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In the worldwide Forex market, Norway is well known to have the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund. The latest report from Norges Bank, the country’s central bank, states that they have $1 trillion, which translates to about $192,307 for every Norwegian citizen and the entire economy of Mexico. Clearly, the country has a lot of sway in the worldwide Forex market, but remarkably the retail Forex market in Norway is not as impressive. Nevertheless, it is possible for Norwegians to participate in the Forex market through various avenues beyond the local Forex brokers. it presents a problem, though, because it is always riskier to deal with a broker who isn’t locally licensed. But that does not mean you still can’t find the top Norway Forex broker while living in Norway, and this post will help you do just that.
When searching for the best Norway FX brokers, keeping just a few considerations in mind will help you find a good choice. Chief among these considerations has got to do with regulation. In Norway, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) is the body tasked with overseeing all financial institutions, including Forex brokers. As long as a Forex broker has a license from Finanstilsynet, you can rest assured that they are going to be trustworthy. Furthermore, you need to look at the company itself – its history, reputation, and management. As with all businesses and companies, great leadership starts from the top, and even Warren Buffet said he chooses companies to invest in by analyzing the management team.
In the end, however, it shall come down to your daily experience with your selected broker. These are those factors that you encounter every day as you trade, and they also play a huge part in your success. Imagine yourself as a cyclist but your bicycle is faulty and keeps breaking down. Obviously, you won’t go very far, let alone win a single race. The same is true when dealing with a Forex broker – they have to provide you with the best conditions to improve your trading environment. The best Norway Forex brokers are those who understand their clients’ needs and cater to them adequately.
Once you have all these considerations down pat, your selection of the best Norway Forex broker is going to be much easier and effective, and that is what we shall help you accomplish.
To a Norwegian resident, there are a lot of options to choose from. According to the law, it is allowed to select any Forex broker within the EU and EEA (European Economic Area) as Norway is an EEA member nation. In this regard, there are a lot of good options to choose across Europe, but that doesn’t mean they are all good. The following is a list from which you can select the best Norway FX broker, but only after you’re done reading this post:
$100
CySEC, CBI, ASIC, FSCA, FSA, BVI FSC, ADGM
1:400
2006
MT4, MT5, WebTrader, AvaTradeGo
5$
CySEC, FCA
30$, 50%+20%
1:888
2009
MT4, WebTrader
$10
IFSC
1:2000
2009
MT4, MT5, R WebTrader, R MobileTrader, R Trader
$10
FCA, CySEC, FSA, FSCA
1:Unlimited
2008
MT4, MT5, WebTerminal
$10
CySEC
N/A
1:30
2013
WebTrader
10 USD
N/A
Affiliate Program
1:500
2019
MT4/WebTrader
250$
FCA, NFA
N/A
1:200
1999
MT4
0.01 BTC
N/A
N/A
1:1000
2018
Web trader, Android, and iOS apps
1 USD
ASIC, FCA
10 USD
1:500
2005
MT4, MT5, WebTrader
250 USD
FSCA
N/A
1:200
2012
MT4, WebTrader, Copykat
15
CySEC
30%
1:500
2015
MT4
250 EUR
FSA, Seychelles
None
1:200
Unknown
Custom
From the list above, these are all Forex brokers based in Europe. Nevertheless, you can also go further away and search for overseas brokers in the US, Asia and even Australia. There is a caveat, though, whenever you’re dealing with an overseas broker, and that is the risk in capital retrieval. For example, if you work with a Finanstilsynet regulated FX broker, the Finanstilsynet will ensure you get your capital back if the company goes bust and files for bankruptcy or its license is revoked. On the other hand, the Finanstilsynet does not have the authority to force an overseas company to do the same.
As far as we can tell, there is only a single Finanstilsynet regulated Forex broker, which goes to show how the retail Forex market in Norway is still not very robust. That is DNB Bank. They also provide their services in Sweden, London, New York and Singapore, so they are a major bank in the region.
