Brokers with Negative Balance Protection

Protect yourself through negative balance protection. These brokers will prevent your account from entering negative territory.

Brokers we recommend


4.7 / 5 AvaTrade
77.82% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AvaTrade.com is an award-winning online broker, in business since 2006. Trade CFDs on one of the widest possible range of instruments and asset classes, from Forex to ETFs and government bonds.


4.1 / 5 Plus500
Your capital is at risk.

Trade CFDs on 2,000+ instruments spanning Forex, shares, indices, commodities and ETFs. Plus500.com is a regulated broker listed on the London Stock Exchange.


Comparison table

We rate brokers across 5 categories and 18 criteria, following a standardised methodology. Here are our overall and category-specific ratings:

OverallMarketsTrading environmentDeposits and withdrawalsInvestor protectionCustomer service
AvaTrade 4.7 5.0 4.2 4.7 4.8 5.0
Plus500 4.1 4.8 2.5 4.7 4.8 3.7
Forex (CFD)Cryptos (CFD)*Stocks (CFD)Indices (CFD)ETFs (CFD)Metals (CFD)Energy (CFD)Commodities (CFD)Bonds (CFD)
AvaTrade 5514612233191072
Plus500 7181,72930956511
MT4MT5Copy trading
AvaTrade
Plus500
Bank transferDebit cardCredit cardSkrill *NETELLER *
AvaTrade
Plus500
AustraliaCyprus (EU)EstoniaNew ZealandSeychellesSingaporeSouth AfricaUAEUK
AvaTrade
Plus500

* Availability is subject to local laws and regulations.

Note: for brevity, this table only shows the most popular payment methods and regulators. Open a free account with any of these brokers to view funding options available in your country.



4.7 / 5 AvaTrade
77.82% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AvaTrade.com is an award-winning online broker, in business since 2006. Trade CFDs on one of the widest possible range of instruments and asset classes, from Forex to ETFs and government bonds.

  • Likes
  • Over 750 financial instruments on MT4/5.
  • Get free daily trading signals.
  • Easily copy professional traders.
  • No fees on deposits or withdrawals.
  • Get one-on-one assistance when you deposit US$1,000.
  • Dislikes
  • You cannot trade on raw spreads.
  • Quarterly and annual inactivity fees.
Our take on AvaTrade

The breadth of assets available to trade through its platform sets AvaTrade apart from the competition. You'll find over 750 instruments, including currencies, stocks, indices, ETFs (and leveraged ETFs), precious metals, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and government bonds.

AvaTrade supports the MT4 and MT5 platforms, available for Windows and iOS devices. Its web trading platform is sleek, with advanced charting tools. AvaTrade's spreads are competitive and fixed, which can provide a more predictable trading environment, well-suited for beginners.

Its customer service is excellent too. Every time a question has arisen, we've been able to speak to a customer support agent easily through a local telephone number. Our queries were resolved within minutes. AvaTrade support is available five days a week through various channels, including WhatsApp.


4.1 / 5 Plus500
Your capital is at risk.

Trade CFDs on 2,000+ instruments spanning Forex, shares, indices, commodities and ETFs. Plus500.com is a regulated broker listed on the London Stock Exchange.

  • Likes
  • CFDs on over 2,000 instruments including US and international stocks.
  • Advanced charting tools.
  • Market sentiment tools.
  • Dislikes
  • No support for MetaTrader 4, 5 or cTrader.
  • No support for automated trading.
  • No PAMM accounts.
Our take on Plus500

Plus500's trading platform makes it easy to stay on top of market developments, by showing the biggest risers and fallers. It also provides unique insights into market sentiment, for example by showing the percentage of buyers and sellers of a given instrument at any point in time. This could be of interest if you're a contrarian investor.

However, those accustomed to the MetaTrader 4, 5 or cTrader platforms may miss the ability to create automated trading strategies or custom indicators. And whilst we were surprised by the quality of Plus500's charting tools, it isn't on par with TradingView yet.

Plus500 charges no fees on deposits or withdrawals. You can also open a trading account in your own currency. However, currency conversion fees up to 0.7% will apply later, on any realised profits or losses on instruments in other currencies.

What is negative balance protection?

In the summer of 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) required that EU-regulated CFD brokers provide retail investors with "negative balance protection". So what does negative balance protection (NBP) mean? We turned to ESMA's definition for specifics, and placed emphasis on words we consider particularly important.

"Negative balance protection means firms must limit the retail client’s aggregate liability for all CFDs connected to a CFD trading account to the funds in that CFD trading account. This implies that a client can never lose more money than the funds specifically dedicated to CFD trading."

ESMA's definition tells us that negative balance protection applies at the account rather than at the trade-level, across all and only CFD positions. If your account also holds shares or units in exchange traded funds, they will not be covered by ESMA's guidelines, unless your broker choses otherwise.

Funds held in a CFD trading account are defined as cash as well as any unrealised net profits across open CFD positions. If you are unable or unwilling to meet a margin call, your broker will close your positions at their current market price. This is known as "close out" or "stop out", in an attempt to realise your profits and cap your losses.

On rare occasions, large market events can cause sudden changes in prices which prevent some of these automatic protections from being effective. When markets are volatile, stop outs can experience delays. "Gapping" can arise when prices drop sharply, creating a wedge between expected and actual prices. Leverage also has the potential to magnify losses. In the past, you would have been liable for the entirety of these losses, which may, in some cases, have exceeded your investment. Nowadays, negative balance protection means that your broker will ultimately cover your losses, should they exceed the funds in your CFD trading account.

What brokers say about negative balance protection

Some brokers have applied the law to the letter, offering negative balance protection only to retail investors trading with their EU-regulated entities. However, some have gone above and beyond. We've reviewed how some leading brokers have implemented these protections.

FxPro

FxPro.com offers negative balance protection for all clients, regardless of their categorisation and jurisdiction. The company also provides a stop out level, which will cause trades to be closed when a certain margin level percentage is reached. The stop-out level will depend on the account type and jurisdiction under which you are registered.

AvaTrade

Likewise, AvaTrade.com provides negative balance protection for all clients, regardless of their categorisation and jurisdiction. This applies across all its entities, whether they are regulated in Europe, the British Virgin Islands, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Abu Dhabi. AvaTrade allows you to trade Forex and CFDs on a wide range of asset classes on the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms.

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Author

About the author

I'm Stéphane, a trader and an entrepreneur. My mission with TrustedBrokers is to help you find the right broker for you, whether you're a beginner or a pro. I've personally used and tested the brokers on our service, opening and funding real-money accounts, contacting customer service and placing trades. I started my career in investment banking in London.

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