EBC Financial Group Review 2024

Trust

EBC Financial Group Regulators

In our reviews, we examine the regulatory status of each entity operated by a broker. This allows us to compare the different levels of client protection. We rank regulators using a three-tier system, where Tier-1 licensing reflects the highest level of regulation.

Here are my findings on the various entities of EBC Financial Group:

• EBC Financial Group (UK) Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), reference number 927552. We rate FCA as a Tier 1 regulator.
• EBC Financial Group (Australia) Pty Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), reference number 500991. We rate ASIC as a Tier 1 regulator.
• EBC Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), reference number 2038223. We rate CIMA as a Tier 3 regulator.
• EBC Financial Group (SVG) LLC is authorized by the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (SVGFSA), registration number 353 LLC 2020. We rate the SVGFSA as unregulated.

Understanding the Regulatory Protections of Your Account

Brokers operate multiple entities to serve clients globally, yet regulatory protections vary by jurisdiction. Some regulators enforce strict financial standards, while others are more lenient. Traders should understand the protection offered by the entity where they intend to open an account.

• Segregation of client funds. Keeping client funds in segregated bank accounts from the ones used for the broker’s corporate capital negates the risk of accounting errors. All EBC Financial Group entities ensure this.
• Negative balance protection. This safety mechanism removes the risk of trading losses exceeding the account balance. In other words, the losses you incur from trading are capped at the amount you have put in your trading account. This is especially important in volatile markets. Only Saint Vincent and the Grenadines entity provides negative balance protection.
• Compensation scheme. A compensation scheme protects retail traders against the broker’s liabilities in the unlikely event that the company becomes insolvent. EBC Financial Group has purchased private insurance from Lloyds of London and AON with an insured amount of over $10M each year to protect clients.
  The broker is also a member of the Financial Commission, which offers a compensation fund that covers up to €20,000 per complaint. Clients with the UK entity are potentially covered for up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
• Maximum leverage. Capping the maximum leverage restricts the extent of market exposure to retail traders. The higher the leverage, the higher the potential profits and losses. The maximum leverage at the global entity (EBC Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd) is 1:500.

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focus on the broker’s length of service, company size, and transparency in terms of readily available information.

Founded in 2020, EBC Financial Group has a relatively short operating history. The company’s LinkedIn page lists 201-500 employees, reflecting a medium-sized brokerage firm.

While evaluating the EBC Financial Group website (ebc.com) and social media presence, I judged that the broker is highly transparent about its fees, regulatory status, and overall background. Information and materials were clearly laid out and easy to find.

The company’s regulatory status can be viewed in the footer of the website. Information relating to trading costs can be found on the Trading Account page. In-depth coverage of the execution policy, privacy policy, and risk acknowledgment can be found on the Legal Document page.

Is EBC Financial Group Safe to Trade With?

In summary, our findings indicate that EBC Financial Group can be regarded as having a moderate level of trust and stability due to the following factors:

• 4-year operating history
• All entities segregate client funds
• All entities provide negative balance protection
• Transparent in essential areas like fees and regulation
• All clients benefit from insurance from Lloyds of London
• Member of the Financial Commission

Fees

EBC Financial Group Trading Fees

EBC Financial Group Spreads

I tested the spreads at EBC Financial Group during the London open and just after the New York open on 26 November 2024. At these times, the market is typically highly liquid with the tightest spreads.

I found that spreads on forex and commodities were close to the industry average, while certain instruments, such as the Dow Jones 30 index, offered spreads that were better than the norm. More competitive spreads are available on the Professional account, which offers raw spreads with a $6 commission.

The spreads on CFDs on shares are competitive, with no additional spread and a standardized commission charged at baseline for both Standard and Professional accounts.

EBC Financial Group Swap Fees

In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of maintaining a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract.

A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). I recorded the data on 26 November 2024.

The values listed below are for one full contract (100,000 units) of the base currency.

My tests showed that spreads at EBC Financial Group are in the industry’s standard range.

EBC Financial Group Non-Trading Fees

EBC Financial Group does not charge deposit/withdrawal fees or inactivity/account maintenance fees.

Are EBC Financial Group Fees Competitive?

Overall, I rate the fees at EBC Financial Group as average for the following reasons:

• Standard spreads in most instruments
• Average swap fees
• No inactivity fees
• No deposit or withdrawal fees

Platform and Tools

MetaTrader 5 Desktop

In my live tests, I used the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform. It is available in 52 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese, and provides popular features such as:

• Alerts: This feature updates traders when an instrument reaches a specific price level.
• Watchlists: Traders can create a list of their favorite instruments and follow live quotes in a market watch panel.
• One-Click Trading: This feature allows traders to execute orders with a single click and no secondary confirmation. This feature enables traders to operate faster and is especially useful for short-term traders.
• Trading from the Chart: MT5 also allows users the convenience of trading directly from the chart.

