Alpho.com is a forex broker who claims to be registered by the Financial Service Authority of Seychelles. This does not seem to stop them though, from adopting various absurd terms and conditions. We urge you to read this review before making any investment whatsoever with Alpho brokers.
Whether you’re an experienced forex trader or not, your first intention is to make real profit. To do this, you have to trade with the right forex brokers. Our job here is to review various websites that claim to be forex brokers, then help you tell which is real and which is not. This review tells you all you need to know about Alpho Brokers.
About Alpho Brokers
According to alpho.com, Alpho is an online portal designed to deposit funds, request a withdrawal, check balance and positions, request opening or closing a position, request placing a new order or cancel an old one and much more. They claim to be registered and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, Seychelles.
Alpho brokers trade commodities, forex, indices and shares across multiple countries. They also claim to be one of the top 5 online brokers. However, you might want to exercise caution with this broker. They seem to have as many negative sides as they have positive.
Why You Should Be Cautious with alpho.com
At first glance, Alpho brokers looks like it might actually be on to something really good. However, a couple of things we found (or didn’t find) on the website gave us a sense of hesitation.
Alpho Brokers Withdrawal and Deposit Information
Alpho.com seems to have completely forgotten the need for deposit amounts when they were creating their website. There’s not a single mention of the minimum deposit amount. Other things not mentioned include; the withdrawal processing time, the deposit platform, etc.
Besides the forgotten points, even a lot of the withdrawal terms available are what we would call laughable, or outrageous. One of them is that if you file for a chargeback (reverse transaction), you will be charged $200 for processing it. Chargebacks are usually filed when a trader feels they’re being scammed. Even worse is that if the chargeback is unsuccessful, you’ll be charged another $200 (Total $400). This is outrageous!!
As though that is not enough, the terms of service also state that the company reserves the right to close the account and seize the trader’s profits if they file for a chargeback. This one’s laughable. It’s akmost like they are trying to make people keep quiet.
Alpho Brokers Trading Platform
The trading platform provided by alpho.com is the MetaTrader 5. This is one positive thing about the website as we always advise our readers to trade with brokers who use the MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. The MT5 is currently the best trading platform on the market, and if what they say is true, this is a big plus for them.
Alpho.com also offers a leverage value of 1:500. This rate is incredibly high, one of the highest on the market. As a matter of fact, we mostly see rates like this only when we review scam forex broker accounts.
Alpho Brokers Licensing and Regulation
Gulf Brokers Ltd., the parent company of Alpho brokers, says it is registered in Seychelles. After checking with the FSA, Seychelles, we confirmed this as true. However, this makes us wonder what kind of regulatory agency they are. Especially considering the sort of terms and conditions found on alpho.com
Alpho Brokers Review Conclusion: Is alpho.com Legit?
Alpho says to be a brand of Gulf Brokers Ltd – an offshore company based on the Seychelles and registered with the local Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA). Unfortunately, we are not easily impressed by offshore licenses like the ones issued by FSA.
To start with, offshore regulators like the FSA simply lack the capacity to oversee internationally operating brokers like Alpho, so our advice is to avoid offshore brokers altogether.
Also, the FSA requirements are simply not comparable to the ones adopted by the regulators across Europe, the UK, the U.S. or Australia.
For example the only capital requirement with the FSA is for a broker initially to deposit 50 000 USD payed up capital at a bank account on the Seychelles – an amount, which subsequently can be withdrawn and used for day to day operations.
On top of that the broker can use one and the same bank account to store its clients’ funds and its own funds, which means that the money will not be segregated as is required with all broker regulated in the EU, the UK or the USA.
With brokers, holding legit licenses from reputable financial watchdogs like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) the requirements look much different.
All EU and UK regulate brokers, for example, have to maintain minimum operational capital of at least 730 000 EUR, with which to guarantee all outstanding payments towards traders, have to keep their clients’ funds in a segregated from their own, trust account, have to report all client transactions, have to allow external audits, have to provide traders with a negative balance protection and even to participate in client compensation schemes, basically insuring the trading capital of their clients.
Thus, with a broker regulated by the FCA in he UK your funds will be protected for up to 85 000 GBP, payable in case the broker happens to be insolvent.