Overview of Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers, founded in the United States, offers a wide array of trading assets including stocks, ETFs, forex, bonds, options, and futures, providing traders with various opportunities across global markets.

However, risks have been raised about its legitimacy, with reports of the platform being identified as a suspicious clone. Traders are directly impacted by the platform's regulatory status, influencing oversight, transparency, and legal protections. Adherence to regulatory standards instills confidence among traders regarding the platform's reliability and security, while any suspicion or regulatory ambiguity may undermine trust and deter participation, emphasizing the importance of due diligence.

Is Interactive Brokers legit or a scam？

Interactive Brokers is identified as Suspicious Clone under various regulatory bodies such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

However, the presence of “Suspicious Clone” designations in some regions suggests potential regulatory risks. Traders on the platform are directly impacted by the regulatory status, as it influences the level of oversight, transparency, and legal protections afforded to their investments.

Adherence to regulatory standards instills confidence among traders regarding the platform's reliability and security, while any suspicion or regulatory ambiguity may undermine trust and deter participation. Thus, traders are likely to favor jurisdictions where Interactive Brokers maintains clear and reputable regulatory standing, ensuring a safer trading environment.

What are Clone Brokers？

The prevalence of clone brokers is increasingly alarming, as deceptive entities exploit the names of reputable firms to lure unsuspecting clients into believing they are trading with regulated forex firms.

These fraudulent companies go to great lengths, even utilizing the license numbers of legitimate brokers, to deceive traders into opening accounts with them. Remaining vigilant is paramount to avoid falling prey to such scams. Additionally, these unscrupulous entities resort to aggressive tactics, akin to boiler room operations, pressuring clients into opening accounts or increasing their deposits.

It's crucial to heed the adage: if something sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Traders must exercise caution and conduct thorough research before engaging with any brokerage firm to safeguard their investments and financial security.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Wide range of tradable assets: Interactive Brokers offers an extensive selection of tradable assets, including stocks, ETFs, forex, bonds, options, and futures. This diversity provides traders with ample opportunities to diversify their portfolios and explore various investment strategies, catering to different risk appetites and objectives.

• Access to global markets: The platform grants users access to a broad range of global markets, enabling them to trade securities and currencies from around the world. This global reach allows traders to capitalize on international market trends, economic developments, and geopolitical events, enhancing their trading flexibility and potential for profit.

Cons:

• Identified as Suspicious Clone: Some users have reported instances where Interactive Brokers was identified as a suspicious clone, potentially raising risks about the platform's legitimacy and trustworthiness. Such allegations can undermine user confidence and deter participation in trading activities.

• Limited customer support options: Interactive Brokers may offer limited options for customer support, which can lead to delays in addressing user inquiries, resolving issues, or providing assistance when needed. This lack of robust support channels may frustrate users and hinder their overall trading experience.

• Potential for technical glitches: Like any online platform, Interactive Brokers is susceptible to technical glitches or system failures, which can disrupt trading activities, cause delays in order execution, or lead to inaccuracies in account information. These technical issues may impede users' ability to trade effectively and impact their overall experience on the platform.

• Risk of exposure to scams: Users may face the risk of exposure to scams or fraudulent activities associated with Interactive Brokers, such as clone brokers attempting to deceive traders. Falling victim to such schemes can result in financial losses and damage to one's reputation, highlighting the importance of vigilance and due diligence when engaging with the platform.

Market Instruments

Interactive Brokers offers a wide range of tradable financial instruments on its platform.

Traders can access a variety of assets including Stocks, ETFs, Forex, Funds, Bonds, Options, Futures, CFDs, Cryptocurrencies, Warrants, and Structured Products.

This extensive selection provides traders with opportunities to diversify their investment portfolios and pursue different trading strategies across global markets.

With access to such a broad array of instruments, traders have the flexibility to capitalize on market opportunities and manage risk effectively.

Deposit & Withdrawal

Interactive Brokers offers a variety of payment methods to fund your account:

• Bank wire transfer: This is the most common and preferred method. It's free for most currencies.

• ACH transfer: This is another electronic transfer option available for US accounts. It's also free.

• Check: You can mail a check to Interactive Brokers. However, there may be processing fees and delays associated with this method.

