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FxFlat is a broker located in Germany, regulated by the Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin).
FxFlat accepts clients from all over the world, excluding USA and some jurisdictions where restrictions apply.
Broker offers a huge amount of assets for trading:
Stocks, ETFs, Futures, Options, Indices, Warrants, Certificates, CFDs, Forex, Commodities, Bonds etc.
The full list can be found on their Trader Workstation trading platform.
Some types of assets are partially available for trading on the MT4 and MT5 platforms.
As one of the early online brokers set up all the way back in 1997, FXFlat has one of the longest track records in the forex broker industry. The company is based out of Germany, and still serves customers from most countries in the world with the usual exception of the US and a few other countries.
As a forex broker headquartered within the EU, leverage for all traders is limited to just 1:30 at FXFlat, in accordance with rules from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). What this means is that for most traders that are based in countries outside of the EU, trading conditions with FxFlat will be far worse than what they would be able to get with most other brokers. For EU-based traders, however, this may not make much of a difference, and some traders may even prefer to trade with a broker that is fully regulated in the EU.
A special thing about FXFlat that distinguishes it from most other brokers we have reviewed here on FX-List is the huge amount of trading instruments it offers, spread across nearly all asset classes. However, it’s important to note that most of these instruments are not available on the MetaTrader platform, but instead only on the Trader Workstation platform.
In addition to MetaTrader 4 and 5 and Trader Workstation, FXFlat also lets its clients use the AgenaTrader platform, as well as a professional trading interface for MetaTrader 4 and 5 known as StereoTrader.
Important to note about FXFlat is that the broker works as an introducing broker (IB) for the large US-based firm Interactive Brokers for clients signed up with a Trader Workstation account. This means that the majority of instruments offered by FXFlat are not actually traded through the broker, but instead through Interactive Brokers on the Trader Workstation platform. For clients signed up with one of the MetaTrader accounts, however, instruments ranging from futures to forex and a number of CFDs are offered by FXFlat itself.
Perhaps most notable when it comes to FXFlat’s offering is the very large selection of stocks it has. This is possible because of the partnership with Interactive Brokers, known as one of the largest stock brokers in the US. As such, FXFlat clients have access to virtually all listed stocks in the US, as well stocks listed on a range of public exchanges across Europe, Russia, Australia, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Also important to be aware of with FXFlat is that commissions and spreads on the different trading instruments vary greatly depending on which platform/account type a user is trading with. For traders on the MetaTrader platform that trade with FXFlat directly, spreads start from 0.9 pips for the popular EUR/USD currency pair, which is a fairly tight spread for a typical STP-style account where trading is commission-free. For European stock CFDs, the broker charges a commission of 0.09% per round-turn, while for US stock CFDs there is no commission charged. Other instruments all come with different trading fees, and all details are carefully explained on the broker’s Trading Conditions page.
To sign up on one of the MetaTrader accounts, a client will need to make a deposit of at least EUR 200. Meanwhile, the minimum deposit for the Trader Workstation account (with Interactive Brokers) is much higher, starting at EUR 2,000.
For the MetaTrader accounts, funding with FXFlat can be done via bank transfer, credit & debit cards, as well as online money transfer platforms such as Skrill, Sofort, PayPal and GiroPay. Unfortunately, however, traders who want to sign up with the Trader Workstation account to trade with Interactive Brokers can only deposit funds via bank transfer, although the broker does give users the option to transfer funds to bank accounts in their own country, thus avoiding any international wire transfer fees.
All in all, there is little doubt that FXFlat is among the oldest and best-known brokers in Europe, and perhaps especially so in its home country Germany. Further, through its IB partnership with Interactive Brokers, FXFlat offers a global reach which far exceeds most other brokers. As a result, FxFlat could be a good alternative for European traders who’d like more diversified and global exposure, while still staying within a fully regulated trading environment.
