronext Lisbon
• LSE_SETS – London Stock Exchange
• NASDAQ
• NYSE – New York Stock Exchange
• OSE – Oslo Børs/Oslo Stock Exchange
• PAR – Euronext Paris
• SIBE – BME Spanish Exchanges
• SSE – NASDAQ OMX Stockholm
• VIE – Wiener Börse/Vienna Stock Exchange

3 Months Commission-Free

Markets.com has a plain, low-cost fee model for trading Shares. Regardless of clients’ investment amount, the broker will charge one and the same percentage fee. European clients can benefit from three months of commission-free trading when they open a share dealing account with Markets.com. After that, they can take advantage of competitive commission rates:

• European shares (French, German, Spanish exchanges) – 0.1% (min EUR 10);
• US Shares – 2c (min $15);
• UK Shares – 0.1% (min GBP 8);
• Australian Shares – 0.1% (min AUD 10).

Additionally, there is no inactivity fee, no fee for setting up an account and no charge for holding cash.

Share Dealings Tools

Markets.com’s Marketsi platform offers a range of tools, market news, and research aimed to aid clients in making better investment decisions. The platform allows access to:

• Stock Screener tool – clients can locate Stocks that meet their criteria
• Watchlists creation – clients can keep track of every sector, country or investing theme
• Events calendar – clients can follow corporate events (dividends, earnings reports or other announcements) as well as macroeconomic reports that are relevant for their portfolio
• Subscriptions to live pricing from stock exchanges or to news services and market research

Conclusion – Top EU Shares Broker

Overall, Markets.com has the best share dealing accounts in Europe. Markets.com offers EU residents outstanding trading services by combining over 7,500 international shares without paying a trading commission for the first three months.

View Markets.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>

IG Is The Best European Forex Broker For Beginners

IG was selected as the best forex brokers for beginners in Europe based on a combination of factors, including educational tools, expert tips and tutorials, trading courses, easy-to-use platforms and 24/5 customer support service.

IG is a multi-regulated broker, authorised by BaFin and Deutsche Bundesbank to offer online trading services in Europe. As a global leader with over 46 years of trading experience, IG is also licensed in the following tier-one jurisdictions:

• Australia – Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Germany – The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
• United Kingdom – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Switzerland – Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
• United States – NFA, CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission)

IG offers an extensive set of Forex trading education materials, which beginners may find useful before they start trading on a live account.

Forex Trading Education Materials

IG Academy offers free high-quality education content aimed to help clients improve their knowledge of the market and trading skills. It contains a variety of trading courses, seminars and webinars with infographics, video explainers and quizzes.

Trading courses are structured into three levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced.

At the same time, IG’s webinars and in-person seminars enable clients to familiarize themselves with a range of topics and to access knowledge and insight from the broker’s team of experts.

Beginners can also browse through IG’s extensive glossary to find an in-depth explanation of terms related to financial markets and trading. The brokerage also has a robust news and analysis section on its website covering all the relevant market-moving events as well as analysts read on the latter.

Last but not least, IG offers a good trading strategy and planning section with experts’ insight into various techniques to capitalise on market movement.

We should also note that clients can contact IG’s dedicated customer support team 24/5 on matters such as trading CFDs and charges associated with them, trading platforms, accounts and statements, deposits and withdrawals, etc.

Conclusion – Best European Forex Broker for Beginners

Thanks to its vast educational resources, trading tools and research, IG is the perfect place for beginners who want to build their trading skills. The one downside of IG is the high average spreads (1.13 pips on EUR/USD), but overall IG remains beginner trader friendly.

View IG Markets Review >>Visit IG Markets >>

XTB Has A Large Collection of CFDs

XTB is a winner in our best forex brokers in Europe list due to its diverse and large selection of CFDs. Headquartered in London, XTB is a stock exchange-listed, award-winning Forex and CFD broker with more than 15 years of business history. XTB complies with the regulatory standards of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

With this provider, Europe-based clients are able to access more than 1,500 financial instruments across a range of six markets.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments associated with a high risk of losing capital rapidly, as leverage is used. 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this brokerage. Consequently, retail clients need to be fully aware of how CFDs work before they start placing trades on a live trading account.

