Pepperstone is a popular forex and CFD broker. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2010, it’s available to traders in many countries today. Does Pepperstone accept US clients? Unfortunately not. Here’s why.
Why Pepperstone doesn’t accept US clients
Pepperstone is a multi-regulated broker. Today, it’s regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFIN) in Germany, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in Dubai, and other major regulatory bodies.
However, at present, the broker is not regulated by any US financial regulators such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), or the National Futures Association (NFA). This is why it isn’t available to US customers.
It’s worth noting that in the US, forex brokers face a stringent regulatory environment. For example, brokers face strict capital requirements and a lot of regulatory administration. Additionally, forex leverage limits are a lot lower than in some other countries (usually 30:1 for major currency pairs such as EUR/USD and USD/JPY and 20:1 for minor currency pairs such as EUR/GBP and GBP/AUD) and CFD trading is not allowed. As a result of this regulatory backdrop, many major forex brokers do not accept US clients today.
Forex brokers that are available to US citizens
The good news is that there are plenty of options for US forex traders today. Here’s a look at a few companies that do offer forex trading for those in the US:
You can open an account with IG if you live in the US. However, you can only use IG’s forex trading service – CFD trading is not available. IG has been around for a long time and its platform is user-friendly. In terms of disadvantages, there is an inactivity fee if you don’t trade for two years.
Forex.com is a well-known forex platform that was launched in 2001. And it is available to US traders. An advantage of this platform is that there are many currency pairs available to trade. On the downside, the platform is not the most user-friendly.
OANDA
OANDA is a forex broker that offers a range of trading platforms and it is available to US clients today. In the US, it is regulated by the CFTC and the NFA. OANDA is known for its easy-to-use platform. However, one disadvantage is that it doesn’t offer guaranteed stop losses for US customers.
In 2023, trading company Plus500 launched its online trading platform in the US. Through this platform, those in the US can trade futures on a range of instruments including equity indexes, crypto-assets, currencies (forex), and commodities. One advantage of Plus 500 is that it offers a demo account. On the downside, there is no telephone customer service available.
Based in London, Edward is a distinguished investment writer with an extensive client portfolio comprising a diverse array of prominent financial services firms across the globe. With over 15 years of hands-on experience in private wealth management and institutional asset management, both in the UK and Australia, he possesses a profound understanding of the finance industry.
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