Why broker choice matters more than strategy

Even a profitable strategy gets eaten by hidden costs: high spreads, requotes, slow withdrawals, or worst — frozen funds at an unregulated broker.

The 8-point checklist

  1. Regulation — FCA, ASIC, CySEC, FSA Seychelles, DFSA. Tier-1 ≠ tier-3.
  2. Client fund segregation — your money in a separate account, not the broker's operating account.
  3. Execution model — STP/ECN preferred over market-maker for active trading.
  4. Spreads + commissions — calculate the all-in cost per lot, not just headline spread.
  5. Withdrawal speed — under 24h to wallet/bank is the baseline.
  6. Leverage cap — 1:500 or higher available for offshore entities.
  7. Platform support — MT4/MT5/cTrader/proprietary, plus mobile app quality.
  8. Customer support — live chat with humans, response time, language coverage.

Compare brokers on ShaFX

We rate every broker on these 8 dimensions plus our own cashback rate. Visit /brokers to compare.