Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025

We’ve personally tested and ranked the top brokers regulated by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), ensuring high standards of trust.

Author Image Writer
Royston Wild
Checker Image Fact Checker
Tobias Robinson
Editor Image Editor
James Barra
Showing top 3 of 3 matching brokers.
  1. 1
    Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.8
    Pepperstone, established in Australia in 2010, is a highly-regarded forex and CFD broker serving more than 400,000 international clients. It provides access to over 1,300 instruments through leading trading platforms such as MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView, while keeping fees relatively low and transparent. The company is regulated by known authorities including FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, offering a safe trading environment for all.
    Demo Account
    Yes
    Minimum Deposit
    $0
    Minimum Trade
    0.01 Lots
    Leverage
    1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
    Copy Trading
    Yes
    Regulator
    FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, CMA, BaFin, SCB
    Instruments
    CFDs, Forex, Currency Indices, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Crypto (only Pro clients), Spread Betting
    Platforms
    MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, AutoChartist, DupliTrade, Quantower
    Account Currencies
    USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD
    Automated Trading
    Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
    AI
    Yes
    Guaranteed Stop Loss
    No
  2. 2
    Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.0
    FXCM is a well-known forex and CFD broker that was set up in 1999. Its head office is in the UK, but it operates globally, including in places like Australia. FXCM offers trading without any commission fees, a selection of more than 400 assets, and a variety of analysis tools. Many traders prefer it, which is why it has received several awards. Major entities such as FCA, ASIC, CySEC, FSCA, and BaFin regulate FXCM.
    Demo Account
    Yes
    Minimum Deposit
    $50
    Minimum Trade
    Variable
    Leverage
    1:30
    Copy Trading
    Yes
    Regulator
    FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FSCA, BaFin, CIRO
    Instruments
    Forex, Stock CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Crypto CFDs
    Platforms
    Trading Station, MT4, TradingView, Quantower
    Account Currencies
    USD, EUR, GBP, AUD
    Automated Trading
    No
    AI
    No
    Guaranteed Stop Loss
    No
  3. 3
    Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.7
    Established in 1989, CMC Markets is a reputable brokerage firm authorized by various top regulators such as the FCA, ASIC and CIRO, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They boast a global client base of over 1 million traders and have received numerous awards.
    Demo Account
    Yes
    Minimum Deposit
    $0
    Minimum Trade
    0.01 Lots
    Leverage
    1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
    Copy Trading
    No
    Regulator
    FCA, ASIC, MAS, CIRO, BaFin, FMA, DFSA
    Instruments
    CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Treasuries, Custom Indices, Spread Betting
    Platforms
    Web, MT4, TradingView
    Account Currencies
    USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, SEK, NOK, SGD, PLN
    Automated Trading
    Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
    AI
    No
    Guaranteed Stop Loss
    Yes

Compare the Best BaFin-Regulated Brokers

Broker
US Flag
USD Account
Demo Account
Minimum Deposit
Minimum Trade
Leverage
Copy Trading
Regulator
Instruments
Platforms
Account Currencies
Automated Trading
AI
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Pepperstone
$0 0.01 Lots 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, CMA, BaFin, SCB CFDs, Forex, Currency Indices, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Crypto (only Pro clients), Spread Betting MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, AutoChartist, DupliTrade, Quantower USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
FXCM
$50 Variable 1:30 FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FSCA, BaFin, CIRO Forex, Stock CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Crypto CFDs Trading Station, MT4, TradingView, Quantower USD, EUR, GBP, AUD
CMC Markets
$0 0.01 Lots 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) FCA, ASIC, MAS, CIRO, BaFin, FMA, DFSA CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Treasuries, Custom Indices, Spread Betting Web, MT4, TradingView USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, SEK, NOK, SGD, PLN Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
Broker
US Flag
USD Account
Demo Account
Minimum Deposit
Minimum Trade
Leverage
Copy Trading
Regulator
Instruments
Platforms
Account Currencies
Automated Trading
AI
Guaranteed Stop Loss

Safety Comparison

Compare how safe the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025 are.