• Wire transfer from another brokerage: You can transfer funds from another brokerage account to your Interactive Brokers account. This may be subject to fees from both brokers.

• Bill pay: This option is available for US accounts only. It allows you to pay your Interactive Brokers account from your bank's online bill pay service.

• Third-party deposits: Interactive Brokers generally discourages and rejects third-party deposits due to potential fraud and money laundering risks.

There is no minimum deposit required to open an Interactive Brokers account. This makes it a good option for beginners who want to start with a small amount of money.

Customer Support

Interactive Brokers provides the following contact information for customer support:

1. Twitter: @IBKR

2. Facebook: Interactive Brokers

3. Instagram: Interactive Brokers

4. YouTube: Interactive Brokers

5. LinkedIn: Interactive Brokers

These social media platforms serve as channels for reaching out to Interactive Brokers for support and assistance. However, Interactive Brokers' customer support lacks efficiency and responsiveness. Traders often encounter significant delays in receiving assistance, with support tickets remaining unresolved for extended periods. Communication channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn are available, but their effectiveness in addressing customer risks is questionable.

Exposure

Users have reported a single instance of exposure related to a pyramid scheme complaint, which unveiled a potential scam on the Interactive Brokers platform.

The complaint alleges that the platform induced clients to participate in activities, promising withdrawal options upon event completion. However, upon attempting to withdraw profits, users encountered obstacles, including unexpected tax requirements not deducted from the platform. The inability to access funds and unresponsive customer service exacerbates the situation for affected users. Such exposure to fraudulent activities undermines trust and confidence in the platform, potentially dissuading traders from engaging in further transactions.

Conclusion

This instance of Interactive Brokers is suspected to be a clone operated by a company known as Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. Notably, this particular iteration of Interactive Brokers lacks regulation, posing potential risks for traders. Therefore, it is advisable for traders to refrain from engaging with this broker.

General Information

Hantec Markets, one of the subsidiaries of the Hantac group, was established in 2008 in Australia as a new brand. Its business scope focuses on CFDs trading on forex, commodities, indices and bullion.

Demo account is available for practicing and trades can be executed on the world renowned MetaTrader4 and 5 platforms.

One exciting news is that the broker is decently regulated by ASIC (Australia Securities & Investment Commission) and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), proving a certain level of liability and legality. What's more, the broker implements fund segregation and negative balance to protect customer funds.

However, the company charges several fees such as commissions, overnight fees, conversion fees, etc., adding trading costs.

Pros and Cons

Is Hantec Markets Legit?

Yes, Hantec Markets is a legitimate and regulated forex broker that operates under the oversight of reputable financial regulatory bodies. It is officially regulated by ASIC (Australia Securities & Investment Commission) and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), with licenses numbering at 326907 and 502635 respectively.

Though its CGSE and VFSC licenses are suspected to be fake clones, but after investigation, the regulated entities are subsidiaries of the Hantec Group who has 19 offices around the globe, which means Hantec Markets does not necessarily duplicate these licenses.

Nonetheless, during the research, we found that the company holds a suspected clone license with number “関東財務局長（金商）第102号” from FSA (Financial Services Agency) as well. But the company name is “Gaitame Finest Company Limited”, not relating to Hantect Group at all. You should be vigilant about this alarming red flag since the company might deceiving clients in another company's name in some business areas.

Regulated Country	Regulator	Regulatory Status	Regulated Entity	License Type	License No.
	ASIC	Regulated	Hantec Markets (Australia) Pty Limited	Market Making (MM)	326907
	FCA	Regulated	Hantec Markets Limited	Market Making (MM)	502635
	CGSE	Suspicious Clone	亨達金銀投資有限公司	Type AA License	163
	VFSC	Suspicious Clone	Hantec Markets (V) Company Limited	Retail Forex License	40318
	FSA	Suspicious Clone	Gaitame Finest Company Limited	Retail Forex License	関東財務局長（金商）第102号

Market Instruments

Currency pairs, indices, commodities, metals, energies, stocks... Hantec Markets gives its clients access to a massive trading market. So, both beginners and sophisticated traders could find what they want to trade on Hantec Markets.