XTB Range of CFDs

With XTB, the client has a number of options they can choose from the CFD asset class:

• Foreign Exchange – 48 major, minor and exotic currency pairs with a maximum leverage of 1:30, spreads as low as 0.1 pips on EUR/USD, negative balance protection, no re-quotes and 24/5 customer support
• Commodity CFDs – 22 contracts on Metals, Energies and Soft Commodities with a maximum leverage of 1:20, no overnight costs and spreads of as low as $0.3 on Gold and $0.04 on Brent Oil
• Stock Index CFDs – 42 contracts with a maximum leverage of 1:20 and no overnight costs for holding open positions
• ETF CFDs – 118 US and European ETFs with no requotes, maximum leverage of 1:5 and low commissions of 0.08% (minimum $8)
• Shares CFDs – over 1,800 US and European Stocks with a maximum leverage of 1:5 and low commissions of 0.08% (minimum EUR 8 or $8) on the broker’s xStation 5 and MetaTrader 4 platforms

Due to XTB’s negative balance protection policy, retail investor accounts cannot lose more than the initial deposit. European retail clients are also able to test these high-risk products on XTB’s demo account for four weeks.

Conclusion – Best CFD Provider in Europe

Overall, this CFD broker offers a good selection of financial instruments with support for forex pairs, commodities, indices, ETFs and shares. Trading CFDs with XTB it’s ideally suited to skilled traders. The one downside of XTB is the high shares CFD fees and the lack of currency pairs available (48 FX pairs).

XTB Review >>Visit XTB >>

FXCM Has Low Spreads And No Commissions for European Forex Traders

FXCM is an online broker that offers commission-free trading for EU residents. Established in 1999, FXCM is among the leading CFD and Forex brokers authorised and regulated in the following jurisdictions:

• United Kingdom – Forex Capital Markets Limited, regulated by the FCA (no crypto trading)
• Australia – FXCM Australia Pty. Limited, regulated by the ASIC
• South Africa – FXCM South Africa (PTY) Ltd, regulated by the FSCA
• Globally – FXCM Global Services LLC, which is not supervised by any regulator and is not subject to regulatory oversight

FXCM serves the needs of its EU clients through its branch registered in the UK and France. More, FXCM is part of Leucadia, a holding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

By opening a single trading account with this broker and depositing as little as $50, Europe-based clients can access five different markets through platforms such as MetaTrader 4 and Trading Station.

FXCM Standard Spread Pricing with No Commission

Our review has found that FXCM offers competitive average spreads across its entire Forex and CFD product list. The average spread on major currency pairs such as EUR/USD is 1.4 pips, while on minor pairs such as EUR/AUD – 3.1 pips. The average spreads offered on all Forex pairs are presented below.

The brokerage offers decent spreads also on its Stock Index, Shares, Commodities and Crypto CFDs. The average spread on Spot Gold is $0.81, while that on Ethereum – $0.90.

FXCM Active Trader Program

FXCM offers discounts on spreads for active traders who meet its minimum notional volume requirement of USD 10 million per month. Forex traders will receive different tier rebates depending on their trade volume. The rebate program is valid only for instruments such as Forex pairs, Stock Indices, and Commodity CFDs.

Conclusion – Best Broker with No Commissions for Europeans

Overall, FXCM is a great fit for EU traders that want to cut cost associated with commission trading. Since FXCM is compensated by adding a mark-up to spreads, or to rollover fees, it will not charge clients any commissions for trading Forex, Shares, Crypto and Commodity CFDs. For a full FXCM review, click the button below.

View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>

FP Markets Is The Best MetaTrader 4 Broker In Europe

FP Markets claims the first spot for the best MetaTrader 4 broker. Established in 2005, FP Markets is among the most reputable ECN brokers globally with over 40 industry awards. FP Markets is the trading name of:

• First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd, which is regulated in Australia by the ASIC
• First Prudential Markets Ltd, which is regulated in the EEA by the CySEC
• FP Markets LLC, an entity registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

FP Markets’ MetaTrader 4 with ECN Trading Conditions

Similar to leading brokers such as Pepperstone or IC Markets, FP Markets operates a pricing model based on Electronic Communications Network (ECN) technology, which allows clients to take advantage of deep liquidity, the highest level of price transparency, ultra-low spreads as well as exceptional order execution with minimal slippage. The broker offers its clients an opportunity to benefit from institutional-grade liquidity without any manipulation of prices, dealing desk or re-quotes.