According to the bank’s website, it is Norway’s largest internet bank claiming to have over 1.3 million clients. Also being the only Forex broker licensed by the Finanstilsynet, they automatically become largest forex brokers in Norway. Their primary appeal to Forex traders is their vast array of currency pairs, which they claim to be over 100 of them available in spot, swaps and forwards. The most commonly used option is the spot trading that allows you to trade currencies at the current market price. As for swaps and forwards, these are more suited to institutional investors and companies seeking to hedge against risk due to changes in the krona’s strength over time.
As a Forex broker, they are a good option for someone simply interested in trading Forex, but they are not the best Norway CFD brokers. In fact, they don’t even offer any derivative products for instruments such as stocks, commodities, and indices, which means that their clients may miss some excellent opportunities. If you are the kind of trader who prefers to expand their portfolio beyond Forex, then you may prefer one of the aforementioned brokers. On the other hand, if you’re a more cautious trader interested in the safety of your investment, the DNB Bank is the safest bet and you can join it’s 2 million plus retail customer base.
As already mentioned, the Finanstilsynet oversees all financial institutions. Prior to 2009, it was known as the Credit Supervisory Authority (Kredittilsynet), but the economic crisis raised concerns about financial supervision. Finanstilsynet is now a subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance and it has to report its activities to the Ministry annually. However, fees collected by those institutions it licenses and monitors, including those on the Finanstilsynet regulated Forex brokers list, to cover the expenditures of the Finanstilsynet.
Being an EEA member, Norway takes most of its cues from the European parliament. Although it doesn’t have to implement all of them into law, about three-quarters of Norway’s laws have been adopted from the EU. These also extend to the laws regarding finance, which are covered under MiFID II. Therefore, Finanstilsynet regulated Forex brokers must abide by rules regarding:
As you can see, these laws make trading with Norway regulated Forex brokers a lot safer than dealing with offshore brokers who may not have such measures in place. Furthermore, the Finanstilsynet is well known as a credible authority, and it reputation precedes it. That is why there have been so few Norway Forex scams compared to other regions in the world.
Also, remember that Norwegian law requires that you report all your earnings so that you can be taxed in the form of capital gains tax. Failure to do so could land you in hot soup with the law.
There is only one sure-fire way of knowing whether or not you should trust a particular broker – analyze the company itself. A trustworthy company will have a good reputation throughout its existence, showing that they do not engage in any fraudulent activities. To know about a company’s reputation, simply do your due diligence online. All financial regulators are supposed to publish any legal measures they have undertaken against those they license. A quick Google check of your Forex broker should reveal if they have ever faced any litigation in the past.
The most trusted Forex brokers in Norway are those who haven’t had too many run-ins with the law. Sometimes, even a good company will find itself having committed some minor infraction and pay a small fine – no one is perfect. However, if you find that a broker is routinely on the wrong side of the law, then that should be a huge red flag to avoid them at all costs.
Next, you have to look at Norway Forex broker reviews posted by other clients of the broker. Since the Forex market is a global affair, traders are always sharing their experiences and ideas online through forums and discussion pages. Browse through these thoroughly before you decide on which broker to work with. If you need a specific answer, do not be afraid to post about it yourself and, usually, you get a quick response. Also, do the same with the broker themselves just to see if they can answer any questions you may have. The best brokers have a live chat option that allows you to communicate with one of their agents.
Now these issues are particular to an individual. For example, you need to find a broker who can offer you their services in your language. Can you imagine being stuck with a broker who doesn’t offer their trading platforms or customer support in Norwegian yet you can’t speak their language fluently? It would be a disaster! Make sure that your broker can understand your needs individually before you make that investment.
The other factor has to do with the number of trading instruments made available. Just like in the case of DNB Bank who only offer currency trading, you may be looking for more options. Cryptocurrencies are all the rage right now due to their volatility and hence, huge profits. If you would like to participate, then make sure you find one of the Finanstilsynet cryptocurrency brokers. Even though cryptocurrencies are not legally acknowledged in Norway, these brokers offer them in the form of derivatives, so there won’t be a problem.
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