Broker
Trust Rating
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Negative Balance Protection
Segregated Accounts
Pepperstone
4.6
FXCM
4.3
CMC Markets
4.8
Broker
Trust Rating
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Negative Balance Protection
Segregated Accounts

Mobile Trading Comparison

Compare the mobile trading features of the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025.

Broker
Mobile Apps
iOS Rating
Android Rating
Smart Watch App
Pepperstone iOS & Android
4.4
4.1
FXCM iOS and Android
3.1
4.5
CMC Markets iOS & Android
4.1
3.7
Broker
Mobile Apps
iOS Rating
Android Rating
Smart Watch App

Comparison for Beginners

Compare how suitable the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025 are for beginners.

Broker
Demo Account
Minimum Deposit
Minimum Trade
Education Rating
Support Rating
Fractional Shares
Demo Competitions
Pepperstone $0 0.01 Lots
4.0
4.6
FXCM $50 Variable
3.5
4.3
CMC Markets $0 0.01 Lots
4.3
4.5
Broker
Demo Account
Minimum Deposit
Minimum Trade
Education Rating
Support Rating
Fractional Shares
Demo Competitions

Comparison for Advanced Traders

Compare how suitable the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025 are for advanced or professional traders.

Broker
Automated Trading
VPS
API
AI
Pro Account
Leverage
Low Latency
Extended Hours
Pepperstone Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
FXCM 1:30
CMC Markets Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
Broker
Automated Trading
VPS
API
AI
Pro Account
Leverage
Low Latency
Extended Hours

Accounts Comparison

Compare the trading accounts offered by Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025.

Broker
Demo Account
Interest on Cash
Islamic Account
Joint Account
Managed Account
PAMM
MAM
LAMM
Pro Account
Pepperstone
FXCM
CMC Markets
Broker
Demo Account
Interest on Cash
Islamic Account
Joint Account
Managed Account
PAMM
MAM
LAMM
Pro Account

Detailed Rating Comparison

Compare how we rated the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025 in key areas.

Broker
Trust
Platforms
Assets
Mobile
Fees
Accounts
Research
Education
Support
Pepperstone
4.6
4.4
3.8
4.3
4.5
4.0
4.3
4.0
4.6
FXCM
4.3
4.0
4.0
3.8
3.5
3.8
3.8
3.5
4.3
CMC Markets
4.8
4.3
4.6
3.9
4.3
4.5
4.5
4.3
4.5
Broker
Trust
Platforms
Assets
Mobile
Fees
Accounts
Research
Education
Support

Fee and Cost Comparison

Compare the cost of trading with the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025.

Broker
Cost Rating
Fixed Spreads
Inactivity Fee
CFD Stocks Spread
EUR/USD Spread
Crypto Spread
Pepperstone
4.5
$0 0.02 0.1 BTC 30, ETH 0
FXCM
3.5
0.2% Var* 0.2 pips var* Variable
CMC Markets
4.3
$10 0.02 0.7 From 1.3
Broker
Cost Rating
Fixed Spreads
Inactivity Fee
CFD Stocks Spread
EUR/USD Spread
Crypto Spread

Broker Popularity

See how popular the Best Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) Regulated Brokers 2025 are in terms of number of clients.

Broker Popularity
Pepperstone
620,000
CMC Markets
300,000
FXCM
200,000

Why Trade With Pepperstone?

Pepperstone is a leading choice for trading with low spreads, quick execution, and advanced charting for experienced traders. New traders benefit from no minimum deposit, a wealth of educational resources, and 24/7 support. Operating under ASIC regulation, Pepperstone is a top option for Australian traders and won DayTrading.com's 'Best Aus Broker' award for 2025.
Christian Harris
Review Author

Pros

  • Pepperstone has won several annual DayTrading.com awards, including 'Best Overall Broker' in 2025 and 'Best Forex Broker' runner-up in 2025.
  • Pepperstone has simplified deposits and withdrawals, adding Apple Pay and Google Pay in 2025, and PIX and SPEI for Brazilian and Mexican clients in 2024.
  • Pepperstone is a low-cost broker, ideal for serious traders. The Razor account offers spreads from 0.0, with rebates up to 30% for indices and commodities, and $3 per lot for forex through the Active Trader program.

Cons

  • Pepperstone's demo accounts last for 30 days. This might be insufficient for learning the various platforms and testing trading strategies.
  • Pepperstone does not support cTrader Copy, a popular feature in the cTrader platform available at alternatives like IC Markets, though it has launched an intuitive copy trading app.
  • Despite expanding its market range, crypto options are limited compared to other brokers in this area, and there is no option to invest in actual coins.
Go to Pepperstone
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75.1%76.3%74.6%81.8% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.

Why Trade With FXCM?

FXCM is a top choice for traders using automated strategies because of its four strong platforms, strategy testing, and API trading. The company is also highly recommended for active traders due to its reduced spreads and minimal or zero commissions on frequently traded assets.
Christian Harris
Review Author

Pros

  • Traders have access to high-quality trading tools: a market scanner, forex signals and eFXPlus, a third-party research site.
  • The broker provides spread reductions and other great benefits for skilled traders using the Active Trader account.
  • FXCM has broadened its trading options with stock CFDs available on MetaTrader 4.

Cons

  • The live chat support might not be as quick or dependable as that of leading competitors.
  • Traders do not have the option to choose between different retail accounts, and there are no options for Cent/Micro accounts.
  • FXCM primarily caters to proficient traders, but unfortunately, they do not provide managed accounts.
Go to FXCM
Stratos Europe Limited: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 63% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Why Trade With CMC Markets?

CMC Markets offers a great online platform for traders. It has advanced charting tools and a wide variety of CFDs to trade, including a large selection of currencies and customized indices. It caters to traders at all levels.
Christian Harris
Review Author

Pros

  • The brokerage excels by offering various useful resources. These include scanners that identify trading patterns, webinars, tutorials, updates from news outlets, and research from esteemed companies like Morningstar.
  • The CMC web platform offers an excellent user experience, featuring advanced charting tools and customizable options for trading. It suits both beginners and experienced traders. It supports MT4 and will add TradingView in 2025.
  • We upgraded its 'Assets & Markets' rating due to frequent product additions in early 2025, including extended hours trading on US stocks and new share CFDs.

Cons

  • CMC provides a commendable range of assets, but lacks support for actual stock trading and UK customers are unable to trade cryptocurrencies.
  • Trading stock CFDs carries a comparatively high commission charge, particularly when contrasted with more affordable brokers such as IC Markets.
  • While the web platform has improved, it still needs more enhancements to be as user-friendly for trading as competitor software such as IG.
Go to CMC Markets
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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How BrokerListings.com Selected the Top BaFin Brokers

To identify the best brokers regulated by BaFin (Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), we followed a strict, research-driven selection process:

  1. We first verified each firm’s regulatory status through BaFin’s official registry, confirming they hold a valid license under MiFID II and operate in compliance with German financial law.
  2. From there, we applied our proprietary broker rating framework – analyzing over 200 individual data points, including platform reliability, fees, tools, and client protections.
  3. We also conducted hands-on testing to ensure the brokers deliver not only regulatory integrity, but also real-time performance for active traders.

BrokerListings.com Broker Testing Methodology

What Is BaFin?

The Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – or BaFin for short – is the body assigned to regulate and supervise Germany’s financial markets.

Established in 2002, BaFin (whose name translates to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in English) was created to bring three other bodies under one roof: the federal supervisory offices for banks, insurance and securities trading.

The regulator’s self-stated main goal “is to ensure the proper functioning, stability and integrity of Germany’s financial system.” We feel that investors can expect a robust level of protection from the body, as reflected by its Category A status under BrokerListings.com’s broker regulator classification system.

BaFin issues licenses to financial brokers and oversees their operations to ensure they adhere to regulations. It has the power to act against organizations that fall foul of its requirements.

What Powers Does BaFin Have?

Like many leading regulated brokers, particularly in the EU, BaFin is tasked with supervising a wide range of institutions under a series of legislative acts, including the Securities Trading Act (WpHG), the Banking Act (KWG) and the Money Laundering Act (GwG).

