Review Sections:
Please Note: ATC Brokers was not included in the 2019 annual review. As a result, this broker's ratings may be outdated. Read our Best Forex Brokers 2019 guide for a look at the top rated forex and CFDs brokers.
ATC Brokers was founded in 2005 and is regulated in the United States as an Introducing Broker (IB) with the National Futures Association (NFA) and its brand in the United Kingdom (UK), ATC BROKERS LTD is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
ATC Brokers is a MetaTrader-only broker, offering the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) software developed by MetaQuotes Software Corporation. In the US, ATC Brokers offers 40 instruments (38 forex pairs and two metals), and in the UK it offers 50 (38 forex pairs and 12 CFDs).
Is ATC Brokers Safe?
ATC Brokers is considered high-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 64 out of 99. ATC Brokers is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. ATC Brokers is authorised by two tier-1 regulators (high trust), zeo tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). ATC Brokers is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn more about Trust Score.
Regulations Comparison
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2005 | 1974 | 1992 | 1989 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trust Score | 64 | 99 | 98 | 98 |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to clients.
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 38 | 91 | 182 | 183 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 12 | 15000 | 32999 | 9959 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No | No | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offering of Investments |
Commissions & Fees
ATC Brokers offers a commission-based account that charges a round turn commission of $10 per standard contract ($5 per side), which equates to roughly 1 pip, resulting in an all-in cost of 1.3 pips after accounting for average spreads of 0.3 pips in the EUR/USD pair.
The pricing of average spreads listed by ATC Brokers in the UK varies slightly to that of its US counterpart.
Trading costs are neither low nor high, and appear to be close to the industry average. Unfortunately, an accurate comparison cannot be made without knowing which periods the average spreads relate to.
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $3000 | £250.00 | $2,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | N/A | 0.750 | 0.900 | 0.744 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.363 | 0.600 | 0.744 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees |
Research
ATC Brokers offers few options when it comes to its research offering. Besides a Virtual Private Server (VPS) service for MT4 users and its Trader’s Corner blog, which is not very active, the broker provides only an economic calendar.
Compared to its peers, ATC Brokers has a poor research offering.
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoChartist | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Delkos Research | No | No | No | No |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research |
Platforms & Tools
ATC Brokers is a MetaTrader-only broker, offering from the suite of platforms developed by MetaQuotes Software Corporation, including the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform. To learn more about MT4, read our MetaTrader guide.
While MT4 comes standard, with little variation in functionality from broker to broker, there can be significant differences in how the platform is set up for trading spreads and commissions, execution, and other tools, features, and administrative areas.
Besides spreads, the range of instruments, and account types, here is a summary of the differences in features between ATC Brokers’ available MT4 offering and the default MetaTrader experience:
- Offers customized MT4 Pro plugin
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 51 | 22 | 47 | 81 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 31 | 17 | 17 | 24 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools |
Mobile Trading
ATC Brokers offers iOS and Android mobile trading applications for its MetaTrader platforms, available directly from developers on the iTunes Store and Google Play. To learn more about MT4, read our guide to MetaTrader.
| Feature | ATC Brokers | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Other Notes
It is worth mentioning the MT4 Pro plugin depends on Microsoft Visual Studio, which must be installed separately before the MT4 Pro plugin can operate.
Final Thoughts
ATC Brokers offers the popular MT4 platform and a few dozen forex pairs and CFDs through its regulated entity in the UK, while its US entity introduces customers through a clearing broker.
The broker’s customized MT4 Pro plugin helps slightly distinguish its offering from among other MT4 brokers, but ATC Brokers’ limited research resources put it at a disadvantage compared to brokers with a wider range of research tools.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.
About the author: Steven Hatzakis Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
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