InterTrader – Review

Intertrader.com briefly

Intertrader is a trading name of Intertrader Limited, which is owned and controlled by GVC Holdings PLC, one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups and a member of the FTSE 100. The company defines itself as a margin trading broker offering multi-asset-class execution and a “100% market neutral broker”, which never trades against its clients. Intertrader was established in 2009 and has been awarded several times since then. The company explains that it mirrors every client position in the underlying market (pure STP model). Clients can trade currency pairs, commodities, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies through the popular terminal MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and the company’s own desktop and web-based platform. The minimum initial deposit must be no less than GBP500.

Regulation

As we noticed, Intertrader Limited is authorized by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). It also is subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK under reference number 597312. The GFSC requires similar regulatory standards on handling client money, which is held in a segregated bank account. Retail clients are protected by the Gibraltar Investor Compensation Scheme (GICS), which covers up to EUR20,000. These licenses allow the company to conduct financial services including reception, transmission, and execution of orders. EU- and UK-regulated brokerage companies are usually preferred because of their strict supervision.

Account Types

In general, you must choose which account you would like to open – spread betting or CFD trading. Then there is only one type of real account, so trading conditions are equal for all categories of traders. Spreads are floating, and the one for the EUR/USD starts from 0.6 pips. The minimum deposit is GBP500 and the leverage can be up to 1:30 for retail clients. However, spreads are different depending on the chosen platform (MT4 or the own one).

Market Maker or STP Brokerage?

The section “How we execute your orders” in the Order Execution Policy document shows that Intertrader deals with you as principal (and not as agent) when executing your orders; therefore, Intertrader is your only “execution venue”. When dealing with the company, you transact directly with it and not on any exchange or other external market or venue. On the other hand, Intertrader has arrangements with different execution parties (liquidity providers) which allow it to create back to back transactions. The client is provided with indicative quotes from the liquidity providers. When a client sends an execution request, this request is transmitted immediately by the company as an identical request to the designated liquidity provider. As Intertrader acts as a principal (and not as agent) in relation to contracts, it is the only execution venue in connection with your transactions. An identical order will be executed by the company with liquidity providers selected by Intertrader and through whom Intertrader transmits the order. All this means that Intertrader hedges 100% of client orders, the company claims. Although it acts as a market maker (counterparty and the only execution venue for client orders), it hedges 100% of the risk and the main conflict of interest does not seem to exist. Intertrader uses the STP model to execute customer orders as a kind of market maker.

The same document informs that due to movements in the underlying price, it is possible that the price may move quickly or erratically causing market slippage when Intertrader executes your orders; therefore, the price that you obtain at the time of execution may be markedly different to the order price.

In most cases when a stop loss order is triggered, it will be executed at the specified price or at the next available price governed by the underlying instruments price and depth. However, this is not guaranteed. In extreme market conditions where the price may need to change quickly due to changes in the underlying investment, the stop order would be filled as soon as possible but in these circumstances you would only be eligible for the price obtainable at the time the order was filled. This means that stop loss orders are non-guaranteed and will be filled at the next available market price.

Although the company claims it sticks to the newest ESMA requirements that include negative balance protection, we could not find any similar things mentioned in legal documents. Instead, the Risk Warning Notice says that your losses may exceed your deposits. The customer agreement file states that trading CFDs may result in losses that exceed your initial deposit.

Fees

In addition to the usual fees such as spreads and swaps, forex and shares trading is charged a commission. It is EUR6 per lot traded (100,000 units) when you trade through MT4. There is no inactivity fee, and you can determine when you will trade.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Customers can deposit funds to their accounts by bank transfer, by credit or debit card or by Skrill. The company does not accept cash deposits. Some bank transfers will incur a fee charged by your bank. Any charges will be deducted from the deposited amount. When you transfer funds from your Skrill wallet to Intertrader, Skrill will charge a commission for the transfer.

Withdrawal of the funds can be carried out only in the same way and in the same currency, which has been used for feeding up. It means that if you made your initial deposit by bank transfer funds must be returned to your bank, while if you made your initial deposit by card funds must be returned to the card (if possible, otherwise we will return funds to the bank account associated with the card.

Deposits and withdrawals are processed within one business day in the order of their arrival. However, please note that your bank or card provider may take up to three to five days to return the funds to your account.

 Intertrader reserves the right to refuse individual withdrawals under GBP100 unless you make a full withdrawal, for example to close your account.

Trading Platforms

You can trade through one of the most popular platforms in the industry – MetaTrader 4 (MT4). MetaTrader 4 provides fast order execution due to the company’s great liquidity. MetaTrader 4 is the leader of offering expert advisors (EAs). You can set up rule-based strategies for automatically placing orders. It incorporates 30 technical indicators and customized trading interface. You can use the desktop version and the mobile version for iOS or Android devices.

In addition, Intertrader offers its own web-based platform for spread betting and CFDs trading. It is designed with simplicity in mind, the company says. The platform is ticket based and to place an order you must call a ticket. Then clicking on the buy or sell button will place your order at a market price. You have free access to a full set of news and research tools including live audio news service from RAN squawk.

Assets

Forex – You have access to 47 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. The average spread for the EUR/USD pair depends on the chosen platform type and is around 0.3 pips for the MT4 account and 0.6 pips for the web platform account. Trading currency pairs in MT4 platform offers interbank spreads but is charged a commission.

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Indices – You can trade 14 of the global indices, such as DAX30 and ASX200. The spread for the DAX30 starts at 1 point for the MT4 account and between 1 and 5 points for the web platform account.

Commodities – 2 precious metals and 2 energy products are available for trading in the MT4 account, while 18 commodities are available in the web platform account. The spread for Gold starts at USD0.40 for the MT4 account and from USD0.40 for the web platform account.

Shares – UK, European and US stock exchanges accessing Level II market data. This service is available to professional traders only.

Cryptocurrencies – 5 cryptocurrencies are available for trading. The spread for Bitcoin starts at USD15 for MT4 account and from USD100 for the web platform account.

News and Insights

There is an information section containing an up-to-date economic calendar powered by Econday; comments and analyzes and explanations.

Summary

Intertrader has a GFSC regulation in Gibraltar and a limited FCA regulation, which allow it to provide financial services. It acts as a market maker, but immediately opens back to back orders that hedge the risk, avoiding the underlying conflict of interest associated with market makers. It calls this the market-neutral execution.  The company provides not so wide range of trading assets via the popular MT4 platform and through its own web terminal. There are two types of live accounts – spread betting account and CFD account. The MT4 account provides better spreads at the expense of commissions. Your first deposit must be no less than GBP500. Every other deposit on your account (excluding initial deposit) must be no less than GBP50, the company requires.