What is ASIC?
ASIC is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia’s financial regulatory authority. One of the world’s top regulators, ASIC holds Forex brokers to high standards, ensuring that they treat their clients fairly.
There are few genuinely strong regulators in the world; the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is one, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission is another, and most would agree that ASIC is also a member of this group. ASIC has already built a reputation for guaranteeing trader security and dealing harshly with bad brokers, but in March 2021 ASIC deployed an even stricter regulatory environment. We will talk about what that environment looks like in more detail below, but first, let’s look at the current benefits of trading with an ASIC-regulated broker.
- Segregated Accounts: Like most good regulators, ASIC ensures that all brokers keep client funds segregated from broker operational funds and in Tier 1 Australian banks.
- Negative Balance Protection: ASIC requires all broker to provide protection against negative balance by limiting a retail client’s CFD losses to the funds in their CFD trading account.
- Dispute Resolution and Customer Satisfaction: The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) handles all disputes between traders and brokers and are known for efficiency and fairness. Importantly, brokers are responsible for the cost of the resolution and not the trader – this provides an incentive for brokers to respond quickly and fairly to all customer complaints. Unsurprisingly, ASIC Forex brokers are consistently rated very highly for customer satisfaction.
- No Conflict of Interest: ASIC has banned all Forex brokers from being counterparty to their client’s trades, furthermore all brokers are required to offer a fast and efficient platform with no broker interference. It is perhaps as a result of these restrictions that Australia hosts many of the world’s best ECN brokers.
All ASIC Regulated Brokers
This is our list of all ASIC-regulated Forex brokers we have reviewed. They are ordered by overall rating, where the highest scoring brokers is at the top of the list.
Which is the Best ASIC-Regulated Broker?
Avatrade is the best ASIC-regulated broker in the UK. It offers spreads as low as 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, an excellent range of trading platforms, and a great range of trading tools.
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Changes in ASIC Regulation
Big changes in ASIC regulation have been coming for some time. In ASIC’s 2019 review of the Australian OTC retail derivative market, it found a considerable increase in the number of traders since 2017 and an equally large increase in turnover at ASIC regulated brokers.
ASIC also published the data on complaints filed against CFD brokers over the same period, and the results were shocking.
From 2017-19 complaints received by ASIC had increased by 600%, a situation that ASIC has concluded is not sustainable in a sector where the majority of customers are known to lose money.
In early 2020, ASIC conducted a further study, just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the world. Over a volatile five-week period in March and April 2020, the retail clients of a sample of 13 CFD issuers made a net loss of more than $774 million. Also during this period:
- over 1.1 million CFD positions were terminated under margin close-out arrangements (compared with 9.3 million over the full year of 2018)
- more than 15,000 retail client CFD trading accounts fell into negative balance, owing a total of $10.9 million (compared with 41,000 accounts owing $33 million over the full year of 2018).
As a response to these damning sets of data, and citing the 2018 tightening of regulation in Europe by ESMA, ASIC issued a product intervention order for all ASIC-regulated CFD brokers. This product intervention order went into force on 29th March 2021 and includes:
- A complete ban on binary options
- Varying leverage restrictions for all CFDs: 30:1 for forex and gold, 15:1 for stock indices, 10:1 for commodities (excluding gold), 2:1 for cryptocurrencies and 5:1 for equities and all other instruments.
- A forced stop-out at 50% of the total initial margin of all open trades
- Mandatory negative balance protection
- A complete ban on all bonus schemes, promotions and other incentives to traders.
- All broker trading platforms must always display total position size and overnight funding costs related to open positions in real-time.
- ASIC also stated that they expect all brokers to publish their pricing methods
As these new restrictions went into force, ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said:
‘We will closely monitor compliance with the product intervention order and won’t hesitate to take appropriate action to enforce the order. We are also paying careful attention to changes in CFD providers’ reported holdings of retail client money and any misclassification of retail clients as wholesale clients, which would risk denying them important rights and protections. Protecting retail investors from harm, particularly at a time of heightened vulnerability, is a priority for ASIC’
What Regulatory Changes Did ASIC Effect in March 2021?
ASIC now prevents brokers from offering leverage higher than 30:1 on Forex pairs or offering promotions or bonuses. It also mandates negative balance protection and ensures that brokers place a forced stop-out at 50% of the total initial margin of all open trades.
ASIC has also warned Australian brokers away from working with offshore investors illegally, especially as regulators in China, Japan, Europe, and North America have placed restrictions or bans on CFDs for retail investors. ASIC has also started working more closely with CFD brokers to ensure compliance with foreign laws and is actively engaged with multiple international regulatory bodies in this matter.
If you want to know more about how these changes might affect your trading, we recommend contacting ASIC or your broker to discuss your options.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
Trading Forex and CFDs is not suitable for all investors as it carries a high degree of risk to your capital: 75-90% of retail investors lose money trading these products.
Forex and CFD transactions involve high risk due to the following factors: Over-leveraging, unpredictable market volatility, slippage arising from a lack of liquidity, inadequate trading knowledge or experience, and a lack of regulatory protection for clients.
Traders should not deposit any money that is not disposable. Regardless of how much research you have done, or how confident you are in your trade, there is always a substantial risk of loss. (Learn more from the FCA or from ASIC)
Our Methodology
Our State of the Market Report and Broker Directory are the result of extensive research on over 180 Forex brokers. The explicit goal of these resources is to help traders find the best Forex brokers – and steer them away from the worst ones – with the benefit of accurate and up-to-date information.
With over 200 data points on each broker and over 3000 hours of research and review writing, we believe we have succeeded in our goal.
In a world where trading conditions and customer support can vary based on where you live, our broker reviews focus on the local trader and give you information about these brokers from your perspective.
All research has been conducted by our in-house team of researchers and writers, gathering information from various company representatives, websites and by sifting through the fine print. Learn more about how we rank brokers.
Accepts UK Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.60 pips with 0.0 USD commission round turn on the trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5 & cTrader platforms supported. Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA, ASIC, and the DFSA. 75.8% of traders lose money with this provider.
