IS FX Brokers LEGAL IN THE PHILIPPINES?

Nowadays, foreign exchange trading is a popular trading method in the Philippines. There are many mentors who are proficient in foreign exchange and Filipinos who love to learn foreign exchange trading knowledge to become a successful trader. With the popularity of the foreign exchange market, the number of scammers and brokers has also increased. This is why when we hear someone suggesting that we invest in foreign exchange, the first thing we think of is a big scam.

Behind this, there are often doubts from traders from the Philippines:

“Is it legal to conduct foreign exchange transactions in the Philippines？”

The short answer is no. As some people know, foreign exchange transactions are illegal in the Philippines due to retail fraud and huge losses.

On October 30, 2018, the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Issued its latest advisory stating categorically that “Forex Trading Is Illegal In The Philippines” For Context, here are the highlights of that advisory:

October 30, 2018

FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING IS ILLEGAL IN THE PHILIPPINES.

The public is hereby advised to STOP engaging in Foreign Exchange Trading and to STOP investing in foreign-registered investment platforms of commodity futures, contracts for difference, indices, binary options and the like. Further, the SEC advises the public that persons and entities acting as brokers, salesmen or agents of these securities have NO LICENSE to engage or deal in any manner with these securities and should therefore be AVOIDED or IGNORED…

…The public is encouraged to report to the Commission entities and/or persons operating Foreign Exchange Trading platforms and those acting as brokers, salesmen or agents of these operators to the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) at telephone numbers 818-76-50 and 818-63-37.

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The advisory came about because of a lot of complaints from investors who lost money trading forex due to entities acting as brokers, salesmen or agents and have no regulatory licenses in the Philippines. So please beware of entities and personalities that use deceptive advertising and marketing tactics that lure a lot of unsuspecting investors giving them false hopes.

According to the recommendations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, foreign exchange transactions in the Philippines are illegal, but the current situation is different.

The Securities and Exchange Commission only recommends that the public stop participating in and investing in the foreign exchange market or foreign-registered investment platforms. Currently, there is no existing law related to the foreign exchange market that will prevent individuals from participating in the market, nor will it supervise the launch of more and more investment platforms. As a resident of the Philippines, as long as you trade through a regulated dealer, all these actions are legal.

At present, there is no known authoritative regulatory agency that regulates foreign exchange transactions in the Philippines. The Securities and Exchange Commission only supervises Philippine stocks, securities, stockbrokers, dealers, etc. If anyone intends to invest in the foreign exchange market, it is entirely up to him! But before that, please study how the foreign exchange market works. In WikiFX understand that there are huge risks in foreign exchange trading, that is: you may lose all your funds

One thing to keep in mind is that if you decide to use some brokers such as IC MARKET for foreign exchange transactions, please make sure that you choose the real IC MARKET instead of its counterfeit products, which may bring you huge losses. We have listed the genuine IC MARKET and its clones at the end of this article to help you understand more details.