FP Markets review

Spread from

0.0 pips

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 0.1 pips, Raw

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 0.3 pips, Raw

Commission

US$3 per side / US$6 round turn, Raw

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.7 pips

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: overnight swaps apply; Islamic accounts available

Currency conversion

Conversion at FP Markets' prevailing exchange rate

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.

FP Markets lists a minimum deposit of $100. 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, Shares, Indices, Commodities, Metals, ETFs, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies

Currency pairs

70+

Total instruments

10,000+

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:30

Execution model

ECN pricing / no dealing desk

Execution speed

Under 8ms

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop

Servers

Equinix NY4, New York

Leverage is capped at 1:30, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

FP Markets covers forex, shares, indices, commodities, metals, etfs, bonds, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, paypal, cryptocurrency, broker-to-broker transfer 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 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView, IRESS

Own platform

No

Mobile app

Third-party

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes; EAs, automated trading and VPS supported

Copy trading

Yes, FP Markets Copy Trading

Indicators

100+ via TradingView; 30+ MT4; 38+ MT5

Third-party tools

TradingView, Autochartist, Trading Central, VPS, IRESS

API access

Yes, FIX API/institutional connectivity

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

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.

cTrader shows depth of market and level II pricing, and is usually paired with raw-spread accounts rather than fixed-spread ones.

TradingView integration lets you trade from charts you may already use, removing the need to run a second platform for analysis.

Regulated by

ASIC (AFSL 286354); CySEC (371/18); FSCA (FSP 50926); Seychelles FSA (SD130); Mauritius FSC (GB21026264); CMA Kenya

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

ASIC Professional Registers, AFSL 286354

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Major regulated banking institutions

Negative balance protection

Yes, retail clients

Compensation scheme

ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients; no statutory investor compensation scheme under ASIC/Seychelles entities

Audited by

Independent external auditors

Not available to

Afghanistan, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Myanmar, Palestine, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, United States, and FATF/EU/UN-sanctioned jurisdictions

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

FP Markets holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC and CySEC. 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 and FSA). 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.

CySEC licences passport across the EU and follow the 1:30 retail leverage cap, with the Investor Compensation Fund covering eligible claims.

The FSCA licenses derivative providers in South Africa without a fixed retail leverage cap, so headline leverage is often higher than an FCA or ASIC entity may offer.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Major regulated banking institutions. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients; no statutory investor compensation scheme under ASIC/Seychelles entities, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: ASIC Connect, the CySEC register of investment firms, the FSCA list of regulated entities, the Seychelles FSA list of regulated entities, the Mauritius FSC register of licensees.

Minimum deposit

$100

Account types

Standard, Raw, IRESS, Islamic, Professional/Wholesale, Demo

Account currencies

AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, CAD, CHF, JPY, NZD, HKD

Islamic account

Yes

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots

Time to open

Typically a few minutes

FP Markets runs 6 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, EUR, GBP, SGD, CAD, CHF, JPY, NZD, HKD. 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, PayPal, cryptocurrency, broker-to-broker transfer and regional methods

Withdrawal methods

Visa/Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, crypto and applicable original funding methods

Deposit time

Instant for cards and most e-wallets; crypto up to 1 hour; bank transfers typically 1-3 business days

Withdrawal time

Typically processed within 1 business day; bank transfers may require an additional 1-3 business days

Minimum withdrawal

No general minimum

Local payment methods

BPAY; PayID; POLi and various region-specific local banking/payment methods

Withdrawals are stated at Typically processed within 1 business day; bank transfers may require an additional 1-3 business days, against Instant for cards and most e-wallets; crypto up to 1 hour; bank transfers typically 1-3 business days 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: visa/mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, paypal, crypto and applicable original funding methods. 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.

The minimum withdrawal is No general minimum - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/7

Contact channels

Live chat, email, phone

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

+61 2 8252 6800

Email

support@fpmarkets.com.au

Live chat response

Average 21 seconds

Education

Extensive: FP Markets Academy, courses, ebooks, webinars, videos, tutorials and trading guides

Research

Extensive: market analysis, Trading Central, Autochartist, technical/fundamental analysis and trading tools

Support runs 24/7. 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 live chat, email, phone. 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. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: fp markets academy, courses, ebooks, webinars, videos, tutorials and trading guides. 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

First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd

Company number

ABN 16 112 600 281

Headquarters

Sydney, Australia

Founded

2005

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

Independent

Employees

200+

Also trades as

FP Markets; First Prudential Markets

FP Markets has been trading for around 21 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

The contracting entity is First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd. 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.