ACY Securities

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Australia, ACY Securities has grown to become a large multi-asset financial company offering trading on over 1600 instruments. As an international broker, it is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).

Nigerians will be trading under the subsidiary, ACY Capital Australia Limited (ACY LTD), incorporated in Vanuatu and regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).  

Unlike more reputable regulators such as ASIC in Australia, or the FCA in the UK, VFSC-regulated brokers are not required to segregate client funds from their operating capital or offer their traders negative balance protection.  Additionally, brokers only need to submit regular financial reports once a year.  

Essentially, this means that the VFSC does not involve itself in the client protection business. At most, they may release warnings against companies that are found to have repeatedly violated the rules. But if you enter a dispute against VFSC-registered brokers, you cannot expect the agency’s assistance to mediate or get your money back.

However, although Nigerian traders may be apprehensive about trading under a subsidiary that is unregulated, ACY Securities deposits all client funds in top-tier, well-capitalised banks, separate from the company’s operating funds.  Additionally, ACY Securities is also regulated by a top-tier regulator, ASIC, providing another level of regulatory oversight. 

Nigerians are afforded negative balance protection, but this is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  

ACY Securities has won numerous awards for its services and offering over the years, further burnishing its credentials as a safe broker.  These include: 

• Premium /Multi-Asset Broker in Asia 2020 (FX168 2020 Brokers Billboard Annual Awards)
• Best Partner Program 2020 (World Finance Forex Awards)
• Best Multi-Asset Broker in Australia 2020 (Technology Era)
• Best Forex Broker 2018 (International Business Summit Malaysia)
• Influential Forex Broker (China Financial Online).

Lastly, ACY Securities offers ultra-fast order execution, liquidity from 16 global banks, direct access to Equinix Servers in New York and Asia, and a No Dealing Desk system. These measures ensure that traders have access to a fast, efficient and transparent trading environment.

Overall, even though ACY Securities Nigerian traders will be trading under a subsidiary with little regulatory oversight, it maintains regulation from ASIC, segregates all client money at top-tier banks, and provides negative balance protection on a discretionary basis.  We, therefore, consider ACY Securities a trustworthy broker. 

ACY Securities’ account-opening process is as per the industry standard. 

All Nigerian traders are eligible to open an account at ACY Securities as long as they meet the following minimum deposit requirements.  These are:

• Standard account: 50 USD
• ProZero Account: 200 USD
• Bespoke Account: 10,000 USD

Traders can choose between a business or individual account, but for the purposes of this review, we will outline the process for opening an individual account:

1. Click on the button at the top right-hand corner of the screen labelled “Open an Account.”

2. Register a live account.  This requires filling in a registration form with all your personal details including your name, email address, and telephone number.  

3. The next step requires completing your personal details, including gender, ID number, date of birth, and residential address.

4. Traders will then have to fill in their financial information, including employment details, occupation, and annual income.  Traders will also have to select their preferred platform (MT4 or MT5), base currency, account type, and leverage.

5. Once this step is complete, clients are required to fill out a questionnaire that helps ACY Securities assess the trader’s investment knowledge, experience, and expertise to deem the suitability and relevance of the services on offer. While most brokers don’t include this step in the account-opening process, it is a responsible move in an industry that is often accused of an irresponsible approach to consumer protection. 

6. Traders will then have to verify that they have read the Key Information Statement, the Client Terms and Conditions, and the Privacy Policy Statement.

7. ACY Securities requires at least two documents to accept you as an individual client:

1. Proof of Identification – ACY Securities accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 

2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 

After the application is approved, traders can log in and fund their accounts  

Overall, ACY Securities’ account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free and accounts are generally ready for trading once all documentation has been approved.

ACY Securities’ range of financial instruments for CFD trading includes Forex, share CFDs, commodities, ETFs, indices, and cryptocurrencies

ACY Securities offers three live accounts on the MT4 and MT5 platforms.  The Standard Account has trading fees included in its variable spreads, while the ProZero and Bespoke accounts offer raw spreads (often down to 0 pips on the EUR/USD) in exchange for a commission per lot.

ACY Securities’ fee structure is transparent, and it publishes all the spread and commission costs associated with either account.

The trading costs on the Standard Account are built into the spread and are higher than the costs on the ProZero and Bespoke Accounts, which have a small commission per lot traded.  However, the minimum deposit on the Standard Account is significantly lower than the requirements of the ProZero and Bespoke accounts.

In a further twist, commission costs will also change depending on your account currency on the MT4 and MT5 platforms.

Overall, these trading costs are excellent compared to other good international brokers, which have a trading cost of around 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded.

Swap Fees

Another important cost to consider is the swap rate charged on positions held overnight.   Interest is paid (or received) for each night a position is held. When trading a currency, you are borrowing one currency to purchase another. The swap interest fee is calculated based on the difference between the two interest rates of the traded currencies.  ACY Securities’ swap fees are reasonable, with a swap rate of -3.75 on a long position, and -0.34 on a short position.  

We opened and tested ACY Securities’ accounts:

Standard Account

The minimum initial deposit in the Standard Account is 50 USD.  Spreads are variable, starting at 1.00 pips on the EUR/USD, which is slightly wider than similar-sized ECN/DMA brokers, but no commissions are charged. 

ProZero Account

A minimum deposit of 200 USD is required to open a ProZero Account.  Spreads start at 0.0 pips on the EUR/USD, and average at 0.1 pips, and a low commission of 6 USD (round turn) per lot is charged.  These trading conditions are highly competitive for the industry.   