The Market Watch panel enables traders to stay on top of their favorite instruments at a glance.

The Toolbox panel allows traders to track their open positions, market exposure, trade history, and profit/loss figures in real time.

MT5 Desktop Charts

Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 5 offers:

• 38 Technical Indicators: These include classic trend indicators, volume indicators, and oscillators.
• 44 Analytical Objects: These include lines, channels, Gann, and Fibonacci tools.
• 21 Time Frames. Traders can choose from many time frames, from one minute to one month.
• 3 Chart Types: Traders can use Bar Charts, Japanese Candlestick Charts, and Line Charts. MetaTrader is also popular due to its copy trading and automated trading features.
• Trading Signals: Signals in MetaTrader 5 allow users to copy other traders’ activity in real time.
• Automated Trading: MetaTrader 5 allows users to develop, test, and apply Expert Advisors (EAs) – programs that monitor and trade markets using algorithms.

MT5 Desktop Orders

MetaTrader 5 delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The platform offers the following:

• Market Order: Traders use market orders to buy or sell an instrument at the best current price.
• Limit Order: Traders use limit orders to buy or sell an instrument at a specified price or better.
• Stop-Loss Order: Traders use stop-loss orders to buy or sell an instrument when its price reaches a specified level.
• Stop-Limit Order: Traders can manage risk more precisely with stop-limit orders, which combine the features of a stop-loss with those of a limit order.
• Trailing-Stop Order: Traders use trailing stop-loss orders as a stop-loss order at a defined percentage or dollar amount away from an instrument’s current market price. This order type allows traders to secure profits when they are in a winning trade while not having to exit the position.

MT5 Desktop: My Key Takeaways

MetaTrader 5 is one of the most feature-rich and popular retail trading platforms. However, it may present a steep learning curve for beginners. MT5 offers a greater number of technical indicators, graphical objects, and analytical objects than MT4. It also has great additional features like an economic calendar and market depth (DOM).

MT4 WebTrader Platform

The MetaTrader Web Platform (WebTrader) is a slightly stripped-down version of the desktop platform. It allows users to trade directly from any browser and operating system without any additional software.

Popular features include:

• One-click trading
• Trading from the chart
• Watchlists with real-time quotes
• Trade history
• Advanced charting with 30 indicators for technical analysis

MT5 Mobile App

EBC Financial Group offers the MetaTrader 5 mobile app for mobile trading, which is available for Android and iOS. The app offers popular features such as alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart.

The MT5 mobile app also provides many order types, including pending and stop orders. However, trailing stop-loss orders are only available from the desktop. To change the language of the MT5 app, you must change the language for your entire phone.

MT5 App: My Key Takeaways

Overall, the MetaTrader 5 app offers an above-average range of features, and I rate it as a well-designed app. I appreciated the wide range of technical indicators and the option of trading from the chart for fast order entry on the move.

Copy Trading

The EBC Financial Group copy trading platform allows you to seamlessly connect your trading account with signal providers and easily copy trades of other successful traders without an EA.

The platform features AI-driven, one-click signal screening to help you discover top strategies. When evaluating a signal provider, you can view key metrics like profit factor, rate of return, maximum drawdown rate, and Sharpe ratio.

EBC Financial Group Order Execution Model

EBC Financial Group always acts as a principal and not as an agent on the client’s behalf. It is the sole execution venue for the execution of client orders. However, EBC Financial Group reserves the right to transmit client orders for execution to third-party liquidity providers, where contractually, it is the sole counterparty to client trades, and any execution of orders is done in its name.

Tradable Instruments

The range of CFDs on forex and commodities is average, while the number of available indices is relatively strong. EBD Financial Group recently added CFDs on shares, but the range is currently somewhat limited and only covers US exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ and ARC).

What are CFDs?

A Contract for Difference (CFD) is an agreement specifying that the buyer must pay the seller the difference between an asset’s current value and its value at the time the contract was initiated. Like futures and other derivative financial instruments, CFDs allow traders to speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset.

What Can You Trade with EBC Financial Group?

To better illustrate the range of instruments available at (broker), the following tables show samples from various asset classes:

EBC Financial Group Instruments: My Key Takeaways

EBC Financial Group offers access to a broad range of popular financial instruments, including major currency pairs, commodities like gold, and a solid selection of global indices.

