In Germany, low spread forex brokers and other financial services companies are overseen by the national financial regulator known as Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, or BaFin for short, as well as by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). In other words, spreads may be low, but regulations imposed by the ESMA, such as limited trading leverage and negative balance protection, must be followed by all forex brokers in Germany.
Despite the strict regulations, forex trading is popular in Germany. However, many German traders prefer to look for low spread forex brokers with higher leverage in countries outside of Europe. Among the most popular countries to look for low spread forex brokers for German traders are Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.