FBS is an international brokerage firm providing trading solutions to clients all over the world. The company deals in forex, indices, metals, and stock trading. The broker is widely known for its flexible account types, favorable trading conditions, and intuitive trading platforms. In addition to offering excellent research and educational resources, FBS provides round the clock customer support seven days a week. In this piece, I will review the FBS broker in detail.
Overview
Founded in 2009, FBS is a brand name of Tradestone Limited. FBS offers trading services in more than 190 countries across the globe. The broker main product line includes forex, metals, indices, and energies. FBS has its headquarter in Cyprus. The company is registered with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission under the following details.
Name: Tradestone Limited
Office: 89, Vasileos Georgiou Street, 1st Floor, Office 101, Potamos Germasogeias, 4048 Limassol, Cyprus.
Phone:+357 25 313540 / +357 25 313541
Email: info@fbs.eu
| Pros | Cons |
| Higher leverage options (1:3000) Good research & educational tools Low minimum deposits CySEC regulation Funds protection – ICF | High CFDs fee Does not accept US clients Average Customer Support Fees on deposits and withdrawals |
Who FBS is for?
Being a regulated broker with multiple trading solutions under one roof, FBS is suitable for all types of traders. Starters can sign up for a demo account or subscribe to the copy trading services for a safe trading exposure. With instant trade execution policy and flexible account types, high-volume traders might find the broker well suited for their trading needs. Institutional investors may also get along with the broker on favorable trading terms. To cut it short, FBS is suitable for those who wish to seek a secure trading environment with low-cost trading opportunities.
Rating: 4/5
Sign up bonus: FBS offers a welcome bonus of $50.
Is FBS Safe?
FBS holds regulation from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) and is a registered member of IFSC under registration number IFSC/000102/124. Adherence to strict compliance with MiFID requires the company to keep clients’ funds in segregation from the capital funds of the company. The broker also offers funds protection under the Investors Compensation Fund program. Clients registered with the broker can file for compensation of up to €20,000 in case the company becomes insolvent.
To protect the clients’ confidential data over the web, FBS employs secure socket layers encryption and a two-step authentication factor. CySEC regulation, ICF funds protection, and SSL web encryption provide reasonable assurance concerning the safety of your funds.
Rating: 4/5
| Year founded: | 2009 |
| Publicly traded: | No |
| Licenses: | CySEC |
| Backlist: | Nil |
Offering of Investments
FBS offers a wide range of tradable instruments, including forex, indices, energies, metals, and FX exotic pairs. Traders can access a total of 30 FX pairs along with more than 75 CFD instruments. The range of available assets for trading may vary owing to regulatory requirements across different regions in the world. Clients might not be able to trade the same product available for the citizens in some other jurisdictions. Therefore, checking the availability of your desired tradable instrument is suggested before you decide to sign up with the broker.
Rating: 4/5
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 30+ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes |
| CFDs instruments | Forex, Metals, Stocks, Energies, Indices, Commodities (70+) |
Commissions & Fees
Trading cost at FBS is competitive as compared to the market average. However, it may vary depending upon the type of account and underlying financial instrument.
The broker offers 05 types of accounts, including Standard, CENT, Micro, Zero Spread, and ECN accounts. However, these accounts are available in CySEC regulated jurisdictions only. For clients from other regions, the broker offers only two types of accounts, such as the Standard and Cent account.
Similar to the trading costs, each account has different features. The broker does not charge any commission in standard, micro, and cent accounts. The amount of minimum deposit to sign up for various account types also varies between $1 to $100. All the three aforementioned accounts have both fixed and variable spreads.
On the other hand, spreads in the Zero spread account starts from 0.0 pips. However, traders have to pay $20 as a commission fee for trading one standard lot. Compared to other account types, a zero spread account has the highest commission fee. However, it does have the highest leverage (1:3000) as well.
