Are you looking to get started in the world of forex trading in Singapore? Forex trading helps drive Singapore’s thriving economy and with no tax on capital gains, forex profits are unburdened for Singaporean traders, potentially providing even greater opportunity for gains than in other parts of the world.
Choosing the right forex broker is crucial for your success in the market. Singapore is a hub for forex trading and there are numerous brokers operating in the country. Each broker offers different features, services and trading platforms, making it important to do your research before making a decision.
Keep reading to learn who the best forex brokers in Singapore are, highlighting their key features and benefits.
Quick Look: Best Forex Brokers in Singapore
Disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Best Forex Brokers in Singapore
Let’s take a deeper look at who made the list of the best Singapore forex brokers and how to choose the right forex brokerage for your FX needs.
1. Best for MT4 Traders: Axi
Axi allows you to trade CFDs in a safe space that offers a demo account that allows you to trade with $50,000 in virtual dollars that you can try on MT4, along with:
- Copy trading to make your life a little easier
- Educational tools
- AI and Machine Learning tools that learn from you and help you make better trades
- Over 40 forex pairs
- Leverage trading
- Over 30 indices
- Precious metals
- Oil
- Commodities
- More than 30 leading cryptocurrencies
Fee are competitive with low trading fees, $10 monthly maintenance fee for inactive accounts and no deposit or withdrawal fees.
2. Best for Fast Execution Speed: Blackbull Markets
BlackBull Markets is a trading broker established in 2014, with its headquarters based in New Zealand. Its global expansion and strong reputation have positioned it as a reputable choice in the trading industry. BlackBull Markets offers a variety of trading options, such as forex, indices, commodities, energies, metals, and CFDs.
One notable feature of BlackBull Markets is its regulatory status. The company is overseen by regulatory bodies such as the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) in New Zealand and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the Seychelles.
3. Best for Trading in the App: Octa
When you start trading with Octa, you can gain access to accounts for Singaporeans that includes:
- Negative balance protection
- Islamic accounts
- MetaTrader 4 and 5, OctaTrader and more
- Platforms that work anywhere
- Spreads starting at 0.6 pips
- CopyTrading
- Referral program
Traders can sign up today to see which account is right for them, and you can buy into over 30 currency pairs with low minimums.
4. Best for Beginner Forex and CFD Traders: Capital.com
Capital.com is a popular choice for traders due to its user-friendly platform and wide range of tradable instruments. Plus, it caters to both beginners and experienced traders alike.
The broker offers a user-friendly demo account for beginners to learn about charts, positions, and indicators. Capital.com also caters to experienced traders providing intuitive charts, drawing tools and over 75 indicators to enhance analysis skills. The broker boasts fast execution times, swift withdrawal processing and prompt customer service responses.
5. Best for All Around Offerings: City Index
City Index is a well-known forex broker that provides Singapore residents with a reliable and secure trading platform. It offers various features such as an easy-to-use online platform, comprehensive market analysis, competitive spreads and a variety of instruments to trade. It also provides traders with access to the latest technology, including automated trading tools, charting packages and mobile platforms.
The City Index platform is highly secure and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), making it one of the most trusted forex brokers in Singapore. Additionally, City Index offers a range of advanced features such as its Advanced Risk Management tool, which helps traders to manage their risk more efficiently.
Overall, City Index is an excellent choice for Singaporean forex traders looking for a reliable and secure broker.
6. Best for a Wide Range of Financial Markets: Plus500
Plus500 is a forex broker that has become increasingly popular amongst Singaporeans looking to invest in the foreign exchange market. The company, founded in 2008, offers a range of trading instruments including currencies, indices, commodities, and ETFs. Plus500 also provides an intuitive platform for users to manage their investments with ease.
The company is highly regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS ), as well as the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). This means that Plus500 is a reliable broker for Singapore residents.
In terms of fees, Plus500 charges a commission of 0.08% per side on trades, with no additional costs or hidden fees. This makes it one of the most cost-effective brokers in the industry. The company also offers leverage up to 1:30 and a demo account to allow users to test their strategies risk-free.
