Stock broker reviews. Read full information about the best brokers for trading stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives and other instruments for access to international stock exchanges.
The brokers on this list open brokerage accounts for clients from most countries. Some brokers set restrictions on clients from certain countries. For more details, read the description of each broker.
For a universal type of investor in any foreign assets. Has had Cyprus jurisdiction since 2006. Part of the international Lime Financial group and licensed in the EU, UK, USA.
+ Retail accounts are insured by the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund for up to 20000€
+ Possibility of input, output and trading of both national currencies of countries and crypto assets on a brokerage account (commission for deposit = 0%, for withdraw = 0.5%)
+ J2T bank card for instant payment of purchases using funds from a brokerage account
+ The holding has branches in Europe, USA, China, India, Malaysia, Russia and CIS
+ Multilingual support 24/7 and a good understanding of the specifics of clients in different regions
+ Bonuses up to $2000 for margin trading for new clients
+ Счёт MT5 Global without service fees with Metatrader and CQG terminals
+ Direct Access to USA Exchanges via sub broker Lime Financial (member FINRA&SIPC, NFA )
+ A wide range of solutions and investment products (auto-following, structured products, robo-advisor, cryptocurrencies, cfd contracts, options solutions)
+ Best Robo advisor service on the market for building a portfolio based on your personal targets and risks
+ You can create an unlimited number of brokers sub-accounts for your strategies
- There are fees for dividends (from 2-3%), for inactivity: if there were no transactions, then $50 per quarter. For a voice order: $5
- Commission from $1.5 per order, except for trader Special Tariffs
- The minimum amount for participation in the IPO is $1,000
Commissions 4% for participation and 1.75% for early exit during the lock-up period
- There is a subscription fee for trading terminals: Sterling = 150$/month, Lightspeed = 250$/month
- Client must calculate and pay taxes independently at the place of tax residency
- Risks of some service strategies copytrading for deals of public traders' accounts
- In accordance with the requirements of European regulators, replenishment and withdrawal of funds from brokerage accounts in cryptocurrency is limited, but it is possible to replenish a brokerage account from a bank card through a special crypto exchanger of the broker J2TX.com
Investors:
USA Exchanges: 0,006$ per shares (1 order = 1,5$)
Europe: 0,14% for deal,
Asia: 0,3% for deal (6$ for order)
Bonds = 0.128% for deal
Custody transaction securities in J2T from another broker:
10% from the value of securities, but not less than 200 Euro
Traders:
from $0.0035 and below per share depending on turnover
+ 3% of profit per month. (min. account = $5000) + payment for trading terminals
Currencies:
Minimal lot: from 0,01
brokerage commission: 2$ per lot (min. deal 1000$)
Spreads: from 0 to 0.3
For example: USDEUR Swap 12% per long position
Fixed commission for any pairs = 0,35%,
Fixed fee for transaction volume in any tokens = 0,1%,
Margin loan for popular currencies up to 1:5
Commission for overnight: 0,06%
Withdrawal of funds from the exchange: 0,5% from the withdrawal amount
Investors:
Up to 500 futures contracts = 1,5$/unit
Traders:
from 500 to 1000 contracts = 1.25$/unit
*
At Lightspeed and Sterling terminals : up to 500 option contracts = 2,15$/unit, more 500 = 1,5$/unit
On terminal MetaTrader 5 : up to 500 option contracts = $5/unit
Custody free, if total fees are less than $5, then fee = $5/month
withdrawal:
It is possible to make purchases via virtual J2T bank card
1. Bank cards: free if return to the same card. Otherwise: 2.5%, minimum $1
2. To bank accounts = 0.4%, not less than 40 USD/EUR (waiting time 2-3 days)
3. Fast withdrawal via digital currencies = 0.5% in USDС/BTC/ETH, but not less than 15USDС / 0.0005 BTC / 0.02ETH
4. Many payment services and electronic money: PayPal, Neteller, Skrill and other
Deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrency are available through a special crypto exchange broker J2TX.com
For clients who need an American broker jurisdiction, the lowest commissions among American brokers, low lending rates, brokerage account insurance up to $500,000
Global brokerage holding whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq exchange. For wealthy investors on international exchanges with favorable conditions for savings accounts.
