Best Forex Brokers in Ireland

Traders in the market have a plethora of forex brokers to choose from. Different traders have different investment needs, so they will have different choices in the forex broker that best suits their needs. In this review, we will be looking at the best forex brokers in Ireland. We will look at the brokers that best meet our criteria to belong on this list.

Our Criteria For Selecting the Best Forex Brokers in Ireland

To make our selections, we will be looking at four key features. These are:

• The Regulatory status of a company - Traders should only invest using regulated brokers. Such companies have watchdogs watching their every move, ensuring they operate within legal bounds.
• Availability of trading Assets - Here, we will check whether a forex broker has a variety of markets to invest in. A wide selection of trading instruments is an added advantage.
• Spreads and Other Fees - Forex Brokers with cheaper charges will rank higher.
• Trading Platforms - The best forex brokers in the market will always provide state-of-the-art trading software.

Before we present our list, we will first look at some important questions.

Is Forex Trading Legal in Ireland?

Forex trading in Ireland is completely legal and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. While the Central bank of Ireland is the primary regulator, Ireland is a member of the European Economic Area. This allows brokers with regulations within the European Economic Area to operate within Ireland without restrictions. This is despite lacking a regulatory license from the Central Bank of Ireland.

The Central Bank of Ireland recognizes the laws and regulations set by the MiFID, which oversees forex operations in the European Economic Area. This overhead regulatory body has set standards for regulations within the EU. Here are some of its rules and regulations:

• EU forex brokers must keep client funds in segregated accounts. They cannot keep these funds in the same account as the company’s funds. They must also only use client funds for trading and nothing else.
• The MiFID requires brokers to have at least £1 million in operating capital to maintain client positions in the market. This amount increases depending on the number of traders and the trading capital.
• Brokers within the EU must process all withdrawals instantly and meet all financial obligations without fail.
• EU forex brokers must submit yearly audit reports to verify their holdings and financial statements.
• The MiFID also protects traders from company failures such as bankruptcy and insolvency. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects investors from losing money due to such events.
• In 2019, the MiFID introduced new measures to protect retail investors, including negative balance protection. This means that even if the market moves against traders, they cannot lose more money than is in their accounts.
• A new leverage limit was also set on CFDs and currency pairs. The maximum leverage is 1:30 for major currency pairs and 1:20 for minor currency pairs. This ensures traders do not overleverage and end up owing the broker money.

How to Verify if Your Broker is Regulated

Luckily, most EU regulators have registers of all firms under their regulations. The Central Bank of Ireland is no different. You can look up a company’s regulatory status within Ireland using the Central Bank of Ireland’s Register.

However, some brokers operate within Ireland freely without being on the Central Bank of Ireland’s register. Some brokers operate in Ireland thanks to licenses from other regulators that apply to all EU countries. A great example of such a regulator is the CySEC. And with that, here is our list of some of the Best Forex Brokers in Ireland.

eToro

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform with regulations from several tier-1 regulators. The company has regulations from the FCA in the UK and the CySEC in Cyprus. The CySEC license allows eToro to operate within Ireland freely, as it applies to all EU countries. Companies with multiple regulations, like eToro, are a safer bet than companies without regulations. This is one of the features that attract millions of traders to eToro.

Another attractive feature to all kinds of traders is the availability of trading instruments. There are a variety of instruments available on eToro. The company allows traders to invest in CFDs on forex, crypto, stocks, commodities, ETFs, and indices or purchase real stocks and cryptocurrencies. There are over 45 currency pairs, over 115 crypto pairs, over 250 ETFs, 27 commodities, and a ton of stocks. This allows investors to spread their risk of investment across various market instruments.

eToro provides its own unique platform to customers for trading. The eToro trading platform is a powerful software suitable for all kinds of traders. The platform is intuitive enough for beginner traders to learn and master. Additionally, it is very responsive, ensuring fast trade executions. It is also available as an app for mobile and tablet users. Furthermore, clients lacking experience and time can use the eToro social trading platform to follow and copy the moves of top-performing traders using the CopyTrader system.

eToro offers all its clients commission-free trading on stocks. Even better, there are no hidden fees on eToro. The company is very transparent about all the fees involved in trading. It even has a page to keep track of Market hours and Fees. Traders should stay up to date with the contents of this page to avoid paying fees they did not anticipate.

51% of retail CFD accounts lose money with this provider. You should

consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs (such as forex, commodities and stocks).

AvaTrade

AvaTrade is one of the world's best forex and CFDs brokers. In Ireland, the company is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under the reference number C53877. Additionally, the company has regulations in Cyprus by the CySEC, which applies to the European Economic Area. Further, the company has regulations from other reputable watchdogs, including the ASIC, the FSCA, and the IIROC. Regulations alone are not enough assurance that a company will not operate criminally. However, such a regulatory status shows that AvaTrade is committed to operating within legal bounds.

