FBS Review

Overview

FBS is a forex and CFD broker that has been active since 2009. Over that time it has become one of the best-known retail brands in South-East Asia and Africa. According to traffic data cited by Finance Magnates in late 2025, the largest audiences for fbs.com were Indonesia, Kenya and Thailand.

The group runs under several brands and entities. The global site, fbs.com, is operated by a Belize-licensed company. A European site, fbs.eu, runs under a Cyprus licence, and an Australian subsidiary holds an ASIC licence.

For most international clients, FBS offers:

• a very low entry deposit
• leverage up to 1:3000
• a single standard account
• MetaTrader 4 and 5, plus the FBS mobile app

Recent business decisions have also made headlines. FBS withdrew from India in August 2025 and paused all marketing in November 2025.

Regulation and safety

The regulator that protects you depends on which FBS company opens your account:

• FBS Markets Inc. (Belize) is regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Belize and serves the global fbs.com client base. Third-party sources quote its licence reference with the prefix 000102, but the full number is not cited consistently. Belize is an offshore jurisdiction with no statutory compensation scheme and no retail leverage caps.
• Tradestone Ltd (Cyprus) holds CySEC licence 331/17 and operates the EU-facing fbs.eu brand. Clients of this entity get ESMA protections, including leverage of up to 1:30 and negative-balance protection. You can check the licence on the CySEC website.
• Intelligent Financial Markets Pty Ltd (Australia) holds ASIC licence 426359. You can check it with ASIC.

The brand has a mixed compliance history:

• In 2015 Japan's FSA warned that FBS Markets Inc. was soliciting Japanese residents without registration.
• In 2021 the Securities Commission Malaysia placed FBS-linked websites on its investor alert list.
• Also in 2021, security researchers reported that an unprotected server had exposed FBS customer data. The company secured it within days of being notified.
• In August 2025 FBS stopped serving residents of India and told them to withdraw their funds by 20 August.
• In November 2025 FBS told its partners that it had paused all marketing indefinitely to focus on product development. Account opening continued.

The global site does not accept residents of the United States, Canada or Japan, among other countries.

Fees and costs

The international offer is now built around one Standard account. There is no separate trading commission on forex: the costs sit in floating spreads, which start from about 0.7 pips on major pairs. FBS has not published a typical EUR/USD spread that we could verify. Before trading heavily, check live quotes on a demo account.

Third-party reviews do not list deposit or withdrawal fees on FBS's side. Overnight swaps apply unless you switch to the swap-free option.

Accounts and products

Older reviews describe a wider FBS line-up that included Cent and Crypto accounts. Current reviews describe a much simpler setup for international clients: a Standard account, a swap-free version of it, and a free demo account. In the EU, the CySEC entity offers Standard and Ultra accounts. Ultra advertises spreads from zero.

The global entity's maximum leverage varies by asset class:

• Forex: up to 1:3000
• Metals and indices: up to 1:500
• Energies: up to 1:200
• Stock CFDs: up to 1:100

The instrument list covers more than 70 currency pairs, plus metals, energies, indices, stock CFDs and a small selection of crypto CFDs.

Platforms and tools

FBS supports MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 on desktop, web and mobile. It also has its own FBS app, which handles both trading and account management. The broker previously promoted a separate copy-trading app. Recent reviews, however, say automatic copy trading and PAMM accounts are not currently available, so do not choose FBS for social trading without confirming first. Expert advisors run on both MetaTrader platforms. WikiFX also notes that the platform lacks two-step login and biometric authentication.

Deposits and withdrawals

Payment coverage is one of FBS's strengths in emerging markets. The company advertises a very large number of payment options. Commonly cited methods include:

• Visa and Mastercard
• Bank transfer
• Skrill, Neteller, SticPay and FasaPay
• Local channels such as Indonesian bank transfers, OVO, DANA and QRIS

Account currencies include USD and EUR, with others available regionally. Some recent user complaints on aggregator sites mention delayed withdrawals and "fixed balance" adjustments. These reports have not been independently verified, but they are a reason to test a small withdrawal early.

Who it suits

FBS fits beginners in supported Asian, African and Latin American countries who want to start with a few dollars, use a mobile app and fund through local payment methods. EU and Australian residents can use the CySEC and ASIC entities for stronger protection. Traders who need copy trading, a raw-spread account or top-tier oversight for an offshore account should look elsewhere.

Verdict

FBS is a long-running brand with ASIC and CySEC subsidiaries, a $5 entry point and broad local payment support. For international clients, though, it operates as a Belize-regulated broker with extreme leverage. Its recent history includes regulator warnings in Japan and Malaysia, the India exit and an indefinite marketing pause. Confirm which entity holds your account, keep leverage modest, and verify current conditions before you deposit.