By choosing an ECN forex broker, you can get lower spreads as there is no dealing desk. Below, lists the ECN forex accounts from the best forex brokers varied by criteria such as minimum deposit requirements, trading platforms and CFDs offered.
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| Broker Review | Our Rating | Minimum Deposit | EUR/USD Spread |
GBP/USD Spread |
EUR/GBP Spread |
USD/JPY Spread |
AUD/USD Spread |
USD/CAD Spread |
Visit Broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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85 | $0 | 0.02 | 0.23 | 0.17 | 0.62 | - | 0.83 |
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52 | $0 | - | - | - | - | - |
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67 | $0 | 0.44 | 0.85 | 0.42 | 1.2 | - | 1.3 |
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62 | $500 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 | - | 2 |
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After a thorough analysis of brokerage services, we chose Pepperstone as the top ECN Forex broker for Singaporean traders based on its fast execution speeds, low commissions (using cTrader) and diverse range of ECN platforms. Although Pepperstone is not a MAS-regulated broker, you will be onboarded by the CySEC authority in Cyprus. Pepperston
Fastest Execution Speeds in Singapore
We put Pepperstone under rigorous testing to assess its order execution speeds compared to other ECN forex brokers.
Among the top 20 MT4 brokers we tested, Pepperstone ranks the fastest in Singapore. The broker boasts execution speeds of 77ms for limit orders and 100ms for market orders, placing it third overall in our evaluation but first for Singapore traders.
We considered speeds of under 100ms very fast for ECN brokers, which translated to lower latency (the time delay between an order being placed and its execution) during our tests which reduced our slippage (loss from trades) overall with Pepperstone.
Low Commissions and Good ECN trading Conditions
While Pepperstone offer two account types, a commission-free Standard account and low-spread Razor account, its the broker’s Razor Account that facilitates the best ECN-like trading conditions with competitive spreads, fast execution speeds and low commissions.
From our trading experience with Pepperstone, the broker has low commissions, particularly if you use the cTrader platform at USD $6 per trade, round turn. Should you choose any other platform (MT4, MT5 or TradingView), your commissions will be the industry standard of $7 per trade, round turn.
Pepperstone also offers highly competitive RAW/ECN-like spreads, averaging at 0.10 pips for EUR/USD. This is notably lower than the industry average of 0.22 pips, as observed by our team from our published spreads analysis of 40 top ECN brokers.
We discovered one key reason for Pepperstone’s excellent low trading costs and excellent ECN trading conditions is the access to 20 liquidity providers operating in global markets.
Diverse Range of Platforms for ECN Trading
You can trade with ECN-like trading conditions on four different forex trading platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. From our testing, all these platforms offer tools to develop your trading strategies, including customisable charting, strategy backtesting, Expert Advisors (MT4) and copy trading.
Where Pepperstone stands out to us, however, is in its array of add-ons and advanced trading tools specifically for the MetaTrader platforms. The Smart Trader Tools add-on, in particular, consists of 13 Expert Advisors and 15 indicators to develop sophisticated trading strategies.
View Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone
Diverse Range of Platforms for ECN Trading
You can trade with ECN-like trading conditions on four different forex trading platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. From our testing, all these platforms offer tools to develop your trading strategies, including customisable charting, strategy backtesting, Expert Advisors (MT4) and copy trading.
Where Pepperstone stands out to us, however, is in its array of add-ons and advanced trading tools specifically for the MetaTrader platforms. The Smart Trader Tools add-on, in particular, consists of 13 Expert Advisors and 15 indicators to develop sophisticated trading strategies.
Lowest ECN Spreads Account
As an ECN broker, IC Markets offers two retail investor accounts which both offer some of the lowest spreads we’ve seen.
For its Standard, no commission, account, IC Markets stood out with the lowest spreads we tested, averaging 1.03 pips across the major USD currency pairs like EUR/USD and USD/JPY. This is ultra-competitive against the tested average of 1.50 pips and the next nearest competitor, CMC Markets, at 1.11 pips.
