EC Markets

EC Markets Broker Overview

EC Markets is a forex and CFD broker that trades under one brand through six companies, each with its own country site and its own regulator. The global site at ecmarkets.com states in its footer that it is operated by EC Markets Limited, a Mauritius company licensed as an investment dealer by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission. Separate sites serve the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Seychelles, each run by a different group company. The broker advertises more than a decade of experience; the record dates the brand from April 2014 and its oldest group companies from 2010 and 2011.

The offering is built on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and the broker's own mobile app, across three account tiers that start at 10 US dollars. Leverage reaches 1:1000 on major currency pairs and metals, and the instrument range covers forex, precious metals, energies, indices, cryptocurrencies and stocks.

EC Markets Regulation and License

Six licences sit on the EC Markets record, held by four different group companies, and each one was confirmed on the issuing regulator's own register on 20 October 2026.

• Mauritius. EC Markets Limited holds an Investment Dealer licence, recorded as Full Service Dealer excluding Underwriting, granted on 20 June 2022 and carrying no annotations on the Financial Services Commission's online public register. This is the licence that reaches most clients, because the Mauritius company is the one that operates the global site. The register identifies the entry by company name, licence type and registered office rather than by a displayed number, and GB21200130 is the reference the broker publishes.
• United Kingdom. EC Markets Group Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 571881, with a status of Authorised on the Financial Services Register since 8 August 2012. Its permissions cover dealing in investments as principal and as agent, arranging deals in investments, arranging safeguarding and administration of assets and agreeing to carry on a regulated activity, and the entry records that the firm may hold and control client money. This company serves ecmarkets.co.uk.
• Australia. EC Markets Financial Limited holds Australian Financial Services Licence 414198, current on ASIC's AFS licensee record and effective from 17 February 2012, covering dealing in and making a market for derivatives and foreign exchange contracts for retail and wholesale clients. It serves ecmarkets.com.au.
• New Zealand. The same company is registered on the Financial Service Providers Register as FSP197465 from 14 February 2012 and, separately, is licensed by the Financial Markets Authority as a derivatives issuer from 20 January 2015, with retail and wholesale custodial client money services recorded. It belongs to the Financial Dispute Resolution Service under number FM1028, which gives New Zealand clients a redress route, and it serves ecmarkets.co.nz. The broker advertises this one only as an FSPR number, which understates the licence behind it.
• South Africa. EC Markets Financial Limited is an authorised financial services provider under FSP number 51886, recorded as Authorized from 17 May 2022. The entry is a Category I licence whose approved product line is derivative instruments, under the heading intermediary other, so what is licensed is intermediary work in that product class rather than advice.
• Seychelles. EC Markets Limited appears on the Seychelles Financial Services Authority's published securities dealer list, which carries the company for that activity. The authority publishes that list without licence numbers against the entries, so SD009 is the number the broker publishes on ecmarkets.sc.

The footer of the global site carries seven regulator badges rather than six. The seventh belongs to EC Markets Securities & Financial Promotion L.L.C in Dubai, which the broker states holds a Capital Market Authority category 5 licence numbered 20200000281 for ranking and advice, and which the same footer says is not authorised to hold client assets or client money. This review lists no licence for that company.

Is EC Markets Regulated?

Yes. Six licences across Mauritius, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Seychelles were each confirmed on the issuing regulator's own register on 20 October 2026. Which authority supervises your account depends on which EC Markets company you open it with, and for the global site that is the Mauritius company under the Financial Services Commission rather than the United Kingdom company under the Financial Conduct Authority.

The footer of the global site also states that its information is not intended for residents of the United Kingdom, the European Union or the United States, or for any jurisdiction where its distribution would breach local law, which is why the United Kingdom is served by its own site and its own company.

EC Markets Limited and the Group Companies

Six companies carry the EC Markets name on the record, and the one you contract with depends on the site you sign up through.

