Forex Brokers in New Zealand

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Trading forex is popular amongst residents of New Zealand. It allows them to buy and sell currency pairs and speculate on forex market prices. Forex traders in New Zealand can choose to use any regulated forex broker, but it can be advantages to look for brokers that are regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which is the financial regulatory body in New Zealand. The FMA is the New Zealand government agency responsible for financial regulation. It is responsible for regulating all financial market participants, exchanges, and setting and enforcing financial regulations.

Best forex brokers New Zealand

To find the best forex brokers in New Zealand, we created a list of all the regulated forex brokers that accept traders who are based in New Zealand, then ranked them depending on our overall rating. Below you can see the list of our top forex brokers for New Zealand.

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

$250

1974

1:200

Review Trade Trade

FMA, FSPR

$200

2014

1:500

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, FMA, VFSC

$100

2013

1:500

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, FCA, FMA, IIROC, MAS

1989

1:500

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, FCA, FSA, FSCA, FMA, ISA, MAS

$100

2008

1:30

Review Trade Trade

FMA forex brokers in New Zealand

FMA stands for the Financial Market Authority, and in New Zealand it is the organisation in charge of regulating the country’s financial markets. The role originally fell on the shoulders of the Securities Commission of New Zealand.

The Securities Commission was an independent Crown entity of the government of New Zealand and the main regulator of investments. It was replaced on 1 May 2011 by the Financial Markets Authority in a wake of criticism over the failure of the previous regulatory regime to halt the failure of many finance companies and to stem investor losses in the period between 2006 and 2010.

The FMA is now the primary regulatory authority of NZ that has clear-cut responsibilities to regulate and supervise all types of financial firms including forex brokers.

The FMA has minimum capital requirements that are in line with the capital requirements of regulated brokers in the European Union. However, there are many brokers that choose to register with the FMA due to the location, the strong local economy and the available work force that is considered highly educated in the financial sector.

Forex brokers under the FMA regulation have to follow certain rules and be responsible for their conduct. When brokers do not follow the set rules and regulations, the FMA can impose strict punishments and fines, and in some cases, even ban the broker.

Hold at least $1,000,000 to cover the indemnity and operational responsibilities
Provide transparent data and an advanced level of customer protection

New Zealand is a politically stable country with a strong legal framework based on English common law. It is therefore often considered safe for traders to trade with New Zealand forex brokers, and most brokers operating there are well-capitalized companies.

In the unlikely event that any kind of dispute occurs between a forex broker in New Zealand and a trader, the trader is free to file a complaint with the FMA or FSPR. The Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) is the financial regulatory body in New Zealand. The FSPR oversees and ensures that all FSPs are registered with them before they can legally provide financial services. The FSPR aims to achieve greater accountability and transparency in the financial sector.

How to verify FMA regulated brokers in New Zealand

For forex traders who are looking for a regulated broker in New Zealand, the authority to look for is the FMA (Financial Markets Authority) New Zealand. It might prove to be a challenge, as New Zealand’s market regulation has some limitations compared to other top tier regulators such as the ASIC and FCA. However, finding FMA regulated brokers is a step in the right direction.

To identify if a forex broker is authorised and regulated as Financial Services Provider (FSP) by the FMA, you can get the brokers regulation number from the disclosure text which you can usually find at the bottom of the brokers homepage. Once you have that, you can look up the FSP number on the FMA website to confirm if the broker is licensed in New Zealand. The FMA register has the full list of registered brokers in NZ with a valid licence.

Is forex trading legal in New Zealand?

The Land of the Long White Cloud is an entirely legal place to trade forex. Brokerages operating in this island nation are subject to regulation by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), a local agency. Before beginning to provide legal services to traders from this jurisdiction, brokers must first receive authorization from this organization.

The watchdog constantly monitors brokerages that are registered with the FMA to ensure sure they operate legally, openly, and responsibly. Those who violate the nation’s tight regulatory standards may be subject to fines and license revocation, among other sanctions. Traders can look up a brokerage’s local authorization status by consulting the official FMA register.

New Zealand investors are permitted to trade a wide range of financial products, including shares, currency pairings, and soft and hard commodities. The regulations of this jurisdiction also permit speculating on price changes by acquiring contracts for difference (CFDs). CFDs for a variety of products, including Forex, commodities, indices, and shares, can be purchased lawfully.

When trading CFDs, there is no requirement to buy the underlying assets. This is a leveraged product, allowing customers of the brokerages to trade with more money than they initially put up. The CFD is a very volatile trading tool because the leverage can greatly boost their winnings or losses.

New Zealand, unlike other nations like Australia and the UK, has not yet imposed precise limitations on the maximum leverage that derivatives issuers may provide to domestic traders.

The FMA announced in 2017 that companies must get local derivative licenses before they may legally provide short-term leveraged products resolved within three days to customers domiciled in New Zealand. This move followed multiple complaints from losing retail traders.

All brokers must comply with the new regulation, whether they are situated domestically or abroad, as of December 2017. However, the regulatory body made no mention of any limitations on bonuses or leverage. Only the regular spot Forex contracts are exempt from adhering to these regulations, according to the FMA.

Binary option trading is likewise allowed and subject to FMA regulation. Binary options brokers must meet certain conditions in order to be licensed. For instance, they must maintain physical locations in the nation and safeguard client cash by keeping them in segregated accounts. Licensed brokers are required to evaluate their internal compliance levels and provide reports to the regulator so that it may do its own evaluation.