Focus Markets review

Spread from

0.0 pips

EUR/USD spread

Not reliably published

GBP/USD spread

Not reliably published

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn, Raw

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Variable

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: swaps may be charged or credited

Inactivity fee

Not prominently advertised

Deposit fee

$0 on supported methods

Withdrawal fee

$0 from Focus Markets

Currency conversion

Applicable where conversion is required

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

Focus Markets lists a minimum deposit of $0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Commodities, Indices, Stocks, ETFs, Cryptocurrencies

Currency pairs

50+

Total instruments

800+

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Execution model

Market maker / hedged liquidity model

Execution speed

Not reliably published

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit and platform-specific pending orders

Servers

Not prominently disclosed

Leverage up to 1:1000 is available on this entity. High leverage does not increase your expected return - it increases position size for the same deposit, and shortens the move needed to close you out.

Focus Markets covers forex, commodities, indices, stocks, etfs, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa/mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, bitwallet, cryptocurrency and regional methods. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

MetaTrader 5, TradeLocker

Own platform

No

Mobile app

MT5 and TradeLocker

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes

Copy trading

Platform-dependent

Indicators

Extensive MT5/TradeLocker charting

Third-party tools

MetaTrader 5, TradeLocker

API access

Not prominently offered as a standard retail feature

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

Regulated by

ASIC (AFSL 514425); Mauritius FSC (GB25205284)

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

ASIC Professional Registers, AFSL 514425

Client money segregated

Yes, Australian entity

Held at

Not prominently disclosed

Negative balance protection

Australian retail protections apply; international entity-dependent

Compensation scheme

No statutory Australian investor compensation scheme equivalent to FSCS

Audited by

Not prominently disclosed

Not available to

Jurisdiction-dependent

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

Focus Markets holds a tier-one authorisation from ASIC. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

It also operates an offshore entity (FSC). Which one you are onboarded to depends on where you live, and the two carry very different protections - worth confirming before you deposit.

ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.

An FSC licence (Mauritius or Belize, depending on the entity) is an offshore authorisation with lighter reporting duties than a tier-one regulator.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Not prominently disclosed. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Covered by No statutory Australian investor compensation scheme equivalent to FSCS, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: ASIC Connect, the Mauritius FSC register of licensees.

Minimum deposit

$0

Account types

Standard, Raw, Access, Demo

Account currencies

AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, SGD, CAD

Islamic account

Entity/account dependent

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Entity-dependent

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots

Time to open

Online application, subject to verification

Focus Markets runs 4 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, SGD, CAD. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Visa/Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Bitwallet, cryptocurrency and regional methods

Withdrawal methods

Cards, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Bitwallet, crypto

Deposit time

Instant 24/7 on many electronic methods

Withdrawal time

Finance review 1-2 business days; settlement varies

Local payment methods

Yes

Withdrawals are stated at Finance review 1-2 business days; settlement varies, against Instant 24/7 on many electronic methods for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: cards, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, bitwallet, crypto. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

Support hours

24/5

Contact channels

Phone, email, live chat

Languages

Multilingual/international

Telephone

N/A

Email

N/A

Live chat response

Typically fast during trading week

Education

Trading education, platform guidance and market content

Research

Market information and platform-based analysis

Support runs 24/5. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by phone, email, live chat. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual/international. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: trading education, platform guidance and market content. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

Focus Markets Global Limited

Company number

227720

Headquarters

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Founded

2019

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

Independent

Employees

Approx. 10-50

Also trades as

Focus Markets

Focus Markets is roughly 7 years old. Younger is not worse, but there is less public record to judge it on, so the licence and the protections carry proportionally more weight.

The contracting entity is Focus Markets Global Limited. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of Independent. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.