• EC Markets Limited, Mauritius, company number 188565 GBC, named in the footer as the operator of ecmarkets.com. The Mauritius Financial Services Commission's online public register listed the registration on 20 October 2026, with a registered address at The Cyberati Lounge, Ground Floor, The Catalyst, Silicon Avenue, 40 Cybercity, Ebene.
• EC Markets Limited (Seychelles), registered with the Registrar of Companies in Seychelles under number 8413793-1, at IMAD Complex, Office 4, 3rd Floor, Ile Du Port, Mahe.
• EC Markets Group Ltd, England and Wales, 07601714, registered at Parksworth House, 30 City Road, London EC1Y 2AY, and the holder of the FCA authorisation.
• EC Markets Financial Limited, New Zealand, 2446590, at Level 1, 1 Albert Street, Auckland, and the holder of the Australian, New Zealand and South African licences. It is also registered as a foreign company in Australia under ARBN 152 535 085 and as an external company in South Africa.
• EC Markets Securities & Financial Promotion L.L.C, Dubai, 2430405.
• EC Markets Global Ltd, England and Wales, 12193701, with no licence listed.

Two different companies are called EC Markets Limited, one in Mauritius and one in Seychelles, and they hold different licences. Read the footer of whichever site you are on before funding an account, because that is where the contracting company is named.

Is EC Markets Safe?

The regulatory foundation is solid and the client agreement behind it is where the caution lies. In its favour: six licences confirmed on their regulators' own registers, every country site naming its operating company and registration number, and the Mauritius operating company's registration confirmed on that island's own register with the address the broker publishes. Client money is held in a segregated client money bank account, an equivalent digital wallet or a client transaction account under clause 13.2 of the Mauritius client agreement.

Against that, a licence is not insurance, and the cover differs sharply by company. Eligible clients of the FCA authorised United Kingdom company may reach the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and New Zealand clients have the Financial Dispute Resolution Service. The South African and Mauritius licences carry no comparable compensation scheme, the Seychelles listing offers little practical protection in a dispute over client funds, and the broker's own risk disclosure states that customers deal with the company at their own risk and are not protected by any statutory compensation arrangements. The same clause 13.2 permits client money to be held outside Mauritius, where the protection available may be weaker, and the agreement's withdrawal clauses give the company wide latitude to hold a payment back.

EC Markets Account Types

Three tiers, and they differ on only three things: the minimum deposit, the spread and the commission.

• STD Account. From 10 US dollars, spreads from 1.0 pips, no commission.
• ECN Account. From 10 US dollars, spreads from 0.0 pips, commission of 1.50 US dollars per lot per side.
• PRO Account. From 5,000 US dollars, spreads from 0.0 pips, no commission. The broker states this tier averages 0.1 pips on EUR/USD, with pricing taken directly from its liquidity provider.

Everything else is the same across the three: the full instrument range, leverage up to 1:1000, a 0.01 lot minimum and a 50 lot maximum per open order, US dollar accounts, market execution, a margin call at 50% and a stop out at 30%. The one exception is swap free, which is available on request on STD and ECN and is not offered on PRO.

The account comparison also ticks negative balance protection on all three tiers, and the Mauritius client agreement does not bear that out. Clause 18.5 requires the client to indemnify the company for any debit balance on the account, and clause 14.12 has the client confirm they are willing and financially able to sustain more than the total loss of their funds. Treat the tick as a marketing statement until the company confirms in writing which entity applies it and on what terms.

EC Markets Spreads, Commissions and Fees

Spreads are variable and start at 1.0 pips on the STD account and 0.0 pips on ECN and PRO. Only the ECN account carries a per trade commission, at 1.50 US dollars per lot per side. Swap rates are adjusted daily at 00:00 GMT+2, and a position carried from Wednesday to Thursday is charged three days of interest.

Beyond that, EC Markets publishes no fee schedule. The Mauritius client agreement instead lets charges be agreed from time to time and allows administrative costs and a fee for keeping a dormant account. It also permits unclaimed balances to be released from the client bank accounts after a period of inactivity, with valid claims made good except where they total 25 US dollars or less. The broker advertises no deposit fees, which is a marketing statement rather than a contractual one.

The execution figures on the pricing page, an average execution speed of 0.004 seconds, 95.71% of orders filled at the requested price or better and a 99% successful execution rate, are footnoted as statistics for the EC Markets group of companies as a whole rather than for any one entity.

EC Markets Leverage

Up to 1:1000, but the headline applies to some asset classes and not others. The published ladder is 1:1000 on major and minor currency pairs and on metals, 1:100 on exotic currency pairs, 1:500 on indices, 1:400 on energies and 1:200 on cryptocurrencies. It is a fixed model that does not step down with account equity or trading volume, and it is identical across the three account tiers.

The company reserves the right to apply a maximum of 1:30 where it considers that necessary, and clients can set their own leverage lower in their account settings.

