SmartFX Review (2023)

Is SmartFX a scam or a legit broker?

SmartFX is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Meaning the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, never monitored in terms of its safety and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is SmartFX?

SmartFX is an international online Forex and CFDs trading firm offering 24 hours access to a diverse range of trading products including fares, currency pairs, commodities, futures, indices and stocks. Through SmartFX and renowned MetaTrader 5 trading platform clients can take advantage of high liquidity, low spreads (Find out more on Low Spread Forex Brokers), mobile trading, technical analysis and even more. The broker claims to maintain high standards to keep trading environments secure, and offer the best tailor made trading conditions for every client. 

License & Regulation

Is SmartFX a scam?

It is not safe to trade with SmartFX, as it is an offshore company. SmartFX is owned and operated by Smart Securities and Commodities Limited. We are Regulated by Vanuatu Financial Services Commissions (VFSC) and Authorized to deal with securities with providing all kinds of financial services to our clients. Registration number – 40491 with registered address at Office 1276, 1st floor Govant building, Kumul highway, Port Vila, Vanuatu. 

Vanuatu is the easiest jurisdiction to open a brokerage, as the opening requires the company to submit a register online, prove initial established capital which is $2,000 only, to pay a fee, and within 2-3 month, the firm is crisp and registered. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as JustProForex, 70Trades and more.

As to the broker’s VFSC license, from our source, it costs €24,000 per year to become a member. However, there is no handbook or guidelines for brokers to run their business. Therefore, there is zero protection for traders. We have a detailed article explaining the risk of trading with brokers from Vanuatu. SmartFX claims to have an office in Dubai, UAE, however, the broker is not authorized to provide financial services in the UAE (Find the Best Forex Broker in UAE). 

SmartFX in India

SmartFX does not offer financial services to the residents of India. 

SmartFX in the USA

SmartFX does not offer financial services to the residents of the USA. The United States is one of the countries that is not accepted by SmartFX. As per the U.S law, brokers regulated by CFTC are the only brokers allowed for the USA traders. So, except for SmartFX, you are only permitted to trade with the U.S regulated platforms.

Deposits & Withdrawals

SmartFX offers a big variety of the deposit methods. 1) Electronic Payment Methods (Skrill, Neteller, STICPAY); 2) Bank Wire Transfers (National Bank of Vanuatu and Local bank in Dubai); 3) Credit/ Debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express). 

Minimum withdrawal is 100 USD for Electronic Payment Methods, Credit/Debit cards and Bank Wires as well.

With SmartFX you can withdraw your funds anytime. Simply login to your Client Portal and place your withdrawal request. It is only possible to send your withdrawal back to the original source of deposit. Usually, all withdrawal requests are processed within 24 hours on business days. In order to deposit or withdraw the funds, your account must be Verified.

SmartFX does not charge any additional fees for deposits. You should however be aware that you may incur fees on payments to some international banking institutions. SmartFX accepts no responsibility for any such deposit fees.

Apps

SmartFX provides its traders with opportunity to trade via MT5 mobile platform (See other MT5 Brokers too). Ideal for traders on the go, MT5 mobile brings new order types and detailed market depth information straight to the mobile device. It is available for iOS and Android users. 

Demo Account

Broker also offers a demo account. Demo Account is created for you to practice your skills without any risks. You trade on the virtual money, which you can’t withdraw. A Live Account is created to get you to trade with real money and your profits/losses are for real. SmartFX’s Demo Account doesn’t have an expiry. You can practice your skills for the period you need to get familiar with a terminal and trading until you are ready to trade on a Live Account.

Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid SmartFX and other brokers from Vanuatu. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as Alpari and FXTM.

You can also share your trading experience with SmartFX by commenting on this review.