+ Client accounts are insured in the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund up to 20 000 euros
+ Savings accounts for brokerage account balances with a floating yield of 3-5% per annum in USD and EUR with daily accrual (without restrictions on term and max. amount)
+ Bonuses when opening an account: gift stock exchange shares up to $800 for residents or EU residence permits when replenishing an account from 5,000 EUR
+ Favorable terms of savings accounts for 3, 6 and 9 months with rates of 6-8% per annum in USD and EUR
+ The only European broker giving European clients access to ETF on American indices and Bitcoin ETF
+ Access to 15 largest stock exchanges in America, Europe and Asia from one account
+ Clients are sent daily investment ideas (more like research) on specific Western companies with deep analytics, targets, timeframes, risks.
+ About 400,000 clients worldwide
+ Development in Fintech through its own IT company: its own trading terminal and a fully functional mobile application
+ Has 98 offices in 13 countries: USA, Germany, Cyprus, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Netherland, Poland, France, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, 2500+ employees
+ High-quality and prompt multilingual support 24/7
Freedom24Cons
- No access to currency trading, but it provides high interest income on its savings and savings accounts (from 5% in USD and 4% in EUR)
- They do not provide access to popular investment products: copytrading, robo-advising, structured products, pre-IPO, crypto and digital assets
- Initially, broker is focused on the American market
- Has a brokerage license in Cyprus
- High margin loan rate: 15-18% per annum in usd and euro
- High fees for inter-depository transfers of securities, for example, to another broker
Freedom24Securities
Investors:
US, European, Asian exchanges: 0,02 $/eur for equities (2$ for order)
Traders:
0,012$ for equities (1,2$ for order) + 0,5% from each transaction
OTC deals: 0.12% from one transaction and 30 euros for custody
IPO / pre-IPO from 20000$ only through a special company in a jurisdiction other than Cyprus: ntry fees: 5% of the transaction if less than $20000
4% if $20-50 thousand, 3% if > $50,000
exit: 0.5%, lock-up period: 93 days.
Margin loans: 0.049315% per day
Freedom24Currency
Investors:
Does not provide access to trading on the currency markets, instead it provides high rates of return on its internal savings accounts: from 3-5% in USD and 3-4% in EUR
Freedom24Derivatives
Traders:
Futures on non-US exchanges: 1.5 USD/EUR per contract
Options on US exchanges: $0.65 per contract
Freedom24Custody:
There is no subscription fee for account maintenance
withdrawal:
7 USD / EUR for 1 order to withdraw funds to a card or bank account
Depositing account:
0% by bank transfer
2% by bank card
US Exchanges: $0.02 per share
Europe: 0.05% of the transaction,
Asia: 0.08% of the transaction + additional commissions
Bonds = 9 basis points
Fee for online quotes from $10/month.
issued only with 100% cash collateral
Short positions on shares = 12% per annum
EXANTECurrency
Traders:
average spread of currency pair = 0.5
+ commission for cash conversion = 0.25% for major currency pairs
Favorable rate on short = 12% and lower,
Individual % rate for overnight position
EXANTEDerivatives
Traders:
USA: $1.5 per contract (ICE = $2.5)
Europe: 1.5 euros per contract
Asia: $2.5 per contract
EXANTECustody:
No fees
Bond custody = 0.3% per annum
There is an inactivity fee = 50 EUR / month (if the balance is < 5000 EUR and there have been no transactions for 6 months)
International broker for investors from Europe and the USA and those who want to connect to the accounts of other traders and copy the deals of the best.