EC Markets Trading Platforms

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are both offered on Windows and Mac desktop and on iOS and Android, and are downloaded from the broker's client portal at crm.ecmarkets.com. The account comparison lists the same MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 access on all three tiers.

EC Markets also runs its own mobile app for iOS and Android, which adds watchlists, in-app market news and analysis, price and order alerts, and deposits and withdrawals from inside the app.

EC Markets Deposits and Withdrawals

EC Markets publishes no list of payment methods on its website, and its own documents do not agree on what it accepts. The Mauritius client agreement requires margin to be paid in cash by bank transfer into the segregated client bank account or an equivalent client money digital wallet, and rules out non-cash margin; money sent in another currency is converted at a rate the company sets, net of commissions. The broker's risk disclosure instead describes investments made by credit card, wire transfer or virtual card, with withdrawals made on a source to source basis, and its client onboarding document says all clients fund through bank transfer, naming SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd as the primary account. In practice funding happens inside the client portal once the account is approved, and the EC Markets App offers deposits and withdrawals from inside the app.

The broker advertises no deposit fees and withdrawals credited within two hours. Those are site-wide claims attached to no particular channel, and the client agreement sets no fee schedule and commits to no timeframe. Two clauses matter more than the headline. Clause 21.13 will not act on a withdrawal to bank details other than the ones originally provided, or on one that would take margin below what open positions require. Clause 21.14 allows the company to withhold all or part of a payment and suspend the account for up to six months while a regulatory investigation is concluded.

EC Markets Support

The contact page carries one direct channel, the email address support@ecmarkets.com, plus an enquiry form with subjects for deposits and withdrawals, trading accounts, KYC documents and leverage. A live chat widget runs on every page. Complaints go to a separate address, compliance@ecmarkets.mu, published in the broker's complaints handling policy and in the Mauritius client agreement. The contact page publishes no telephone number.

EC Markets advertises 24 hour online customer service on its pricing page. The site is published in thirteen languages, though it does not state which languages support is staffed in, and it hosts no FAQ or help centre of its own.

EC Markets Pros and Cons

Strengths:

• Six licences, each confirmed on the issuing regulator's own register, across Mauritius, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Seychelles.
• The Mauritius operating company's registration confirmed on that island's own register, with the registered address matching the one the broker publishes.
• Separate country sites that each name their operating company, registration number and regulator.
• Ombudsman and compensation access for eligible clients of the FCA authorised United Kingdom company, and an external dispute resolution scheme for New Zealand clients.
• A low entry point at 10 US dollars on two of the three tiers, with the same instruments and leverage ladder on all of them.
• MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 on desktop and mobile alongside the broker's own app.

Limitations:

• Clients of the global site contract with the Mauritius company, so the group's strongest licence, the United Kingdom one, does not reach them.
• No statutory compensation scheme for clients of the Mauritius, South African or Seychelles companies, as the broker's own risk disclosure states.
• Negative balance protection is ticked on every tier while the client agreement makes the client liable for any debit balance.
• No payment methods, fees, limits or processing times are published anywhere on the website, and three of the broker's own documents name three different funding routes.
• The client agreement sets no fee schedule and allows charges, including dormant account fees, to be agreed from time to time.
• Clause 21.14 permits a withdrawal to be withheld and the account suspended for up to six months during a regulatory investigation.
• Client money may be held outside Mauritius, where the protection available can be weaker.

EC Markets Review and Assessment

EC Markets is a long-running multi-entity brand whose regulatory disclosure is unusually legible and whose client agreement is where the real caution sits. Six licences, held by four companies across six jurisdictions, were each confirmed on the issuing regulator's own register, and every country site names the company, number and authority behind it. The trading offer is straightforward: three tiers that differ only on entry cost, spread and commission, a leverage ladder published by asset class, and the MetaTrader pair alongside a capable in-house app.

Two things deserve attention before funding. The first is which company you are actually dealing with, because the global site is operated from Mauritius and the group's tier one United Kingdom authorisation does not extend to it. The second is money movement: the website publishes no payment methods, fees, limits or processing times, the broker's own documents give three different answers on funding routes, and the agreement reserves charges rather than scheduling them while allowing a withdrawal to be held for up to six months during a regulatory investigation. Settle those terms in writing with the specific EC Markets company named in the footer of the site you are signing up through.