ASIAN FOREX BROKERS

If you’re looking to trade Forex in Asia, you’re in the right place and in good company. With retail Forex and CFD trading on the rise across the globe, Asia remains one of the most exciting places to trade Forex due to emerging markets. We’ve spent the hundreds of hours of research on Forex brokers in Asia for you, so that you can choose the top Forex brokers in Asia for your trading.

What to Look for in an Asian Forex Broker

Choosing the right Asian Forex broker is critical. However great at trading you may be, trading with the right broker is important to maintaining your profitability. You might be at the top of your game, but if the broker you’re trading through is not regulated, has high spreads, offers inadequate trading tools, or falls short of any of the other important ingredients that make a great Forex broker, you may be compromising your hard-earned profits..

Let’s take regulation, for example. Many brokers who operate in the Forex hotspots of Southeast Asia have found it difficult to comply with what they consider to be a complex, unclear, costly and unfriendly regulatory environment. In Indonesia, for example, only brokers who are locally licensed can set up a local office. Labuan, which is part of Malaysia, grants licensure to international CFD and Forex brokers, but that still doesn’t allow those brokers to operate in Malaysia proper.

Instead, many of these brokers simply operate without regulation, which can be dangerous for Forex and CFD traders. Still, it's important to consider two things: firstly, many brokers that remain unregulated in Asia do maintain offshore regulation which can protect traders and provide confidence, such as Britain’s FCA, Australia’s ASIC, and others. Secondly, there are some unregulated brokers that may have a solid reputation that would be worth considering under the right circumstances. For example, unregulated brokers can offer higher leverage and bonuses that regulated brokers often can't match. Though these might be enticing, traders should carefully consider whether trading with an unregulated broker is a worthwhile risk.

(We should probably mention that the Philippines has no regulatory framework for Forex brokers as of yet, so use caution if you’re thinking about trading in that neck of the woods. You'll have no choice but to choose a local, unregulated broker, or an internationally-regulated broker.)

Asian Trading Hubs

As mentioned, Singapore remains perhaps Asia’s largest Forex trading hub. Over 30 Forex futures and options contracts are available for trading in Singapore, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore has already licensed around 150 brokers. In fact, the world’s five largest banks have their regional Forex trading and sales teams based out of Singapore, so it’s definitely the place to be.

Japan is also a particularly important base for Forex trading, because the Asian trading session is hosted in Tokyo. The Asian session begins at 12:00 GMT and accounts for 20% of all Forex trading volume. Furthermore, about 16.8% of all Forex transactions involve the Japanese yen, though you certainly don't need to be based in Japan to trade yen-based pairs.

Another major financial center in Asia is Hong Kong, followed by other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

FAQs

Is Forex legal in Thailand?

Not only is Forex legal in Thailand, but it has a solid regulatory framework set by the Bank of Thailand and the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Many retail investors invest in foreign securities in Thailand.

What Forex pairs move the most during the Asian trading session?

The pairs that move the most in the Asian session are usually the major JPY pairs, such as the USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and AUD/JPY. You also have the GBP/USD which makes large moves as well, depending on the market.

Can I trade Forex in Singapore?

Singapore is one of the world’s biggest Forex hotspots, and a bustling hub of Forex trading in Asia. You can find all the tools you need to trade Forex in Singapore.