VoyaFX

To create a broker that is as effective, practical, and most of all, progressive, as it is straightforward in its approach to simplicity is an artform in and of itself. Companies of this caliber are not an everyday occurrence, and should not be left unnoticed in the shadows of the big players, since we believe it is every modern brokerage's duty to continue to evolve in a time where novelty is taken for granted. VoyaFX fits the framework for exactly this type of firm, and gives us an experience that flips the tables to announce that a broker does not need to cram and hoard content its way to a customer's heart, but should instead focus on what really matters, the core experience.

VOYAFX REGULATION

In order to understand the legal nature of the VoyaFX, one must keep in mind the existence of three separate companies that the broker explicitly calls “unrelated” several times. All three companies are licensed by separate regulators and represent different branches of the broker.

Here are the companies in question:

• Alchemy Prime Limited, a company registered and regulated in England and Wales by the FCA. The FCA is one of the best regulators in the world, and there hasn't been an instant since its inception where is has failed to deliver the best and most modern services and approaches to regulations. All brokers under its supervision are required to uphold to the highest standards and have no choice but to adhere to very strict rules and regulations, such as regular reports about internal operations, the keeping of client funds in segregated bank accounts, severe anti-money laundering traditions, and the compliance with scrupulous anti-risk and anti-scam guidelines. One of the best parts of an FCA license is that all users under the FCA are covered by the  Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which sees each and every client be paid a maximum of £85 000 in case of a broker's insolvency. Not to mention that it's very difficult to acquire an FCA license in the fist place; on top of the hundreds of demanding prerequisites, by far one of the biggest is that all brokers retain a minimum capital requirement of no less than €730 000.
• Ever Financial AD (former Financial House Ever AD) regulated in Bulgaria by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). This subsidiary is also registered under the MiFID regulations, and also  makes cross border trading possible with the help of Europe's biggest regulators, including France's AMF, BaFin in Germany, CONSOB in Italy, CySEC, the FSMA in Belgium, the CNMV in Spain, and others. The Financial supervision Commission is a typical European regulator, with a focus on user safety and on the broker's decent behavior. All Bulgarian regulated brokers adhere to the common standards, like negative balance protection, compensation funds, AML laws, segregation of user's accounts, and the like.
• Global Clearing House (GCH) regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). This regulator is an offshore one, but hold onto your hats, for Vanuatu has proven to offer a solid licensing scheme. Not only has the minimum capital requirement risen to $50 000, but the VFSC has also standardized its regulatory frameworks, and has become home to many solid brokers.

Let's refer back to the somewhat unorthodox relationship between the companies. The the business relationship between Alchemy Prime Limited and Ever Financial AD, where the latter acts as an introducer to the former, which according to the broker means that Alchemy Prime Limited has the sole power to determine whether a client's application is appropriate or not. In simpler terms, Alchemy Prime Limited has its own clientele and purview, centered around UK and perhaps some European-based jurisdictions.

Then we have Ever Financial AD which branches out to most European Union (EU) and European economic area (EEA) markets. It is an independently operate branch, that much like Alchemy Prime Limited has its own target audience, this one being the EU and EEA sections.

Lastly, we have Global Clearing House (GCH) which is in a “business relationship” with Ever Financial AD. Specifically, Ever Financial AD has the capacity to introduce non-EU and non-UK users to Global Clearing House. The broker makes it clear that clients of Global Clearing House are not clients of Alchemy Prime Limited nor of Ever Financial AD, and as such are not under the domain of either, but under the supervision of the Vanuatu based wing.

VoyaFX has actually made it very simple to grasp this liaison between the three companies. In the registration section of the website, we were presented with three separate account types, each representing a different subsidiary. Some users might not get all three since it all depends on their current geographical location, as well their IP address and whether or not a VPN has been activated.

For example, those traders located outside of Europe will have to deal with the Vanuatu branch of VoyaFX, while those in Europe will be dealing with the Bulgarian subsidiary. The UK based one seems to be focused on local traders.
Yes, the legal situation may not be the most usual one but what matters is that VoyaFX is regulated, and the company has made its legal status very transparent.

VOYAFX PLATFORMS

All three subsidiaries share the same proprietary web based trading platform:

It was an impressive tour de force, since it covers basically all preliminary requirements that a web trader has to include, and offers on top of these other very helpful and rather uncommon (in a good way) options.