Account Type

Demo account: Hantec Markets offers a demo account for you to test a little on the financial market without the risk of losing money.

Real account: there are 2 types of real accounts in total: Cent account and Standard account.

The Cent account is said to target beginners who want to trade with less risks. The initial deposit requirement is affordable at $10, with spread starting from 1.2 pips. However, additional functions such as copy trading and demo account are not available with this account. You cannot practice before you start real trading or imitate trading strategies from successful traders.

While Standard account, with access to a full suite of Hantec features, also requires the same initial deposit of $10. Spread is tighter from 0.1 pips and copy trading/demo account is available.

In addition, there is a Swap Free Accounts that allows trading the following products without swap charges: EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, EURCAD, GBPCAD, EURGBP, CHFJPY, EURCHF, EURJPY, NZDUSD, AUDUSD, AUDNZD, USDCAD, GBPJPY, CADJPY, CADCHF, GBPCHF, XAGUSD, XAUUSD. However, if you hold a position for longer than one week in this account, a holding fee of 10 USD (or equivalent) per lot on FX and 30 USD (or equivalent) per lot on XAUUSD and XAGUSD per day will be charged.

Leverage

Hantec Markets offers a maximum leverage of up to 1:1000, which is a generous offer and ideal for professional traders and scalpers. However, since leverage can magnify your profits, it can also result in a loss of capital, especially for inexperienced traders. Therefore, traders must choose the right amount according to their risk tolerance.

Spreads and Commissions

Hantec Markets offers Forex trading with spreads starting from specified values for various currency pairs. There are no commissions charged for Forex trades. The spread type is floating, and the minimum order size is 0.01 lot. The trading conditions also include a stop-out level set at 40% of the used margin. Overall, Hantec Markets provides competitive spreads and transparent commission-free trading for Forex.

Trade major pairs like EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY:

EUR/USD spread: 0.00014898 pips

GBP/USD spread: 0.000213589 pips

USD/JPY spread: 0.022286942 pips

Hantec Markets offers precious metals trading with competitive spreads and floating spread types. Traders can trade gold (XAU) with a minimum margin requirement of 5% and silver (XAG) with a minimum margin requirement of 10%. The minimum order size for gold is 0.1 lot (10 ounces) and for silver is 0.1 lot (500 ounces). There are no commissions charged for trading these metals, and the trading hours are available according to the server time.

Hantec Markets offers CFD trading on a variety of symbols, including stocks. The spreads for stock CFDs start from specified values for each symbol. Additionally, there are no specific details provided regarding commissions for stock CFD trading.

Hantec Markets offers indices trading on various major indices in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the US. The spreads for indices trading start from specified values for each symbol. Additionally, there are no specific details provided regarding commissions for indices trading.

In terms of Commodity Trading conditions at Hantec Markets, both US Oil and UK Oil have a spread of 0.05. There are no specific details provided regarding commissions for commodity trading.

Hantec Markets offers cryptocurrency trading with competitive spreads on a range of popular cryptocurrencies.

Non-Trading Fees

Currency Conversion Fee:

A conversion fee may be applicable to trades based on the currency settings of your trading account, funding currency, and the settlement currency of the market being traded.

The conversion fee is set at 0.6% and is added to the settlement exchange rate, which is determined by the market rate at the time of settlement. To account for the conversion fee, the underlying exchange rate is multiplied by 1.006 during the conversion process.

For instance, if the GBP/USD exchange rate is 1.1, the applicable FX conversion rate would be 1.1 x 1.006 = 1.1066.

By default, CFD accounts are set to 'instant' conversion. This means that any realized profit, loss, funding, dividend adjustments, or commission will be automatically converted to your account's base currency.

Let's consider an example:

Suppose you have purchased £20 per point worth of FTSE (UK100), and the base currency of your trading account is USD. Since you are trading in GBP, which is different from your account's base currency, the related transactions need to be converted to USD.

Assuming the exchange rate is 0.7576 ($1 equals £0.7576), after incorporating the conversion fee of 0.6%, the conversion rate becomes 0.7576 x 1.006 = 0.7621.

