Forex brokers: what to check before you open an account
Five things to check at a Forex broker — legal entity, license, leverage, deposits and withdrawals, costs — and the brokers reviewed on IBFX: CXM Direct, HFM, Tickmill, Deriv, D Prime.
Five things to check at a broker
1. Which legal entity will hold your money
A brokerage group usually has several subsidiaries, each with its own license. Clients in Vietnam are usually placed with a subsidiary registered outside the UK, the EU and Australia. An FCA (UK) or CySEC (Cyprus) license held by another company in the same group does not protect your account, and compensation schemes such as the UK’s FSCS only cover clients of the company licensed there.
How to check: read the name of the company written into the client agreement when you sign up, then look that exact name up on the register of the authority that licensed it (for example the FCA register, the CySEC list). If the company is only "registered as a business" in an island state and holds no brokerage license, treat it as having no supervisor at all.
2. Leverage
In the UK, the EU and Australia, retail clients are capped at 1:30 leverage on the major currency pairs. The 1:500, 1:1000 and 1:2000 that many brokers advertise exist only at subsidiaries outside those regions. The higher the leverage, the more easily a small move burns an account.
3. Deposits and withdrawals
Withdraw a small amount before you deposit a large one. Read the conditions attached to a bonus closely: many schemes require you to trade a set number of lots before you may withdraw.
4. What it really costs
Add up the spread, the commission per lot and the overnight swap for the way you actually trade. "Spreads from 0.0 pips" usually comes with a commission per lot.
5. Practice on a demo account
Every broker offers a free demo account. Trade on demo long enough to find out whether you can stick to your plan and cut your losses.
5 brokers reviewed on IBFX
The reviews were checked again against each broker’s own website and documents on Sep 14, 2026. Account types, fees and leverage can change after that date, so check them on the broker’s own website. The broker IBFX uses and refers clients to: The broker I use: CXM Direct.
CXM Direct
Clients who sign up through cxmvn.net contract with CXM Direct LLC (St. Vincent, no brokerage license). Cent, Standard, ECN and ZERO accounts; MT4, MT5 and CXM Trader with a TradingView connection; copy trading and PAMM available.
Referral link (affiliate).
HFM (HF Markets, formerly HotForex)
International clients contract with HF Markets (SV) Ltd (St. Vincent, no brokerage license). Cent, Premium, Pro, Zero and Top-up Bonus accounts; MT4, MT5, HFM WebTrader and the HFM app; copy trading available.
Referral link (affiliate).
Tickmill
International clients contract with Tickmill Ltd (Seychelles, holding FSA license number SD008). Classic and Raw accounts; MT4, MT5, Tickmill Trader and TradingView; copy trading available.
Referral link (affiliate).
Deriv
The Deriv group has operated since 1999, with licensed entities in the BVI, Vanuatu, Labuan, Mauritius and the Cayman Islands; its St Vincent and Samoa entities hold no brokerage license. MT5 Standard, Zero Spread, Swap-Free, Financial and Gold accounts; Deriv MT5, cTrader, TradingView, Deriv Trader and Deriv Bot; Derived Indices trading 24/7.
Referral link (affiliate).
D Prime (Doo Prime)
The risk disclosure names Doo Prime Vanuatu Limited (Vanuatu, VU FSC licence number 700238); the licence page adds FSA Seychelles number SD090. CENT, STP and ECN accounts from a 5 USD minimum deposit; MT4, MT5, D Prime InTrade and TradingView; maximum leverage 1:1000.
Referral link (affiliate).