ECN accounts require clients to deposit a minimum of $1000 to get started. Traders need to pay a commission of $6 per lot while the spread in the ECN account is variable and starts from 1.0 pips. Clients can access the maximum leverage of 1:500 in the ECN account.
Rating: 3.75/5
| Minimum Initial Deposit | €1 – €1000 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard | 1.0 Pips |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active | 1.0 pips |
| Minimum withdrawal | Not Specified |
Platforms & Tools
As far as the availability of trading platforms is concerned, the broker does not have any proprietary web-based or desktop trading platform available. However, the company has recently introduced an in-house built mobile trading app for its clients.
On the other hand, FBS provides clients access to a full suite of third-party trading platforms MT4/MT5. Both of these platforms are well-known in the forex industry.
Using MetaTrader4, clients can use more than 50 technical indicators and multiple charting tools. Built-in help guides, news integration, and one-click trading help traders optimize their trading experience. MetaTrader5 also has the same features but is relatively an upgraded version of the MT4. In addition to offering 30 technical indicators, it also enables clients to view charts in 21-time frames. Traders can also place multiple order types across a wide range of financial markets.
Clients who prefer exploring the trading opportunities from the ease of web can access the web-based version of MT4/MT5 trading platforms at FBS. The web trader also has all the necessary tools available required for profitable trading. The web trader also supports one-click trading.
In addition, traders can subscribe to the copy trading services offered by FBS. Clients can copy trades of other expert trading professionals and start making money right away. Social trading service might appeal to novice traders more than any other type of traders.
Rating: 4/5
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total) | 80+ |
| Charting – Drawing Tools (Total) | 20+ |
| Charting – Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Order Type – Trailing Stop | Yes |
Research
FBS’ research section has multiple resources available, including forex news, daily market analysis, an economic calendar, forex calculator, currency converter, and a forex TV.
The forex news section helps clients to learn about the latest economic happenings around the world. It covers articles on different topics, explaining the possible impact of forex news on various classes of assets. The daily market analysis tab offers extensive market insights, covering detailed technical and fundamental analysis on major and minor forex pairs and other assets. Clients can also subscribe to this feature for receiving free trading signals daily.
The broker also conducts webinars to educate clients on various industry trends. Live webinars are also helpful for an in-depth understanding of how forex trading works.
Rating: 4.5/5
Education
A wide variety of educational resources seems to be enabling the broker to compete with industry standards. The education section consists of a forex guidebook, trading ideas, video tutorials, courses, and a glossary. The broker has intelligently categorized the content under all main topics. Novice traders can start from the FX guidebook to learn about the basics of forex trading.Similarly, new trading ideas can help skilled traders to apply a mix of knowledge and skills to explore trading opportunities one way or the other. Video tutorials and courses are equally beneficial for both novice and seasoned traders. The glossary section contains different trading terminologies and jargons that might not be understood unless explained.
Rating: 4/5
Mobile Trading
Along with the MT4/MT5 mobile-based trading platforms, FBS also offers its clients a custom made proprietary mobile trading app. The company has made it compatible across all android supported mobile devices and tablets. However, the broker is still in the process of making it supported for MAC devices. To use any of the aforementioned mobile trading platforms, clients can visit the relevant App Store. The FBS mobile trading app enables users to trade all of the available currency pairs with real-time price quotations. The app also allows traders to edit their order types and view their trading history anytime. The app comes with fast and interactive charts that are viewable in various timeframes.
Rating: 4/5
| Mobile devices | Android |
| Features | Watchlist, charting tools, negative balance protection, price alerts |
Final Thoughts
After a detailed review of the broker, I can safely conclude that FBS is a legitimate broker. I have various reasons to support my conclusion. First of all, the broker holds regulation from a well-reputed regulatory authority CySEC and provides insolvency compensation under ICF. Secondly, low trading costs and minimum deposit requirements along with good trading conditions can’t be coming out of an underrated broker.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
