FP Markets Global review

FP Markets pitches itself as a well-regulated, low-cost CFD broker serving over a million traders worldwide. Founded in Sydney in 2005, it has picked up 60+ industry awards and sits among the better-known names for forex and CFDs.

The story has one critical twist: which FP Markets entity you sign up with changes almost everything. Australian clients get real shares via Iress and 30:1 leverage under ASIC. EU clients get CySEC and a €20,000 compensation scheme. International clients get up to 500:1 leverage under the Seychelles FSA and no compensation scheme at all. Same brand, very different products.

Here’s what you need to know before opening an account.

Pros and cons

Who FP Markets is for (and who should skip it)

Fees

FP Markets has two main account structures that cover most traders. Full live spreads are published here.

Which account fits you?

• Standard – better for swing traders holding positions for days. No commission, wider spreads.
• Raw – better for scalpers and day traders. Tight spreads, commission each side. Usually the cheaper option above ~5 trades/day.

Swap fees apply to positions held overnight at 5pm New York time. Wednesdays (or Fridays on some instruments) are triple-swap days to cover the weekend.

Islamic accounts replace swaps with a flat admin fee that only kicks in after a grace period of up to 5 nights, depending on the instrument.

Equity and ETF CFD commissions

How does this stack up?

Raw spreads are competitive but not class-leading. IC Markets typically shows tighter Raw EUR/USD spreads in live testing, and Fusion Markets has an edge on Raw account commissions. FP Markets’ edge isn’t price – it’s the combination of all four major platforms, Tier-1 parent regulation, Iress for Australians, and stronger support infrastructure.

Products & markets: what you can and can’t trade

FP Markets is a CFD-only broker for most clients. Australian users are the exception – they get real shares via the Iress platform.

Max leverage by instrument and jurisdiction

Leverage is capped by your regulator, not by the platform. The same product can trade at 30:1 under CySEC and 500:1 under the Seychelles FSA.

High leverage cuts both ways. At 1:500 leverage, a 0.2% move against you wipes out the margin. This is the structural reason 73% of retail CFD accounts at this provider lose money.

Trading platforms

One genuine strength: FP Markets is one of the few brokers offering all four mainstream platforms, plus Iress for Australian clients.

A Forex VPS is available, hosted in the same Equinix NY4 and LD5 data centers as the trading servers – meaningful latency advantage if you run 24/5 algos.

Iress (Australia only) gives direct market access to exchange order books, bypassing liquidity providers, with full Level 2 market depth. Trade-off: 60 AUD/month platform fee + 25 AUD/month ASX live data fee, potentially waivable for high-volume traders.

The proprietary web platform is functional but visibly dated. The mobile app looks modern but is feature-limited (account management, transfers, basic tools, biometric login). Serious trading happens on MT4/5, cTrader, TradingView, or Iress – not in FP’s own apps.

Is FP Markets safe? The honest answer depends on your entity

This is where most broker reviews give you a generic “yes, regulated globally” answer. With FP Markets that’s misleading. Your protection depends entirely on which subsidiary onboards you.

Your safety snapshot by entity

Cross-entity protections

What this means in plain terms

If FP Markets went bust tomorrow, what happens depends on your entity:

• EU clients fall back on CySEC’s Investor Compensation Fund, which covers 90% of assets up to €20,000.
• Australian, South African, Kenyan, Mauritian, and International clients have no compensation scheme. You rely on segregation (your funds are held separately at third-party banks) and negative balance protection (you can’t lose more than you deposited). Segregation is not the same as a compensation guarantee.

Why different leverage caps? Tier-1 regulators (ASIC, CySEC) cap retail CFD leverage at 30:1 precisely because high leverage is where retail traders lose most money. Offshore entities allow up to 500:1 because their regulators don’t impose the same caps. More leverage is a trading feature, not a safety one.

Regulator tiers, explained quickly:

• Tier 1 (strongest): FCA (UK), ASIC (AU), CySEC (EU), BaFin (DE), FINRA (US)
• Tier 2: FSCA (South Africa), CMA (Kenya), FSC (Mauritius), DFSA (Dubai)
• Tier 3 (offshore): Seychelles FSA, Vanuatu VFSC, SVG FSA, Belize FSC

Some jurisdictions (e.g., St. Lucia) only offer company registration with no active regulation – meaning no compensation, no mandatory negative balance protection, and no segregation requirement. FP Markets does not use these jurisdictions for client onboarding, but it’s worth understanding the gradient.

Account types

FP Markets offers five account types. Most traders end up on Standard or Raw:

Islamic accounts charge a fixed admin fee instead of swaps, with a 5-night grace period on many major pairs. Close inside 5 days and you pay nothing. Contact customer support after opening the account to convert it.

Iress accounts (Australia only) provide Direct Market Access – orders go directly to the exchange order book, bypassing liquidity providers – plus Level 2 depth of market. The 60 AUD/month + 25 AUD/month data fees can be waived at high trade volumes. Best suited for professional equity traders.

PAMM/MAM accounts are for experienced managers running capital for others. MAM allows different lot sizes per sub-account; PAMM splits P&L by pool allocation percentage.

Account opening

What to expect:

After opening the main account, you can spin up additional sub-accounts on different platforms and fee structures in a few clicks. Demo accounts are free for 30 days with live market data – useful for testing the platforms before committing capital.

Funding options depend on your residency and carry no deposit fees. Most methods have a $/€50 minimum.

User reviews and support

• Trustpilot: 4.8 / 5 across 10,000+ reviews
• TradingView: 4.1 / 5 across 2,000+ reviews
• Common praise: execution speed, customer support, low spreads
• Common complaints: withdrawal friction, account terminations, occasional platform glitches

Support runs 24/7 via live chat, email, and phone in multiple languages. In our testing, email response times were fast (under 2 hours during business hours) and answers were substantive rather than copy-paste.

Final verdict

FP Markets is a legitimate, well-established CFD broker with one of the strongest platform line-ups in the industry, genuinely competitive raw spreads, and a unique offering for Australian clients via Iress. For active forex and CFD traders – and for Australians wanting one broker covering both real shares and CFDs – it’s a real option worth shortlisting.

Go in with eyes open on three things:

1. Your entity determines your protection. EU clients get a €20,000 compensation scheme. Australian clients get Tier-1 oversight but no compensation. International clients get high leverage but no compensation and no Tier-1 regulator. Check which subsidiary you’re signing up with.
2. No real shares, ETFs, or bonds – unless you’re Australian. Long-term buy-and-hold investors outside Australia are at the wrong broker.
3. Raw spreads are competitive, not best-in-class. IC Markets and Fusion Markets can beat them on pure execution cost. FP Markets wins on the bundle – four platforms, Tier-1 parent, Iress for Australians – not on any single number.

If any of those three matter more than the trade-off you’re getting, compare FP Markets against alternatives before opening an account. If the bundle fits your profile, it’s a solid pick.