Top 10 Forex Brokers in Singapore

Singapore, although it is officially known as the Republic of Singapore, is an island archipelago located between Malaysia and the South China Sea. It is a financial centre for trade in the Asia-Pacific region, on par with London and New York. Its primary island is densely packed, while its entire population is just under six million inhabitants. Its annual GDP, however, is roughly $340bn, thereby making it one of the highest GDP per Capita nation in the world. Singapore is also one of the Four Asian Tigers, along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Licensed forex trading brokers proliferate in this island community and are regulated tightly by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which also acts as the country’s central bank and regulates all sectors of the financial industry, including banks, stocks, foreign exchange and insurance companies. When it comes to making your choice of Singapore-regulated forex broker easier, we have prepared the following ‘top 10’ list of brokers for your review.

#1IG

Trader Rating

Take a Look

What We Liked:

Major global presence with 20 worldwide offices
Highly regulated and on the London Stock Exchange
Perennially on everyone’s top-rated list of the best forex brokers
Massive market range with 17,000+ assets to trade

IG was established in 1974 and now has over 239,000 worldwide clients. It is the number one provider of CFDs in the world and has access to over 17,000 markets for assets under its roof. IG is regulated by the MAS, as well as by a host of other international regulators of the first tier.

The firm has always been an innovator and at the forefront of the forex industry from 20 offices located in 17 countries. If you want the biggest and the best, IG is in that category.

#2Pepperstone

Trader Rating

Take a Look 82.51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

What We Liked:

2021 Best Forex Trading Platform in Singapore
Extremely low spreads and high loyalty from clients
Heavily regulated - ASIC, FCA, DFSA, SCB, CMA, CySEC, BaFIN
No dealing desk (NDD) broker

Founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia, Pepperstone has grown to be a world leader in forex, processing over US$12.6bn of trading volume each day for over 300,000 satisfied traders across the globe. All funds are safely segregated in Tier-1 banking institutions per regulatory requirements from seven global regulators.

The firm is also a perennial award winner, taking the top honour of Best Forex Trading Platform in the Singapore market in 2021.

#3FXGT

Trader Rating

Open Demo Account Trading Leveraged Products is Risky

What We Liked:

Number of impressive industry awards
Innovative analysis tools
Spreads as tight as zero pips
Leverage of up to 1:1000

#4Plus500 (CFD provider)

Trader Rating

Take a Look 82% 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.

What We Liked:

Regulated by the FCA in London and on London Stock Exchange
One of largest authorised CFD dealers in the world
Offers over 1,000 assets
Easy to use proprietary trading platform

Plus500 was established in 2008 and has become a leading broker for CFDs in both Europe and Asia. The firm continues to invest in innovation and research and development, having recently opened a new R&D Centre in Tel Aviv.

#5AvaTrade

Trader Rating

Take a Look

What We Liked:

Reputation for safety and stability over 15 years
Well-regulated across several global jurisdictions
Extensive product offerings in seven categories of assets
In-depth training materials

AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Per its website, the broker has been “pioneering online trading” for fifteen years (source: AvaTrade). It offers a wide range of popular assets industry-leading platforms and “generous trading conditions” (source: AvaTrade).

Its primary regulator is the Bank of Ireland, but it complies with the edicts of six other regulatory bodies across six continents, making it one of the most respected brokers for operating in a secure and safe manner.

AvaTrade has over 200,000 registered clients across the globe, over £60bn in monthly trading volume, and over two million trades executed every month. It also has offices in Dublin, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and Sydney.

#6Saxo Markets

Trader Rating

What We Liked

Trusted global banking brand – Division of Saxo Bank
Adheres to strict regulatory rules in 17 jurisdictions, including MAS
Liquidity network of 85 exchanges with high-quality execution
Consistent award winner, including the ‘Best Platforms and Tools 2021’ prize

Saxo Bank is a fully licensed in Denmark under the auspices of the Danish FSA regulatory body. In 1998, the trading division, Saxo Markets, launched one of the first online trading platforms, breaking down barriers in the process. The firm is highly trusted, regulated in 17 jurisdictions, including Denmark, the UK, and Singapore.

Saxo has over 660,000 customers, who place over 180,000 trades per day at industry-leading price points.

#7XM

Trader Rating

Take a Look

What We Liked

Regulated by ASIC, DFSA, CySEC, and IFSC in Belize
Wins awards for its education and research support
Offers full suite of MetaTrader platform products
Over 1,000 trading instruments

The XM Group was initially founded in Cyprus in 2009 but soon expanded its operations to include support offices in Australia and Greece. The firm serves clients in over 196 countries and excels in the area of education materials for beginners. If you are a beginner and like MetaTrader 4, then XM may be well suited for you.

