If you’re looking to trade Forex in Asia, you’re in the right place and in good company .
With retail Forex and CFD trading on the rise across the globe, Asia remains one of the most exciting places to trade Forex due to emerging markets. We’ve spent the hundreds of hours of research on Forex brokers in Asia for you, so that you can choose the top Forex brokers in Asia for your trading.
- FXTM, Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast execution.
- FP Markets, ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500.
- Eightcap, 1:500 maximum leverage and cutting-edge trading tools.
- Pepperstone, Great ECN execution on MT4/5, cTader, TradingView and Pepperstone proprietary platform.
- AvaTrade, Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreads.
Best Angola Brokers Comparison
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Regulators | CMA, FCA, FSC Mauritius, FSCA | ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSCA | ASIC, CySEC, FCA, SCB | ASIC, BaFin, CMA, CySEC, DFSA, FCA, SCB | ASIC, BVI, Central Bank of Ireland, FFAJ, FSCA, KNF, MiFID |
Year Established | 2011 | 2005 | 2009 | 2010 | 2006 |
Execution Type(s) | ECN/STP, Market Maker | ECN/STP | ECN/STP, Market Maker | No Dealing Desk, NDD | Market Maker |
Minimum Deposit | |||||
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | 0.1 pips | 1.2 pips | 1.0 pips | 1.1 pips | 0.9 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | 0.2 pips | 1.4 pips | 1.2 pips | 1.4 pips | 1.5 pips |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $0.18 | $0.16 | $0.12 | $0.15 | $0.29 |
Trading Platform(s) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Web-based | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Trading View | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Trading View+ | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform, Web-based+ |
Islamic Account | |||||
Negative Balance Protection | N/A | N/A | |||
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Get Started Visit Website75-95% of traders on margin lose | Visit Website |
FXTM
In Summary Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast executionFXTM ranks among my top choices for best Asian Forex brokers due to its ultra-low trading fees. The Advantage account has a minimum deposit requirement of $500 but offers traders raw spreads of 0.0 pips for a commission of $0.80 and $4.00 per 1.0 standard round lot. Most brokers ask for $20,000+ for trading fees this low. Therefore, FXTM is ideal for scalpers and algorithmic traders.
The high-quality price improvement technology decreases trading fees by an average of $3.00 per round lot. FTXM caters to mobile and copy traders via its user-friendly mobile apps FXTM Trader and FXTM Invest.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent commission-based Forex pricing environment and transparency
- Upgraded MT4/MT5 trading platforms plus proprietary mobile trading app
- Quality market research and educational content for beginner traders
- A highly regulated broker with a tier-1 license
- Limited choice of commodities
FP Markets
In Summary ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500I rank FP Markets among the best Asian Forex brokers for copy traders and account managers. Copy traders get the proprietary FP Markets solutions, embedded MT4/MT5/cTrader copy trading services, fee-based Signal Start, and the well-known Myfxbook Autotrade. FP Markets offers MAM/PAMM accounts to licensed account managers.
Traders get a 12-plugin MT4/MT5 upgrade plus Trading Central and Autochartist. Commission-based trading fees start with raw spreads from 0.0 pips for a commission of $6.00 per 1.0 standard round lot. FP Markets maintains a well-balanced asset selection, offers 24/7 multilingual customer support, and grants quality education and research to beginner traders.
Pros & Cons
- Choice of trading platforms and auxiliary trading tools
- Very competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection
- Low minimum deposit requirement and leverage of up to 1:500
- Well-regulated and trustworthy
- Availability of Iress geographically restricted
Eightcap
In Summary 1:500 maximum leverage and cutting-edge trading toolsI rank Eightcap among the best Asian Forex brokers featuring an advanced trading environment due to Capitalise AI, enabling algorithmic trading in a code-free environment in MT4. It also upgrades MT5 with the FlashTrader plugin and presents news traders with its AI-powered economic calendar.
Eightcap maintains a well-balanced asset selection of liquid trading instruments, including 100+ cryptocurrency CFDs. Traders also benefit from competitive commission-based trading fees with spreads from 0.0 pips for a commission of $7.00 per 1.0 standard round lot. Eightcap connects social traders with 50M+ peers at TradingView, while beginners benefit from Eightcap Labs and Trade Zone.