On top of having a very customizable chart (with multiple time frames, advanced indicators, and more), it includes pending orders, stop loss and take profit options, and other helpful tools.

One of the main attractions here is the live news panel which grants clients with real time updates and analysis on financial instruments and current financial market trends and incidents. Having this as part of the web trader can greatly boost a client's trading capabilities and one's efficiency since the user can easily get the latest developments as he or she is setting up his/her trading strategy for the day.

The software is available as a web trader, but can be downloaded from both the AppStore and on GooglePlay. Accessing the software on the go can have immense advantages to ones trade game, and can definitely boost productivity.

VOYAFX TRADING CONDITONS

Users can open three separate account types, each associated with one of the three subsidiaries. The two crucial differences that exists between the three subsidiaries, in terms of trading conditions, is the leverage cap size and the presence of sub accounts for the Vanuatu branch.

There is a big addition to the Global Clearing House account that the other two do not have. And that is the addition of 3 separate sub-account types. The users have more freedom of choice when dealing with this branch of VoyaFX. These account types offer several additions, like educational material and technical analysis tools. But they are only available to non-EU and UK traders.

As for the leverages, the main one in the UK and Europe is capped at 1:30, as decreed by ESMA. Only those clients that are able to gain a Pro status can take advantage of a 1:100.

Vanuatu-based clients, i.e those trading with Global Clearing House, can take advantage of a 1:100 retail leverage cap.

We checked for ourselves, and all the spread values on the web trader were the same no matter what account type you open. The EUR/USD cost of trade is said to be 1.7 pips, which is a decent and average amount and worth it.

The available assets to trade with are forex currency pairs, commodities, indices, and stocks.

VOYAFX PAYMENTS

The minimum deposit is indicated as being $200 for the Ever Financial AD and Alchemy Prime Limited branches. The Global Clearing House requires a minimum of $100, although to activate the Silver account (part of the aforementioned trio of accounts) it requires a minimum of $500.

Throughout the legal documents we stumbled upon the following categories of payment methods: credit cars, debit cards, alternative payment methods like e-wallets that make card transactions much simpler and faster, and bank transfers.

There aren't any specifics on withdrawals, which we did not expect not to find, but the truth is that the broker is legit, so there is nothing really to fear. And as we shall see, there are applicable deposit and withdrawal system fees; other than these withdrawals will go smoothly as guaranteed by the licensing trio.

Overall, these are very industry standard payment conditions, with nothing new or questionable going on.

We have separated the three subsidiaries to clarify the main fee structures on each one, as taken from each branch's legal documents.

Ever Financial AD Fees and Commissions: 2$ fee of no less than $100 on transactions entered through the office of Ever Financial AD; 0,4% fee on purchases and selling of financial instruments (subject to change); €2 on foreign shares trading; an annual 5% fee on fund retaining; personal data changes are feed at 100BGN; account maintenance fee of 1% per month if the user account has been inactive for 3 months or more, with no less than $10; there are no deposit or withdrawal fees on the firm's side (payment system commissions may apply, though). For more information check the TARIFF of Fees and Commissions Policy. 

Alchemy Prime Limited Fees and Commissions: Although not as well defined as the ones above, we still find some traces of commissions and charges present throughout the legal documents. However, the broker has not defined the fees in terms of numerical values. Nevertheless, these fees are dormant fees, wire transfer fees for both deposits and withdrawals, administration fees, licensing fees, registration fees, and others. We do not doubt that these fees are small and not as frightening as they sound, since the FCA regulation guarantees fair user treatment. However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to check with the broker's terms and conditions for more details.

Global Clearing House Fees and Commissions: trading in certain CFDs has a pricing structure; payment fees connected to the payment systems themselves that are NOT covered by the broker. Again, it wouldn't hurt to go through the legal documents.

BOTTOM LINE

There is a certain appeal about VoyaFX that can only be explained in terms of the broker's unique legal status, the evident one-of-a-kind approach taken by its creators, and the simplicity that glues it all together. We rarely get to appreciate a broker for these elements, rooted in a deep appreciation and fondness for the markets industry as a whole. This is a definite recommend to anyone that can get his/her hands on it.