#8HYCM

Trader Rating

What We Liked:

Broad reputation throughout Asia since 1977
Regulated by FSA and CySEC
Technological expertise
Multi-award winner

HYCM has a heritage of over 40-years, delivering excellent financial service and has positioned itself as one of the most trusted and transparent brokers in the forex industry. The firm offers tight spreads from 0.2 pips on over 300 instruments at execution speeds under 12 milliseconds. The management team has chosen the MetaTrader family of platform products for trading from desktop to mobile device.

HYCM has earned over 20 global awards for excellence, the most recent being the Best Forex Broker in Asia for 2021.

The company serves customers in over 140 countries from offices in five of the leading financial centres of the world.

#9OANDA

Trader Rating

What We Liked:

Firm launched first fully automated forex trading platform in 2001
Known for exceptional execution and pricing transparency
Regulated by six major regulatory agencies around the world

Founded in the mid-1990s, OANDA was one of the early pioneers of online forex trading. It has grown to such a level that it is estimated that 20% of all forex spot trades pass through one of its server platforms. Known for its innovative trading practices and trading platforms, OANDA has always focused on customer satisfaction and performance excellence.

Among six regulators that have oversight over OANDA’s activities, MAS is one of them. The firm has also won the ‘Best Forex Broker Award in Singapore’ on numerous occasions.

#10EightCap

Trader Rating

What We Liked:

Regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Over 200 financial trading instruments offered
MetaTrader family of platform trading vehicles
No-commission and raw-spread accounts available

Founded in 2009, EightCap operates out of Melbourne, Australia, but also has five other offices spread out around the globe. It has received a number of awards. Most recently, the Global Forex Awards recognised the firm as the ‘Best Global Forex MT4 Broker 2020’.

All client account deposits are held in segregated Tier-1 financial institutions per ASIC regulations.

Execution speeds are fast, and scalping, EAs, and hedging strategies are allowed on all account categories. The firm can offer tight spreads due to its network with premium liquidity providers. There is also no dealing desk since all trades are matched directly with liquidity sources.

What does being regulated by the MAS mean?

For anyone visiting Singapore for the first time, it can be a culture shock with respect to the strict enforcement of all manner of rules, from where you might cross a street to what hurdles a forex broker must clear in order to have a presence on the island. These rules have a lengthy overbearing history with its citizenry, but the rules in the financial sector are designed to protect consumers from scams, unfair business practices, and bankruptcies. All accounts must be segregated from the operating funds of the brokerage, for example.

There is a combination of MAS-licensed brokers available to traders. There are several local forex brokers, as well as international brokers located offshore. As a Singapore citizen or foreigner living on the island, the MAS does not require that you deal only with this select group of licensed brokers. The rules permit you to use an offshore broker, but only if it is sufficiently regulated in its own country of origin. The MAS, however, stresses that it cannot be of assistance if and when a trader encounters foul play while trading with one of these offshore forex brokers.

There are tax benefits for individual retail forex traders. You are not taxable on your recorded gains, nor will a brokerage report these figures to the government taxing authorities. If you are a professional trader by occupation, then your transactions are taxable. If you are a professional, you may defer your tax consequences by dealing with an international broker who is offshore. Your profits are taxable, however, when the funds are transferred to a bank account in Singapore.

As an attractive financial centre, Singapore’s standard of living and AAA credit rating add to the allure of this location as a centre for operations to serve all of Asia. Singapore is also a high-tech powerhouse with supporting infrastructure – a reason why large financial institutions and liquidity providers flock to this locale. These factors also make it an ideal environment for forex brokers to operate their servers and provide their products and services to consumers throughout the region.

As a respected financial hub, it is no wonder that trading foreign exchange in Singapore has become very popular, based upon a supportive legal infrastructure and strict regulatory oversight from the MAS. The Singapore Dollar or ‘SGD’ is also considered to be one of the most stable and strongest of the world’s currencies, ranking in between the euro and the US dollar.

Any one of the above brokers could become an effective business partner for you, but always remember that trading foreign exchange is a risky endeavour. Preparation, practice, and a defined strategy will always help to mitigate those trading risks, but monitoring a broker’s performance is necessary, too.

Final thoughts

Forex trading is flourishing in the island community of Singapore and for good reason. Its reputation as a stellar financial centre has drawn banks, liquidity providers, and forex brokers in droves due to its high standard of living, its high-tech infrastructure and its supportive regulatory environment.

For individual retail forex traders, trading profits are not taxable income, and there are a multitude of high quality brokerage houses to ensure a safe and secure trading experience.