An account with no trading activity for four months is Dormant, and a dormant account can be charged 20 USD a month. At twelve months of no transactions it becomes Closed, and both Dormant and Closed accounts are frozen immediately.
Why this matters
Money left sitting in the account is eaten by the account itself, and once it is frozen the terms never say how you get the rest back.
Exhibit 1Every flagged clause gets its own number so you can point at this one. The number does not change, so a link to it keeps working.CriticalHow much this clause can cost you, in our reading. Critical can take your money or your profit. Warning can delay or limit it. Notice is simply worth knowing before you sign.Harder than usualHow ordinary this wording looks next to the contracts we read. This is our reading of the clause, not a count of other brokers.$20The figure this clause puts a number on, taken from the broker's own words.
Any account(s), held with Orbex, without any trading activity and/or accounts that are inactive and or remain non-operational and/or holding zero balance/equity for a period of four (4) months and more, are considered by Orbex to be Dormant accounts.
What it costsThe same clause worked out on a round number, so you can see it in money or in days. It is an example, not a quotation.A 500 dollar balance loses 20 dollars a month, so 25 charges clear it out. Long before that, at twelve months, the account is already Closed and frozen.
Firms licensed by the FCA and CySEC must give a retail client the costs and charges before that client trades, and inactivity charges are costs. Orbex puts this one on a trading conditions page, and the Seychelles agreement a client signs states a different figure.
Orbex is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.
What happens, and whenThe Trigger column is what has to happen first. Once that point is reached, the broker may do what the next column says. Every rung names the clause it came from, so you can check it.
| Trigger | What the broker may then do | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Four months of no trading | The account is classified as Dormant, which also covers accounts holding zero balance or equity. | |
| While Dormant | Orbex may charge 20 USD, 20 EUR, 20 GBP or 80 PLN every month. | |
| Twelve months of no transactions | The account is considered Closed on the first day after twelve months. | |
| Dormant or Closed | The account is frozen and the holder may not undertake any further transaction in it. |
- Worse together with Exhibit 9Read these two clauses together. Each one costs more because the other exists.The charge sits on a web page that the agreement says can be altered by publishing a new number there.