On the ProZero Account, commissions are charged differently depending on the base currency of your account (this is detailed below).

Bespoke Account

A minimum deposit of 10,000 USD is required on this account, spreads start at 0.0 pips on the EUR/USD, and traders are charged a very low commission of 5 USD (round turn) per lot. Overall, the trading costs on this account are among the lowest in the industry. 

See the table below for the commissions in a selection of common base currencies:

MT4 and MT5 ProZero and Bespoke Account Commission Structure:

With support for MT4 and MT5, ACY Securities’ mobile platform support is average.

MT4/MT5 Mobile Applications

Both trading platforms are available on both Android and iOS mobile devices and tablets. Beginner traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced timeframes and fewer charting options.  In addition, spotty connections can reduce the overall trading experience. Generally, it is better to be at your desktop to conduct day-to-day trading and use a mobile device to keep an eye on the markets or close open positions.

Although ACY Securities only offers the Metatrader suite of platforms, which are not as beginner-friendly as the proprietary platforms offered at other brokers, MT4 and MT5 are considered some of the best third-party platforms in the industry. Additionally, ACY Securities offers the MetaTrader Scripts, one of the best MetaTrader plugins on the market.

Metatrader 4

While not the most beginner-friendly software, MT4 has been the industry-standard platform for trading Forex and CFDs since 2005.  One of the features that make MT4 popular is its auto-trading feature that enables algorithmic trading and strategy backtesting with expert advisors (trading robots).

However, while MT4 has great customizability, the platform feels outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find.  In addition, only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop.

Metatrader 5

MT4’s successor, MT5, is a state-of-the-art, multi-functional platform that boasts advanced technical tools and copy-trading. MetaTrader 5 is designed to accommodate advanced trading across a wider selection of asset classes than its predecessor, MT4. Feature-rich, it boasts advanced tools and offers superior execution.  

The benefit of ACY Securities offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.  Additionally, thousands of plugins and tools are available for both the MetaTrader platforms.

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, ACY Securities operates a “return to source policy,” meaning that withdrawals can only be returned to the original funding source.   Deposits and withdrawals can be made via Bank Transfer, Visa/Mastercard, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, PerfectMoney, Trustly, dragonpay, PayTrust, and UnionPay.  However, Nigerians can only make use of credit cards/debit cards, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, and Perfect Money.  Deposits are free and instant.  Withdrawal requests are processed on the same day if a request is received before 14:00 AEST. Requests received after 14:00 AEST might not be processed until the next business day.

ACY Securities offers a larger number of base currencies compared to most other brokers.

ACY Securities offers accounts denominated in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, CAD, and JPY but not NGN, which means that Nigerians will have to pay conversion fees on all deposits and withdrawals.  Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and affect profitability.

For traders that trade in large volumes (more than 10 lots a month), it is better to open an account denominated in USD at a digital currency bank, especially for trading on assets such as the EUR/USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair with another currency account, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

Overall, ACY Securities offers more trading account currencies than most other large international brokers, but it doesn’t offer accounts denominated in NGN. 

ACY Securities has partnered with Capitalise.ai, Signal Start, and MetaTrader Scripts to provide traders with automated trading options.

• Capitalise.ai: This tool provides 24/7 market monitoring, indicating various trading opportunities and when traders should enter or exit a trade. It also provides a strategies library with a variety of live strategy examples to get you started.
• Signal Start: Signal start is essentially a copy trading service. It allows followers to choose from a wide range of strategy providers. 
• MetaTrader Scripts: These are indicators that are designed to optimise your Forex trading. These include:

• • MT4 Script Close All
  • Delete all Objects
  • Trading Statistics
  • Trailing stop & Long Short
  • Keltner Channel Indicator
  • History Simulator
  • Trend Ribbon
  • Calculate Your Lots
  • Donchian Channel
  • Advanced Pivot Points
  • Time Zone Indicator

ACY Securtities’ market analysis is limited compared to other similar brokers.  

The market analysis section is updated on a daily basis but essentially comprises two sections – Market News and Market Analysis.  Both sections cover articles written by ACY Securities’ in-house team of market analysts, headed by Duncan Cooper.  The material is in-depth and well-structured. 

ACY’s educational materials comprise e-books, trading videos, a video trading course, various articles about how to trade Forex, and a demo account. 

E-books: The in-house team of analysts has created a free trading e-book covering the essential aspects of trading, including ‘The Importance of Choosing the Right Company,’ ‘Forex Industry,’ ‘Fundamental Analysis,’ and ‘Technical Analysis,’ amongst others.

Trading Courses: In this free trading series, ACY Securities’ Chief Market Analyst guides traders on how to apply chart patterns, how to trade according to the latest market events, and using fundamentals to make better trading decisions. 

Seminars and Webinars: These are run every Tuesday and Thursday evenings in various languages by ACY Securities in-house market analysts.  Webinars are free of charge to all visitors to the site, but require registration. 

Articles: Various educational articles are published on a daily basis and cover topics such as leverage, how to use the Metatrader platforms, the basics of Forex trading, and more. 

Demo Accounts: ACY Securities’ demo accounts come loaded with up to 100,000 USD in virtual funds.  Demos mimic the conditions on all of the above-mentioned accounts on both the MT4 and MT5 platforms.  Demos last for six months and can be renewed on request.

On opening an account, traders receive personalised support, helping them with account setup and any other technical difficulties. For the purposes of this review, we found the customer support responsive, polite, and resourceful.