Transparency first: how to choose an upright broker

Properly regulated brokers are registered with the biggest financial regulatory bodies, Photo: Freepik.com

The foreign exchange (forex) market, where traders and institutions trade currencies and commodities through what are called Contracts for Difference (CFDs), is the largest financial market in the world, accounting for a total trade volume of around $6.5 trillion each day, according to last year’s survey by the Bank for International Settlements.

Amid the current COVID-19 crisis, forex trading has been receiving increased attention, with trading volumes rising by up to 300 per cent between March and June, according to The Armchair Trader. Online multi-asset broker Exness, a global company with a strong focus on the Vietnamese market, for example, saw its trading volume rise to near-record highs of $595 billion in July due to the market volatility experienced.

While forex trading is generally legal worldwide, the market is troubled with scammers and other bad players, and new investors need to do their due diligence before diving into what can be the Wild West of global financial markets. Therefore, a very important factor to look at when choosing an upright broker is whether the broker is regulated by respectable international financial regulatory bodies. Unregulated brokers are not monitored by any regulatory organisation, meaning they can take their clients’ money and disappear. This is the reason for the appearance of lists of online brokers described as scams or frauds.

On the other hand, regulated brokers are registered with respectable international financial regulatory bodies, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.

Exness is regulated by globally renowned watchdogs such as the FCA and more, and has its figures reviewed quarterly by one of the “big four”, Deloitte. This includes making figures like trading volume, client withdrawals, and the group’s funds available to the public.

Exness has a variety of trading accounts a trader can choose to trade with, including its new Raw Spread account, which offers an ultra-low and stable spread not only on currency pairs but also on gold, oil and bitcoin, and its Zero Spread account which offers zero spreads with a fixed and competitive trading commission instead. This way, traders gain both transparency and stability with regards to the broker’s costs and their own.

Furthermore, prospective traders can choose between a variety of trading platforms, which can either be used on a computer or smartphone. The vast majority of brokers, including Exness, work with the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or its newer version MetaTrader 5. Both of these freely available platforms are widely used, however, MT4 is by far the most popular platform for forex retail traders.

Exness also offers its very own mobile trading application called the Exness Trader, a proprietary and user-friendly app which allows traders the same access to the financial markets and the full range of instruments the broker offers. In addition, the app allows traders to make deposits and withdrawals, access analytics, and speak with customer support. Today, over 60,000 users depend on this app daily to place more than 20,000 trades across assets.

While the choice of a trading platform is very personal, choosing the right one will give investors access to technical support tools and help them to experience a comfortable investment experience.

Moreover, as trading is ideally about earning money with one’s investment, the deposit and withdrawal processes should be smooth and without any delays. Traders should always choose a broker that allows for quick deposits and withdrawal. A reputable broker will not for any reason make it difficult to withdraw the profits a trader has earned during the investment process.

Exness was one of the first brokers on the scene to introduce instant deposits and withdrawals, enabling traders to receive their funds within seconds of requesting them and without the manual interference of financial department employees.

Crucial for every serious trader is also that a broker offers negative balance protection, which means that if a trader has a negative balance after closing a trade, the broker will automatically adjust the balance to zero. Exness has offered this service since its inception, ensuring that clients will never be in debt regardless of the outcome of their trades and can utilise all of their equity without apprehension. Finally, before choosing a broker, a trader should make sure that the chosen broker offers decent client support that is easy to reach when the need arises to handle any issues. Reputable brokers often have representative offices in the markets they operate in, as well as a dedicated customer care department with multiple ways to reach out to them.

Exness has a dedicated Vietnamese team that is fully trained and equipped to assist traders in the region in their native language and to see to their specific queries and needs around the clock.