IC Markets Review: Is Your Money Safe With This Broker?
Investing in forex trade has become quite popular in today’s business world. While most traders have made money from this form of investment, others have lost money to unscrupulous brokers. This is why it’s important to know whether you are dealing with a legitimate broker before committing your hard-earned cash.
Is your money safe with IC Markets? Read this in-depth IC Markets review to answer this question and more.
If you have lost money before trading with IC Markets, we can help you recover your cash. We have a team of experienced experts that will work with you to get it back. Schedule a free consultation session today.
Here’s all you need to know about IC Markets.
IC Markets: An Honest Look at IC Markets
Established in 2007 in Sydney Australia, IC Markets is a Forex CFD provider that offers trading solutions for newbies and established investors.
According to its website, the brokerage firm was established to bridge the gap between institutional and retail clients. They claim that the broker is independently audited, and they hold client money in segregated accounts.
While this sounds attractive to traders, is there any truth to this claim? Or is this a ploy to bring in new investors and take their money?
What Is IC Markets: A Brief Background
IC Markets primary focus is on forex, commodities, bonds, indices, digital currencies, stocks, and futures. The firm’s management team has a lot of experience in CFD, forex, and equity markets in Europe, North America, and Asia.
The company claims to be a top choice for automated traders. Additionally, the broker’s order matching engine based in the New York Equinix NY4 data centre processes more than 500,000 trades daily. Out of these, more than two-thirds of all the trades are from automated trading systems.
As of March 2022, the trading volume was $1.11 trillion. The brokerage firm has 180,000 active clients globally.
Is IC Markets Legit?
Scam forex brokerage firms have managed to con so many investors by having well-organized business operations that appear legit.
To determine whether IC Markets is legitimate, we’ll take a look at the company’s operations, services, products, and features. We’ll also tell you if the brokerage firm is regulated and how the customer funds are protected. With this information, we will provide a final verdict on whether IC Markets is legitimate.
Here are some of the key services and features that IC Markets use to appear legitimate.
Trading Platforms
If you want to trade with IC Markets, you can access different powerful trading terminals. You can invest and trade via MT5, MT4, cTrader, windows, web browser, Mac OS, iOS, and Android. These are the platforms used by most traders globally.
Account Types
IC Markets offer three types of accounts: Standard, cTrader, and Raw Spread.
Investors can select their preferred account depending on what they want to earn. The firm encourages traders to sign up for the Raw Spread because it offers the lowest spreads. This account is also ideal for expert advisors, day traders, and scalpers.
Educational Materials
If you are a beginner trader, IC Markets provides educational materials that you can use to understand forex and CFD trading. As part of their resources, they have video tutorials, webinars, web TV, and podcasts.
Segregation Accounts
According to the IC Markets website, they hold the client’s money in segregated trust accounts with National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac. They insist that the client cash is held separately from company funds and is not used for operational expenses.
Is IC Markets Regulated?
IC Markets is regulated and authorized by several regulators globally. Here are some of the regulatory bodies.
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – The broker holds Australian financial services license no 335692; therefore, it can conduct operations in Australia.
- Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) – IC Markets (EU) complies with domestic and European laws under registration number 362/18.
- Financial Services Authority (FSA) – IC Markets complies with FSA regulations for internal risk management.
- Securities Commission Bahamas (SCB) – the brokerage firm is registered in The Bahamas under company number 76823 and SCB license number SIA-F214.
What Are the Red Flags That Your Money Is Not Safe With IC Markets?
If you are considering investing with this brokerage firm, here are some of the things that are off about the company.
Multiple Negative Customer Complaints
Customers who have invested their money with IC Markets before portray a different picture about this company. Although their website paints the picture of a legitimate company, the multiple negative customer complaints say otherwise.
Some of the arising issues include;
- Customers are unable to withdraw cash.
- Slow and tiresome account opening process.
- Poor customer service.
- Theft of client funds through slippage.
Fake Positive Reviews
On reputable review sites such as Trustpilot, IC Markets has a pretty high rating at 4.9 out of 5 stars. However, a quick check on Forex Peace Army shows that there are red flags because the company received a large number of suspicious and fake positive reviews.
This raises questions about the other 5 star ratings and positive reviews.
Regulatory Warning
While IC Markets is regulated by several authority bodies across the globe, it has a regulatory warning from CONSOB in Italy.
The regulatory body has blocked internet access to their site Raw Trading LTD.
Vague Information
On the website, IC Markets claims that it was established by a team of professionals from the financial services industry. However, they don’t provide any clear information about these founders and the management team.
IC Markets Review Conclusion: The Final Verdict
It’s clear that IC Markets is not who they claim to be. The brokerage firm claims to be the largest regulated CFD provider, but they seem to be hiding something. They have a regulator warning, multiple negative customer reviews, and fake reviews.
From this IC Markets in-depth review, it’s clear that you should not trust the company with your money.
Have you invested with IC Markets before and lost money? We can help you recover the cash. Trader Protection has years of experience in helping traders who have lost money to such scam brokers. Book a free consultation session with us today to get started.