According to its website, these organizations comprise “banks, financial services institutions, payment institutions, e-money institutions, German branches of foreign credit institutions from the European Economic Area, insurers, Pensionsfonds, German asset managers and German funds.”

Pro tip: BaFin is responsible for supervising approximately 2,700 banks, 800 financial services organizations and 700 insurance companies.

The regulator can implement a range of punitive measures for infringements, including:

  • Issuing financial penalties.
  • Revoking or suspending trading licenses and authorizations.
  • Demanding that businesses improve their internal processes and operations.
  • Publicly naming individuals and companies that breach rules.
  • Appointing special commissioners to ensure remedial action is taken.
  • Conducting searches of business premises and individuals’ homes.
  • Ordering companies to wind down their operations.

In one notable case, the broker flatexDEGIRO was slapped with a €1.05 million fine in February 2023 for failings related to risk management and money laundering prevention.

BaFin also appointed a special commissioner to confirm that “serious shortcomings in [flatexDEGIRO’s] internal controls, its supervisory reporting system and in the area of money laundering prevention” were properly addressed.

What Rules Must A BaFin Broker Follow?

Germany’s membership of the European Union means BaFin’s regulatory framework is heavily influenced by the European Securities and Markets Association (ESMA), the body whose self-stated objective is “to improve investor protection and promote stable, orderly financial markets” across the continental bloc.

More specifically, BaFin’s supervisory rules are based upon the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), which ESMA introduced in 2018.

Under the MiFID II regime, financial institutions must “act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its clients.” Some of the rules they must follow include:

  • Taking appropriate steps to obtain the best trading result for their client based on “account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration.”
  • Guaranteeing that all information (including promotional materials) provided to customers and potential customers “shall be fair, clear and not misleading.”
  • Ensuring the product or service discussed is “suitable” and “appropriate” according to the individual’s knowledge and experience.
  • Providing appropriate information (such as the firm’s services, product ranges, execution venues and costs) “in good time.”
  • Putting procedures in place “to identify and to prevent or manage conflicts of interest” between the firm, associates of the company and its customers.
  • Maintaining adequate arrangements “so as to safeguard the ownership rights of clients” when holding financial instruments belonging to clients.
  • Establishing procedures “for records to be kept of all services, activities and transactions undertaken by it.”
  • Introducing reasonable steps “to ensure continuity and regularity in the performance of investment services and activities.”

How Can I Check If A Brokerage Is BaFin Regulated?

Individuals can swiftly and easily check whether a broker is BaFin approved using the regulator’s dedicated company database:

The homepage of BaFin's company database

Opening up BaFin’s company database. Source: BaFin

Let’s say that I want to check the broker I’m considering – CMC Markets – is licensed to deal in Germany. I can type the firm’s name into the search field, its BaFin ID number (which can typically be found on brokers’ websites), and narrow down the field (if required) by selecting institution type.

Here’s what I found after filling in the company’s name, specifying the nature of its operations and hitting ‘Search’:

CMC Markets Germany's results after punching he name into the database

Locating CMC Markets Germany. Source: BaFin

The whole process took just a minute or two from start to finish. My research shows that CMC Markets is authorized to trade in Germany, along with the company’s address and the date on when it received its regulatory licenses:

CMC Markets Germany's profile on the BaFin company database

CMC Markets Germany’s in-depth profile. Source: BaFin

Pro tip: BaFin also maintains a warning list of companies that have found to be operating without legal authorization.

As an alternative to its company database, the regulator operates a consumer helpline through which a broker’s authorization can be verified. This service can also be used for individuals to file a complaint, ask questions regarding financial products, and check their consumer protections among other things.

The helpline is open between 8am and 6pm Central European Time (CET), Monday through Friday. It can be reached on 0 800 2 100 500 from inside Germany, or +49 (0) 228 299 70 299 from outside the country.

Bottom Line

Traders can expect a strong level of protection by choosing BaFin-licensed brokerages. They can also have confidence in the smooth and fair functioning of Germany’s broader financial markets under the current regulatory regime.

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