7. Lowest Cost Broker: Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers is an online forex broker based in the United States that offers a wide range of trading services to Singapore residents. The company has been in business since 1977 and currently services over 140,000 active customers worldwide. Interactive Brokers is regulated in several countries, including Singapore, where it is a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The broker offers access to more than 150 global markets, including forex, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and options. They also provide a wide variety of trading tools and educational materials for traders. This enables Singapore traders to have access to a comprehensive set of resources that help them become successful in the market. Furthermore, Interactive Brokers offers low commissions and fees on their trades which make it an attractive option for Singapore traders.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Regulation
As Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also oversees financial sector businesses, including forex brokers, and has the reputation of being one of the strictest regulators in the world. Similar to regulatory requirements in other regions of the world, MAS regulation requires that forex brokers segregate investor accounts from broker funds to help protect investors from broker insolvency risks or impropriety.
Traders in Singapore will find that many of the leading forex brokers are global players that are also monitored by regulatory authorities in other parts of the world, such as the U.K.’s FCA and Cyprus’s CySEC. Additional oversight for Singapore’s forex market is provided by the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee, a panel comprised of both government authorities and representatives of private banks.
Singapore Forex Trading Strategies
If you want to trade forex successfully, you will need to master some basic strategies:
Price Action Trading
Price action involves studying the historical movement of price. Using this information, you can identify possible entry and exit points for investments. This trading style is usually meant for short-term moves of less than 1 week. Trend identification, momentum indicators and support and resistance levels are important terms to learn.
Trend Trading
If a market has a definite direction, you can take advantage of trend trading. An uptrend is a market achieving higher highs and higher lows on pullbacks. A downtrend is moving through lower lows and lower highs on retracements. Strong trends may take time to mature, and this strategy may require weeks or months to work out.
Range Trading
If a stock is moving around a certain price level, investors may attempt to trade around it. This strategy works well in a market that does not have an obvious trend or significant volatility. The forex market generally has less volatility than other markets, so range trading is an important strategy to learn.
Position Trading
If you like researching the long-term fundamentals of a currency, position trading may be for you. Position traders are not worried about short-term fluctuations in the forex market. Macroeconomic factors, less important in price action or range trading, become especially important here.
How We Made Our Forex Brokers in Singapore Selections
As one of the world’s leading forex markets, Singapore attracts forex trading brokers from all over the world. We looked at a number of key areas with an eye on customer service, regulation, trade costs, trader tools, and trade execution.
Spreads
Unlike stock trading, many forex trades don’t require a commission for the trade. Instead, brokers make money from the spread between the bid and the ask price. Closer spreads generally mean the trader spends less in trading expenses, but other fees may apply, particularly for trades held overnight.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Regulation
Singapore’s central bank also regulates forex brokers as well as advises the Singaporean government on foreign exchange matters. As part of regulatory requirements for brokers, leverage is limited and investor funds must be kept separate from broker funds.
Cash Management
It’s important for traders to be able to fund their accounts easily and to move money back out of accounts when needed. Ease of cash management allows for more nimble trading, as is often appropriate for forex trading.
Trader Tools
Modern forex trading benefits from charting tools to help traders understand markets and demo accounts that allow traders to test trading strategies with no risk. An expansive learning center and an up-to-date news feed also put the tools a trader needs on the trading dashboard.
Customer Support
If questions arise or if there is a problem with the platform, it’s important that traders can reach support staff easily to get answers or seek a resolution.
Trading Forex From an International Hub
As the largest financial market in the world, trading opportunities abound with forex and Singapore’s traders are in the heart of one of the world’s leading forex trading centers. With no capital gains tax on trading profits, forex traders in Singapore have an advantage over traders in the U.S. and much of Europe, allowing a higher effective return on trades.
MAS has published an investor alert list of forex brokers that may be wrongly perceived as being listed or authorized by MAS. This list is useful for confirming MAS regulation designed to provide essential trading protections for Singapore’s growing forex community. Traders are encouraged to do their own research and due diligence in choosing a broker. Any of the brokers in our roundup can be a great starting point, each with their own advantages and unique focus for traders.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Forex trading is legal in Singapore but it is crucial to understand the rules and regulations governing this type of activity. In Singapore, forex trading can be done via a licensed broker or bank. All brokers must be licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and banks must adhere to guidelines set out by MAS.
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The best time to trade forex in Singapore is during the Asian trading session, which runs from 2:00pm to 10:00pm Singapore time. This timeframe is when the majority of market activity takes place in this region, as well as when most international news events are released, making it an ideal time for currency traders.
During this period, there is generally higher liquidity and more price movements, creating more opportunities for traders.
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Forex trading in Singapore is not taxed unless it is your main source of income and you make a living from it. If you earn income from overseas, there are no taxes on forex trading in Singapore as well.
