NICOFX review

NICOFX seems to be an STP Forex broker that has chosen Cyprus as its primary broker location by being regulated by the highly established Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). It is seen that in recent years, Cyprus has been growing in popularity among new Forex brokers, especially due to their strong European presence and the relatively stable set of regulatory guidelines that give priority to both traders, as well as Forex trading companies. Ever since the induction of Cyprus into the European Union, the CySEC has been working closely with the ECB and the European Markets in Financial Instruments Derivative (MiFID) for maintaining a safe and secure trading environment for all traders and companies operating in the European financial markets. Nowadays, CySEC is considered to be one of the top regulatory agencies in the world, which is on par with the reputation and reliability of other leading regulators such as the FCA of the UK, the ASIC of Australia, and the NFA of the USA. However, CySEC does not have the unnecessary trading restrictions that are highly prominent among regulators such as the NFA and the CFTC. The CySEC is open in its approach to introducing new and exciting financial products by keeping abreast of new ideas in the financial markets, which is certainly why most modern Forex brokers choose Cyprus as their favorite investment destination. NICOFX set up its Forex brokerage in 2013 under an administration that has decades of experience in the financial markets, which is evident from the broker’s services and products. NICOFX aims to become a prominent player in the market and has received numerous awards and recognitions from different financial markets, especially the MENA region. Apart from its CySEC regulation, NICOFX is also registered with the FCA in the UK and the BaFin in Germany, which further provides an improved sense of security and confidence for traders while depositing their money with NICOFX.

Bonus	No
Regulation	FCA, CySEC
Mobile	Yes
Instruments	Forex, Precious Metals, Equity Indices, Energies
Website	www.nicofx.com
Not Verified

Opening A NICOFX Forex Trading Account

The minimum deposit required for opening a NICOFX trading account is $100, which can be deposited using popular payment options such as bank wire, credit/debit card payments, Skrill, and UnionPay. All deposits can only be made in USD (except for bank wire that can be deposited in Euros), which are accompanied by nominal fees of transactions that range from 1% to 5.85%. Online payment portals such as Skrill and Credit Card payments have significantly higher costs, while UnionPay and bank transfer are relatively less expensive. Make sure that you understand the fees for transfers before choosing a payment option, as there is a chance that you will receive a considerably lower amount of money in your trading account than your original deposit. The maximum NICOFX leverage of 1:200 is reserved for Forex and currency pairs, while CFDs, commodities, and metals receive slightly lower leverage and higher margin requirements. Traders also get to choose from over 38 different currency pairs, which is significantly less than the number of Forex currency pairs offered by other competing brokers. The NICOFX spread is also larger than conventional STP spreads, with the company citing 2.6 pips on the EUR/USD pair. Real direct market access brokers are able to provide competitive spreads, but we were surprised to find NICOFX quoting such high spreads for the most traded currency pair. Being a regular STP account, traders don’t have the burden of a commission, but the spreads are certainly too high to comprehend.

Is It Viable To Trade The Markets With NICOFX?

With a lower leverage, traders might find it hard to invest in the FX markets with a small $100 account, but less leverage can mean that there is a lower risk of an account wipeout. As far as account options are concerned, the company claims to provide three different type of trading accounts, known as the Mini, the Standard, and the Premium accounts, but the company only offers information about their Standard account offering with the $100 minimum deposit requirement. We anticipate NICOFX to have different trading conditions for other two accounts, with the Mini account offering access to mini trading lots, while the Premium account being geared to larger traders with a considerable amount of trading capital. Overall, we believe that NICOFX offers its Forex trading services as a combination of a market maker and an STP broker due to the prevailing trading conditions, where clients’ orders are either passed to an interbank exchange, a liquidity provider, or in between clients at the broker level. NICOFX does mention that it has a backend order processing center, which means that the broker has some kind of a dealing desk as a part of its brokerage model. Inevitably, market maker brokers, even those with automated dealing desks, have a moderate amount of conflict with its clients, regardless of the broker’s claims.

How Does European Regulation Protect Your Investments With NICOFX?

NICOFX is regulated by industry’s top regulatory organizations such as the CySEC, the FCA, and the BaFin, all of which have the best regulatory policies and guidelines that are created to ensure a safe and secure Forex trading experience. European regulatory policies state that brokers should hold their clients’ trading capital in segregated accounts, without mixing them with the company’s own financials or bank account. Therefore, if a broker faces any liquidation or bankruptcy issues, the broker can always refund their clients using the money kept in the segregated accounts. If, for any matter, a broker is unable to meet its clients’ debt obligations, the CySEC and the FCA have investor compensation funds that reimburse traders a part of their trading capital up to a maximum of €20,000 and £50,000 from the ICF (Investor Compensation Fund) and the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) respectively. European regulation also requires NICOFX to submit regular audit reports to ensure that it has a fair and transparent record or all financial transactions that do not affect the integrity of the European economy. NICOFX also works with authorities on enforcing strict anti-money laundering laws that prevent traders from depositing or withdrawing money through third-party channels. Therefore, NICOFX is indeed one of the highly trusted and reliable Forex trading companies that are currently in the market.

NICOFX Trading Platforms & Mobile Trading Apps

The broker offers the MT4 trading terminal to its clients for all trading needs, which does not require any introductions for seasoned Forex traders. The MT4 terminal is the most popular Forex trading platform, which offers a reliable platform for investing in the FX markets. New traders will also find the MT4 trading platform to highly useful for their trading needs, with beginner traders being able to get to grips with the platform relatively quickly. MT4 is available in different versions for different devices, including desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. The NICOFX mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows devices can be downloaded from their respective app stores, which can be accessed through a single login. NICOFX mobile trading can also be done through the MT4 WebTrader, or traders can make use of other MetaTrader versions such as Multi-Terminal for managing multiple trading accounts. NICOFX trading software and the regulation are the only positive attributes of the company, as the trading accounts, FX conditions, and cost of trading are mostly inferior when compared to competing Forex brokers in the market. Our list of recommended Forex brokers should offer you a better option for your investments, especially if you are looking for direct market access with the least conflict of interest between a broker and its clients.

Have a look at our Top Rated Forex Brokers in your country: