Gain Capital Group, doing business as FOREX.com, was founded in 1999 by Mark Galant in the United States and is headquartered in New Jersey. It primarily offers trading services in financial products such as contracts for difference (CFDs), forex, commodities, indices, individual stocks, bonds, gold, silver, digital assets, and futures to global clients. The company's official website supports only Simplified Chinese and English.
Gain Capital Group is part of Gain Capital Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GCAP), which was acquired by StoneX Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SNEX) in February 2020.
Registration and Regulation Information:
FOREX.com claims on its official website to be registered and regulated by authorities in eight different countries and regions, including the UK, USA, Canada, Cyprus, Cayman Islands, Japan, Singapore, and more. Upon verification, it was found that the website is not registered and regulated in some of the claimed jurisdictions, but rather it is the parent company that is registered and regulated.
In the UK, no registration or regulation information for Gain Capital Group can be found with the FCA. However, by searching for the parent company, StoneX Financial Ltd, it is shown that Gain Capital Group is an authorized institution. It's important to note that the parent company is subject to limited regulation by the FCA, with some services being exclusively for professional institutions and not available to retail clients.
In Cyprus, the regulatory registration clearly includes Gain Capital Group (forex.com) under the parent company's regulation.
In Canada, corresponding registration information can be found on the official website of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
In other jurisdictions, registrations and regulations for Gain Capital Group and its parent company can generally be found.
Account Types and Registration:
FOREX.com offers five types of accounts, including joint and corporate accounts for which specific details have not been disclosed. The other three account types are standard accounts, raw pricing accounts, and MetaTrader platform accounts.
Standard accounts, raw pricing accounts, and MT platform accounts have different features and parameters, with only the standard account offering a demo trading option, while the other two only offer real accounts.
Details on the spreads for standard accounts are not disclosed, merely stating that there are no hidden fees; raw pricing accounts charge a commission of $7 per $100,000 with a major currency spread of 0.0; MT accounts have no commission.
Leverage Ratio:
FOREX.com does not disclose leverage-related information on its website, including which accounts can use leverage and the maximum leverage ratio. Instead, it provides different margin requirements based on the type of forex, requiring some calculation by the user to determine the leverage ratio.
It's important to note that leverage can amplify gains as well as risks, so it should be used with caution.
Trading Products:
FOREX.com's official website shows that the company offers a limited range of commodities and forex trading, providing real-time spreads and buy/sell prices for each trade.
Deposits and Withdrawals:
FOREX.com offers three methods for depositing and withdrawing funds: bank transfer, debit card, and wire transfer, each with different limits and processing times.
It is important to note that withdrawal methods are routed back to the original source rather than being freely chosen.
Trading Software:
FOREX.com uses its proprietary platform and the MT4 platform as its trading software, providing interfaces for both. The proprietary platform and MT4 support PC, Android, and iOS platforms.
Customer Support:
The official website of FOREX.com offers various contact methods, including online customer service, phone, email, and physical addresses, catering to a wide range of user needs.
Summary:
As a forex broker, FOREX.com offers a rich variety of forex trades and provides both proprietary and MT4 trading platforms, excelling in customer support with a variety of account types available. Its regulation is verifiable. However, the platform still has shortcomings, including lack of detailed parameters for different account types, specifics on deposits and withdrawals, and a limited range of trading products offered.
Currently, FOREX.com is shown as "operating normally" on Traderknows.