For its RAW Spread account, IC Markets averaged spreads of 0.32 pips, placing it third overall on our list. This was significantly lower than the tested average of 0.50 pips, highlighting how competitive IC Markets’ spreads are.
While IC Markets charges the industry standard $3.50 commission per side, you can open a RAW Spread account with as little as a $200 minimum deposit and no deposit or withdrawal fees.
For traders of Islamic faith, you can even open a swap-free account, where a flat overnight commission is charged if holding leveraged positions, compared to the standard percentage-based financing fees.
| Tested Raw Spread | |
|---|---|
| Broker | Combined for major pairs we tested |
| Fusion Markets | 0.22 |
| City Index | 0.25 |
| IC Markets | 0.32 |
| TMGM | 0.32 |
| Pepperstone | 0.36 |
| FP Markets | 0.41 |
| Blueberry Markets | 0.43 |
| GO Markets | 0.46 |
| ThinkMarkets | 0.46 |
| Tickmill | 0.47 |
| Eightcap | 0.5 |
| Axi | 0.73 |
| CMC Markets | 0.73 |
| Admirals | 0.79 |
| BlackBull Markets | 0.94 |
Advanced MT4 Trading Tools
IC Markets gives you a choice of four reliable third-party trading platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader and TradingView. Each platform has different trading tools and products on offer.
While we enjoy MT5’s robust range of trading tools, the cTrader Copy feature for copy trading and TradingView’s powerful charting experience, it is the broker’s MT4 Advanced Trading tools that stood out to us.
You can take advantage of an additional 20 trading tools to enhance the popular forex trading platform, including an alarm manager, correlation matrix and our personal favourite, stealth orders, which let us hide our entry and exit levels from the market when we placed orders.
This gave us the double advantage of getting ahead of the market and earning more positive slippage at times (though it also meant we could lose more slippage than a normal order).
From our extensive analysis, Interactive Brokers is one of the top MAS-regulated brokers that has the lowest ECN spreads for high-volume traders. With complex trading platforms and a complex fee structure, we recommend IBKR for experienced, active traders.
Discounts for High Volume Traders
Given that Interactive Brokers derives its market prices from 16 global exchange dealers, there are no markup or fees built into the spreads, with ECN-like spreads as low as 0.1 pips for EUR/USD.
From our testing, where you will gain the most benefit as an Interactive Brokers client is through the broker’s tiered volume-based commission structure where fees depend on your monthly trading volume.
High-volume traders are rewarded with lower commission fees ranging from 0.08-0.2% (as highlighted in the table below). Additionally, IBKR Pro Account clients will earn interest on idle cash balances over $10,000.
One slight downside to Interactive Brokers is that a high inactivity fee of up to $20 a month is imposed if you do not generate at least $20 in commissions or maintain a balance of $100,000. Likewise, a $10 inactivity fee is imposed if commission fees are less than $10 per month, or your balance drops below $2,000.
Sophisticated Platforms and Product Range
Interactive Brokers not only offers sophisticated proprietary platforms, but you can trade a mind-boggling range of 1 million markets.
As well as being able to trade CFDs and foreign exchange markets, you can also trade complex derivatives such as options, ETFs and mutual funds.
Not only is this ideal for experienced traders to diversify their portfolios with a wide range of trading instruments, but such an extensive market range also allows you to exploit the ECN-like tight spreads and low commissions that Interactive Brokers offers.
Axi (formally AxiTrader) offers the best MetaTrader ECN Account, designed for experienced traders wanting access to ECN-like spreads and fast execution speeds. Similar to an ECN trading environment, the MT4 Pro account provides traders spreads as low as 0.0 pips due to Axi working with top-tier international liquidity providers.
