UFX Review
Why UFX Sucks in 50 Words?
Most bad complaints are about pushy marketing calls and misleading information about deposit sizes. I don’t like it. Also, since 11/06/2020, this firm can no longer provide regulated activities and products in the UK, but previously was authorised by the FCA. On top of this, they have voluntarily renounced their CySEC authorisation and although the reasons for the cancellation are not specified, there’s definitely a bad vibe whenever a major regulator cancels an authorisation.
Why UFX Doesn’t Suck in 50 Words?
On the other hand, UFX gets good reviews and you can’t do better than that. It doesn’t get perfect reviews but there is a nice blend of satisfied customers and that gives some confidence. On top of that, UFX is registered with most European regulators, which adds an extra security layer.
Is UFX A Scam?
UFX bears some hallmarks of a legit broker but the fact that the FCA cancelled their authorisation is a bit dubious. Furthermore, according to their CySEC page, the firm is “Under examination for voluntary renunciation of the authorisation”; however, the reasons are not clear.
User reviews are mixed, with some people screaming “scam” at the top of their lungs. On the plus side, they actually get some good reviews from real people so they must be doing something right. The bad news is that UFX received multiple warnings and fines (more on that below).
Should I Open An Account With UFX.com?
UFX is an international brand of CFD broker that is committed to offering you the best possible experience on its trading platform, or so they say. UFX.com is owned and operated by Reliantco Investments Limited, which is a company that was regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with licence number 127/10 (more on this to follow). In the past this company was also authorised by the British FCA (Reference number: 569242), however, this is no longer the case.
Their Czech branch, which is named simply “RELIANTCO INVESTMENTS LTD, Czech Branch”, is registered with the Czech National Bank, in accordance with Act No. 256/2004 Coll. The broker is also registered with more than 20 EU regulatory bodies.
UFX is a CFD broker that offers three ways to trade; WebTrader, MetaTrader 5 and mobile. They also offer Trade Central as an add-on feature that links market information and signals to your platform. The trading set-up is clean, you can view about a dozen pairs at once or a single asset with a chart of live prices. The charting set up is decent, not the greatest I’ve seen, but more than adequate to trade with.
UFX.com offers several account levels with a varying degree of support, including Islamic accounts ($10,000 minimum deposit). The minimum deposit for the cheapest account (Micro/Mini) is a mere $100 but it comes with a volume requirement of $250. This means you have to trade a certain amount to maintain your status which is basically a way to make you trade more. The deadline for meeting this requirement is unclear. Other account types include Mini (min $500), Standard (min $1,000), Gold (min $5,000) and Platinum (min $10,000). All account types have volume requirements.
The asset list is relatively wide but with a heavy focus on stocks and currencies. When I was checking the platform all the listed assets were available for trading so that’s good. The spreads are a bit wide so you have to be careful with your entries. They do charge a rather big inactivity fee of $100 for accounts that have been inactive for 45 days so make sure to keep your trading volume up if you choose this broker.
The broker lists the following addresses:
Reliantco Investments Ltd (Headquarters) Address: 139 Makarios Avenue, Zavos Business Center, 3rd Floor,3021 Limassol, Cyprus; Telephone: +357 25 03 03 14
and ReliantCo Investments LTD, Czech Branch. Address: Na Hřebenech II 1718/8, Building B, 140 00 Prague 4. Telephone: +420 228 881 495.
UFX Complaints
UFX gets a lot of complaints but there are mitigated by an equal number of good comments. The complaints are centered around pushy salespeople and harassment, but there’s also mention of fraud (especially if you look on ForexPeaceArmy forums), and some people are unhappy with the minimum volume rules and getting charged inactivity or low activity fees.
UFX Regulatory Warnings
7.23.14 – UFX.com was warned by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2014.
20.12.17 – UFX parent company was fined by CySEC for compliance issues. Read more here
11.6.2020 – FCA cancels UFX’s permission to conduct regulated activities with UK consumers. Read more here
Trading Bitcoin With UFX
Unfortunately you cannot trade Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies at UFX.com. It is unclear whether they offered digital asset trading in the past or not, but at the time of writing there’s no trace of any crypto asset on their platform.
UFX Ratings
User Friendliness 15/20
The platform is decent, the website is relatively easy to navigate and available in 24 languages, which is a lot. There is a lot of information but some of it is hard to find. US clients are not accepted, mobile platforms are available.
Range of Markets, Spreads and Leverage 15/20
They have a wide range of assets, but unfortunately no cryptocurrencies. Spreads are on the wide side, with 3 pips for EUR/USD at the time of writing. Leverage goes up to 1:30, which is average; note that clients from some parts of the world may have access to higher leverage.
Fees and Support 14/20
The spreads are a bit wide so take that into account. There’s a large inactivity fee of $100 that kicks in after 45 days of inactivity. Support is there but they ask you to leave a message, so there’s no live support (or at least there wasn’t at the time of our visit).
Deposits And Withdrawals 16/20
Deposit is easy and can be done by wire, card, and eWallets (Neteller, Webmoney, iDEAL Qiwi and possibly more, depending on region). Withdrawals (minimum $25) can be made via the same methods used for deposits but the processing times are long, at 3 – 10 business days (depending on method), which is a let-down.
Website Extra’s 10/20
UFX offers MassInsights, which is a tool that shows the market sentiment in a percentage format (i.e. it shows how many traders are selling and how many are buying, percent-wise). It’s not something that we’ve never seen before, because many brokers offer similar tools, but it’s something worth mentioning.