FXCM vs Pepperstone 2023

FXCM has a trust score of 95, 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.

Pepperstone has a trust score of 95, giving it a "Highly Trusted" trust label.

Founded in 1999, FXCM (a Jefferies Group company) is a long-standing brand that caters to global forex and CFD traders. FXCM offers multiple trading platforms for algorithmic trading and social copy trading, along with a proprietary platform suite (and access to MetaTrader 4). FXCM is also a great option for beginners due to its wide range of educational materials and easy-to-use platforms (including integration with the popular TradingView platform). Though the range of markets available at FXCM has increased following the addition of its share trading feature, it's worth noting that pricing at FXCM is just average.

Pepperstone offers a growing number of tradeable markets and support for numerous third-party trading platforms, including TradingView, cTrader, a variety of social copy trading platforms, and both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. With a variety of regulatory licenses from across the world, we consider Pepperstone to be Highly Trusted and the broker holds a Trust Score rating of 95. Traders at Pepperstone also gain access to high-quality research content in both written and video format.

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. FXCM is Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised), while Pepperstone is Australia (ASIC Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised).. Neither have Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Japan (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), New Zealand (FMA Authorised), Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, FXCM is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised) and South Africa (FSCA Authorised), while Pepperstone is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised).. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised) and Thailand (SEC Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses FXCM is none, while Pepperstone is Bahamas (SCB Authorised).. Neither have Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

For trading platforms FXCM supports a Proprietary Platform, Desktop Platform (Windows) and ZuluTrade, whereas Pepperstone supports a Desktop Platform (Windows), cTrader and DupliTrade.

For MetaTrader FXCM provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4), while Pepperstone provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

FXCM requires a minimum deposit of Starts from $50, while Pepperstone requires a minimum deposit of $200. From our testing we found FXCM offers spreads of 1.38, while Pepperstone offers spreads of 0.77. Both FXCM and Pepperstone offer Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) for deposits.

FXCM offers a more diverse selection of investment options than Pepperstone allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Spread Betting, Social Trading / Copy Trading, Metals, Energies, Agriculturals and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Looking at total tradeable symbols, FXCM has 440, compared to 2342 from Pepperstone.

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 FXCM nor Pepperstone allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

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

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