MT4 Pro Account Spreads
While Axi offers a Standard account for beginners and an Elite account for experienced traders, we like the MT4 Pro Account due to its competitive spreads and $0 minimum deposit.
While there are commissions of USD 3.50 per side, the MT4 Pro account offers competitive spreads averaging 0.2 pips for USD/JPY, 0.3 pips for EUR/JPY and 0.4 pips for EUR/GBP, which are all under the tested industry average of 0.38 pips, 0.74 pips and 0.57 pips respectively.
Fast MT4 Execution Speeds
When we traded the forex markets on Axi’s MT4 demo account, we found the broker had fast execution speeds, particularly for limit orders. The broker averaged speeds of 90ms for limit orders, which, being under 100ms, is very fast and put it in the top 4 brokers we tested.
Having fast execution speeds proves the superior ECN trading conditions Axi has and resulted in lower latency in our trading meaning less slippage (losses from trading) overall.
Axi’s Pro account is designed for MetaTrader4, with features such as Autochartist and Expert Advisors for automated trading available. To download MetaTrader’s latest MT4 software NextGen for free, traders require a minimum deposit of $1,000. The latest MT4 NextGen platform includes features such as a correlation trader, sentiment indicator, alarm manager, economic calendar, forex news, session map, as well as an automated trade journal.
Trading Platform
MetaTrader 4
Regulation
ASIC (Australia), FCA (UK), FMA (NZ)
Products
Foreign Currency, Cryptocurrency, ETFs, CFDs, Bonds, Shares, Commodities, Oil
IG Markets is a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulated broker that accepts clients from Singapore as well as internationally. A minimum deposit of $450 is required to open an account, with deposits and withdrawals incurring a 2.3% fee. In addition to IG Markets standard CFD trading account that gives traders access to over 16,000 financial instruments, the forex broker offers Direct Market Access (DMA) to ECN-type marketplaces and liquidity providers.
DMA execution provides forex traders ECN-like spreads with orders placed directly onto an exchanges order book. As there is no intermediary, clients can view both sides of the order book for a certain market. With the ability to view all current orders, DMA users can assess market liquidity, determine market sentiment, and trade accordingly.
IG Markets DMA prices are derived from market makers such as currency exchanges, banks and liquidity providers resulting in ECN-like spreads of 0.165 pips for EUR/USD. Commission fees are structured to reward high volume Forex Direct traders, ranging from $10 to $60 per $1,000,000.
L2 Dealer is IG Markets proprietary DMA platform for ECN-type trading. The DMA platform gives traders access to a vast range of order types, live market news, and ladder dealing. Although the platform was designed for trading DMA shares and forex, investors also have access to OTC forex and shares, as well as the benefits of spread betting.
Platforms
L2 Dealer (Desktop DMA platform), iOS and Android Apps
Regulation
MAS (Singapore), FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), FMA (New Zealand), DSFA (Dubai), FINMA (Switzerland), FSCA (South Africa), CFTC (US), JFSA (Japan)
Products
Forex (OTC or DMA), Shares (OTC or DMA), Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Indices and Options
The Cyprus-based broker FXTM launched its ECN Zero account in 2013. Straight through processing (STP) and no dealing desk (NDD) technology provides ECN Zero clients access to highly competitive spreads with no commission fees attached to trades. FXTM allows hedging and scalping, with highly volatile prices creating an excellent environment for scalping.
ECN Zero clients are required to make a minimum deposit of $200 but gain access to leverage well above the market average of up to 1000:1.
The ECN Zero account is designed for Islamic traders. Yet, the swap-free account is only available on MetaTrader 4.
Platforms
MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 – Mobile, Web and Desktop (Windows, Android, and iOS)
Regulation
FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus). Traders in Singapore will sign with Exinity Limited which means you will be regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius.
