Best Stock Brokers Guide
Best Stock Broker
As an investor in shares and stocks finding a reliable reputable stock broker is essential. Finding the best stock brokers in the industry is not an easy task. Here we discuss what to look for when picking a stock broker. We list a few things your broker should have before you deposit and money and trade.
Stock Broker Account Opening Criteria
Some stock brokers will require a minimum deposit from you. Minimum deposits average between $100 - $200. Dont be put off by the minimum deposit. As long as your broker is reputable and well regulated.
Brokers that have a minimum deposit may offer more trading features that you might find useful. Do your own research. If you are lucky, some stock brokers may even open your account without a minimum deposit.
Please note that brokers have a minimum deposit amount which is required to open a trading account. But there is another minimum stock or share trading amount. So you might not be able to spend 50 cents or 50p on shares for example.
Stock Broker Fees and Commissions
If any individual or firm claims to be the best stock broker, try to find out what commissions or fees are being charged. Find out how often the charges are taken from you. Currently, most stock brokers are in the race of reducing commissions and fees, but they try to make back the money in other ways. They ask for commissions or fees on each trade and this may become costly to you. A genuine stock broker will always justify the charges competitively without asking too much or too little.
Reduce Risk
Diversification reduces risks. This means if your money is invested in several assets, there are fewer chances of losing more than earning.
Investing with a Stock Broker
Once you have selected a well-established stock broker it is important to decide what amount you are comfortable with investing. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. The financial markets go down and well as up. Also with use of broker financial tools you should decide whether to invest in individual stock or spread your investment over several shares.
Investors need to decide if they are invest for the long term, say for about a period of 25 or 30 years. Know how much is to be invested into stocks and how much in bond funds.
If your investment criteria are short term, it is better to opt for short-term investments. Stocks are thought of as more longer term investments. Forex and CFD trading and seen as short term investments due to Forex and CFD having more fluctuating markets.
Trading for Beginners
If you are a beginner and want to make money by trading in financial markets, it is highly recommended that you register with multiple stock brokers and make full use of every educational resource the brokers offer.
You need to dedicate much time in researching and analyzing the market trend to avoid missing opportunities of buying at a lower price and selling at a higher price and making a loss.
You can make fewer loses if your strategy is a diversified investment and invested over a longer term. Please do your own research and make you know what you are doing before trading on live markets.
We've collected thousands of datapoints and written a guide to help you find the best Stock Brokers for you. We hope this guide helps you find a reputable broker that matches what you need. We list the what we think are the best stock brokers below. You can go straight to the broker list here.
Reputable Stock Brokers Checklist
There are a number of important factors to consider when picking an online Stock trading brokerage.
- Check your Stock broker has a history of at least 2 years.
- Check your Stock broker has a reasonable sized customer support of at least 15.
- Does the Stock broker fall under regulation from a jurisdiction that can hold a broker responsible for its misgivings; or at best play an arbitration role in case of bigger disputes.
- Check your Stock broker has the ability to get deposits and withdrawals processed within 2 to 3 days. This is important when withdrawing funds.
- Does your Stock broker have an international presence in multiple countries. This includes local seminar presentations and training.
- Make sure your Stock broker can hire people from various locations in the world who can better communicate in your local language.
Our team have listed brokers that match your criteria for you below. All brokerage data has been summarised into a comparison table. Scroll down.
Our brokerage comparison table below allows you to compare the below features for brokers offering Stock Brokers.
We compare these features to make it easier for you to make a more informed choice.
- Minimum deposit to open an account.
- Available funding methods for the below Stock Brokers.
- What you are able to trade with each brokerage.
- Trading Platforms offered by these brokers.
- Spread type (if applicable) for each brokerage.
- Customer support levels offered.
- We show if each brokerage offers Micro, Standard, VIP and Islamic accounts.
Top 15 Stock Brokers of 2020 compared
Here are the top Stock Brokers.
Compare Stock Brokers min deposits, regulation, headquarters, benefits, funding methods and fees side by side.
All brokers below are stock brokers. Learn more about what they offer below.
