IKON Global Markets review

IKON Global Markets is a US-based financial company with the broker’s main base of operations situated in Wall Street, New York. The broker formally introduced its services to the Forex trading community back in 1999, and up until recently, the broker was regulated by the NFA and the CFTC of the US. The National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are two of the well-recognized regulatory agencies in the US that act tirelessly on creating different rules and regulatory framework for maintaining a safe and sound financial market. The NFA is the primary authority responsible for regulating and supervising all Forex brokers and allied non-banking financial firms in the country, whose operational guidelines are also stipulated by the CFTC.

Bonus	No
Regulation	NFA
Mobile	Yes
Instruments	Forex, Precious Metals, Equity Indices, Energies
Website	www.ikongm.com
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Trading Restrictions Imposed By The CFTC On IKON Global Markets & Other Forex Brokers

After the severe recession and economic meltdown of 2008, the CFTC and the NFA started working on a number of different regulatory policies that are aimed to reduce the risk to US investors. These agencies are aware that numerous pitfalls in the market are caused due to the volatility of the modern financial markets and issues with broker’s products and services. Most new regulatory policies are intended to reduce the risk to a trader, which are witnessed by the new CFTC rules that restrict the amount of freedom that Forex traders can utilize in the Forex market. The primary restriction enforced by the CFTC is the maximum cap on leverage, where traders can only use a maximum leverage of 1:50 on currency pairs and commodities. There have been talks by several experts about the CFTC’s intention to reduce the leverage to the levels enjoyed by stocks and equities, but as of now, NFA regulated Forex brokers will only be able to provide a maximum leverage of 1:50. Other CFTC rules on FX trading prevent traders from hedging on the same currency pair, scalping the Forex markets, or enjoying the freedom to open and close trades according to their preferences. Forex brokers regulated in the US are expected to incorporate FIFO (First In First Out) rules into their platforms, which essentially means that traders will have to close their positions in the order they were opened. FIFO rules also state that orders must be stacked together for trades initiated on a single currency pair at multiple intervals, thereby averaging out trades according to the market conditions. However, as of recent past, IKON Global Markets seems to have lost its regulatory license from the NFA, as the broker clearly states on their official website that they do not entertain clients from the US as of now. It is also not clear whether the company has suspended its Forex trading activities for global FX traders, but it is safe to assume that IKON Global Markets, or IKONGM, is no longer a regulated entity. Therefore, there is a significant threat of losing your money with the broker, especially if you are not careful about choosing a regulated Forex brokerage.

Some Additional Information On IKON Global Markets Forex Accounts

IKON Global Markets offers different types of trading accounts, including a diverse range of market maker and ECN accounts to suit different trader requirements. A trader will have to shell out a minimum of $1000 for a trading account, which is a bit too high for smaller retail traders, but IKON Global Markets clients do get a fair bit of protection from the NFA and the CFTC if the broker deviates from its regulatory guidelines. Understandably, depositing $1000 into a broker that has been deregulated by one of the leading regulatory agencies in the world may be a risky venture, especially due to the increasing amount of broker scams and financial malpractices in the market. For a $1000 minimum deposit, traders can get access to Micro, Standard, and ECN accounts with a maximum IKON Global Markets leverage of 1:50. It is worth understanding that the tough CFTC rules do require brokers to specify larger minimum capital requirements, and it is usually difficult to find Forex broker in the US that offers a smaller account option. As per the CFTC and NFA guidelines, it is illegal for US citizens to trade with any overseas broker, thereby limiting their options to choose their preferred brokers in the US. Therefore, it is paramount for traders to be aware of all the Forex trading conditions imposed by the NFA and the CFTC before investing their money in a US-based Forex trading firm. IKON Global Markets offers different market access protocols, including market maker and ECN accounts, which brings IKON Global Markets spreads to a competitive range. Expect ECN accounts to offer spreads as low as 0 pips, while Micro and Standard accounts can quote spreads starting from 0.8 pips. Of course, ECN accounts also have additional commissions per trade, which are paid directly to the broker for compensating for the tight trading spreads. IKON Global Markets only supports credit card payments and bank wire transfers as acceptable forms for deposits and withdrawals. The company does not offer any other payment methods, and this is indeed a problem for traders that wish to use online payment processors or e-wallets that are more convenient than traditional forms of payments. Modern traders highly prefer e-wallets due to their ease of use and the speed of online payments, and we do feel that IKON Global Markets could have added these options to their payments list.

Access To Other Markets & IKON Global Markets Platforms

IKON Global Markets also provides access to FX options, futures, commodities, spot metals, and equities along with the regular Forex currency pairs. All of these financial products are offered through proprietary IKON Global Markets trading platforms such as the IKON Prodigy and the IKON Futures platforms. These independent trading platforms are developed by the company’s own programmers and in-house platform specialists, which provide a wide range of trading tools, indicators, and market analytics programs for performing a thorough evaluation of the markets. Regrettably, mobile traders don’t get access to any mobile apps or web trading interfaces, which is presumably a huge risk that is taken by the company while dealing with the modern Forex market.

Would We Recommend IKON Global Markets?

In reality, we do not recommend non-regulated Forex brokers, due to the obvious reasons such as safety of funds and the overall trading experience. Most new traders expect their Forex brokers to offer the best trading platforms for desktop and mobile trading, which is not available at IKON Global Markets. The lacks of any incentives or other standout trading features also contribute significantly to our recommendation of avoiding the company if possible. Instead, we do have other Forex brokers that offer far better Forex brokerage services according to the requirements of our readers. Some of these recommended brokers also provide custom-tailored services to US traders according to the regulations prescribed by the NFA and the CFTC.