10 Australian Forex brokers with high leverage (Feb 2023)

Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.

There are many excellent brokers which are licensed within Australia. These firms provide access to safe trading at excellent conditions, which is why they have managed to capture the attention of clients from far beyond the Pacific region. Recent developments in the regulatory policies of the ASIC – the Australian market watchdog, have managed to change the said environment. If you are looking for a Forex broker with a high leverage, that will be difficult to find. In the current article we will examine why that is, as well as list the top ten best Australian Forex brokers who might provide what you are looking for:

High leverage trading – a thing of the past? 

Almost all CFDs are traded at leverage, because that is a very useful tool for making profits. Brokers allow you to enter trades with higher amounts of money than what you have deposited. The leverage on each trade represents just that – the ratio of your money to the money offered by the broker. A ratio of 1:10 means your broker has given you $10 for each $1 you have entered the trade with.

That is why leverage is so sought after – in the example above, it allows you to profit from a certain position as if you have put in ten times as much money within it. Of course, if you lose, you also stand to lose much more. If the positions you open cause you to lose all money from what you have deposited, the broker will exit them automatically, triggering what is known as a margin call. It follows that the greater leverage you use, the faster that can happen, and the less control you have over your losing positions.

In the past, it was common for any broker to offer high leverage to their traders. Amounts from 1:500 to even 1:2000 were somewhat common. That changed with a growing international consensus that not anyone can deal with the risks that come from high leverage. Japan, the United States, the EU all introduced regulatory measures, in the last decade, to better address that issue. Australia was reluctant to join them and adopt a tighter regulation over leverage, but that changed in 2020, when the ASIC introduced new measures that would take place during 2021. Here is how that has shaped the markets in the two years following the measures:

The consequences of the 2021 ASIC crackdown on leverage 

The rules introduced by the regulatory body in 2021 had a high impact on the markets. These included a restriction in the leverage available to retail clients to up to 1:30. There was also adoption of several regulatory rules from the policies the EU has used to regulate its markets. These include the provision of a Negative Balance protection, for instance. In the case of a margin call, a broker bound by such a regulatory requirement will limit your losses to the amount of money you have deposited.

The results of these new measures were made public by the ASIC in 2022, which then recounted a massive reduction in client losses and a high drop in margin calls in particular. Therefore, the policy was quite successful in the goals it tacked, reducing risks for inexperienced investors. If you are looking for a higher leverage, though, there is a way to get that from any licensed ASIC broker.

The companies have two categories of clients they serve – retail traders and qualified traders. The latter have access to higher-risk strategies of tackling the markets, like more leverage. At the same time, they give up the protections which are available to them, like the Negative Balance protection we mentioned. To get access to this status, you need to meet the eligibility criteria, for which you need to turn to the broker you have chosen. These include you proving that one of the following applies to you: First, you can apply if you have a certain amount of net worth – AUD 2.5 million. You can also apply if you have an annual income of AUD 100 000 and some level of experience in the financial sector. Finally, you can obtain the status of a Financial Services Licensee with the ASIC.

Here are the best firms that operate from Australia currently, to help you pick who to turn to in particular:

Top 10 Australian Forex brokers in February 2023

1. FP Markets

Professional clients with FP Markets can enjoy not only low cost trading, but also access to the Iress trading platform. It has been designed with the high-volume trader in mind, and contains various streams of market data from all continents. They are filtered in a very intuitive way, which makes accessing the vital information a breeze. When it comes to the volatile Forex markets, a lot of unexpected events from all over the world can take place and affect the prices of the assets – so being well-informed of them really helps. And Iress in particular will help with that!

2. Pepperstone 

Speaking of alternatives to Metatrader 5, the next broker in our list, Pepperstone offers the best one currently on the markets. This is cTrader, a platform designed to rival the industry standard itself. It even has automated trading, which is not actually present with most competitors of MT5. The software is only available with a few select brokers, as its developer is very cautious who it issues licenses to. You will see it is only present with two of the firms within this list. But, if you are not looking to trade on a new platform, Pepperstone has access to both MT5 and the older platform – MT4. This means it has pretty much the best software out there to offer. To match, with extremely low spreads and a fair pricing model, this broker is highly competitive!