- For clients not from the US, this is essentially a dealer, you do not acquire assets in ownership, you bet on the future rise/fall in asset prices, while when buying real shares, eToro acts as a sub-broker with full regulation
- For non-EU, US, GB citizens, customer onboarding will be on a Cypriot company
- Quotes from price providers are not always market-based, there are slippages
- Support in English 24/5, during business hours on weekdays
ETOROSecurities
Traders:
spread between purchase and sale prices of shares and ETFs = 0.09%
Special tariff:
0% commissions on trades with US corporate stocks
* !!! Purchase of real shares (not contracts) is available for clients of Western Europe and Australia !!!
rollover of position to buy = 6.4% + 1 month LIBOR rate (~1.55%), (for example, rollover of $1000 per day = $0.22)
rollover of position to sell = 2.9% + 1 month LIBOR (for example, rollover of $1000 per day = $0.22)
ETOROCurrency
Traders:
Spread on Currency pairs depending on the pair, for example:
USDEUR = 3 pips
Transfer of a position overnight (rollover) chording then the formula:
(quantity * price) * (1% / 365) + (unit of measurement * market rate for tomorrow)
ETORODerivatives
Traders:
Spreads depending on the contract, for example:
Oil = 5 pips
Gold = 45 pips
S&P500 = 75pips
Carrying a position over night using the formula:
(quantity * price) * (1% / 365) + (units of measurement * market rate for tomorrow)
ETOROCustody:
withdrawal is free, because basically these are not real assets, but contracts
withdrawal:
All withdrawals = $5
Club Platinum and above clients receive free withdrawals
Which broker to choose? Conclusions from the comparison table
We recommend TOP-3 foreign brokers
Favorable commissions, reliability, a wide range of markets and instruments, quality of support from these brokers:
These brokers allow you to have assets of less than $10,000 on your account without additional fees. Brokers, which have American and Cypriot jurisdiction respectively, have demonstrated their reliability, customer focus and service convenience over a long period of time.
InteractiveBrokers
Interactive Brokers - largest American discount broker, the most popular broker among non-American clients in the USA
The lowest commissions among trading on American exchanges. The advantage of tariffs for traders (more than 3 transactions within 5 days) starts from assets in the amount of more than $ 25,000. The broker does not accept payments in rubles. There is a risk of blocking the accounts of Russian citizens. The broker strictly complies with all sanctions and regulatory restrictions.
After tens of millions of dollars in fines from American regulators, Interactive Brokers began cleaning up client accounts. In case of suspicious, non-standard activity on accounts, they begin blocking accounts or suspending withdrawals until they receive evidence of the origin of the client's money!
Just2Trade
Just2Trade - formerly an American broker, bought by structures of a financial group popular in Eastern Europe, subsequently transferred to Cypriot jurisdiction and is a partner of a large American brokerage company.
One of the best offshore brokers for non-Euro-American investors and traders. Provides the most comprehensive set of investment solutions: from foreign exchanges to digital currencies. Provides reliable access infrastructure through American upstream brokers of the Lime financial group (member of FINRA & SIPC, NFA).
The investment product capabilities of this broker are the best among European offshore brokers: many auto-following strategies (J2T Copy), simple and clear robo-advising (J2T Robo-advisor), favorable conditions for structured products with capital protection (J2T IIP), professional trading terminals (Metatrader, Lightspeed, Sterling, CQG), regular offers to buy shares of companies on the pre-IPO, IPO and OTC market, favorable commissions on the foreign exchange market, access to trading cryptocurrencies, and other investment services.
Trading in cryptocurrencies is carried out within the personal account or the broker's trading terminal through its own exchange J2TX.
Freedom24 (ex.Freedom Finance Europe)
Freedom Finance Europe brokerage holding listed on the American Nasdaq stock exchange. They have about 100 offices in cities in 12 countries: the USA, Germany, Cyprus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece and Ukraine. One of the fastest growing brokers in Cyprus with American shareholders.
The broker's key services are: direct access to 15 of the world's largest exchanges in the USA, Europe, and Asia via the Tradernet and CQG terminals. Also, a profitable service for placing free balances on savings and savings accounts with increased interest on the balance in EUR (3-5%) and USD (5-6%) per annum. Interesting services include daily company research with the publication of investment ideas, as well as lessons from the broker's interactive academy.
More information about foreign stock brokers for investors and traders