Products
Currency pairs, Commodities, Indices, Stocks, Cryptocurrency
FxPro’s MT4 account is a commission-free account that offers clients either instant or market order execution, both with no dealing desk (NDD) intervention. Clients preferring instant order execution will receive access to spreads of 1.71, while market order execution spreads average 1.58 pips. FxPro’s spreads are much higher than other ECN type accounts such as FXTM ECN Zero Account or Pepperstone’s Razor Account.
Although FxPro is not an STP broker, NDD intervention means trades are executed in less than 11.06ms. Advantages of FxPro’s MT4 account include the allowance for hedging as well as greater market access. FxPro’s MT5 Account doesn’t allow Share CFD trading or hedging, while FxPro’s cTrader Account doesn’t support Share or Future CFDs.
FxPro offers demo and Micro accounts and recommends an initial deposit of $500.
Trading Platforms
MetaTrader 4 – Desktop, WebTrader, Android and iOS
Regulation
FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus), FSCA (South Africa). Traders in Singapore will have regulation from the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) which is part of FxPro Global Markets Limited
Products
Forex, Metals, Futures, Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies
*Your capital is at risk ‘84.69% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Saxo Bank is a popular broker in Southeast Asia and is MAS regulated that connects traders with international capital markets. The forex broker that provides clients’ market access to 182 forex pairs, over 9,000 CFDs, and a range of ETFs, Futures, Commodities, Stocks, and Bonds. The forex broker’s ECN-like spreads result from Saxo deriving prices from tier 1 liquidity providers such as ECNs, market-making firms, and banks.
Active traders can upgrade corporate and retail investor accounts to VIP status and gain access to tighter spreads among other benefits. VIP clients gain access to spreads as tight as 0.4 pips on currency pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/JPY and USD/JPY, compared to 0.6-0.7 pips for standard accounts. Saxo’s VIP account is best suited to high-volume traders due to the minimum deposit of SGD $1 million.
Although the high initial minimum deposit, Saxo VIP clients are appointed a dedicated relationship manager to provide priority customer service. Relationship managers offer a range of services for VIP clients, from assisting with sophisticated orders to providing insight into risk management strategies and the latest market movements. Additionally, clients are invited to exclusive VIP events as well as meetings with the Saxo team to develop trading strategies and perfect risk management techniques.
Trading Platforms
SaxoTraderPRO, SaxoTraderGO, Saxo Investor are compatible with iOS, Android and Windows
Regulation
MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore), FSA (Denmark), CySEC (Cyprus), FCA (United Kingdom) and ASIC (Australia)
Products
Currency pairs, CFDs, Stocks, Commodities, Futures, Bonds, ETFs, Listed Options, Mutual Funds (No Cryptocurrency)
Residents of Singapore can legally trade forex in Singapore. Domestic brokers based in Singapore are regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), while other international forex brokers are regulated by top-tier authorities such as ASIC and FCA. MAS promotes efficient and competitive financial markets, with Singapore residents who participate in financial markets in addition to their regular occupation enjoying tax-free capital gains on forex trades.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore acts as the country’s central bank and regulator of financial markets. Singapore is the fifth largest forex trading centre in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. MAS ensures Singapore’s financial markets are upheld to the high standards seen in global markets such as the United Kingdom and Australia. As with ASIC (AU) and FCA (UK) regulations, MAS-regulated brokers are required to hold traders’ funds in segregated accounts where the money is prohibited from being used as operational capital.
As cryptocurrency is a highly volatile asset, trading Bitcoin etc is considered high risk. It is worth noting that MAS does not offer any legislative protection or risk warning regarding cryptocurrency trading. This is due to cryptocurrency assets not being classed as legal tender, yet MAS recently announced the authority is initiating steps to begin regulating instruments such as Bitcoin. View more on our MAS CFD broker page. View our ECN Brokers if you’re considering choosing a broker regulated with another leading regulatory body from ASIC to the FCA.
You can view each category by navigating back to the compare forex brokers SG homepage which lists the other lists of brokers by attribute.
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