Valutrades Review: UK Edition (2023)

Name: Valutrades
Brand: Valutrades

Pros

Tight spreads
Great platform choice

Cons

Limited account options

Is Valutrades safe?

Yes, Valutrades is a safe broker to trade with. It maintains regulation from the FCA in the UK and the FSA of Seychelles.

Established in 2012 and headquartered in London, Valutrades is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority. It is also a United Kingdom Member of FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme). See the following list of Valutrades registered companies:

Valutrades Limited is a limited liability company registered in England and Wales, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register Number 586541.
VALUTRADES (SEYCHELLES) LIMITED is a limited liability company registered in the Republic of Seychelles, authorized and regulated by the Seychelles’ Financial Services Authority. Securities Dealer License No SD028.

Unlike most other brokers that direct traders to a particular subsidiary based on their location, Valutrades allows traders to choose their regulation. Traders can choose between the Valutrades Limited (regulated by the FCA) or VALUTRADES (SEYCHELLES) LIMITED (regulated by the FSA).

Considered one of the world’s best regulators, the FCA maintains a high level of regulatory oversight, ensuring that all client funds are held in segregated accounts and that all traders are offered negative balance protection, meaning that they cannot lose more than is in their trading accounts. The FCA also requires brokers to restrict Forex leverage to 30:1 to further protect its traders. This subsidiary also participates in a compensation scheme, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which covers up to 85,000 GBP per person, should the company go into liquidation. This benefit is not available under the FSA-regulated entity.

Traders can elect to trade under the subsidiary, VALUTRADES (SEYCHELLES) LIMITED, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles. The level of protection offered by the FSA is low compared to regulators of Europe and Australia, and CFD brokers registered with the FSA are not required to segregate client money from company operational capital or participate in compensation schemes. They are also not required to offer negative balance protection and have no leverage restrictions.

VALUTRADES (SEYCHELLES) LIMITED holds all client money in segregated client trust accounts with a number of top-tier banks and provides negative balance protection. As mentioned above, client money is not covered by any compensation schemes. However, many traders will be interested in trading under this subsidiary, because they are afforded leverage of up to 30:1.

Another consideration for traders is that the FSA-regulated only allows accounts to be denominated in USD, while the FCA-regulated entity allows accounts to be denominated in 14 base currencies (click here for more on base currencies).

In short, the trade-off for choosing the FSA-regulated entity is less protection and no FSCS compensation in exchange for higher leverage, but accounts are only denominated in USD.

Overall, because of the strong regulatory oversight and FSCS compensation through its UK-based entity, Valutrades is considered a safe broker to trade with.

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Website

Year Founded

Office Locations

Inactivity Fee

www.valutrades.com

2012

United Kingdom, Seychelles

None

Trading Fees

With one live ECN-only account, Valutrade’s trading fees are lower than other similar brokerages.

Unlike most other brokers that offer a range of accounts with higher minimum deposits linked to tighter spreads, Valutrades offers one live ECN account with no minimum deposit requirements.

Valutrade’s account was assessed to compare the costs to those of other brokers. When making this calculation, we use one lot of EUR/USD as a benchmark as it is the most commonly traded currency pair and it usually has the tightest spread. In a welcome show of transparency, Valutrades publishes the average spreads alongside each instrument, including live streaming spreads.

The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spread and commission:

Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Total Trading Cost (USD):

Valutrades Accounts

As you can see from the table above, trading costs are 7 USD on Valutrade’s account, which is significantly lower than the costs at other brokers. Most other brokers have a trading cost of 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded, making Valutrades one of the lowest cost brokers in the industry.

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Broker

Trading Conditions

Base Currencies

EURUSD (Standard)

Trading Cost (Standard)

EURUSD (Best)

GBPUSD (Best)

USDJPY (Best)

Commission

Valutrades

5/ 5

AUD, CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, USD, ZAR, NZD

0.10 pips

USD 7

0.10 pips

0.40 pips

0.10 pips

USD 6

FXCC

5/ 5

EUR, USD, GBP

0.60 pips

USD 6

0.40 pips

USD 0

Skilling

4.5/ 5

EUR, USD, GBP, NOK, SEK

0.80 pips

USD 8

0.40 pips

0.50 pips

0.70 pips

USD 0

Swap Fees

Valutrades charges swap fees for positions that are held overnight. Interest is paid (or received) for each night a position is held. When a trader wants to keep a position open, they will pay interest on the currency sold, and receive interest on the currency bought. So, the swaps are derived from the interest rates of the countries involved in the currency pair, whether the trader is going long or short, and the current market conditions. For example, the swap rates on 1 lot of EUR/USD are -3.46 for a short position and +0.96 for a short position.