Pros & Cons
- Low minimum deposit and high leverage of up to 1:500
- Competitive cost structure
- Excellent technology infrastructure and seasoned management team
- Daily research and quality educational content
- Limited leverage in some areas
Pepperstone
In Summary Great ECN execution on MT4/5, cTader, TradingView and Pepperstone proprietary platformPepperstone, founded in 2010 and headquartered and regulated in Australia, the U.K., and Dubai, is probably the most well-known ECN Forex broker in the world. As an ECN broker, Pepperstone offers raw spreads and low commissions. Taken together, Pepperstone’s “Razor” account offers one of the most competitive costs of trading in Forex that you will find anywhere. In addition to their global headquarters in Australia, Pepperstone also have presences in London, England, where they enjoy full regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and in Dubai, where they are regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Pepperstone is also regulated by the Cyprus Securities And Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA) in Kenya, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) in The Bahamas and the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) in Germany.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent choice of trading platforms consisting of MT4/MT5, cTrader, TreadingView and Pepperstone Platform
- Market-leading MT4/MT5 upgrade package, Autochartist, and API trading
- Social trading support via Signal Start, MetaTrader Signals, Copy Trading by Pepperstone, DupliTrade
- Leverage of up to 1:400 depends on jurisdiction and superb trade execution
- Demo accounts have 60-day time limits
AvaTrade
In Summary Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreadsAvaTrade is one of the largest Forex / CFD brokers and well-known for offering their clients a choice of fixed or floating spreads. They have a very high and strong level of regulation. AvaTrade is directly regulated in Ireland (and by extension, the European Union), Australia, Japan, South Africa, and the British Virgin Islands. Outside the European Union, Ava offers maximum leverage on Forex currency pairs as high as 400 to 1. AvaTrade offers trading in over 55 different Forex currency pairs, 17 commodities, 20 equity indices, 14 cryptocurrencies, plus 66 individual stocks and shares. 2 bonds and 6 ETFs are also on the menu.
Pros & Cons
- High quality educational offering via AvaAcademy
- Excellent choice of trading platforms catering to various trading needs
- Broad asset selection and cross-asset diversification opportunities
- Well-regulated and trusted broker with oversight from a central bank
- Trading costs competitive but nothing special
What to Look for in an Asian Forex Broker
Choosing the right Asian Forex broker is critical. However great at trading you may be, trading with the right broker is important to maintaining your profitability. You might be at the top of your game, but if the broker you’re trading through is not regulated, has high spreads, offers inadequate trading tools, or falls short of any of the other important ingredients that make a great Forex broker, you may be compromising your hard-earned profits..
Let’s take regulation, for example. Many brokers who operate in the Forex hotspots of Southeast Asia have found it difficult to comply with what they consider to be a complex, unclear, costly and unfriendly regulatory environment. In Indonesia, for example, only brokers who are locally licensed can set up a local office. Labuan, which is part of Malaysia, grants licensure to international CFD and Forex brokers, but that still doesn’t allow those brokers to operate in Malaysia proper.
Instead, many of these brokers simply operate without regulation, which can be dangerous for Forex and CFD traders. Still, it's important to consider two things: firstly, many brokers that remain unregulated in Asia do maintain offshore regulation which can protect traders and provide confidence, such as Britain’s FCA, Australia’s ASIC, and others. Secondly, there are some unregulated brokers that may have a solid reputation that would be worth considering under the right circumstances. For example, unregulated brokers can offer higher leverage and bonuses that regulated brokers often can't match. Though these might be enticing, traders should carefully consider whether trading with an unregulated broker is a worthwhile risk.
(We should probably mention that the Philippines has no regulatory framework for Forex brokers as of yet, so use caution if you’re thinking about trading in that neck of the woods. You'll have no choice but to choose a local, unregulated broker, or an internationally-regulated broker.)
Asian Trading Hubs
As I mentioned, Singapore remains perhaps Asia’s largest Forex trading hub. Over 30 Forex futures and options contracts are available for trading in Singapore, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore has already licensed around 150 brokers. In fact, the world’s five largest banks have their regional Forex trading and sales teams based out of Singapore, so it’s definitely the place to be.
