Forex Brokers in Ireland

Trading currencies online has grown in popularity with forex traders in Ireland. There is certainly not a shortage of international brokers that provide trading products and services to residents of Ireland, although it can be advantageous to look for a forex broker that is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland if you are based there. This is because they may be able to provide you with certain protection that an offshore broker cannot. The CBI has strict regulations for forex brokers. The requirements of negative balance protections and leverages are applied, following the guidelines from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Best forex brokers Ireland

To find the best forex brokers in Ireland, we created a list of all the regulated forex brokers that accept traders in Ireland, then ranked them according to our overall rating. You can see the list of our top forex brokers for Ireland below.

Broker
Rating
Regulated
Min. Deposit
Founded
Max. Leverage
1.

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

$100

2006

1:400

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
2.

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

$250

1974

1:200

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
3.

CBI, CONSOB, FCA, PRA

$1

1999

1:20

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
4.

CBI

€500

1926

N/A

All investments contain risk. Please ensure you understand all the risks associated with any investment prior to making a decision to invest.
5.

CBI

$2,000

1997

1:30

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Central Bank of Ireland forex brokers in Ireland

The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) acts as the primary regulator for all financial companies in Ireland, including forex brokers. The CBI serves the public interest by safeguarding monetary and financial stability and by working to ensure that the financial system operates in the best interests of consumers and the wider economy.

They regulate more than 10,000 firms providing financial services in Ireland and overseas. This regulation is undertaken through risk-based supervision, underpinned by a credible threat of enforcement. The CBI objective is to ensure financial stability, consumer protection and market integrity.

Since the central bank sets the reserve requirements, it is in a position to have a significant influence on the operations and profits of member commercial banks. The central bank can simply regulate the behaviour of the commercial banks to suit the national interests by modifying the reserve requirement rates.

The objectives of the Central Bank with respect to the regulation of the financial sector include:

  • stability of the financial system
  • proper and effective regulation of financial institutions and markets
  • ensuring that consumers of financial services are protected
  • resolution in credit institutions

Regulation and supervision across all financial sectors continue to be underpinned by the Central Bank’s rigorous authorisation procedures, the assessment of applications for approval of persons under the fitness and probity standards, development of financial regulation policy, and an assertive risk-based approach to supervision coupled with the credible threat of enforcement.

How to verify CBI regulated brokers in Ireland

Ireland is a part of the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement and an integral member of the EU. Therefore, forex brokers that are incorporated in Ireland are free to carry out its business activities to all regions of the EU. You don’t have to use a CBI broker though, you can always use a forex broker that is regulated in another country which can accept residents of Ireland.

If you need to verify a license, you can look for the brokers regulation number from the disclosure text at the bottom of their homepage. You can then look up the registration number on the Central Bank of Ireland website to confirm if the forex broker is regulated in Ireland.

Is forex trading legal in Ireland?

Contracts for Difference, or CFDs, and spot forex are only a couple of the financial instruments that Irish investors are permitted to legally trade. We attribute this development to the lower corporate tax rates and welcoming regulatory environment provided by the MiFID framework in the country that gave rise to Halloween and St. Patrick.

Two significant pieces of legislation that apply to all EU member states, including Ireland, control the foreign exchange market. Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and the regulatory framework that it is accompanied by are the names of these (MiFIR). Together, they are referred to as MiFID II.

MiFID I was first put into effect at the beginning of November 2007 with the intention of unifying the legal frameworks governing securities and investment services in all EU and EEA member nations (EEA). At the beginning of 2018, it was superseded by a new set of legislative requirements known as MiFID II.

The latter controls companies that offer financial instrument investment services, such as investment companies, brokerage houses, financial consultants, and lending institutions. The MiFID also applies to foreign businesses that offer investment services to clients with offices in EU member states.

This directive’s principal benefit is that it ensures a uniform licensing procedure for all EU member states. As long as a foreign exchange broker gets authorisation from the regulators of another EU nation, it is permitted by the MiFID’s regulations to serve clients from all member states.

Due to this, several Forex brokers operating in the Irish market are actually authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of Great Britain or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

The European Securities and Markets Authority was also established at the same time as the MiFID (ESMA). This supervisory body has its headquarters in Paris, and its two main responsibilities are to harmonize and develop the financial markets on the Old Continent.

Along with that, ESMA works to improve customer protection. The majority of EU members, including Ireland, regulate their forex markets in accordance with the recommendations of ESMA. Brokers servicing the Emerald Isle market must therefore adhere to the minimal starting capital requirements and offer transparent pricing to their clients.

In order to safeguard traders from losing more money than they have in their balance, negative balance protection is also in place. Authorized financial institutions are also required to keep customer funds separate from working capital. This prevents traders from permanently losing their money in the event that a company goes out of business by allowing them to receive it back.

The Central Bank of Ireland, which oversees the Investor Compensation Scheme (ICS), controls the Irish market. The latter intends to safeguard clients of licensed investment companies, including stock and insurance brokers, that have filed for bankruptcy.

The maximum compensation available to each Irish consumer is €20,000. It should be highlighted that the program does not compensate for losses brought on by bad investment choices or recommendations.

As long as they satisfy specific requirements, authorized brokers may offer both spot and margin Forex trading using CFDs. Concerning the degree of risk associated with margin trading, the companies must be totally transparent. To show prospective retail clients what percentage of customers lose money through margin trading, they should put disclaimers on their websites.

To ascertain whether retail consumers are capable of trading with volatile CFDs, careful assessments should be made in advance. Retail customers with little experience shouldn’t be allowed to experiment with such high-risk derivatives, according to authorized brokers.

Due to its leverage, CFDs allow traders to increase their trading volume well beyond their initial outlay. To buy a contract for difference, the consumer does not necessarily need to be the owner of the underlying asset.

They merely make predictions about asset prices and profit when those predictions come true. If not, leverage could cause the trader to lose everything. As a result, CFDs are strictly controlled in Ireland in accordance with the ESMA recommendations.


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