Forex Brokers in France

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Currency trading is popular in France, especially for those who want to speculate on falling or rising prices of the EURO. There are many EURO based currency pairs including the EUR/USD, EUR/CHF and EUR/GBP. Whilst the majority of forex brokers that are regulated in Europe (EU) can accept clients from France, it can be considered an additional benefit if the broker is also authorised by the Autorite Des Marches Financiers (AMF), which is the financial regulatory body in France. Although this is not requirement, it can give traders located in France some protection. The AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information. The AMF also supervises the orderly operations of markets.

Best forex brokers France

To find the best forex brokers in France, we created a list of all EU regulated brokers, then ranked them by their overall rating. Below is our list of the top forex brokers for France.

ADGM FRSA, ASIC, BVIFSC, CBI, FFAJ, FSCA, IIROC, JFSA

$100

2006

1:400

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FINMA, FMA, FSA, FSCA, JFSA, MAFF, MAS, METI, NFA

$250

1974

1:200

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, BaFin, CMA, CySEC, DFSA, FCA, SCB

$200

2010

1:400

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, IFSC

2009

1:888

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, FSA, SCB

$200

2007

1:500

Review Trade Trade

AMF forex brokers in France

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) regulates participants and products in France’s financial markets. It regulates, authorises, monitors, and, where necessary conducts investigations and issues sanctions. In addition, it ensures that investors receive material information, and provides a mediation service to assist them in disputes.

The AMF is unique in that it oversees, in an integrated manner, the areas of insurance, securities, derivatives, deposit institutions, other than banks and the distribution of financial products and services such as those provided by forex brokers.

The AMF was established by France’s legislature in 2003 and coordinates its activities with other French regulators, especially in the banking and insurance sectors, and cooperates actively with its European and international counterparts. It consults regularly with professionals, investors and academics in an effort to take financial regulation forward.

How to verify AMF regulated brokers

With the objective of protecting investors, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) regularly update their black lists of websites identified as offering investments in the unregulated foreign exchange (Forex) market and in derivative products without being authorized to do so.

To identify if a forex broker is licensed to operate in France, the first step is to identify the regulation number from the disclosure text at the bottom of the brokers homepage. Next, you can look up the brokerage with the AMF register to validate if the regulation is legitimate.

Is forex trading legal in France?

On French soil, it is currently lawful to trade currencies against each other on the Forex markets, provided that the brokers providing the services have secured authorisation from the regional authority, the AMF. The Financial Security Act of 2003, whose enforcement also led to the foundation of the AMF, has regulations that regulate the Forex market.

All brokerage firms who are willing to work with French people must guarantee stop losses on their clients’ positions. Unavoidably, traders must set a stop loss before opening a position. Once the order has been carried out, the stop-loss level cannot be raised. French clients can thus suffer a less loss than was first projected for the relevant position.

The French regulation also mandates that authorized brokerages must offer their clients protection against negative balances. Customers are protected by this policy from losing more than the available balance in their trading accounts, especially when making leveraged derivatives investments. Professional trading accounts are exempt from the protection against negative balances, nevertheless.

While we’re talking about derivatives, purchasing contracts for difference (CFDs) is also permitted in the nation, however there are some limits because of the high amount of risk associated with trading such volatile securities. The limitations became effective at the start of August 2019.

The new safety precautions are an extension of the limitations put in place by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) the year prior. They relate to the promotion, supply, and sale of CFDs to retail investors in France.

For foreign exchange CFDs, the maximum leverage should not exceed 30:1 for major pairings and 20:1 for smaller pairs. Due to the much quicker price changes in minor pairings, the limit is smaller.

The general guideline for leverage restrictions is that the maximum leverage that is allowed must be lower the more volatile a particular financial product is.

Brokerages must also be open and honest about the percentage of clients who lose money due to leveraged derivatives. They must make this percentage readily visible for all customers to observe on their websites.

The percentage of losers is significant because it gives insight into how well brokerage firms execute trades, how well they educate their clients, and other factors. In reality, this ought to be one of the most important things to take into account before selecting a brokerage.

Margin-related requirements must also be satisfied. Brokers must close open trades for their clients anytime the account balance falls below the minimum statutory margin of 50%.

However, this is not all. The banking regulator made it illegal to advertise over-the-counter derivatives with leverage more than 5:1 in 2017. All leveraged derivatives, including Forex, CFDs, and binary options, are subject to the marketing limitations.