Japan is also a particularly important base for Forex trading, because the Asian trading session is hosted in Tokyo. The Asian session begins at 12:00 GMT and accounts for 20% of all Forex trading volume. Furthermore, about 16.8% of all Forex transactions involve the Japanese yen, though you certainly don't need to be based in Japan to trade yen-based pairs.
Another major financial center in Asia is Hong Kong, followed by other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Forex Trading Regulations in APAC
The APAC region has several trusted and capable regulators. Among them are the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Financial Markets Authority (New Zealand), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Financial Services Agency (Japan).
Singapore and Hong Kong are primary global financial centers, Japan remains a core Forex market, which officially kicks off each daily trading session, Australia is a dominant regional player, and New Zealand offers a healthy mix of regulation and competitiveness while emerging as a crucial hub for FinTech companies.
The APAC region has a good mix of respected regulators, and many international brokers obtain licenses from at least one of the above five regulators. Overall, Forex trading in Asia can thrive due to the active regulatory environment, where FinTech fulfills a growing role, and innovative trends that may disrupt the Forex market can often trace their origins to the APAC region.
Is Foreign Exchange Trading Legal in Asia?
Forex trading is legal across Asia. It represents a core growth market for brokers. Asia is home to some well-known and globally respected regulators and leading brokers. The Asian retail Forex market relies heavily on traditional account management, available via MAM/PAMM accounts, and copy and mobile trading, which makes mobile apps popular. It is also home to an active affiliate market for passive income generation and a primary destination for webinars, seminars, and in-person educational sessions.
How to Start Trading Forex in Asia Pacific
Forex trading is a highly skilled profession, and traders must approach and respect it as such, which makes investing in education the critical first step. Beginners should not rush through or skip this process as it will lay the foundation for success.
Another vital step for Forex trading in Asia is broker selection. While certain preferences differ, traders should manage their portfolios with a regulated broker, offering competitive trading fees and a cutting-edge trading platform. Balanced asset selection, low-cost payment processors, and a local presence are additional factors to consider.
Beginners can use demo accounts to familiarize themselves with the trading platform while evaluating trading conditions. A Micro account is an ideal solution to learn Forex trading in live market conditions and usually requires a small minimum deposit of $10 or less.
Risks of Trading Forex in Asia
The lack of education, despite its availability, remains the primary risk of Forex trading in Asia. It can create an environment scammers and fraudsters can exploit, using social media to promote doctored account statements and unrealistic trading performance. Educated Forex traders will understand what Forex trading is and can spot scams and frauds.
Other dominant risks of Forex trading in Asia are:
- Reliance on demo accounts as a simulation tool, which can’t give traders valuable exposure to trading psychology, and can create a false sense of accomplishment.
- Inadequate hardware, no quiet place to trade, or using mobile apps solely for Forex trading rather than monitoring copy trading and account management, can create sub-standard trading conditions sabotaging potential success.
What Is the Best Trading Platform in Asia-Pacific?
While it depends on individual preferences and requirements, the MT4 trading platform remains the most popular option for Forex trading in Asia.
These are the primary reasons MT4 dominates the retail Forex sector:
- The most versatile trading infrastructure.
- Full support for algorithmic trading.
- API trading for advanced algorithmic trading solutions.
- Integrated copy trading services from multiple third-party providers.
- 25,000+ EAs, plugins, and custom indicators.
- Widespread availability, easy to swap between brokers.
- Active and supportive community of traders, developers, and educators.
- User-friendly mobile app.
Noteworthy:
- MetaQuotes Software, the developer of MT4, officially stopped support in favor of MT5, but adoption of this platform remains slow amid the lack of backward compatibility to MT4, but most brokers continue to support MT4 actively.
- cTrader is the second-most used trading platform, which provides a superior out-of-the-box platform, but trails in upgrades due to a notably smaller user base.
Bottom Line
Forex trading in Asia is one of the fastest-growing Forex markets globally. It is home to a well-regulated trading environment, core global financial centers, and a young, tech-savvy population that embraces innovative Forex trends. Trading with the right broker, experienced and educated Forex traders in Asia can embark on a successful Forex career, but success is unlikely without education and practice.