If FTSE increases by 30 points, your profit would amount to £600. This profit will be reflected as £600/0.7621 = $787.30 in your account. To calculate the admin fee charged, multiply your profit by 0.6%:

$787.30 profit x 0.6% = £4.72 currency conversion fee (already included – not charged separately)

Overnight Funding (Swap charges):

Also known as the 'Swap' charge, this is the cost of holding a position overnight. The amount will be dependent on the size of your trade, whether you have a long or short position and the instrument you are trading. Swap rates are determined by the underlying interest rates of the products or currency pairs you have open positions in.

Trading Platforms

Hantec Markets offers two trading platforms for trades execution: the popular MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5.

Both platforms are widely recognized globally for its robust functions, built-in charting tools and techinical indicatiors and customized interface. Traders can configure settings of the platform according to their own preferences.

You can acess these two platforms via web on any devices, or download apps from Windows, iOS, Mac and Android devices.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Hantec Markets provides multiple payment methods:

Credit/Debit Card: Accepts USD, EUR, GBP, and NGN with a minimum deposit of $25 by Visa, Maestro, UK Debit Cards; no processing fees apply, and payment details must match the account name.

Skrill: Allows deposits in USD, EUR, GBP, and NGN with a minimum of $100; no processing fees, and account details must match.

NETELLER: Supports USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, NGN, and AUD with a minimum deposit of $100; no processing fees, and account details must match.

China UnionPay: Supports all Mainland Chinese cards; no minimum deposit specified and no processing fees.

Withdrawals are made via the original funding method, processed within 2-5 working days, and must match the account holders name.

Customer Support

Hantec Markets prides itself on providing excellent customer service to its clients. Each client is assigned a dedicated relationship manager who serves as their primary point of contact for any queries or issues. The relationship manager can be reached conveniently through the live chat tool available on the website.

The customer support team is also available 24/5 and can be contacted by leaving a message in the “contact us” section of the website.

Alternatively, you can reach out to them through the live chat feature, which is located at the lower right corner of the broker's website. Additionally, you have the option to contact customer support via telephone using the following numbers:

China – 4000280332

Nigeria – 7080601265

Jordan – 18442000155

Thailand – 1800019263

Taiwan – 886801491458

Pakistan – 080090044349

Main Office (UK) – +41225510215

Please note that international numbers may incur toll fees.

Office Locations:

Hantec Markets' main headquarters is situated at 5-6 Newbury St, Barbican, London EC1A 7HU in the United Kingdom. For the addresses of their Dubai, India, or other offices, please refer to the Hantec Markets website.

Education

Hantec Markets offers a wide range of educational resources on its website to support traders in their learning journey. These resources include market reports, analysis videos, YouTube webinars featuring Nigerian and African traders, as well as podcasts. Moreover, there is a dedicated learning hub that provides valuable content across four experience tiers, along with lessons on strategy creation and risk management.

Conclusion

Overall, Hantec Markets is a well-established forex broker with competitive spreads, transparent commission-free trading, and access to popular trading platforms like MT4 and MT5. Traders can benefit from various trading platforms and a diverse selection of tradable assets. However, some aspects, such as limited information about certain commissions and the availability of Hantec Social platform, could be improved. Traders should carefully assess their trading requirements and preferences, as well as consider the associated risks and costs, before choosing Garnet Trade as their trading platform.

FAQs

Is Hantec Markets a legitimate broker?

Yes, Hantec Markets is a legitimate and regulated forex broker. They are authorized and supervised by ASIC and FCA.

What account types do Hantec Markets offer?

Hantec Markets offers demo accounts, Cent accounts, and Standard accounts. The minimum deposit to open an account is just $10.

What trading platforms are available on Hantec Markets?

MT4 and MT5.

What is the maximum leverage offered by Hantec Markets?

Hantec Markets offers maximum leverage of 1:1000 for international clients using the Cent Account and 1:500 for international clients using the Standard Account. However, for European clients, leverage is limited by ESMA regulations to 1:30 for major FX pairs, 1:20 for minors and exotics, gold, and stock indices, and 1:10 for oil and silver.

What deposit and withdrawal methods are supported by Hantec Markets?

Hantec Markets supports Bank Wire, VISA, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, and UnionPay.