It’s important to understand that unless a forex broker is brand new or has a small client base, you’re likely to find some negative reviews simply due to the percentages. While some are valid, others could be from people blaming their broker for their own trading mistakes. It’s also hard to verify whether a particular review was posted by a genuine client instead of a competing broker.
Generally speaking, you should consider brokers regulated in major financial centers appropriate for your region. That can go a long way to addressing a lot of the concerns you have.
The advantage of trading with a well-regulated broker is that there are minimum standards both financial and trading, ongoing monitoring by the regulators to ensure compliance, a framework for handling complaints from customers, and the power to enforce actions against regulated brokers for violations.
For example, the CFTC and NFA set the requirements a broker must meet in order to offer forex trading to US residents. Though not an exhaustive list, this membership application will give you an idea of some of those requirements: Compliance Requirements for Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) Applicants | NFA
- In the US, forex is regulated by the CFTC and NFA, and brokers are required to maintain net capital of $20 million.
- In the UK, forex trading is regulated by the FCA and funds are protected for up to £50,000 per client by the FSCS.
- In Canada, forex trading is regulated by IIROC and funds are protected for up to $1 million per client by the CIPF.
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