EC Markets

EC Markets Overview

EC Markets is a multi-regulated forex and CFD broker that has been serving traders since 2012 via the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. It holds licenses across several jurisdictions and opens accounts from a low $10 entry, with trading costs that depend on the account you choose. The sections below set out its accounts, regulation, costs, funding, and platforms so you can judge whether it fits the way you trade.

EC Markets Account Types

EC Markets keeps its account range simple: three options that differ mainly in how you pay your trading costs and how much capital you bring.

STD Account

The STD account opens from $10 and folds all trading costs into the spread. There is no commission to track: your cost on any trade is the bid/ask spread at the moment you open the position. For traders who want simplicity over the lowest possible raw number, this is a reasonable starting point.

ECN Account

The ECN account also starts from $10, but it narrows the spread toward the raw market price and charges a commission per lot instead. At about $3 per lot per side (roughly $5 to $6 round turn on a standard lot), the commission is a fixed amount you can plan around. For traders placing a steady number of lots per month, the tighter spread generally more than offsets the added commission, making ECN the cheaper option overall once volume climbs.

PRO Account

The PRO account requires a $5,000 minimum deposit and is built for traders who bring both capital and regular volume. It runs on MT4 and MT5, the same platforms as the other two accounts. Unless you are funding at that level and trading enough size for the structure to matter, the ECN account covers the same pricing model at a fraction of the entry.

Regulation & Safety

EC Markets Group Ltd holds licenses with seven regulators across different jurisdictions. That range tells you the group has been vetted by some demanding authorities, and it matters. What also matters (and what most reviews skim over) is which of those licenses actually covers the account you open.

The straightforward check: open your client agreement, find the name of the contracting entity, and confirm which license it sits under. That entity is the one whose rules apply to your balance, your leverage cap, and any compensation rights you may have.

FCA (United Kingdom)

EC Markets holds authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA is one of the most rigorous regulators in the world, requiring firms to meet strict capital adequacy, governance, and conduct standards. Retail clients under an FCA entity benefit from leverage caps of 1:30, mandatory negative balance protection, and eligibility for FSCS compensation up to £85,000.

ASIC (Australia)

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission license confirms that the entity has met ASIC’s capital and conduct requirements. For retail clients under an ASIC entity, leverage is capped at 1:30, and there are strict rules around client money segregation.

FMA (New Zealand)

The Financial Markets Authority is New Zealand’s main financial regulator. An FMA license requires the entity to meet authorization standards covering client-money handling and operational conduct.

FSCA (South Africa)

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority regulates financial services providers in South Africa. EC Markets holds a FSCA license, which confirms the entity meets the authority’s standards for operating in the South African market.

SCA (United Arab Emirates)

The Securities and Commodities Authority is the UAE’s federal markets regulator. A SCA license allows EC Markets to offer services to clients in the Gulf market under the authority’s oversight framework.

FSC (Mauritius) and FSA (Seychelles)

EC Markets also holds licenses with the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius and the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles. These two entities are the ones that commonly serve clients who fall outside the coverage of the FCA, ASIC, and FMA entities. If the contracting entity on your account is registered in either of these jurisdictions, those are the applicable rules. It is a factual point worth knowing, not a reason to avoid the broker, but a detail that affects your leverage limit and what compensation rights, if any, apply to you.

Spreads, Commissions & Fees

EC Markets charges in one of two ways. The STD account is spread-only; everything is in the spread, there is nothing added on top. The ECN and PRO accounts price at the raw spread and add a commission per lot.

EC Markets does not publish a detailed live spread schedule in an easy-to-find place. Any headline “from” figure is a best-case number seen during liquid trading hours, not the average you should model around. The reliable way to check your actual cost on a specific pair is to open the platform and watch it across a normal trading session.

On fees: no deposit fee applies on most funding methods. Withdrawal fees depend on the method. There is no publicly confirmed inactivity fee. Verify this directly with EC Markets if it is relevant to your trading pattern.

Deposits & Withdrawals

EC Markets funds through traditional channels: bank cards, wire transfers, and e-wallets. Direct crypto deposits and withdrawals are not available on the broker side. The methods available to you can depend on which entity you are registered under and your region, so confirm the current list inside your client portal before funding.

Two habits worth building regardless of which broker you use: withdraw back to the same method you funded with, since most compliance teams require it, and run a small test withdrawal early to confirm the process works and learn the real timeline before larger amounts are involved.

Leverage & Instruments

Leverage on EC Markets accounts reaches up to 1:1000. The exact cap you receive depends on the entity you are registered under. Under the FCA (UK) or ASIC (Australia), retail clients are capped at 1:30; that limit is set by the regulator, not the broker. The higher leverage applies on accounts registered under entities outside those jurisdictions. As with most brokers, major forex pairs attract the highest leverage; metals, indices, and crypto carry lower limits.

On the instrument side, EC Markets covers the main asset classes across its MT4 and MT5 platforms:

The full instrument list is available inside the MT4 or MT5 terminal once you open an account. EC Markets does not publish a numbered instrument count on its site.

Trading Platforms

EC Markets runs on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and an EC Markets mobile app on iOS and Android.

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5

These are the industry standard for retail forex and CFD trading. If you already run custom expert advisors, indicators, or a chart setup built in MT4, everything carries across to EC Markets without rebuilding. MT5 adds more timeframes, a built-in economic calendar, and broader asset coverage, useful if you trade indices or commodities alongside forex. Both terminals are available on all three EC Markets account types.

EC Markets App

The EC Markets mobile app is available on iOS and Android. It covers account management, position monitoring, and basic order placement. For monitoring and quick adjustments, it works well. For opening significant size or managing complex orders, the desktop terminal gives you the control and screen space that phone trading cannot match.

MT4

Desktop · WebTrader · iOS · Android

MT5

Desktop · WebTrader · iOS · Android · Mac OS · Linux