ECM Trader Review – Unreliability Raised On Another Level

ECM Trader company is registered in St. Vincent and Grenadines primarily. They transparently claim that they are not required to withhold licenses for trading there. Which is true, indeed. However, if they want to trade anywhere else they should obtain adequate licenses.

Unfortunately, their not-so-attractive trading conditions can’t be compared to Tier 1 licensed brokers. Check everything out in detail through our ECM Trader review.

ECM Trader Funds Security and Regulation

Even though they are not required to have an SVG license, they opted for another offshore regulation. Thus, nothing that reliable as Tier 1 licenses. They are on the list of regulated entities within VFSC (Vanuatu). But if you consider the requirements of $2.000 for getting that license, you understand that you can’t have much.

Instead, legitimate brokers often tend to get at least one Tier 1 regulation. For instance, FCA, BaFin, ASIC or CFTC. Depending of course on their targeted countries. However, the ECM Trader broker is not in any of those registers. In general, they claim to provide segregated bank accounts for deposits. On the negative side, traders don’t have any compensation funds available.

For instance, with FCA licensed broker you can get compensation of up to 85.000 GBP. Quite a big difference. Don’t forget to check our Bittradehouse and BullishFX brokers for more trading information. 

ECM Trading Platform

On the positive side, this company provides industry-leading software – Meta Trader 4. It’s available on all devices and provides all the necessary features that traders need. On top of that, you can enjoy copy trading and social trading options. But most importantly Expert Advisors (EAs).

On the negative side, trading conditions are quite speculative with this offshore broker. Many regulators allow maximum leverage of 1:30 for retail traders. Mostly due to security reasons. Otherwise, traders are exposed to risk. Especially inexperienced ones.

For example with this broker that provides up to 1:500. Additionally, if the company doesn’t provide negative balance protection you can get in debt. And ECM Trader doesn’t have it. You should consider all those facts when choosing a broker. Moreover, that’s exactly why many traders prefer Tier 1 licensed brokers.

Deposit and Withdrawal at ECM Trader

Another key point of every offshore broker is a withdrawal policy. We won’t talk much about deposits because rarely you will face any issues there. Except if you are coming from restricted countries. Nevertheless, the funding methods available are:

• Credit/Debit cards
• e-payments
• Wire/Bank transfers

Thus, the broker doesn’t specify transaction processing time or fees. But those e-payment options are not specified either. For comparison, that doesn’t happen with Tier 1 licensed brokers.

Firstly, the company should process any withdrawal request within 3 business days. But also, the company reserves the right to deny any withdrawal if they think that the trader was not acting in good faith. If we are going to trust ECM Trader reviews, this is just another excuse not to allow withdrawals.

ECM Bonuses and Promotions

Speaking of bonuses and promotions, strong regulations don’t allow companies to give bonuses. Thus, ECM Trader broker provides bonuses to its traders. Altogether with malicious clause. In general, this is a standard trick many traders are not aware of. Especially newbies. For every $50 bonus, the trader should trade 5 standard lots in volume. Which is $500.000. Only after that, you can request a withdrawal.

But if you can reach 500K with 50 bucks, you don’t need any broker. Also, the company has a “refer a friend” program. This is designed to bring more people into their trading network. Of course, the trader that brings another trader is rewarded. But not with cash. Instead, they get also bonus funds.

 Account Types Available

With ECM Trader company there is only STANDARD account type. The minimum requirement starts already at $10. Indeed, attractive offer, but not for poorly regulated offshore brokers. Instead, you can check the list of Tier 1 licensed brokers through ASIC or CySEC that offer the same conditions, but much higher security standards. On the positive side, traders can get a demo account first.

As mentioned earlier, leverage goes up to 1:500. But the spread is quite high. Practically double of industry standard and goes from 3 pips. However, the broker doesn’t offer transparent fees and commissions.

How Does ECM Trader broker operate?

As you can see, they lure traders through campaigns and referral programs. Once traders join, they will promote different trading opportunities to make traders deposit more money. Everything is nice and shiny as long as you are doing that.

However, ECM Trader reviews to discover that potential issues are expected upon withdrawal request. Whereas this broker uses AML laws, fees or other tactics to prolong or deny withdrawal.  

ECM Trader Summary

ECM Trader is an offshore broker with Tier 3 licensing. Their trading conditions can only suit them to earn profits. Even though they have trusted MT4 and the demo account available, there are some discrepancies. A leverage of 1:500 is very risky. Especially without negative balance protection. Keep your money safe and invest wisely.

Thus, there is always a bad side to the trading world. If you experienced any difficulties with this broker feel free to share it with us. Our expert team can even assist you to recover money if needed. Contact us and get your first consultation today. 

FAQs About ECM Trader Broker