ActivTrades at a glance
ActivTrades is a UK-based online forex and CFD broker offering MetaTrader 4/5 and its proprietary ActivTrader platform. The broker provides forex, indices, commodities and share CFDs to retail and professional clients and is known for competitive spreads and a focus on risk management tools.
ActivTrades reports a founding year of 2001 and a head office in London, United Kingdom. It lists 1 regulator and 4 trading platforms.
BrokerBazaar verdict
ActivTrades is an established multi-asset CFD and forex broker with more than two decades of operating history and regulation across the UK, Portugal, Brazil, Mauritius and the Bahamas. Its principal UK entity, ActivTrades PLC, is FCA authorised under FRN 434413. The wider group also operates separately regulated entities in Portugal, Brazil, Mauritius and the Bahamas, providing a substantially broader regulatory footprint than a single-jurisdiction broker. The broker offers a broad selection of markets and four major trading environments: ActivTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and TradingView. Most standard CFD products carry no separate commission, while forex spreads can start from 0.5 pips on selected instruments. The principal regulatory point requiring attention is the former Luxembourg entity, ActivTrades Europe S.A. The CSSF imposed a €14,000 AML/CFT administrative fine, but the entity had already ceased Luxembourg operations and was removed from the CSSF register in October 2024. This should be recorded as historical regulatory information rather than treated as a current licence of ActivTrades.
Legal entities, regulation and licences
ActivTrades operates through 6 legal entities, each supervised separately. Your account is with one specific entity, so the protections you receive depend on which one onboards you, not on the group's strongest licence. Overall, the group is supervised by no regulator we could map to a public register.
Licence check: Not independently checked. This broker has submitted its details. BrokerBazaar has not yet independently checked them. A company registration or general business licence is not permission to offer regulated brokerage services; only the register entries linked in the table count.
Countries accepted and restricted
ActivTrades states that it accepts clients from United Kingdom, European Union, Switzerland, Brazil, Middle East, Asia Pacific. Availability is decided per entity and can change without notice; residents of jurisdictions such as the USA, and often the EU and UK, are frequently excluded from offshore entities.
Known restrictions flagged in our review: Retail leverage is restricted by jurisdiction.
Trading products, platforms and account types
Instruments: Forex, Indices, Shares, Commodities, ETFs, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies. Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ActivTrader (proprietary), Mobile apps (iOS/Android). Account types: Individual/Standard, Corporate, Professional, Islamic (swap-free), Demo.
Best-for tags assigned by our team: Forex Traders, MT4/MT5 Users, Experienced Traders, Risk-Conscious Traders.
Minimum deposit, spreads, commissions and other charges
The minimum deposit is No minimum deposit for most clients. Certain jurisdictions require a minimum of USD 250.. Spreads start from From 0.5 pips and commission is None on standard · applies on raw. Maximum leverage is 1:400, subject to the cap of the entity that holds your account.
Swap-free / Islamic account: not specified. Swap type: not specified. Headline spreads are usually quoted for the most expensive account tier's cheapest instrument; compare total cost for your typical trade.
Deposits and withdrawals
Deposit methods: Bank transfer, Debit/Credit card, Skrill, Neteller. Withdrawal methods: Bank transfer, Debit/Credit card, Skrill, Neteller.
Withdrawal speed and fees are set by the entity and payment provider. Withdrawal delays are the most common complaint category on BrokerBazaar across all brokers; keep identity documents current and withdraw to the same method you deposited with where required by anti-money-laundering rules.
Execution model, negative balance protection and client money
Negative balance protection: Not specified. Scalping allowed: Not specified. Algorithmic trading allowed: Not specified. News trading allowed: Not specified. Hedging: not specified.
Client-money rules follow the regulator of the entity that holds your account. Check that regulator's rules on its register.
Complaints and dispute process
Formal complaints: complaints@activtrades.com. Phone: +44 (0)20 650 03 115. Complaints should be submitted in writing to the ActivTrades Complaints Department at The Loom 2.5, 14 Gower's Walk, London E1 8PY, or by email to complaints@activtrades.com. ActivTrades states that it will provide a final response within eight weeks. Eligible unresolved complaints may subsequently be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If the broker does not resolve a complaint, escalate to the ombudsman or regulator of the entity that holds your account. BrokerBazaar's Dispute Support Desk can help you document and escalate a case.
Strengths and limitations
- Strength: FCA regulated in the United Kingdom
- Strength: Multi-regulated across several jurisdictions
- Strength: More than 20 years of operating history
- Strength: Founded in 2001
- Strength: No minimum deposit for most clients
- Strength: Spreads from 0.5 pips on selected forex products
- Strength: No commission on most standard CFD products
- Strength: MT4 available
- Strength: MT5 available
- Strength: TradingView available
- Strength: Proprietary ActivTrader platform
- Strength: 1,000+ tradable instruments
- Strength: Forex, indices, shares, commodities, ETFs, bonds and crypto
- Strength: Negative balance protection for retail clients
- Strength: 24/5 customer support
- Strength: Support available in multiple languages
- Strength: Professional account option
- Strength: Brazilian regulated entity
- Strength: Portuguese regulated entity
- Strength: Mauritius regulated entity
- Strength: Bahamas regulated entity
- Limitation: CFDs are high-risk leveraged products
- Limitation: Retail leverage is restricted by jurisdiction
- Limitation: Higher leverage requires professional status in applicable jurisdictions
- Limitation: No conventional stock ownership for CFD positions
- Limitation: Overnight financing can apply
- Limitation: Trading costs vary by jurisdiction and entity
- Limitation: The group has a complex multi-jurisdiction structure
- Limitation: Historical Luxembourg entity is no longer active
- Limitation: CSSF imposed a €14,000 AML/CFT fine on the former Luxembourg entity
- Limitation: Not all ActivTrades jurisdictions offer identical products or protections
- Limitation: Brazilian clients have jurisdiction-specific commission arrangements
- Limitation: Some advanced Trading Central tools require a $1,000 minimum deposit
Who this broker suits, and who it does not
ActivTrades is most relevant to traders looking for: Forex Traders, MT4/MT5 Users, Experienced Traders, Risk-Conscious Traders.
It is less suitable for anyone who needs a strict-tier regulator in their own country of residence, for residents of restricted jurisdictions, and for beginners who have not yet understood leverage and margin. Nothing on this page is personal financial advice.
ActivTrades change history
Every published fact change, with the previous value and the date it took effect. Each entry says whether the broker made the change itself or our editors checked it against an official source. Regulation and licence claims are always checked by an editor.
No fact changes recorded for ActivTrades yet. Changes appear here as soon as the broker updates its profile or our editors confirm a change.
Frequently asked questions about ActivTrades
Data sources. Broker submission, the regulator registers linked above, web-archive and domain records, and third-party traffic data. No independent licence check date is recorded yet. External ratings: TradingView 4.6/5; Trustpilot N/A/5; WikiFX 7.97/10; BrokerChooser 4.4/5; Apple App Store 4.5/5; Google Play Store 4.1/5.
Commercial disclosure. BrokerBazaar is independent and not owned by any broker. We may receive a referral fee if you open an account with ActivTrades through our links; this never affects scores or verification. How we make money. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss.