SwissMarketIndex – Can You Trust Them?
Stop! It’s a Scam! Your money is not safe if you are trading with this unregulated, off-shore broker.
SwissMarketIndex - DO NOT TRADE WITH THIS PROVIDER
2.4/10
$100
Minimum Depositupdated 2020
SwissMarketIndex offers its customers the following types of trading accounts:
- Basic: The minimum deposit requirement is $250 and the maximum leverage is 1:100.
- Classic: You need to make a minimum deposit of $5,000 to trade on this account.
- Gold: To trade on this account, you need to deposit a minimum of $10,000.
- Platinum: For this type of account, the minimum deposit asked for is $25,000.
- VIP: The highest account level requires you to make a deposit of at least $50,000.
The broker has not mentioned the trading conditions on its website. We only know the leverage ratio for the Basic account because we registered for an account to check the trading conditions. The spreads in that account for the EURUSD was fixed at 0.4 pips.
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
Plus500 is a FTSE 250 listed brokerage providing online trading services in CFDs, across 2,000+ securities and multiple asset classes.
Website URL: https://swissmarketindex.com
Founded: 2020
Regulations: Unlicensed
Languages: English
Deposit Methods: Crypto Payments
Minimum Deposit: $250
Free Demo Account: No
Number of Assets: N/A
Types of Assets: Currencies, CFDs on Indices, Stocks, Commodities & Cryptocurrencies
Trading Accounts and Conditions
SwissMarketIndex offers its customers the following types of trading accounts:
- Basic: The minimum deposit requirement is $250 and the maximum leverage is 1:100.
- Classic: You need to make a minimum deposit of $5,000 to trade on this account.
- Gold: To trade on this account, you need to deposit a minimum of $10,000.
- Platinum: For this type of account, the minimum deposit asked for is $25,000.
- VIP: The highest account level requires you to make a deposit of at least $50,000.
The broker has not mentioned the trading conditions on its website. We only know the leverage ratio for the Basic account because we registered for an account to check the trading conditions. The spreads in that account for the EURUSD was fixed at 0.4 pips.
SwissMarketIndex – Advantages
There is only one possible advantage that you could get from trading with SwissMarketIndex – decent spreads. When we checked their trading platform, we found that the benchmark currency pair had a fixed spread of 0.4 pips which is very favorable for traders.
SwissMarketIndex – Disadvantages
Here are the many serious disadvantages of trading with SwissMarketIndex:
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Lack of Corporate Clarity
SwissMarketIndex claims on its website that it is owned and operated by Axe Capital FS Ltd. However, in different parts of their website, the broker also mentions a link to two other companies – Arden Group Ltd and Axelrod Holding Ltd. The first is supposedly based out of Zurich in Switzerland, while we know absolutely nothing about the second company.
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
Plus500 is a FTSE 250 listed brokerage providing online trading services in CFDs, across 2,000+ securities and multiple asset classes.
The company was created as a combined effort of financial professionals and experts in web-commerce with the goal of perfecting the online experience for retail traders.
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Lies about Regulation Status
The broker claims that its parent company is regulated by the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
However, when we checked the FCA’s online register, we found Axe Capital FS Ltd. listed there. But this company had no relation whatsoever to SwissMarketIndex!
This means that this broker has lied about its regulatory status, and that it is, in fact, not regulated at all. And it has lied about its connection to its so-called parent company – Axe Capital FS Ltd!
We need to warn our readers that dealing with unregulated brokers is very dangerous. Such entities are not bound by the law to uphold their contract with you and this means that they can do what they want with your money.
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Blacklisted by FINMA and CONSOB
We are not the only ones to have noticed the lies that this broker has told. This broker has been blacklisted by not one, but two financial regulators in Europe – the Swiss FINMA (Financial Market Supervisory Authority) and the Italian CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa).
Both authorities have issued warnings against SwissMarketIndex for offering its services illegally. It is to be noted that the authorities only issue such warnings after they have received a large number of complaints about a broker – complaints that are usually related to traders being scammed of their money.
Thus, it is clear that we are dealing with scammers here.
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Offers Managed Accounts
Over and above the 5 trading accounts offered by this broker, SwissMarketIndex also offers its clients a 6th account, called Trust Management. This is basically a managed account, where the broker takes care of investing your funds for you.
This is a clear conflict of interest. A broker is a market maker. This means that they make money from your losses. So, if a broker is offering to manage your account for you, it is against their interests to help you make money. And this is why no legitimate broker will offer to manage your trading account.
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Very High Brokerage Commission
Another red flag that warns all traders of the dishonesty of this broker is their brokerage commission. When you read through the Terms and Conditions page of SwissMarketIndex’s website, you will find a condition about the brokerage commissions this broker charges its clients.
According to that proviso, that commission can be as high as 15%, which is just plain ridiculous.
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No Support for MetaTrader 4
SwissMarketIndex does not offer you the use of the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform, which we consider a huge disadvantage.
The MT4 platform is the world’s most popular trading platform. Its interface is so simple that even rookie traders will not have a problem using it. Added to that, there are tons of tools (charting options, market indicators and trading bots) that make trading super easy.
What we do get with SwissMarketIndex is some kind of a web-based terminal that looks pretty fake.
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Payments Only Through Cryptocurrencies
The only way you can deposit money is via cryptocurrencies, which is another indicator that this is a broker you cannot trust. Cryptocurrency transactions are virtually anonymous and cannot be reversed. This means that when you make a payment to SwissMarketIndex, you don’t know where it’s going and you can never get your money back!
Regulated brokers offer their clients multiple payment options, starting with the standard credit and debit cards, bank transfers and wire transfers. Most brokers also offer e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill. With such payment methods, you can reverse charges if you believe you have been scammed. But with cryptocurrencies, there is pretty much nothing you can do once your money is gone.
Conclusion
SwissMarketIndex is a clear-cut scammer and if you trade with them, you will lose your money. If you are looking for a new broker, we recommend that you find one that is licensed by a reputed financial regulator and one that very clearly communicates its terms of trade.
Do not trade with unregulated brokers that will steal your funds - try these regulated brokers:
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
Plus500 is a FTSE 250 listed brokerage providing online trading services in CFDs, across 2,000+ securities and multiple asset classes.
The company was created as a combined effort of financial professionals and experts in web-commerce with the goal of perfecting the online experience for retail traders.
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers CFD and non CFD products. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.