Interactive Brokers vs FXCM 2023

Interactive Brokers has a trust score of 99, giving it a "Highly Trusted" trust label. Here's what each trust score label means:

• "Highly Trusted" (90-99) - These brokers are considered the most trustworthy firms in the industry. Simply put, we would not hesitate to open and fund an account with a Highly Trusted broker.
• "Trusted" (80-89) - These brokers are reliable and trustworthy. "Trusted" firms are a solid choice, and may simply hold fewer regulatory licences or feature different corporate structures than those brokers that have earned our top Trust Score rating.
• "Average Risk" (70-79) - Average Risk brokers are firms we generally consider to be safe, but that may warrant a closer inspection before you open and fund a live trading account. At the least, we always encourage traders to check the regulatory licenses for Average Risk firms to verify that they are regulated in their own country of residence.
• "High Risk" (60-69) - High-risk firms should be scrutinized and carefully reviewed before opening an account. These forex brokers are – in most cases – operating without credible regulatory licensing, and likely have a history of legal or financial issues. Before considering an account with a high-risk firm, we recommend checking our country guides for your country of residence to see if a more trusted broker is available.
• "Do Not Trust" (<59) - We do not recommend opening an account of any kind with a broker that earns a “Do Not Trust” rating.

FXCM has a trust score of 96, giving it a "Highly Trusted" trust label.

Interactive Brokers is a long-standing and highly-trusted broker that holds numerous regulatory licenses across the globe. We've rated IBKR as the best broker for professional traders, and it provides traders with access to over 100 markets, including forex and CFDs. IBKR's recently introduced web-based platform caters well to beginners, and its powerful research and extensive educational content makes for a balanced experience for newcomers and professionals alike.

FXCM, a Jefferies Group company, is a long-standing brand that caters to global forex and CFD traders. It offers multiple trading platforms for alogrithmic trading and social copy-trading alongside it's flagship platform suite. The range of markets available at FXCM has increased following the addition of its share trading feature, and its known for providing robust market research – though pricing at FXM is just average.

Tier-1 regulators go above and beyond by requiring additional capital requirements, checking in on brokers more frequently, and putting brokers through a tougher screening process. Interactive Brokers is Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (SRO Authorised), Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Japan (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized), while FXCM is Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (SRO Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised).. Neither have New Zealand (FMA Authorised) and Switzerland (FINMA Authorised)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, Interactive Brokers is India (SEBI Authorised), while FXCM is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised) and South Africa (FSCA Authorised).. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised), Thailand (SEC Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses unfortunately, neither Interactive Brokers nor FXCM are Bahamas (SCB Authorised), Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).. Neither have Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

For trading platforms Interactive Brokers supports a Proprietary Platform and Desktop Platform (Windows), whereas FXCM supports a Proprietary Platform, Desktop Platform (Windows) and ZuluTrade.. Neither have cTrader and DupliTrade

For MetaTrader Interactive Brokers provides neither of these, while FXCM provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.. Neither have MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

Interactive Brokers requires a minimum deposit of $0, while FXCM requires a minimum deposit of Starts from $50. From our testing we found Interactive Brokers offers spreads of 0.6, while FXCM offers spreads of 1.38. Interactive Brokers supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) for popular funding options, where FXCM supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw).

Interactive Brokers offers a more diverse selection of investment options than FXCM allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Looking at total tradeable symbols, Interactive Brokers has 8500, compared to 440 from FXCM.

Crypto trading is popular with forex traders. Most crypto assets are offered either as the underlying physical asset or as a CFD or other derivative — including spot forex contracts. In terms of trading physical cryptocurrency neither Interactive Brokers nor FXCM allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

In terms of research and research tools Interactive Brokers gives traders the following tools: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) and Trading Central (Recognia). In comparison FXCM has the tools listed here: Autochartist, Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources), Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading.

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