ECMarkets Review: Legitimacy and Risk Check

What this site is: ECMarkets is a real, operating forex and CFD broker — not an anonymous scam site. Founded in 2012, it is a multi-entity brand with more than 300,000 traders across 50 countries (per its August 2026 update), offering MT4 and MT5 with STD, ECN and PRO account types. Its group holds genuine licences from the UK FCA, Australia’s ASIC, South Africa’s FSCA, New Zealand’s FMA, and the regulators of Mauritius, Seychelles and the UAE. There is no scam finding against this broker in this review, and no regulator warning against it was found. But the protection you get depends entirely on which entity you contract with — and that is the point of this review.

The licences — and which one actually covers you

EC Markets lists seven regulatory relationships. The three with real retail licences in well-supervised markets are: EC Markets Financial Limited under ASIC AFSL 414198 in Australia (authorised since February 2012 to deal in and make a market for FX and derivatives with retail and wholesale clients), the same company under FSCA licence 51886 in South Africa, and its New Zealand registration FSP197465. EC Markets Group Ltd is authorised by the UK FCA under FRN 571881. The international site itself is operated by EC Markets Limited in Mauritius under FSC licence GB21200130, with a Seychelles entity under FSA licence SD009. The UAE company (licence 20200000281) is licensed for ranking and advice only — EC Markets states it is not authorised to hold client assets or client money.

Here is the catch: the licence list is a group structure, not one protection package available to every client. The footer of ecmarkets.com names EC Markets Limited (Mauritius) as the operator, and that is the entity most international clients contract with. In Mauritius there is no compensation scheme and no ombudsman — the FCA, ASIC and FSCA licences the marketing leans on do not cover those accounts. Before you deposit, confirm the entity name printed on your client documents, and check that entity’s licence on the regulator’s own register.

Broker reviews on RSF follow the same checks — for example, our TradeFX360 review looks at the same licence and entity questions before any deposit.

One more detail worth knowing: the FCA-authorised company is a renamed shell in the sense that Companies House shows 07601714 incorporated in April 2011 as DNL Finance Limited, then AlumFX, then GCM Prime, before taking the EC Markets name in January 2020. The FCA authorisation itself is real; the decade of history in the marketing belongs to the company number, not to the EC Markets brand.

What to check before you use it

• Confirm your contracting entity on your account documents — FCA, ASIC or FSCA protection only applies if that is the entity you signed with.
• Verify the licence on the regulator’s public register before opening an account; a company registration is not a brokerage licence.
• Read the Trustpilot profile carefully: Trustpilot suspended the company’s rating over fake reviews and removed a number of them; of the 120 reviews that remain, 50% are one star and 48% are five star, with almost nothing in between.
• Check spreads, commissions, leverage and withdrawal terms for your account type and residency — they differ by entity.
• Remember that leveraged CFD trading can lose more than your deposit with some entities; check whether negative balance protection applies to your account.

Bottom line

ECMarkets is a legitimate, multi-regulated broker with real FCA, ASIC, FSCA and FMA licences — but the international website is operated by its Mauritius entity, where there is no compensation scheme and no ombudsman. The broker is real; the protection is not uniform. Check which entity you are contracting with, verify its licence on the official register, and read the Trustpilot profile before depositing. See more reviews in our Scam Reviews category. More reviews are on RSF.support.

Frequently asked questions

Is ECMarkets legit?
Yes. ECMarkets is a real broker founded in 2012, with genuine licences including UK FCA (FRN 571881) and Australia ASIC (AFSL 414198). No regulator warning against it was found.

Is ECMarkets regulated by the FCA?
EC Markets Group Ltd is authorised by the FCA under FRN 571881. But that authorisation applies to that specific company — confirm it is the one you contract with, because most international clients contract with the Mauritius entity instead.

Which ECMarkets entity holds my money?
For most international clients, EC Markets Limited in Mauritius (FSC licence GB21200130), the operator of ecmarkets.com. There is no compensation scheme and no ombudsman in Mauritius, so check your account documents before depositing.

Why is ECMarkets’ Trustpilot rating suspended?
Trustpilot suspended the rating for a breach of its guidelines and removed a number of fake reviews. Of the 120 reviews that remain, 50% are one star and 48% are five star.

– **Proposed tags:** EC Markets, FCA regulated, ASIC regulated, legitimate broker
– **Featured template:** Legitimate Business
– **Screenshot accessible:** yes (ecmarkets.com returned HTTP 200, 7 November 2026)