The safety dossier

Safety first

EC Markets review

Who regulates EC Markets, under which licence, and what that means for your money.

Last checked

EC Markets offers some protection if it fails and not all of it, which is the ordinary offshore trade-off: you gain leverage and lose the safety net. Regulated by FCA (571881); ASIC (AFSL 388737); Seychelles FSA (SD009); Mauritius FSC (GB2100130); South Africa FSCA (51842), offering MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5.

Our rating

★★★★

One rating, identical across our sites - only the way it is shown changes. It averages six assessments: regulation, trading costs, platforms, markets, support and education.

Regulation and safety

Regulated by
FCA (571881); ASIC (AFSL 388737); Seychelles FSA (SD009); Mauritius FSC (GB2100130); South Africa FSCA (51842)
Regulator tier
Tier 1
Register entry
FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 571881
Client money segregated
Yes
Held at
Regulated banking institutions; specific arrangements vary by entity
Negative balance protection
Yes for eligible retail clients; entity-dependent
Compensation scheme
FSCS protection for eligible UK clients up to £85,000; none under several international entities
Audited by
Independent external/statutory auditors
Not available to
United States and jurisdictions where provision of services would violate local laws

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.

EC Markets holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC and FCA. 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.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

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.

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

The company behind the brand

Legal entity
EC Markets Limited
Company number
07601714
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Founded
2012
Publicly listed
No
Parent company
EC Markets Group
Employees
Approx. 100-500
Also trades as
EC Markets

What it costs to trade

Spread from
0.0 pips
EUR/USD spread
Approx. 0.1 pips, ECN
GBP/USD spread
Approx. 0.3 pips, ECN
Commission
Approx. $3 per side / $6 round turn, ECN
All-in cost, EUR/USD
Approx. 0.7 pips
Spread type
Variable
Overnight swap
Both: overnight swaps may be charged or credited
Inactivity fee
No standard inactivity fee prominently advertised
Deposit fee
Generally none internally
Withdrawal fee
Generally none internally; provider charges may apply
Currency conversion
Applicable where account and instrument currencies differ

Cost is the last thing to weigh here, and never the thing that should decide it.

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.

EC Markets lists a minimum deposit of $10. 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.

Platforms and tools

Platforms
MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
Own platform
No
Mobile app
Third-party MetaTrader apps
Browser trading
Yes
Automated trading
Yes
Copy trading
Yes
Indicators
30+ MT4, 38+ MT5 and custom indicators
Third-party tools
MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
API access
Institutional/API solutions available

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.

Markets and execution

Markets
Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Energies, Cryptocurrencies
Currency pairs
50+
Total instruments
1,000+
Crypto CFDs
Yes, jurisdiction-dependent
Maximum leverage
1:1000
Execution model
ECN/STP-style liquidity aggregation
Execution speed
Approx. 30ms
Order types
Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop and MetaTrader pending orders
Servers
Equinix financial data centres

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.

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

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, cryptocurrencies and regional payment 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.

Accounts

Minimum deposit
$10
Account types
Standard, ECN, Pro, Islamic/Swap-Free, Demo
Account currencies
USD, EUR, GBP and additional entity-dependent currencies
Islamic account
Yes
Demo account
Yes
Professional account
Yes
Minimum trade size
0.01 lots
Time to open
Typically a few minutes, subject to verification

Deposits and withdrawals

Deposit methods
Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, cryptocurrencies and regional payment methods
Withdrawal methods
Bank transfer, cards, e-wallets and supported original funding methods
Deposit time
Many electronic methods instant; bank transfers generally 1-5 business days
Withdrawal time
Generally processed within 1 business day; settlement varies by provider
Minimum withdrawal
Method-dependent
Local payment methods
Extensive regional payment methods in supported countries

Support and education

Support hours
24/5
Contact channels
Live chat, email, phone
Languages
Multilingual
Telephone
N/A
Email
support@ecmarkets.com
Live chat response
Typically within minutes
Education
Extensive: trading education, webinars, platform tutorials, articles and market guides
Research
Daily market analysis, technical/fundamental research, market news and trading insights

Information is regularly updated. Last compiled from EC Markets's own website on 26 August 2026.

Questions people ask about EC Markets

What happens to my money if EC Markets goes bust?

EC Markets sits behind FSCS protection for eligible UK clients up to £85,000; none under several international entities. A scheme covers eligible clients of the entity that holds the licence, so the entity you were onboarded to decides whether it covers you.

Which bank actually holds client money at EC Markets?

EC Markets holds client money with Regulated banking institutions; specific arrangements vary by entity, in accounts kept separate from the firm's own. Almost no comparison site publishes this, and it is the thing that decides how quickly you would see your money again if the broker failed.

Can I lose more than I deposit with EC Markets?

EC Markets provides negative balance protection, recorded as yes for eligible retail clients; entity-dependent. So it exists and it does not reach every client, and which entity you were onboarded to decides whether it reaches you.