Hantec Markets is a CFD broker offering forex, commodities, indices, and share CFDs across a range of international markets.
Hantec Markets accepts clients across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. Its parent group is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which brings public financial disclosure – a meaningful transparency advantage over privately held CFD brokers. The UK entity is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Hantec Markets is not available in the US, so this review does not apply to US residents, who might consider Interactive Brokers instead.
One point to establish upfront: Hantec offers CFDs exclusively. You gain price exposure through derivatives without owning any underlying asset, which makes this suitable for active trading rather than long-term investing.
Overview
The Hantec Group was established in Hong Kong in 1990 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2000. Its London branch opened in 2010, marking the start of international expansion.
In 2020 the group restructured into two divisions:
- Western Division, based in London, regulated by the UK’s FCA and the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius;
- Eastern Division, headquartered in Hong Kong, covered by ASIC (Australia), the FMA (New Zealand), Japan’s FSA, and Hong Kong’s CGSE.
Which entity serves you matters considerably, and we return to this below – the protection available under FCA regulation differs substantially from that under Mauritius.
The broker offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, alongside a Multi Account Manager platform aimed at professional traders and regulated asset managers who need to run multiple accounts from a single interface.
Two retail account types are available:
- Cent account: aimed at newer traders, with a low minimum deposit and positions denominated in cents rather than full lots, which reduces the size of each trade;
- Standard account: adds copy trading, tighter spreads, and a broader instrument range.
Pricing is competitive, with spreads from 0.1 pips on some pairs. There are no deposit charges, though withdrawal fees may apply depending on trading activity. Most trades carry no commission, with the exception of indices. Overnight swap fees apply to positions held beyond the trading day, and a 0.6% currency conversion fee applies where your deposit currency differs from your account currency.
Funding is available by card and e-wallets including Skrill and Neteller. Note that bank transfers are not accepted, which is unusual and worth planning around.
Hantec does not accept clients from the US, Belgium, or several other jurisdictions. Educational resources are also thinner than at many competitors.
Highlights
| 🌎 Supported countries | Most countries – exceptions include the US, Belgium, and several others |
| 💰 CFD fees | Spreads from 0.1 pips; commission on indices only |
| 💵 Currency conversion fee | Up to 0.6% |
| 💰 Inactivity fee | $5 per month after 6 months without activity |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | Varies by trading activity (not publicly disclosed) |
| 💸 Minimum deposit | $10 (Cent account); $100 (Standard account) |
| 📍 Products offered | CFDs only – forex, commodities, indices, and US share CFDs |
| 🎮 Demo account | Yes (Standard account only) |
| 📜 Regulatory entities | FCA (UK), FSC (Mauritius), ASIC (Australia), FMA (New Zealand), FSA (Japan), CGSE (Hong Kong) |
| 🛡️ Negative balance protection | Yes, capped at USD 10,000 (excludes professional clients) |
Pros and cons
Pros
- Competitive spreads from 0.1 pips
- Cent account with $10 minimum, accessible for beginners
- FCA-regulated UK entity
- Parent group publicly listed, so financials are disclosed
- Negative balance protection for retail clients
- Islamic swap-free accounts available
Cons
- CFDs only - no real asset ownership
- Withdrawal fees not publicly disclosed
- Inactivity fee of $5 monthly after six months
- No bank transfer deposits
- No crypto, ETF, or non-US share CFDs
- Limited educational resources
Account opening
Registration is quick, requiring only an email and password. You get immediate access to a demo account to explore the platform before committing funds.
You then receive login credentials and instructions for MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
To open a live account you must provide proof of identity – passport, driving licence, national ID, or residence permit – alongside proof of address dated within the last three months.
Accounts can be held in several currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD, and NGN. Deposits are accepted by credit and debit card, Skrill, Neteller, and China UnionPay.
Bank transfers are not accepted, which is a genuine limitation – it removes the cheapest funding route for larger deposits and, for anyone who later encounters a withdrawal dispute, removes the chargeback protection card payments carry.
Minimum deposits are $10 for a Cent account and $100 for a Standard account.
Trading platform
Hantec Markets offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, both well established for charting, technical indicators, and account management. MT5 adds further timeframes, order types, and an integrated economic calendar.
Worth noting that MT4 is effectively end-of-life: MetaQuotes stopped developing new features in 2015, ceased selling new broker licences in 2018, and deprecated older builds in July 2025. It remains functional, but MT5 is the platform with a future.
Neither is a proprietary platform, which cuts both ways. MetaTrader is familiar to most experienced traders and supports automated strategies through Expert Advisors, but Hantec offers no distinctive interface of its own.
Multi Account Manager
The MAM platform is aimed at professional traders and regulated asset managers, allowing multiple MetaTrader accounts to be managed from a single interface. It simplifies executing trades, managing risk, and applying strategies across accounts – genuinely useful for anyone trading on behalf of others, though not relevant to most retail users.
Trading Central
Hantec provides access to Trading Central, a third-party research platform covering technical, fundamental, and sentiment analysis with multi-asset coverage and backtested strategies.
Supporting calculators are also available for margin, pip value, swaps, and currency conversion – useful for sizing positions before entering them, particularly given the leverage available here.
Products and markets
Hantec Markets specialises exclusively in Contracts for Difference. Unlike conventional investing, you do not own the underlying asset – you hold a leveraged position against the broker, speculating on price movement. That means no shareholder rights, no dividends in the conventional sense, and overnight financing costs on positions held beyond the trading day.
For a fuller explanation, see our article on CFDs versus shares.
