I have been looking about for a trustworthy forex trading company for the past 3 years. A number of months back I came across a couple of Australian fx brokers that were offering very tight spreads. The forex broker that stood out the most was a company known as IC Markets.

Because I had not heard about IC Markets I decided to explore what this company was all about. I was thrilled to find that they’re a True ECN broker which obviously is a major advantage for active fx traders and people using automated robot strategies. They have also been around since 2007 making IC markets among the oldest forex brokers in Australia. for me this is a really good sign as it indicates that they have been able to stand the test of time.

I performed a number of latency checks on IC markets trading platform and found that their execution speeds were lower than 100 milliseconds. This is extremely quick in anyone’s words though you should be aware that this will also depend on where in the world you’re located.

IC Markets bank with Westpac Banking Corporation and ANZ Bank, both are AA rated banks in Australia and are at the forefront relating to compliance with risk management protocols making them two of the safest finance institutions in the world.

I funded my live trading account with $200 which is remarkable for a true ECN account. Most True ECN brokers necessitate a minimum starting amount of no less than $1,000. Their spreads are impressive they get down to zero pips though the EUR/USD often has a spread of 0.1 pips. They set my account up on 400:1 leverage and even let me deal in micro lots which are equal to 0.1 lots or 1,000 units. This actually suits me as I am quite new to fx and want to deal with smaller lot sizes. I forgot to say that IC markets commission rates are only $3.5 per lot which is the lowest priced that I’ve ever witnessed for a Metatrader 4 True ECN.

I’m really confident that I have found the best ECN broker for my forex expert advisor and my discretionary trading. The razor sharp prices combined with extremely low latency trade execution speeds make IC Markets my number one choice for Metatrader 4 forex trading.

Their one-click dealing module is also the coolest Metatrader 4 add-on that I’ve ever seen, the one-clicker enables me to scalp the market a lot more effectively and I am able to see the spread on the foreign exchange pair pair right in front of me on the screen. The even have some really good newsfeeds on the trading platform that helps me when I trade the news, though this isn’t something that I have perfected yet. There are way more deal types on IC Markets Metatrader 4 trading platform than on any other forex brokers platform in the world, this makes a huge difference to me as I prefer to use OCO orders which Metatrader does not offer in its standard form.

Since writing this evaluation I’ve actually discovered that IC Markets is in fact also the largest forex broker in Australia and is the only real forex provider in Australia to have a True ECN offering, sadly most of the other so called ECN fx brokers are really just market makers. As always I in no way endorse any single broker that is why I urge you to try several different forex brokers to determine which one fits you best. Just be cautious when in search of an ECN broker as most are usually not True ECN brokers just market makers in disguise.

Certain traders can’t bear paying a commission to trade foreign currency for many years I used to be also one of these traders, however over the last three years I’ve developed a much better awareness of how the fx market really works and I’d never trade with a fx broker that does not charge a fee but instead hides their charges inside the prices they quote. 

It is discouraging to see that lots of fx brokers still promote themselves as being commission free, however it is crucial to note that nothing is free and that all brokers must generate profits one way or another. Sadly forex brokers who don’t charge any commission tend to be market makers and widen their spreads in order to limit your money making chances and profit from your losses. On the other hand brokers that charge a commission rate often do so as they hedge all of their deals or give you an ECN trading facility where it is possible to trade on zero or even negative prices.

Traders that appreciate the forex market and have had an incident dealing with a market maker forex broker will always chose an ECN fx broker that charges a fee over a broker that hides their cost within the spread. Trading with an ECN broker guarantees complete trading transparency in addition to making certain that you’re always trading on the best prices obtainable in the market.

Unfortunately there are very few ECN forex brokers around, some also put up big barriers to entry such as placing minimums on the amount which you can open a trading account with. I have conducted a lot of research into ECN forex brokers over the last one and a half years and have found that there are only a handful of ECN brokers that make it uncomplicated for retail clients to deal with.

Various ECN forex brokers however are not actual ECN brokers as they simply use ECN liquidity to make a market behind the scenes, this means that the broker doesn’t hedge your deals inside the ECN market place. Fortunately, there are a few legitimate ECN brokers, it’s very easy to tell whether a fx broker is legitimate or not you can do so by checking their order execution times in addition to checking whether or not they pass on slippage to your account that works in your favor.

One other crucial feature that you should be familiar with is that a few so called ECN forex brokers may have limits on the distance you are able to put your stop loss and take profit orders away from the current market price. Any broker that does this is a market maker, this is done to stop scalpers taking pips from the forex provider.

In my experience I’ve only ever dealt with regulated True ECN fx brokers in the US and Australia. There are a few good fx brokers in both nations. The ECN fx broker that I have been dealing with for the last 18 months is IC Markets. IC Markets prices are some of the tightest around and their commission rate is $3.50 per lot, that’s pretty cheap compared to the majority of fx brokers. I’m not here promote any one forex broker so you should trial a number of broker platforms before making your final selection, however I am able to vouch for IC Markets.