Overall, Valutrades offers one live ECN account with trading fees that are significantly lower than other brokers.

Valutrades’ Non-trading Fees

Valutrades charges lower non-trading fees than most other brokers.

Some of the most overlooked trading costs are the non-trading fees that are charged by brokers. These fees can significantly affect your profitability and so should be carefully scrutinised.

Valutrades charges no inactivity fees and charges no fees for deposits. A 5% withdrawal fee is only charged after the fourth withdrawal of the month.

Opening an Account at Valutrades

The account opening process at Valutradesis user-friendly, fully digital, and accounts are ready for trading within one day.

All UK residents are eligible to open an account at Valutrades.

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within one day. Valutrades offers individual and company accounts, but we will focus on opening an individual account:

New traders will have to click on the “Open a Live Account” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account with the subsidiary under which they` prefer to trade – Valutrades UK or Valutrades Seychelles.
Traders will then have to fill in their personal details (including name, email address, physical address, date of birth, account type (which includes leverage level), and account currency).
Valutrades requires at least two documents to accept you as an individual client:
1. Proof of Identification – Valutrades accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID.
2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the Valutrades’ account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority.

After the application is approved, traders can login and fund their accounts. We advise that you read Valutrades’ risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading.

Overall, Valutrades’ account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free and accounts are generally ready for trading within one business day.

Valutrades Trading Accounts

Valutrades offers one live standard account, which is limited compared to other brokers, but it is suitable for both beginners and more experienced traders alike.

Valutrades offers one live account on two different platforms (MT4 and MT5), which is suitable for both beginners and more experienced traders.

Beginner traders are inexperienced traders who have never traded before, or who have been trading for less than a year. Beginner traders often do not want to risk trading large sums of money and generally will not be able to trade full-time during the workweek.

Accounts with lower minimum deposits and which allow trading in micro-lots are generally more suited to beginner traders. Spreads on these accounts are usually wider than those with higher minimum deposits. Valutrades’ single live account has no minimum deposit requirements and allows trading in smaller trade sizes, measured in micro-lots, which is suitable for beginner traders.

In general, experienced traders tend to prefer accounts with higher minimum deposits and tighter spreads. Although Valutrades only offers one live account, it has tight spreads (starting at 0.10 pips pips on the EUR/USD) in exchange for a commission of 3 USD per lot per side. The trading costs on this account make it appealing to experienced traders.

Valutrades offers trading on over 74 Forex pairs, commodities, and indices. Leverage on the ECN account is at 30:1 for major FX pairs and is up to 30:1 on the professional account. Professional traders are only afforded the protection of the FSA (Seychelles). British traders who open an account through the FSA in Seychelles will also have access to leverage of up to 30:1.

Valutrades allows all trading strategies, including scalping, hedging, and copy trading, but it does not offer Islamic accounts (swap-free).

Account Specifications

Valutrades’ single account requires no minimum deposit. Spreads start at 0.10 pips pips on the EUR/USD, some of the tightest in the industry; and a reasonable commission of 3 USD per lot per side is charged.

Valutrades Accounts

Demo Accounts

Valutrades offers a free unlimited demo account where clients can test out trading strategies with virtual funds. The customer support team is available to help with any account setup or technical difficulties.

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Account Types

Min. Deposit

Max. Leverage

Min. Spread

Commission

Standard

USD 5

500:1

0.10

6 USD / lot

Overall, Valutrades’ initial and ongoing costs are lower than other similar brokers. Its account appeals to beginner traders with its low minimum deposit and micro-lot trading, and to more experienced traders with extremely tight spreads in exchange for a reasonable commission per lot traded.

Deposits and Withdrawals

As a well-regulated broker, Valutrades ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed, and as such, all withdrawals are returned to the deposit source. Deposits are instant and free, except for bank wire transfers and local bank transfers, which may take one to two days to reflect in trading accounts.

Withdrawals are processed within 24 hours, but a 5% fee applies from the fourth withdrawal in one calendar month. Withdrawals can only be performed on a balance of 50 USD/EUR/GPB in the trader’s account. Deposit and withdrawal methods include:

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Funding Method

Base Currency

Deposit Fees

Withdrawal Fees

Processing Time

Astropay

USD

FREE