The available markets:
- Forex: over 130 currency pairs, the core of the offering;
- Commodities: precious metals including gold and silver, alongside oil and other commodities;
- Share CFDs: over 1,800 instruments, though US-listed only;
- Indices: major benchmarks across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the US.
Notable gaps: no cryptocurrency CFDs, no ETF CFDs, and no non-US share CFDs. Combined with the absence of real assets, this is a narrower offering than most competitors provide.
Leverage depends on your jurisdiction and entity, reaching up to 1:500 on Standard accounts and 1:1000 on Cent accounts under the offshore entity.
Those figures deserve serious attention rather than being treated as a feature. The FCA, ASIC, and EU regulators cap retail forex leverage at 30:1 precisely because higher levels reliably produce rapid losses. At 1:500, a 0.2% adverse price move wipes out your entire deposit; at 1:1000, half that. Clients under FCA or ASIC regulation face the lower caps, and access to higher leverage means you are being served by an entity with weaker protections rather than gaining a genuine advantage.
Hantec also offers a FIX API service providing direct connectivity to interbank pricing, aimed at automated strategies and scalping systems requiring low latency.
Fees
Hantec charges both trading and non-trading fees. Here is how they break down.
Account opening and maintenance
Opening an account is free and there is no custody charge for holding funds. However, a $5 monthly inactivity fee applies after six months without activity – shorter than the twelve months most competitors allow, and worth noting if you trade infrequently.
Currency conversion
A 0.6% conversion fee applies when your deposit currency differs from your account base currency. Depositing in your account currency avoids it entirely.
That rate is high by industry standards – Interactive Brokers charges roughly 0.002% – so matching currencies matters more here than at most brokers.
Trading costs
The primary costs are spreads and, on indices, commission. Spreads are variable and competitive, starting at 0.1 pips, which compares well against the industry. Forex and share CFDs carry no commission; indices do.
Swap fees apply to positions held overnight, varying by instrument and market conditions. These accumulate on longer-held positions and are the reason CFDs are unsuitable for extended holding periods. An Islamic swap-free account is available for traders observing Sharia principles.
Trading conditions for each asset class are published on Hantec’s website.
Withdrawal fees
Hantec charges nothing on deposits but may apply a withdrawal fee. When we asked, customer support said the charge depends on individual trading activity but would not provide a formula or fee table.
This is the clearest shortcoming in an otherwise transparent fee structure. Withdrawal costs are among the first things a prospective client should be able to establish, and an undisclosed charge that varies by activity is difficult to plan around. We would suggest asking for written confirmation of what would apply to you before depositing.
Supported countries
Hantec operates globally with offices in around 10 countries including the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong, accepting clients across most of the world.
Regulatory restrictions exclude several jurisdictions, notably the United States, Belgium, and a number of others. The country selection list on the account opening page is the quickest way to confirm eligibility.
Regulation and safety
The Hantec Group began in Hong Kong in 1990 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2000. Public listing brings audited accounts and regular disclosure, which is a genuine transparency advantage over the many privately held CFD brokers in this sector.
Following the 2020 restructuring, the group operates two divisions:
- Western Division in London, under the UK’s FCA and the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius;
- Eastern Division in Hong Kong, under ASIC, the FMA, Japan’s FSA, and the CGSE.
The entity that onboards you determines your protection, and the difference is substantial.
- Under the FCA entity, client assets are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000, client money must be segregated, and leverage is capped at 30:1 for retail clients;
- Under the Mauritius FSC entity, there is no equivalent compensation scheme, and higher leverage is permitted. Client funds are segregated under FSC rules, but if the firm failed there would be no scheme to compensate you.
Clients outside the UK are frequently routed to the offshore entity by default. Confirm in writing which entity holds your account before depositing – it is the single most consequential thing to establish about any multi-entity broker.
Hantec applies negative balance protection to all retail clients, including those outside the EU, resetting negative balances to zero at no cost. Coverage extends to USD 10,000 of losses beyond net deposited funds.
Note the cap: protection above $10,000 is not provided, and the policy does not apply to clients who have elected professional status. Given the leverage available, that limit is worth understanding before sizing positions.
User reviews
Hantec Markets holds a strong Trustpilot rating, with the large majority of reviewers awarding five stars and citing reliability, responsive support, and platform usability.
Feedback is predominantly positive, highlighting customer service and transaction speed. A minority of reviews report server errors and issues with promotions.
Two caveats worth applying to broker review scores generally. Ratings are drawn from a self-selecting sample, and brokers frequently prompt satisfied clients to leave reviews. More usefully, look at what the negative reviews concern: complaints about platform performance are a service issue, whereas complaints about withdrawals would be far more serious. Here they fall into the former category.
Bottom line
Hantec Markets is a reasonably well-established CFD broker with competitive spreads, a publicly listed parent, and FCA regulation on its UK entity – a stronger combination than many competitors in this segment offer.
It suits active CFD and forex traders who understand what they are trading. Three things to weigh first:
- Which entity serves you. FCA regulation brings FSCS coverage up to £85,000 and capped leverage; the Mauritius entity provides neither. This is the most consequential factor and worth confirming in writing;
- Undisclosed withdrawal fees. Ask for written confirmation of what applies to you before depositing;
- CFDs only. There is no real asset ownership here, which rules Hantec out for long-term investing regardless of how competitive the spreads are.
If you want to own shares outright, Interactive Brokers offers genuine ownership across 170+ markets. For a broader international CFD range, IG covers considerably more markets and instruments.
As with any broker, match the offering against how you actually intend to trade rather than the headline pricing.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. A high percentage of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
