Is CJC Markets.com scam or good forex broker?

CJC Markets is a broker based in New Zealand. Although it is duly licensed by the local financial authorities, the broker is not transparent about its services and pricing. In the present review, we have highlighted both the strong and weak sides of CJC Markets.

CJC Markets Advantages

Licensed in New Zealand

CJC Markets is a trading name of Carrick Just Capital Markets Limited, a New Zealand based company, registered in the Financial Service Provider Register (FSPR) and as such regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). The company operates another brokerage brand, FXONE (ForexOne.com.au).

FMA objective is to ensure that all locally licensed brokers follow its strict guidelines, including to maintain a minimum operational capital in the amount of at least 1 million dollars, and to segregate all retail client funds from their operational ones. This separation of accounts ensures that, in the event of broker insolvency, clients money cannot be claimed by its creditors.

Failing to follow the FMAs guidelines may result in revoking licenses, imposing of fines and other penalties for financial irregularities. However, FMA do not impose any restrictions on the maximum leverage offered to retail traders. So, so unlike their European and US counterparts, clients of New Zealand brokers can enjoy leverage of up to 1:1000 and above.

MT4 supported, claims to offer many financial instruments

CJC Markets uses the MetaTrader4 (MT4), the most widely used software in the forex industry. It is easy to use and popular for its advanced charting tools, a number of technical analysis indicators, wide range of Expert Advisors (EA), as well as extensive back-testing options for them.

The broker also claims to offer wide range of financial instruments for trade – over 100 different currency pairs and many popular stocks, indices and commodity CFDs. Such broad range of tradeable assets allows for portfolio diversification which helps manage risk.

CJC Markets Disadvantages

Zero clarity on trading conditions

As we pointed out already, this forex broker does not specify any essential trading conditions, other than the maximum leverage levels provided, which is viewed as a huge negative. Potential clients of CJC Markets dont know what is the initial deposit amount required, nor are acquainted with the cost of trading with the company.

Furthermore, we couldnt open a demo account with CJC Markets, which is another worrisome sign. All decent forex brokerages are transparent about their services and pricing, and offer free testing service.

Some disturbing provisions in the Client Agreement

We always go through brokers Terms and Conditions or Client agreements, as sometimes there are some pretty nasty things written in the small print. In the case of CJC Markets, several clauses of the Client Agreement caught our attention. More specifically, there are some commissions, account maintenance fees mentioned, but their amount is not specified. What is worse, if a client signs this document, he or she agrees that the account may be suspended if he or she has not replied to CJC Markets, despite its attempts at communication after a period of 10 working days.

Bank wire payments only

It seems that CJC Markets uses only bank wire for deposits and withdrawals, which is not convenient for all traders. Some prefer using POLi, BPay, Skrill or other e-payment systems. So, most brokers usually support more payment options.

Conclusion

Overall, CJC Markets left us with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the broker regulated in New Zealand that uses the MT4 platform and claims to offer wide range of tradeable assets. On the other hand, the broker‘s website is not very informative about CJC Markets’ trading conditions, and we could not sign up for a demo account and test its services.

So, it seems to us that there are better options for traders in New Zealand. Below, you may check out a list of brokers that are also regulated there.

Here is a summary of our review of CJC Markets: