freshforex.com in brief
FreshForex is a brand operated by the international company Riston Capital Ltd., which is registered by the Financial Services Authority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. FreshForex has clients from more than 200 countries around the world and its partners are licensed European liquidity providers and banks, the company claims. FreshForex offers online trading of CFDs on currency pairs, spot metals, energy futures, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies via the well-known platforms such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). There is no minimum initial deposit required.
Regulation
It is a good starting point to inform yourself about the company’s regulation. Well, this company is not authorized by a regulatory body with strict requirements. The firm, which stands behind the name FreshForex is Riston Capital Ltd, which is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under registration number 20623 IBC 2012. This registration allows the company to conduct financial services, but you need to be careful when working with offshore companies, as they do not have as strict regulatory requirements as companies regulated by EU bodies. Riston Capital Ltd is not obliged to meet some capital adequacy requirements or to keep client’s funds in segregated accounts. The company is not a member of any compensation fund and you will not be compensated if the firm is unable to meet its obligations.
Account Types
There are three types of live accounts you can open with FreshForex, which differ in the required deposit amount, maximum leverage, spreads offered and commissions. In general, the company does not require any specific amount to open an account, but depending on the deposit, you will get different features.
Classic Account – The minimum deposit amount is USD200. Spreads are fixed and the one for the EUR/USD pair is 2 pips. There is a commission when trading CFDs on shares and cryptocurrencies. The stop out level is 20% and the leverage can be up to 1:2000.
Market PRO Account – The minimum deposit amount is USD400. Spreads are floating and the one for the EUR/USD starts from 0.9 pips. There is a commission when trading CFDs on shares and cryptocurrencies. The stop out level is 40% and the leverage can be up to 1:1000.
ECN Account – The minimum deposit amount is USD2,000. Spreads are close to zero at the expense of the commission within USD1.90 and USD30 per million traded units. There is a commission when trading CFDs on shares and cryptocurrencies as well. The stop out level is 60% and the leverage can be up to 1:1000.
Market Maker or STP Brokerage?
In general, strictly regulated companies are obliged to declare how they act against the customer’s orders, as a counterparty (executing them as a principal) or as an agent (transmitting them). However, FreshForex does not clarify this. Nothing is mentioned in the Client Agreement file. The only thing related to this is the sentence “With respect to the client’s trading operations, the company executes orders.” Most probably Riston Capital Ltd. acts as a principal and is a counterparty to every client’s order. It is the sole execution venue and takes all the risk by itself, acting as a market maker. Being a market maker involves a conflict of interest because when the company executes orders, it keeps the risk to itself. Every loss for customers is a profit for the company.
Nothing is mentioned about the slippage, but the company claims to use a market execution mode, where market orders are filled at the first available price, which can be considerably different from that specified in the order. Slippage usually occurs during periods of higher volatility and low liquidity. The Risk Disclosure statement warns that placing a stop loss order will not necessarily limit your losses to the intended amounts, as it may be impossible to execute such orders under certain market conditions. Once triggered, stop loss orders are treated as market orders; therefore, they also are subject to slippage. In other words, stop loss orders are not guaranteed and will be filled at the first available market price.
The Risk Disclosure document informs that the client is subject to loss of all his initial equity and any additional equity deposited to support and maintain positions in the market. Besides, market conditions can result in loss on positions that will exceed remains of the money funds on a trading account of the client. There is a clause in the Client Agreement file that says: ” in the event there is a negative balance on his trading account, the client is entitled to deposit his own funds to bring the account to zero within 10 (ten) calendar days on company’s requirement.” So, you are not covered by Negative Balance Protection and you can lose more than the funds that are in your account. It turns out that in the end, you may owe extra money to this company.
