Emporium Capital briefly
The website emporiumcapital.com is owned and operated by Emporium Capital K.A Limited. It is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and complies with the MiFID II requirements. Emporium Capital claims to use the true STP execution model with Non-Dealing Desk (NDD) fulfillment of orders. It declares that it will never hold a counter position on its clients and it never profits from a client’s loss, only from commissions and traded volume. Customers can trade more than 3,000 instruments in four asset classes – currency pairs, indices, commodities, and shares. Two platforms are available – MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and alpha Trader. You can open a live account by investing a minimum of USD1,000.
Regulation
One of the important things you need to know about the company is its regulation. Emporium Capital K.A Limited is authorized and regulated as a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 358/18. Emporium Capital complies with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), which provides a coordinated regulatory environment for investment services across the European Economic Area (EEA). Emporium Capital follows the strict policy that all client funds are kept fully segregated from the company’s own funds. In addition, it is also a member of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) covering clients of Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) by paying compensation if the company goes bankrupt.
Account Types
There are two types of live trading accounts – for retail clients and for professional clients.
Retail account – The minimum deposit amount is USD1,000. Spreads are floating and the one for the EUR/USD pair starts at 0.9 pips. The maximum leverage is 1:33.
PRO account – Professional clients must invest at least USD50,000 to open an account here. They will receive a dedicated account manager and the possibility to operate at a higher leverage – up to 1:200.
Market Maker or STP Broker?
The company provided all the necessary documents in the legal section of the website. The Order Execution Policy file is the one that usually shows how the company executes the client’s orders, but this file does not clearly state whether the company is the counterparty of any deal. However, the Terms and Conditions document shows that the company receives and transmits client orders to some entity (selected by the company) from its execution venue. We can conclude that while transmitting any of the client orders, it uses the Straight Through Processing (STP) execution model. This confirms that there is no conflict of interest, and the company earns money only from the spread and commissions.
The same document reveals that under certain trading conditions it may be impossible to execute pending orders (including stop loss orders) at the declared price. In this case, the company has the right to execute the order at the first available price. This means that all types of orders are subject to slippage and stop loss orders are not guaranteed.
In addition, Emporium Capital offers a Negative Balance Protection policy to its retail client, in order to limit their aggregate liability to the sum of available funds in the account. As per negative balance protection requirements any fees, charges or interest arise per account, never exceeds client’s available funds in the specific account i.e., Emporium Capital must ensure that the maximum loss for the clients on an account basis, never exceeds the clients’ available funds in the specific account.
Fees
In addition to usual fees that traders pay, there also is an inactivity fee. If the client account is inactive for twelve months or more (from the date of the last transaction), Emporium Capital reserves the right to classify the account as inactive and charge a monthly account maintenance fee in the amount set out in Emporium Capital Fee Schedule. If the client’s account with a zero balance had no trading activity for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the last transaction executed by the client, Emporium Capital reserves the right to immediately close the account as inactive and terminate the agreement.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Customers can use several deposit methods such as bank transfer, credit/debit cards, and e-Wallet. The minimum initial deposit amount is USD1,000.
Withdrawals should be made using the same method used by the customer to fund his trading account. Withdrawals are processed within 24 hours during a business day.
The company claims that no fees will be charged for making deposits. Emporium Capital does not charge any fees for withdrawals on credit cards. However, for bank transfers you should cover all transaction fees imposed by intermediary banks.
Trading Platforms
Customers can trade CFDs on currency pairs, indices, and commodities via the well-known MetaTrader 5 (MT5) terminal. It is a preferred trading platform because of its user-friendly interface and advanced programming features. MT5 is highly customizable and provides all the necessary tools for analyzing, making transactions, and using automated trading programs (Expert Advisors). MetaTrader platform is available as a desktop version for Windows and MAC machines, and as a mobile app for Android and iOS devices. It can be run on every popular internet browser as well.
In addition, customers can trade CFDs on shares as well via the alpha TRADER platform. The company describes this platform as robust and full of features. It supports many sophisticated trading tools and is intended for more experienced traders. The terminal is available as a desktop version for Windows and MAC machines.
Assets
Currency Pairs – You have access to over 30 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. The average spread for the EUR/USD pair starts from 0.9 pips. The leverage is up to 1:30 for retail clients and up to 1:200 for professional clients.
Indices – You can trade 11 of the major indices globally, such as DAX30, DJIA and S&P500. The minimum spread for the DAX30 is 1.5 points and the one for the DJIA is 2 points.
Commodities – 4 precious metals and 2 energy products are available for trading, such as Gold, Silver, Crude Oil and Brent Oil. The average spread for the Gold is USD0.40 and the one for the Crude Oil is USD0.04.
Shares – Almost 3,000 US, EU and UK shares are available for trading through the alpha Trader platform. You will be charged a commission of 0.1%.
Education
There is a section containing some educational materials such as market news, basics of trading and explanations of assets. However, the market news section is out of date and the economic calendar shows nothing.
Summary
Emporium Capital has a CySEC regulation, which allows it to provide financial services across European Union (EU). It uses the STP model to execute orders transmitting them to its liquidity providers. The company provides a wide range of trading instruments via the popular MT5 and there are plenty of shares available through the alpha Trader terminal. Retail clients can open one type of live account by investing at least USD1,000.
