Best forex brokers New Zealand – Regulations and features

IG

IG truly deserves a spot in our best forex brokers NZ list. They are one of the oldest derivatives providers, established in 1974. IG has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2000 and is part of the FTSE 250.

The broker has everything a modern and sophisticated trader needs, from an expansive market selection to offering numerous charting platforms.

Fees

IG's main direct costs include a spread or commission (depending on the market), along with swaps. If you decide to use guaranteed stops, there is a premium for when it is executed. IG doesn't levy any funding or withdrawals, but you may incur some from your payment processor.

Lastly, clients are charged a monthly fee of $18 if their account has been inactive for two years.

Available markets

With this broker, you can access over 18 000 markets spanning FX, indices, shares, commodities, crypto, options, ETFs, and bonds. It also has unusual instruments like interest rates, knock-outs trading, and digital 100s.

Minimum deposit

There is no minimum if you are funding via bank wire. Otherwise, the starting balance is $300 if you deposit via debit card or PayPal.

Trading platforms

The range of charting software supported by IG makes them one of the top forex trading brokers New Zealand. If you're looking for something familiar, they have MT4. For something different, they offer ProRealTime and their own proprietary trading terminal.

Lastly, a unique feature is L2 Dealer, a direct market access platform for stock and forex, where you can see the order books.

CMC Markets

CMC Markets is another old player in the game, having been formed in 1989. Like IG, it is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange and an FTSE 250 constituent. These qualities are enough to make CMC one of the top NZ regulated forex brokers, but there's more.

CMC offers the standard MT4 and its advanced proprietary charting software Next Generation. If you're looking for spreads that start from zero on currencies, you can use their FX Active account on both platforms.

Fees

As one of the recommended forex brokers accepting NZ clients, CMC Markets has a simplified fee structure. You can expect to be charged spreads and overnight holding costs on a standard FX account.

FX Active's account has a fixed commission rate of 0.0025% per transaction. Lastly, a dormancy fee of $15 applies if there is no trading activity for 12 consecutive months.

Available markets

With CMC, you can speculate in over 9500 CFDs across FX, indices, commodities, equities, crypto, and treasuries.

Minimum deposit

One advantage of CMC Markets, as part of our NZ forex brokers list, is that the starting balance is $0. You can fund and withdraw via debit card, bank transfer, POLi, and PayPal.

Trading platforms

CMC offers two platforms: MT4 and Next Generation, the latter of which is a proprietary platform. Both of these are available in web and mobile versions. Next Generation isn't available in a desktop format, while MT4 is.

BlackBull Markets

BlackBull Markets is nowhere as old as IG and CMC. Yet, since 2014, it has served tens of thousands of clients across most parts globally. The fact that it was founded natively makes it one of the best forex brokers New Zealand has to offer.

BlackBull has several interesting features. It supports MT4, MT5, and the exquisite TradingView. BlackBull is also one of the few forex brokers accepting NZ clients with social or copy trading for investors looking to replicate the positions of other traders. For this, you can use their own BlackBull Social or the popular Myfxbook and ZuluTrade.

Another advantage is that the broker supports many funding choices, including Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, NETELLER, and even crypto.

Fees

With BlackBull, a forex trader can expect the customary spreads and swaps. On their ECN Prime and ECN Institutional accounts (with spreads from zero), there is a commission of $6 and $3 per lot, respectively.

No fees apply for deposits. Yet, for withdrawals (via bank wire, Skrill, NETELLER, or debit card), a $5 transfer fee from their remitting bank or payment system provider applies.

Available markets

A broad instrument selection is what you expect from supreme NZ regulated forex brokers like BlackBull. You can trade FX, shares, indices, commodities, energies, and precious metals here. This totals over 26 000 individual instruments.

Minimum deposit

BlackBull's starting balance on the standard account is $0; $2000 for ECN Prime; $20 000 for 'ECN Institutional. Impressively, you can fund these amounts with over ten different methods, making Blackbull certainly one of the excellent forex brokers for NZ traders.

Trading platforms

BlackBull Markets provides trading access on MT4, MT5, and TradingView, along with its proprietary software for shares BlackBull Shares. You can use these platforms across multiple web and mobile mediums (MT4/5 and TradingView are available on Mac and Windows).

Plus500

Plus500 was originally formed in 2008 by six alumni from the Israel Institute of Technology. The company is now a global fintech brand in CFDs, with a physical presence in 10 countries. Moreover, it is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange and part of the FTSE 250 index.

So, what makes Plus500 a worthy addition to our NZ forex brokers list? If you're seeking a different charting platform away from the familiar MetaTrader, Plus500 offers its own on web and mobile.

It has a unique feature of a guaranteed stop loss order (GSLO) which closes at a preset price, regardless of market conditions like slippage.

Fees

Plus500's attention to having zero fees on most things makes them one of the excellent regulated forex brokers in NZ. Aside from spreads and rollover charges, no commissions apply. There are also no deposit and withdrawal costs (although you might still incur them from your payment issuer).

The GSLO does have a premium, which only applies if triggered (it may also come with a higher spread).

Lastly, a dormancy applies of $10 every month if there is no trading activity for three consecutive months.

Available markets

The broker's total choice of securities is 28 000, spanning currencies, crypto, stocks, indices, commodities, ETFs, and options.

Minimum deposit

Plus500's minimum starting balance is $100, which is reasonable for forex brokers in New Zealand. This can be funded via VISA/Mastercard, Skrill, PayPal, and bank wire.

Trading platforms

Plus500 provides trading access via its own software that you can use on Android, iOS, and web browsers.

Rockfort Markets

Founded in 2017, Rockfort Markets is certainly one of the least popular forex brokers for NZ traders. Yet, its only office is in the country, making it feel closer to home for Kiwis. With Rockfort, you can trade on MT4 and Trader Workstation (TWS).

TWS is popular with Interactive Brokers clients, allowing traders direct market access to exchange-traded instruments like stocks, futures, and options. For FX, this platform allows tighter spreads, faster execution, and straight-through processing.

Another unique feature of Rockfort is that you can deposit via the crypto USDT (Tether).

Fees

Like all FX brokers in New Zealand, spreads and swaps apply with Rockfort Markets. The company advises that they charge for certain deposit methods. For withdrawals to a non-NZD bank, a $15 fee applies per transaction.

Lastly, a NZ$20 inactivity applies monthly if your account hasn't had trading activity for over six months and has a balance below $100.

Available markets

With Rockfort Markets, you can speculate in forex, indices, shares, options, metals, energies, commodities, and futures.

Minimum deposit

Rockfort Markets' starting balance of $200. Their funding methods include Visa, Mastercard, POLi, BitWallet, bank wire, and Tether.

Trading platforms

Rockfort Markets supports MT4 and Trader Workstation, which you can use across various web, mobile, and desktop platforms.