Fees
There is no inactivity fee, so you can choose when and how often you want to trade. If you have not traded for 90 days, the company will archive the account. Trading accounts that have remained dormant within one hundred or more consecutive calendar days with less than USD10 equity, will be removed by the company without a possibility of recovery. In addition, you will be charged basic fees such as spread, swap, rollover, and commissions. The company has the right to fully deduct from the client’s account company’s funds (bonuses, payments, remunerations, prizes, credit funds) credited within the framework of promotions, if there were no trading operations on the account within 30 calendar days.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Many deposit methods are available, including bank transfer, credit or debit cards and e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill. The company declares that it does not charge deposit fees, but clients must cover all charges imposed on payment providers.
Funds from the trading account should be withdrawn in the same way and in the same currency to the bank account or electronic payment system with which the deposit was made in a proportional amount. If you have used more than one deposit method, the company has the right to determine at its own discretion by what method and in what currency the client can withdraw funds. Withdrawal requests are processed within 10 minutes, Riston Capital Ltd. claims. All charges and fees connected to the transfer of money and calculations performed by the parties are paid at the expense of the client.
Trading Platforms
Customers can participate in global financial markets using the most common trading platforms provided by FreshForex: MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).
Traders all over the world choose the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform because of its functionality and great usability. They can easily analyze all available assets, trade the chosen instrument, receive important news in real time and much more. A well-designed interface of this online automated platform, the possibility to create and use automated trading systems make MT4 perfect for almost all trading strategies. FreshForex provides MT4 as PC, MAC, Linux, Android, iOS, and web browser versions.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the successor of the popular terminal. It is the right choice for advanced traders. MT5 offers all the advanced tools for comprehensive trading and analyses, as well as algorithmic trading with EAs. The platform shows the depth of the market (level 2 quotation) and supports two types of trade transactions – netting and hedging. MT5 also offers many analytical tools, over 80 technical indicators and monitoring up to 100 charts simultaneously.
Assets
Customers can make transactions with all available assets in all types of accounts.
Currency Pairs – 49 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs can be traded. Spreads depend on the account type. The spread for the EUR/USD pair is fixed at 2 pips in the classic account, starts at 1.3 pips in the Market PRO account and is zero in the ECN account, where you will be charged a commission of USD7.27 per lot traded).
Indices – You can trade CFDs on 11 indices, such as ASX200, DAX30 and DJIA. Spreads depend on the account type. The spread for the DAX30 is fixed at 2.6 points in the classic account, starts at 1.3 points in the Market PRO account and is zero in the ECN account, where you will be charged a commission of USD40.54 per lot traded).
Precious Metals – You can trade CFDs on Gold and Silver against USD, EUR, and AUD. Spreads depend on the account type and the one for the Gold is USD0.75 in the classic account, starts at USD0.20 in the Market PRO account and is zero in the ECN account (the commission will be USD11.04 per lot traded).
Energy CFDs – You can trade CFDs on Crude Oil, Brent Oil and Natural Gas. Spreads depend on the account type and the one for the Gold has value of USD0.07 in the classic account, starts at USD0.046 in the Market PRO account and is zero in the ECN account (the commission will be USD3.16 per lot traded).
Shares – You can trade CFDs on 60 US and Russian shares. Spreads are floating and the average spread for the Apple share is USD0.10 and for the Amazon share it is USD6.
Cryptocurrencies – 5 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are available as CFDs for online trading. The average spread for the Bitcoin is USD80 and you will be charged a commission of USD16 per lot traded.
Partnership
There is an affiliate partner program, and you will receive a percentage of the traded spread. Other types of partnership are also available – Introducing Broker (IB), White Label, Rebate Service, etc.
Summary
FreshForex is a company registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Most probably it acts as a market maker and the main conflict of interest exists. Customers can trade currency pairs, commodities, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies through MT4 and MT5 terminals. Deposits can be made by bank transfers, debit or credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. Live trading does not require minimum deposit. Depending on the account, spreads can be fixed, variable and close to zero at the expense of commissions. Be careful because the company is not authorized by a regulatory body with strict requirements.