FP Markets’ deep pool of liquidity providers enables the brokerage to offer the lowest possible Forex spreads on its MetaTrader 4 trading platform, accessed through its Raw account.

Fast Order Execution Speed

Another notable advantage of FP Markets’ MetaTrader 4 software is its order execution speed. Since the broker’s MT4 server is located at the Equinix NY4 data centre, clients can take advantage of ultra-low latency and order execution speed of 37 ms. FP Markets was awarded as the Best for Quality of Trade Execution 2019 by Investment Trends.

FP Markets MT4 Raw Account

Trading Forex pairs and Spot Metals on FP Markets’ MT4 Raw account is associated with a small commission ($6.0 per round turn for 1 Standard Lot), while the minimum deposit required is $100 or currency equivalent.

Finally, what FP Markets’ MetaTrader 4 software offers in terms of features and functionality includes:

• Good range of tradable markets – more than 60 currency pairs, 63 Shares CFDs, 14 Stock Index CFDs, 8 Commodity CFDs, 5 cryptocurrencies;
• 3 chart types, 9-time frames, 24 analytical objects, more than 50 pre-installed technical indicators and thousands of more custom indicators for download;
• User-friendly interface and rich profile and chart template customisation options;
• Access to MQL4 and MQL5 communities;
• One-click trading directly from charts;
• Customizable alerts
• No restrictions on limit orders, which favours trading styles such as scalping as well as algorithmic trading;
• Access to Autochartist tool;
• Superb expert advisor (EA) compatibility and backtesting capability;
• Cost-effective Forex VPS service with 24/5 live support;
• Security – 128-bit data encryption;
• Compatibility with iOS, Android and macOS.

Conclusion – Best MT4 Broker in Europe

Overall, FP Markets is making its mark among MetaTrader 4 brokers offering trading services to EU residents. The main advantages of FP Markets include ECN pricing, great value trading accounts, no requotes, fast order execution speed, small commission and a great selection of MT4 trading tools. Click the button below and drive test FP Markets’ benefits with a demo account.

View FP Markets Review >>Visit FP Markets >>

eToro – Recommended Social Trading Broker In Europe

eToro is a winner in the best social trading platform category. Established in 2007, eToro is among the well-regulated CFD and Forex brokers worldwide, renowned for its social trading platform. eToro and its corporate divisions are authorised and regulated in the following jurisdictions:

• Europe – eToro (Europe) Ltd. – by Cyprus-based CySEC
• United Kingdom – eToro (UK) Ltd. – by the FCA
• Australia – eToro AUS Capital Pty Ltd. – by the ASIC

eToro Forex Trading Community

With this brokerage, European clients who have insufficient trading experience in the Forex market, as well as those who simply are short of time to follow all market developments, are granted the opportunity to earn a passive income by using eToro’s copy trading feature. The latter enables them to follow and replicate the trading activity of any other user on the broker’s platform by depositing as little as $200.

Traders, whose positions are to be copied, can be selected by using several criteria such as risk score, return for the past 12 months, number of copiers and so on. Once a top-performing trader is detected and selected, clients will have to allocate part of their free account balance to that trader to start copy trading. The trader being copied will actually “work” for them, while this process will not result in any management fees or other hidden costs.

We should note that clients can replicate the activity of up to 100 other users simultaneously, while the minimum value of each copied position is $1.

eToro Popular Investor Program

Meanwhile, traders with a proven strategy can also benefit, if copied by others. They can sign up for eToro’s Popular Investor program and earn a second income. To join the program, traders need to have at least $1000 in equity and at least two full months of stats on eToro’s platform. They also need to keep a low-risk score (6 or below) for two full months and comply with the imposed leverage restrictions by the ESMA.

There are four different tiers of the Popular Investor program – Cadet, Champion, Elite, and Elite Pro. Requirements for each tier are listed below. Logically, each tier comes with a set of benefits.

To become eligible for a Cadet rank, every trader needs to ensure minimum equity of $1,000 and minimum value of allocated funds by copiers (assets under management) of $500. Note that only Champion, Elite, and Elite Pro-ranking traders will receive a monthly payment by the broker for their participation in the program.

Conclusion – Best Platform for Social Trading

In conclusion, we should point out that what eToro actually offers is not just a social trading platform, but also access to one of the largest communities of traders and investors globally, where European clients share their ideas and expand their trading knowledge.