Recently, the broker expanded its lineup by introducing share CFDs and has plans to add Multi-Asset Balanced Funds and Private Credit Funds in the near future. However, there is still room to enhance the offering by including popular assets such as crypto CFDs and futures.

Customer Support

EBC Financial Group Customer Support Test

Support is a key component of a broker’s offering – whether you are a new trader looking for guidance on how to use the platform or an experienced trader who needs help fast to exit their positions in the event of a technical glitch.

I tested EBC Financial Group’s support via live chat and email over a two-week period, submitting multiple inquiries. The agents were helpful, well-informed, and prompt in addressing my questions.

However, while weekday support was impressively responsive, I was unable to reach an agent over the weekend. Additionally, the availability of dedicated account managers adds a personalized touch to their support services.

Deposit and Withdrawal

EBC Financial Group Deposit Methods

No fees are charged for any deposit method, and processing times are fast.

EBC Financial Group Withdrawal Methods

Withdrawals are also free and processed quickly. Many brokers charge a fee for withdrawals via bank wire, but this is not the case at EBC Financial Group.

Account Types and Terms

EBC Financial Group Account Opening Process

To open an account with EBC Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd, you simply need to enter your name, email, and phone number and then provide proof of identity via an ID or passport.

EBC Financial Group Account Types and Their Benefits

The Standard Account reflects all costs in the spread, making it a simple and easy starting point for beginners. The Professional Account offers lower costs, making it more suitable for active, experienced traders.

Demo Account

EBC Financial Group offers demo accounts for both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Demo accounts are especially important for beginners as they allow them to practice their strategies and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking real money. The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions in assets like forex and CFDs on commodities, indices, and stocks. Once users are up to speed on a demo, they can easily switch to a live account.

Islamic Account

EBC Financial Group offers a swap-free account that adheres to the principles of Sharia law.

What is CFD Leverage?

One of the reasons that traders are attracted to the forex and CFD markets is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account.

The maximum leverage for the EBC Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd entity is 1:500. This means that with a $1,000 account, you can control up to $500,000 worth of market positions.

Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it can hurt you as much as it helps you. Traders should keep in mind that it can amplify both their profits and their losses.

Leverage varies by asset class, as illustrated in the following table:

EBC Financial Group Restricted Countries

EBC Financial Group does not accept residents of the following countries as clients: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, Central African Republic, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Russia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine (including Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk Regions), the United States, Venezuela, Yemen, United Kingdom (service for professional traders only).

Research

Market analysis reports are published on the ebc.com website daily and cover major fundamental themes with a technical overlay included also. Reports are brief but provide a good source of trading ideas and market context for traders.

Analyst Insights from third-party Trading Central are published on the website and help traders identify trading opportunities. Each instrument shows a bullish or bearish bias, along with the technical conditions that would reverse the trend.

Traders can stay on top of upcoming economic releases with the EBC economic calendar, published on the ebc.com website.

EBC also provides a range of tools, including a Pivot Points calculator and Fibonacci calculator, which enable traders to identify key levels of support and resistance.

Clients can also download a range of useful custom indicators like MACD professional indicator (double line) and add-ons like one-click closing EA.

EBC Financial Group Research: My Key Takeaways

With high-quality in-house research, analysis from Trading Central and a range of custom tools, EBC Financial Group helps traders better orient themselves in the markets. EBC Financial Group could do even better by adding a news feed from Reuters and Dow Jones.

Education

Education articles cover a variety of topics, from basic forex concepts to technical indicators and trading strategies. Materials mostly cater to beginners but there is also material useful to experienced traders.

The broker also provides platform tutorials in text and video format, which can serve as useful resources for enabling traders to make the most of the sophisticated MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

The Bottom Line

EBC Financial Group boasts a strong global presence, regulated by top-tier authorities such as the FCA and ASIC, alongside the offshore CIMA. The broker keeps account-related fees minimal, offering average spreads on Standard accounts and competitive trading costs on Professional accounts through a raw spreads plus commissions model.

While its range of tradable instruments is currently limited, EBC Financial Group is actively expanding its offerings. Although regulatory oversight for its offshore entities is less stringent, the broker enhances client fund security through private insurance provided by Lloyd’s of London.

The broker demonstrates a client-centric approach with responsive customer support, a diverse research suite, and a well-designed copy trading platform seamlessly integrated with MetaTrader.

Overall, I find EBC Financial Group a potentially attractive choice for experienced traders seeking low costs via the Professional Account, robust MT4/MT5 platforms, and fast execution speeds. The availability of low-risk micro-lot trading, responsive support via chat, and demo accounts make EBC a suitable broker for new traders. In addition, the rollout of the intuitive MT5 WebTrader will provide a beginner-friendly platform to work with.

FAQ