Regarding trading platforms, AvaTrade delivers state-of-the-art software to its clients. The company provides traders with several powerful and modern solutions. Clients can use the AvaTrade WebTrader online without downloading any software. They can also use MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 to execute trades. MT4 and MT5 are available for PC, Tablet, and mobile customers. On top of that, AvaTrade provides two more software platforms for copy trading. These platforms are the ZuluTrade and DupliTrade platforms.

The variety of instruments available on AvaTrade is impressive. Traders have access to over 700 trading instruments spread across 7 markets. These include forex, indices, bonds, ETFs, commodities, stocks, FXOptions, and cryptocurrency. This way, traders can spread their investments across these markets. The spreads on AvaTrade are especially competitive. They range from 0.9 pips to 2.0 pips for major currency pairs. Further, there are no hidden fees and no commissions. Therefore, traders do not have to pay exorbitant fees to trade.

76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XTB

XTB is a leading European forex and CFDs broker licensed and authorized by the CySEC under registration number 296794. This is one of the best regulators within the European Economic Area. Additionally, the company has regulations from the FCA in the UK and the KNF in Poland. This is impressive, to say the least. The primary trading platform provided by XTB is the in-house-built xStation. This software is powerful, customizable, and executes trades fast. These are the features that all traders look for in trading software. The platform even won the best trading platform award of 2016 from the Online Personal Wealth Awards.

There are a variety of markets available on XTB. Clients can trade forex currency pairs and indices alongside CFDs on cryptocurrencies, commodities, shares and ETFs. While not all traders might want to invest in all these markets, it is good to have options. It means that clients can spread their investment risk across various trading instruments.

The primary charges while trading on XTB are spreads. The spreads offered by XTB are particularly competitive. The spreads vary depending on the account type. There are two account types to choose from; the Standard and the Pro accounts. For example, the target floating spread for the EUR/USD pair is 0.9 pips wide for the standard account. On the other hand, it is 0.3 pips for the Pro account. Traders can choose the account that best suits their needs.

78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

XM

XM is yet another company that satisfies our criteria for the best forex brokers in Ireland. The company has regulations from the reputable CySEC that applies to all EU countries. As such, the company can freely operate within Ireland without restrictions. Additionally, the company has regulations in the UK by the FCA and in Australia by the ASIC.

Further, XM comes with some of the best trading platforms. Clients have the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms at their disposal on XM.com. These are powerful and very responsive platforms. Their execution times are unmatched in the market. Besides, they come with charting tools which is an added advantage.

The spreads on XM are industry standard and competitive. There are three account types that come with different spreads. For example, the standard account has a spread of 1.6 pips for the EUR/USD pair. However, there is no commission for this account. On XM, clients can trade over 1,000 trading instruments. These fall under 8 different markets. These include forex, stocks, indices, shares, cryptocurrency, commodities, precious metals, and energies. All kinds of investors are catered for on XM.

Forex.com

Forex.com is a forex provider registered with the CFTC and a member of the NFA in the USA. The company also has regulations in Canada by the IIROC, in Cyprus by the CySEC, and the FCA in the UK. This heavy regulation status and the company’s extended stay in the market significantly improve the broker’s credibility. Additionally, the CySEC license allows the company to operate freely within Ireland as it applies to the entire EU.

Forex.com has a variety of markets you can invest in. Clients can trade assets in the forex, shares, metals, commodities, indices, cryptocurrency, ETFs, and bonds markets. This allows clients to diversify their portfolios. Even better, clients get access to some of the best trading software in the market. Forex.com provides clients with a WebTrader alongside a mobile app and MetaTrader 4. Such diversity ensures that the company has something for everyone.

The spreads on Forex.com can go as low as 1.0 pips for some currency pairs. This is fairly low and industry standard. Therefore, clients do not pay exorbitant fees to trade on Forex.com. Furthermore, the company does not involve any hidden fees.

77.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

FP Markets

FP Markets is yet another forex and CFD broker that can freely operate within Ireland without restrictions, thanks to its CySEC license. Additionally, the company has regulations in Australia by the ASIC. While regulations are not enough, it is always better to invest in companies that have regulators watching over them.

In terms of the availability of markets, FP Markets stands out. Clients can easily diversify their portfolios on this trading platform. There are over 60 currency pairs, more than 10,000 shares, 19 indices, bonds, commodities, metals, and cryptocurrencies. FP Markets avails two of the best trading platforms to clients. Investors get to use the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms on FP Markets. These platforms are intuitive and have fast execution times. They are also available on PC, web, and mobile.

Fees on FP Markets are mainly through spreads and commissions. These fees vary depending on the account type the client signed up for. As an example, standard account users pay zero commissions, but the spreads start from 1.0 pips. On the other hand, users of the raw account pay a commission of $3 per lot and have spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

71.23% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Final Words on The Best Forex Brokers in Ireland

The forex brokers presented here are some of the best brokers in the world. They certainly meet our criteria to belong among the best forex brokers in Ireland. First, they have ample regulations from reputable regulators. Secondly, they provide a wide variety of trading instruments for their clients. Additionally, they provide some of the best trading platforms in the industry. Finally, these forex brokers involve low trading fees. Still, this is not an exhaustive list. Every trader should do their research to ensure a company best suits their investment needs.