FX options brokers

I'm looking for a FX vanilla options broker with 1000 unit size contract.
What I found at the moment is 10k size contract and spread around 10 pips the best.
ikon
xtb
saxobank
finotec
alpari

The best probably ikon, but minimum size 10K.

Any other broker ?

I'm not aware of any that will do less than 10000, and they will charge for less than 100000. I'm using Ikon and not very happy. Firstly, their demo showed fixed 10 pip spreads, but in reality it is fixed 15 pip spreads.

I have had a withdrawal request in for several days now, and despite contacting them several times am still waiting for them to act on it. This is very worrying, as this is the first withdrawal I have done I'm starting to wonder if they are even a legit company?!

Not that it's relevant if you can't withdraw the profits, but they do calculate margins fairly, if you sell a strangle you only have to pay the difference on the margin, and they don't jack up the margin on the weekends like Saxo do. As I'm in Australia I can't deal with Saxo direct and would have to pay the ultra-inflated spreads of their re-sellers.

Most of the others seem to offer exchange traded (low liquidity) or a poor selection of OTC options.

Really it is a case of picking the least worse of a bad bunch! This is unfortunate though, because selling options has been far more profitable then any other kind of forex trading I have done.

Thanks skoda, for your reply.

It's good to know that IKON spread it is not as the demo show, I thought will be 10 pips.
I sent the document few days ago to ikon, but i did not send any funds yet.
The main reason to pick them was the 10 pip spread.
I did trade saxo in the past spot and options, and they are terrible, spread and commision (10$).
The rest on the list just the demo.
So using the same equation the other broker might increase the spread too.

Yes, the demo not matching reality is disappointing, I applied the same logic as you & figured a Saxo white label is going to be as bad or worse. The other thing that is different between demo and real is that if you want to trade something outside of the auto-execution range you could be waiting for a dealer quote for 5 or 10 minutes, then you've only got a few seconds to act on the quote - so you have to sit there staring at a blank screen sometimes! Thankfully I usually only need dealer quotes when my sold options are way out of the money & I'm closing them for a killer profit!

After going through the process you're going through now I chose Ikon & despite all the short comings will stick with them - provided they do actually come through with my cash!

I contact ikon and I asked for this matter and they said

Dear David,

There is no difference on the spread for 100k or 10k . The spread on your live account will be 10pip.

Regards,
IKON CAPITAL.




Very strange. I contacted UK office, might be different if your account is from au?

Hi All,

anyone try to trade option in XTB before ?


Thanks n Regards,

It had never occurred to me but I guess it could be because my account is held with the NZ sub-company? I will investigate...

Futures options on CME. You can look at realtime quotes at:

http://datasuite.cmegroup.com then click FX in the menu and go to EuroFX (either american or european style).

FYI They have come through with the money. I'm still waiting on an explanation of why it took more than 2 weeks. Thanks to you I also have them investigating why my account was set up for 15pip spreads - they say it should be 10. I had just assumed it was the usual broker tactic of making the demo look as good as possible. Looks like you might be saving me a few $ per transaction - thanks!

I tried the demo, but decided against them. I can't remember exactly why as I tried several different broker demo's and it's all a bit of a blur. The main things I considered were:

* Not interested in exchange traded options as the lack of liquidity is likely to leave you stuck in a position, or pay an unfair price to get out.

* Wanted as narrow spread as possible, happy with fixed spreads.

* Preferred to leave my money in Australian dollars.

* Did not want to be charged margin on both legs of a strangle (you can't be wrong on both legs at the same time). Did not want the margin to double over the weekend.

Let me know how things go with Ikon.


i did not send the funds yet.

They came through with the money, but so far have offered no explanation of why it took over two weeks (nearly 3) to act upon my withdrawal request. Initially I was told they were having database problems, then every time I contacted them was told it would happen ASAP. I intend to withdraw profits on a monthly basis from now on, so will see what happens next time. There was also an AUD$20 fee charged for the withdrawal, I don't know whether that was charged by Ikon or one of the banks.

After contacting them earlier in the day I witnessed the spreads change to 10 pips before my eyes on Friday afternoon. Again, no explanation of why it was set to 15 in the first place (other than it shouldn't have been).

Up until now customer service has been good. They were very helpful in getting proof from their bank when my bank stuffed up the original transfer into the options trading account.

Particularly now with the 10 pip spread, they offer the best trading conditions that I have come across, so I'll be sticking with them - but if I continue to have problems with withdrawals then I'll have to come up with something else. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how good the spread is if you can't have your money!

Hello, Skoda,
I am evaluating IKON Australia or New Zealand for opening an option trading account. I would like to know if you are still satisfied with the trading conditions and fund withdrawal process at IKON.
Thanks and happy trading,
stwh

In short, no, and I haven't been able to find a viable alternative - the spreads are just too high at Saxo, PFD, or any of the others I could find.

Withdrawals were okay, and the problems from 3 years ago turned out to be a result of the National Australia Bank having major IT issues for 2 weeks - no fault of Ikon's.

The reason I stopped trading with them was options series going off quotes all the time and therefore being stuck in positions - not good. Once that happened a couple of times I withdrew all my money and haven't traded options since. I'd trade options again if only there was a broker offering decent conditions.

FXDD offers vanilla FX options for traders outside of the US. You can read more details about the platform and requirements here:
http://www.fxdd.com/mt/en/products/options/

If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask here.

Hi,
as this thread wasn't updated for some time, does anyone know some good FX option brokers?

For the majors I trade globex options on fx futures which are liquid and tight.

However,there are enough pairs where hardly any liquidity is available.

Can you recommend other regulated fx brokers for OTC options trading?

Thank you in advance

I'm also looking for a decent FX options broker, any recommendations?

Anyone has experience with Ava trade options? Seems like they offer a decent spread. As far as I can see on screenshots, they have a 7 pips spread on vanilla EU.

im looking for a proper option broker which accept non us customers , and so far option house was the best and cheaper that i found, not a customer yet but on the door step .
tried TD ameritrade which has a thinkorswim platform and also dough.com which is superb and very professional how ever couldnt find fx options. unfortunately TD doesnt accept non us traders which is really bad as i was ready to open an account with them and their platform and just over all was really simpathetic , also huge firm .

i couldnt found ppl in the uk trading us option nor forums what so ever... but i know its exist somewhere

if anyone know something please contact to me asap

There are only two good FX Options platforms/brokers out there. Saxo Bank is consistent, but their margins are high and they charge $10 fee for small trades - so on small size option of $10,000 that is adding 20 pips of bid/offer spread.

Ava Trade has the AvaOptions platform, impressive professional features and excellent spreads. Regulated in EU and many other jurisdictions.

You can find vanilla options with FXDD as well, but minimum trade is 100K vs Ava's 10K, and last time I looked, Ava's prices were better than both Saxo and FXDD.