FXTM

FXTM, trading as ForexTime, was founded in Cyprus in 2011 by Andrey Dashin, who had previously co-founded Alpari, and has grown into one of the more recognisable mid-tier brokers in the global retail forex landscape. The broker is headquartered in Limassol and previously operated its European business through ForexTime Limited under CySEC licence 185/12, which was voluntarily surrendered in 2024. FXTM now holds regulatory permissions from the FCA in the UK (777911) and the FSCA in South Africa (46614). The FCA permission underpins UK servicing; FXTM stopped targeting EU/EEA retail clients before renouncing its CySEC licence in 2024 and no longer maintains a European retail entity, while the FSCA licence grants serious traction in the African market where FXTM has invested heavily in local education, payment rails, and multilingual support. The broker has built a reputation for accessibility and educational depth, deliberately positioning itself between the no-frills ECN brokers like Tickmill and the heavyweight multi-asset platforms like IG or Saxo Bank. FXTM serves a global client base concentrated in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the UK, with particularly strong penetration in regions where English-as-second-language support and local payment methods materially affect broker selection. The instrument catalogue covers around 60 forex pairs, CFDs on major and regional indices, commodities including precious metals and energies, share CFDs on US and European exchanges, real stocks via the Advantage Stocks account, and a limited cryptocurrency CFD selection. The product range is competent rather than exceptional — wider than Tickmill or Axi, narrower than Capital.com or IG — and well-suited to clients who primarily trade forex and major indices and who do not need access to thousands of niche CFDs. Notable developments include the relaunch of the FXTM Trading Academy with structured learning paths, expanded local payment methods across Africa and Southeast Asia, and continued investment in the FXTM Trader proprietary mobile app, which has improved meaningfully in the last two years but remains less polished than the dedicated mobile efforts at Capital.com or Plus500.

FXTM's pricing runs across five accounts on its global site (Exinity Limited): Micro, Rewards Plus, Rewards, Advantage and Advantage Stocks. The three commission-free forex accounts quote forex spreads from 1.7 pips (Micro, USD 30 minimum deposit), from 1.5 pips (Rewards Plus, USD 100) and from 0.9 pips (Rewards, USD 200); FXTM publishes these as generic forex 'from' figures rather than EUR/USD averages. Advantage is the raw-spread option, with forex spreads from 0.0 pips plus a commission of $3.50 per lot per side ($7 round-turn) and a USD 500 minimum deposit — in line with Pepperstone Razor and IC Markets Raw at $7, and above Tickmill Raw at $6 round-turn. The $30 Micro minimum keeps entry costs low, below FxPro ($100) and Tickmill ($100), although the raw-spread account needs considerably more. Deposits are free across most supported methods, and withdrawal fees vary by region but are free on the major rails for clients in supported jurisdictions. Swap-free Islamic accounts are available on request for eligible clients across all account types. A practical cost example: a trader running 10 standard lots per month on the Advantage account on EUR/USD would pay $70 in commissions plus residual spread — the same commission as Eightcap Raw at that volume.

The platform offering is the most limited dimension of the FXTM proposition and the area where the broker is most clearly behind multi-platform peers. MetaTrader 4 is the workhorse, running across desktop, web, and mobile with the standard MQL4 Expert Advisor environment and full compatibility with the broader MT4 ecosystem of custom indicators and automated strategies. MetaTrader 5 is available across the same form factors, adding the 21-timeframe upgrade, multi-currency strategy testing, depth of market display for forex and indices, and the built-in economic calendar. The FXTM Trader proprietary mobile app rounds out the suite, providing a cleaner mobile experience than MT4/MT5 mobile but lacking the depth and feature parity of dedicated proprietary platforms at Capital.com, Plus500, or eToro. The absence of cTrader and TradingView is the platform offering's most notable gap — cTrader's Level II pricing and C-sharp algorithmic environment, and TradingView's community-driven indicator library and modern charting interface, are features that many traders consider essential. Their absence at FXTM narrows the broker's appeal for traders who have built workflows around either of those platforms. Across MT4, MT5, and FXTM Trader, supported order types include market, limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing stop, and one-cancels-other, with full hedging and scalping support on all account types. Expert Advisor execution is supported on MT4 and MT5 without restriction, and FXTM offers VPS hosting through a third-party partnership for clients depositing $5,000 or more and meeting a 10-lot monthly volume threshold. There is no FIX API offering for retail clients, which limits options for traders building custom applications or integrating with third-party portfolio management tools. The mobile apps for MT4, MT5, and FXTM Trader cover the essentials including order management, charting, and account administration, with reliable push notifications for price alerts and economic events.

