Pepperstone Expands Shares Trading on MT5

Pepperstone has added more UK, German and Australian shares to its MetaTrader 5 offering, as brokers increasingly go multi-asset. Users can find shares of Tesla, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, among others with the Melbourne-based brokerage.

Tamas Szabo, Chief Executive Officer at Pepperstone Group, commented: “With global interest and volatility around equities at an all-time high, it was very important for us to deliver the products our clients have been asking for. The new range of equities in MetaTrader 5 provides a faster and more efficient way for our clients to trade in world’s markets.”

Exclusively available through the MetaTrader 5 platform, traders gain access to a comprehensive suite of analytical tools for price analysis and forecasting on global shares offered by Pepperstone, as well as charting, execution tools, and the ability to trade in the aftermarket.

Pepperstone provides pre- and post-market tradng of US shares as clients search for volatility in those periods.

The Australian-based broker is set for expansion across the globe after having opened new offices and secured more regulatory licenses in 2020.

The firm has entered Dubai (DFSA), Kenya (CMA), Germany (Bafin), and Cyprus (CySEC) as it spreads its wings and aims to become a driving force within FX and CFD industry.

As one of the most popular FX and CFD brokers in Australia offering very high leverage for its users, Pepperstone’s Australian operation may have been one of the hardest hit from ASIC’s imposed restrictions on CFD products.

Firms under ASIC’s jurisdiction have adopted European-like restrictions on CFD products, and are no longer be able to use bonuses and other non-monetary incentives to try and attract new traders.

Starting 29 March 2021, ASIC’s product intervention order will:

restrict CFD leverage offered to retail clients to a maximum ratio of:
30:1 for CFDs referencing an exchange rate for a major currency pair
20:1 for CFDs referencing an exchange rate for a minor currency pair, gold or a major stock market index
10:1 for CFDs referencing a commodity (other than gold) or a minor stock market index
2:1 for CFDs referencing crypto-assets
5:1 for CFDs referencing shares or other assets
standardize CFD issuers’ margin close-out arrangements that act as a circuit breaker to close-out one or more a retail client’s CFD positions before all or most of the client’s investment is lost
protect against negative account balances by limiting a retail client’s CFD losses to the funds in their CFD trading account, and
prohibit giving or offering certain inducements to retail clients (for example, offering trading credits and rebates or ‘free’ gifts like iPads).

The significant drop in available leverage being offered to clients following the implementation of the restrictions once again brings up the topic of “going offshore”. Indeed quite a few AU registered online brokerages have already made the decision to onboard non-AU customers to island jurisdictions in order to maintain the same trading parameters for customers who want leveraged trading products.

The Industry Spread spoke to Natalia Zakharova, Head of Sales at FXOpen, about the newly imposed contracts for difference (CFD) restrictions for ASIC licensed brokers and how did her company respond.

“Our strategy for our ASIC-regulated entity didn’t change at all. As a group of brokers operating under the FXOpen brand, we aim to offer a wide range of products and cater to very different clients. This particular restriction was expected and we are pleased to say that there are FXOpen brokers which are not affected by this change – so we didn’t need to change our strategy.”