You can scroll left and right on the comparison table below to see more stock brokers that accept stock clients
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
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XTB
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FP Markets
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Pepperstone
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Plus500
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FXPrimus
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EasyMarkets
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AvaTrade
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| Rating | ||||||||||
| Regulation | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Financial Services Authority (FSA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FCA number FRN 522157, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), CySEC Licence Number: 169/12, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego | Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) | Plus500UK Ltd authorized & regulated by the FCA (#509909), Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14), Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), ASIC in Australia AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026 and Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa FSP #47546 | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), The markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID) | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) | Central Bank of Ireland, Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Financial Services Authority (FSA), Financial Stability Board (FSB), British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI) |
| Min Deposit | 200 | 200 | 1 | No minimum deposit | 100 | 200 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 250 |
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| Used By | 12,000,000+ | 60,000+ | 14,000,000+ | 250,000+ | 10,000+ | 10,000+ | 15,500+ | 10,000+ | 142,500+ | 200,000+ |
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| Platforms | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Mac | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, IRESS, Mac, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mac, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Tablet & Mobile apps | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Mac, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Mac, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps |
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| Learn More |
Sign
Up with etoro |
Sign
Up with icmarkets |
Sign
Up with trading212 |
Sign
Up with xtb |
Sign
Up with fpmarkets |
Sign
Up with pepperstone |
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Up with plus500 |
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Up with fxprimus |
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Up with easymarkets |
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Up with avatrade |
| Risk Warning | 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money | 80.5% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | Losses can exceed deposits | Your capital is at risk | 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
| Demo |
eToro Demo |
IC Markets Demo |
Trading 212 Demo |
XTB Demo |
FP Markets Demo |
Pepperstone Demo |
Plus500 Demo |
FXPrimus Demo |
easyMarkets Demo |
AvaTrade Demo |
| Excluded Countries | US, IR, KP, BE, CA, JP, SY, TR, IL, HK | AF, GN, SL, BW, IR, SY, MM, IQ, TG, KH, LS, YE, CI , LR, ZW, CU, LY, TZ, CG, ML, BO, LR, NE, AO, GM, NG, AG, GH, KR, KG, GN, SN, NA | US | US, IN, PK, BD, NG , ID, BE | US, JP, NZ | BR, KR, IR, IQ, SY, JP, US | BE, US, CA, CN, ID, PH, TG, NG, DO, MA, ZW, PR, TZ, TN, UG, BW, AO | AF, CI, CU, IQ, IR, LY, MM, KR, SD, PR, US, AU, SY, DZ, JP, EC. | US | BE, BR, KP, NZ, TR, US, CA, SG |
All Stock brokers in more detail
You can compare Stock Brokers ratings, min deposits what the the broker offers, funding methods, platforms, spread types, customer support options, regulation and account types side by side.
We also have an indepth Top Stock Brokers for 2020 article further below. You can see it now by clicking here
We have listed top Stock brokers below.
Stock Brokers Table of Contents
- Stock Brokers Explained
- 6 Factors to Consider when Choosing Stock Brokers
- Are Your Stock Brokers Trusted And Established?
- Are The Stock Brokers World Leading?
- What are the Stock Brokers Commissions and Fees?
- What are the Stock Brokers Funding and Withdrawl Methods?
- Find Stock Brokers with Round-the-clock support?
- Make sure the Stock Brokers Offer Comprehensive Trader resources?
- Why do Stock Brokers need to be regulated?
- Stock Brokers FAQ
- What are the best Stock brokers?
- What is the best Stoc broker?
- Related Stock Brokers Reviews
- Related Stock Brokers Alternatives
- Related Stock Brokers Comparisons
Stock Brokers Explained
Trading the financial markets with Stock Brokers when conditions are volatile can be difficult, even for experienced traders.
Apart from the educational and other resources made available online, another important factor for traders to consider when looking for Stock Brokers is the platform that a Stock Brokers offer.
Choose Stock Brokers that's at the forefront of innovation and generally considered an industry-leader.
To gain access to the financial markets, you'll need Stock Brokers that you can rely on.
6 Factors to Consider when Choosing Stock Brokers
Follow these five rules for selecting a broker that's right for you:
Are Your Stock Brokers Trusted And Established?
Look for a broker that has a good track record/longevity in the market so that your strategy is your primary concern for navigating the markets. The top rated Stock broker is eToro. Established in 2006, and in operation for 12 years eToro have a head office in Cyprus, UK.
eToro is regulated. This means eToro are supervised by and is checked for conduct by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) regulatory bodies.
Another top rated broker is IC Markets.
IC Markets was established 2007, and in operation for 12 years IC Markets have a head office in Australia.
IC Markets is regulated. This means IC Markets are supervised by and is checked for conduct by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) regulatory bodies.
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
|
XTB
|
FP Markets
|
Pepperstone
|
| Year Established | 2006 | 2007 | 2006 | 2002 | 2005 | 2010 |
| Head Office | Cyprus, UK | Australia | UK | Poland | Australia | Australia |
| Regulation | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Financial Services Authority (FSA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FCA number FRN 522157, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), CySEC Licence Number: 169/12, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego | Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) |
| Used By | 12,000,000+ | 60,000+ | 14,000,000+ | 250,000+ | 10,000+ | 10,000+ |
| Negative balance protection | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Guaranteed Stop Loss | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Learn More | Visit eToro | Visit IC Markets | Visit Trading 212 | Visit XTB | Visit FP Markets | Visit Pepperstone |
| Risk Warning | 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money |
Are The Stock Brokers World Leading?
Choose a broker that's at the forefront of innovation and generally considered an industry-leader. eToro Segregates clients funds and offers over 100 instruments. eToro offers both an online trading platform as well as a mobile platform giving clients easy access to markets.
In addition, eToro supports many popular third-party trading platforms enabling access to a variety of markets worldwide that can be traded with the assistance of expert advisors or a customizable automatic trading strategy. eToro is a world-leader when it comes to innovation and they are always looking at ways to improve and to maintain their competitive advantage.
Another good choice when looking for Stock Brokers is IC Markets . IC Markets Segregates clients funds and offers over 232 instruments.
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
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XTB
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FP Markets
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Pepperstone
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| Instruments Available | 100 | 232 | 3000 | 1,500 | 100 | 100 |
| Platforms | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Mac | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, IRESS, Mac, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mac, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Tablet & Mobile apps |
| Excluded Countries | US, IR, KP, BE, CA, JP, SY, TR, IL, HK | US | US | US, AU, CA, JP, KR, KP, SG, MU, IL, TR, IN, PK, BA, ET, UG, CU, SY, BD, NG, ID, BE, LY, MO, KE, YE, VU, GY, CD, CG, AF, LA, MZ, IQ, IR | US, JP, NZ | BR, KR, IR, IQ, SY, JP,US |
| Forex pairs offered | 50 | 65 | 177 | 50 | 60 | 70 |
| Forex pairs offered | 50 | 65 | 177 | 50 | 60 | 70 |
| Major forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minor forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Exotic forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrencies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commodities Offered | 0 | 19 | 14 | 21 | 18 | 16 |
| Metals | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Energies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agricultural | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Stocks Offered | 957 | 100 | 1731 | 1696 | 10000 | 60 |
| UK Shares | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| US Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| German Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Japanese Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
What are the Stock Brokers Commissions and Fees?
Ensure that your broker is transparent with fees and those dues are competitive.
The best rated Stock broker eToro offers competitive offers for Stocks, Commodities, Forex, CFDs, Social Trading, Indices, Cryptocurrency. eToro minimum deposit is 200.
Another top rated Stock broker IC Markets offers Forex, CFDs, Spread Betting, Share dealing, Cryptocurrencies. IC Markets minimum deposit is 200.
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
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XTB
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FP Markets
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Pepperstone
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| Min Deposit | 200 | 200 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 200 |
| Withdrawl Fees | Yes | No | No | varies | No | No |
| Inactivity Fees | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Deposit Fees | No | Varies | No | No | Yes | No |
| CFD Commission Fees | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What are the Stock Brokers Funding and Withdrawal Methods?
When dealing with Stock Brokers having convenient funding and withdrawl facilities makes the trading process and your trading experience smoother.
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
|
XTB
|
FP Markets
|
Pepperstone
|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit Cards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Paypal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Skrill | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payoneer | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Neteller | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Find Stock Brokers with Round-the-clock support?
Customer service is very important when dealing with Stock Brokers.
When investing and dealing with brokers customer support can be a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use the brokers services. It can include assistance in installation, training, troubleshooting, upgrading, and cancelation of a product or service.
Stock Brokers customer support can include Phone answering services, Live chat support and Email customer service support.
eToro support a wide range of languages including English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian
IC Markets support a wide range of languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Afrikans, Danish, Dutch, German and more
eToro and IC Markets offer support where clients are able to call or contact the helpdesk via email or a chat service.
| Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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Trading212
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XTB
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FP Markets
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Pepperstone
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| Support |
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| Languages | English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian | English, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Afrikans, Danish, Dutch, German and more | English, Deutsch, Nederlands, Espanol, Francais, Italiano, Polski, Srpski, Norsk, Svenska, Cesky, РУССКИЙ, Romana, Turkce, العربية, 中文 | English, Spanish, Czech, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, and Turkish | English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Russian, French, Italian, Greek, Philippines, Latvian, Polish,Indonesian, Thai, Malay, German, Vietnamese | English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Arabic |
| Learn More | Visit eToro | Visit IC Markets | Visit Trading 212 | Visit XTB | Visit FP Markets | Visit Pepperstone |
| Risk Warning | 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money |
Make sure the Stock Brokers Offer Comprehensive Trader resources?
Make sure your broker offers free resources like analysis, education and risk-management tools. With a wealth of knowledge from top analysts, eToro and IC Markets work together to bring the latest news and insights to traders.
For most traders, the first – and sometimes only – concern is pursuing their 'edge'. While that is surely important, along with sound money management habits, to navigating the markets; that step alone does not represent the full preparation. As each trader dives into this important venture, it is important not to forget the most rudimentary yet crucial steps such as selecting the best broker to access the markets.
Why do Stock Brokers need to be regulated?
A regulated Stock broker lowers your risk.
Broker regulation protects consumers. Too little broker regulation can lead to poor services and possibly financial harm.
Stock brokers are regulated to stop fraud. The agent's working capital and clients funded account have to be separated. This amounts to fraud if client money is used to conduct the business. Regulation is required to make sure this does not happen.
Stock Brokers List
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, MT5, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, MacCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, MT5, IRESS, Mac, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, MT5, Mac, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, Mac, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account
Funding methods
Bank transfer Credit Card PaypalPlatforms
MT4, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile appsCustomer support
Live chat Phone support Email supportAccount Types
Micro account Standard account Islamic account VIP account