FXTM previously operated under CySEC licence 185/12, which was voluntarily surrendered in May 2024 when FXTM ceased CySEC-regulated operations. The broker now operates its UK business under FCA licence 777911 (Exinity UK Limited, the entity formerly named ForexTime UK Ltd, registered at 1 St Katharine's Way, London), which provides UK servicing with FSCS compensation coverage up to GBP 85,000 per eligible UK client. It no longer serves EU/EEA retail clients: with no surviving EU-domiciled entity there is no Investor Compensation Fund cover and none of the ESMA retail protections reach European traders. The FSCA South Africa licence (46614) provides separate African client protections and reflects FXTM's deliberate strategic investment in the African market where the brand has substantial brand equity. Client funds are held in segregated accounts at tier-1 UK and international banks, separated from FXTM's operational capital and protected in the event of corporate financial difficulties. FXTM publishes audited annual financial reports for the UK entity and has no material regulatory sanctions on record from the FCA, the former CySEC authorisation, or any other primary regulator. The broker uses bank-grade SSL encryption, supports two-factor authentication, and handles personal data in compliance with UK GDPR. While the FCA does not confer a banking licence like those held by Saxo Bank or Swissquote, it is a tier-1 conduct regulator whose capital-adequacy and client-money rules give UK clients robust protection, and the FCA/FSCA dual-regulatory framework gives FXTM operational reach across the UK and African markets it now prioritises.

FXTM is a strong fit for beginner and intermediate traders who value structured education, multilingual support, and accessible account minimums alongside competent execution and competitive ECN-tier pricing. The FXTM Trading Academy, with its structured learning paths and live webinars in 18 languages, is one of the better educational programmes in the mid-tier broker segment — not quite at the level of XM's webinar volume or IG Academy's progressive curriculum, but materially ahead of the educational thin gruel offered by Tickmill, Axi, or Eightcap. The $30 minimum deposit on the Micro account keeps the entry barrier below FxPro, Tickmill and most CySEC peers, although the raw-spread Advantage account needs $500. The Advantage account at $7 round-turn is in line with the raw-spread segment rather than below it, and the commission-free Rewards account from 0.9 pips is the better fit for lower-volume traders. Where FXTM is less compelling is in platform breadth — the MT4/MT5/FXTM Trader trio is functional but narrower than the four-platform suites at Pepperstone or FxPro, and the absence of cTrader and TradingView is a meaningful gap for traders attached to either platform. The Micro and Rewards Plus accounts' spreads from 1.7 and 1.5 pips are too wide to recommend for any trader with consistent volume, and the FXTM Trader proprietary app, while improved, still lags the polish of dedicated mobile-first proprietary efforts at Capital.com or Plus500. Compared to XM, FXTM matches on multilingual support and educational depth but loses on entry-account pricing. Against Tickmill, FXTM offers richer education and broader account-type flexibility but loses on raw-spread pricing ($7 vs $6 round-turn). Against FxPro, FXTM is more accessible at the entry level but offers a narrower platform suite. The 8.4 overall score reflects a well-rounded FCA-regulated broker delivering strong education, solid raw-spread pricing, and a broad account ladder, held back by the narrow platform offering and wide spreads on the entry accounts.