3. FBS

FBS is one of the best Forex brokers around the world, and it is known to provide traders with excellent trading conditions. What makes the firm stand out, however, is the access to information it has to offer its traders. There is a curated set of analytical information which contains highly relevant news, daily and weekly market analysis and ForexTV. We consider the latter to be especially noteworthy and unique to the firm. ForexTV is a series of videos it hosts, which contain crucial information. This includes trading ideas and market overviews. The video format keeps them light and easily digestible. Experienced traders in particular will benefit from the Weekly outlook section in particular.

4. TMGM 

Professional traders often opt in for ECN brokers. That is because such firms usually have a higher speed of execution and connect directly to various liquidity providers, leading to reduced spreads. TMGM is one of these firms, with spreads kept at 0 pips or at 0.1 pips for its Edge accounts. The commission it charges for this access to world-class trade execution is also quite reasonable. It sits at $7 per round turn, which is incredibly competitive. And if you prefer spreads, a spread based model is also available. It has no commission and the same ECN execution type, which means the spreads on it rarely depart from the 1 pip minimum they are set to!

5. FXCM 

Metatrader 4 and later its successor, Metatrader 5, are the two most used trading platforms out there. That makes sense, given their useful and versatile features, but it is sometimes beneficial to step outside of one’s comfort zone. FXCM provides you with some excellent alternatives, in the face of NinjaTrade, Trade Station and Zulu Trade. Of course, when trading on them you will have access to the excellent conditions of the broker itself!

6. IC Markets 

IC Markets stands out from its competition because of the VPS services it provides access to. This service means trading on a dedicated, personal server, which provides you with several benefits. For instance, you don’t have to worry about server outages or lack of capacity as much. VPS servers are also a great place to test Expert Advisors. The distribution of Metatrader 4 offered by IC Markets comes with a VPS plugin, and the broker is committed to helping out with the installation of any EAs you might want to utilize. Usually, VPS services come with a subscription with your broker. That is not the case with this one, which just provides access to it for free.

7. OANDA 

OANDA has been on the markets since 1989. In that time, the broker has managed to establish itself as one of the most reliable companies in markets from all over the world. As you can see in the table above, it has successfully obtained licenses with a large number of regulatory bodies. With its years of experience under its belt, this broker has collected decades of data on the movements of prices, which can prove invaluable to a professional trader. It even provides up to 180 days of such data for free, with a reasonable subscription model for full access.

8. IG

If you want to to trade algorithmically, with EAs, one of the best places to go would be IG. The broker provides extensive support for the service, with several notable facts about it. First, you can use a wide range of pre-built trading bots. Secondly, the firm will help you design your own from scratch. You can contact the support line of the firm with any questions Monday through Friday and get assisted. Third, you can use the Backtesting feature for the bots you create – this will allow you to try them out on historical market conditions to gauge how effective they are. All of that means IG is one of the best brokers with which you can delve deep into EAs!

9. CMC Markets 

CMC Markets provides access to high leveraged trading on conventional CFDs for professionals. However, its CMC Pro account would allow you to also make use of a certain instrument which is not commonly available in Australia. That is Spread betting. Using this mode of trading, you can profit from the movements of the spreads on assets themselves. This is very popular in the UK, because it is tax free there, but it can be interesting for traders from all over the world as well. At the same time, there are not that many mainstream firms which offer it – so if you are interested, check out this particular one!

10. Fortrade 

Last but not least in our list is Fortrade – a large Australian broker, which has access to CFDs on various asset classes. Its several crypto-based CFDs can be of interest to the experienced trader in particular. Even though the interest in trading crypto is pretty high, finding a reliable broker to make use of can be difficult. The market is known for being infested with scammers and that is why if you want to engage with digital assets you need a licensed firm by your side. Fortrade can provide you with just that!