Scope Markets
4.3
OVERALL SCORE
Key Offices
UK, UAE, Cyprus
Minimum deposit
$0
Inactivity fee
None
Withdrawal fee
$0
Cyprus flag CySEC
UAE flag DFSA
Kenya flag CMA
South Africa flag FSCA
Mauritius flag FSC
Seychelles flag FSA
Belize flag FSC
Trading platforms
MT4, MT5, Iress
Available products
FX/CFDs, Futures, Options, Cash Equities
Regional Variation?
Product availability varies by jurisdiction

FX minimum spread
0.7 points
Index minimum spread
0.7 points
Gold minimum spread
0.3 points
Visit Scope Markets

Overview

Scope Markets is a safe, multi-regulated broker that was launched in 2014. The broker was acquired by Rostro Group, a financial services conglomerate, in 2020. Senior management and the owners have decades of combined experience working in the online trading industry.

Scope Markets offers access to thousands of markets, across FX, commodities, indices, stocks, futures, and more. Clients can also use the broker’s copy trading platform to access other traders’ strategies.

Clients can trade with Scope Markets using MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. The company also offers advanced traders access to its services via the Iress trading platform.

What we like about Scope Markets is its pricing and execution, as well as the team behind the company. Scope offers great trading conditions and it has a transparent, experienced group of executives running the business. We believe traders can trade at Scope Markets with confidence as a result.

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Trustworthy and safe
  • Low fees and spreads
  • Solid trading conditions
  • Localised offerings
Cons
  • Only offers MT4 and MT5 for retail
  • Limited product range in some regions

Trust

Traders can trust Scope Markets and feel safe keeping their money with the firm. We think there are a couple of important reasons that support this.

Regulation

Scope Markets holds licences in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The broker is well-regulated as a result and traders can feel confident that they’re trading with a firm that must adhere to high corporate governance standards. The broker has key offices in London, Cyprus, and Dubai – all major hubs for the online trading industry.
🇧🇿 Belize
FSC
Legal EntityRS Global Ltd
RegulatorFinancial Services Commission
🇨🇾 Cyprus
CySEC
Legal EntitySM Capital Markets Ltd
RegulatorCyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
🇸🇨 Seychelles
FSA
Legal EntityScope Markets Global Ltd
RegulatorFinancial Services Authority
🇿🇦 South Africa
FSCA
Legal EntityScope Markets SA (PTY) Ltd
RegulatorFinancial Sector Conduct Authority
🇰🇪 Kenya
CMA
Legal EntitySCFM Ltd
RegulatorCapital Markets Authority
🇲🇺 Mauritius
FSC
Legal EntityScope Capital Markets Ltd
RegulatorFinancial Services Commission Mauritius

Account Opening

Scope Markets is a global business and, because of that, it has localised offerings for each of its entities.

Traders in Kenya, South Africa, and the European Union should look at the account pages on the broker’s regional websites to see the offerings available to them.

For the rest of the world, we’ll look at the broker’s main accounts here.

One Account

This is the most popular account on Scope Markets. It can be used to access all the CFD markets that Scope Markets offers. Traders can access the account using MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

One Account Key Features

Maximum Leverage
1000:1
Minimum Deposit
$10
Average Spreads
From 0.9 pips
Stop-out level
20%

Islamic Account

Scope Markets lets Muslim traders access forex and CFD products without having to pay swap fees. This is in the broker’s Islamic account. The terms of the account are very similar to the One Account, with the obvious difference being there are no swap fees. However, traders must pay a fixed $5 commission per lot, per side in these accounts.

Scope Invest

Scope Invest is one of the more unique features that Scope Markets offers. The account lets traders access fractional shares with no leverage by trading them as a CFD. This account is great for anyone that wants lower risk access to long-term investments.

Scope Elite

The Scope Elite account is for higher net worth clients, who want access to more personalised service. The minimum deposit for a Scope Elite account is $20,000. It gives the user access to extremely competitive pricing and high leverage. Clients with a Scope Elite account can also get personalised support, rebates, and access to VIP events.

Scope Elite Key Features

Maximum Leverage
1000:1
Minimum Deposit
$20,000
Spreads
From 0.0 pips
Rebates
Up to $8 per million

Products

Scope Markets is a broker for trading. If you are looking for high leverage, low spreads, and a broad range of FX/CFD markets to trade, then the broker is going to appeal to you. However, the broker does also offer a number of other products in certain regions. You can see what products the broker offers and where.

CFDs

Product Availability by Region

Availability varies by regional regulation
Region
FX/CFDs
Real Stocks
Derivatives
1x Stock CFDs
Global
✅
❌
❌
✅
EU
✅
✅
❌
✅
Kenya
✅
✅
✅
✅
South Africa
✅
❌
❌
✅
CFD trading is the core product that Scope Markets offers across all of its global entities. The company currently offers thousands of CFDs on FX, metals, commodities, shares, futures markets, indices, and more.

CFD Market Overview

Assets available by category
CFD Market
No. of Assets
Popular Example
FX
79
EUR/USD
Indices
18
S&P 500
Oil and Gas
4
Crude Oil
Metals
12
Gold
Shares
1,900+
Tesla
Futures
24
UK100
Commodities
8
Cocoa

Real stocks

Scope Markets offers cash equities trading in Kenya and the European Union. This means you are buying and holding the ‘real’ share, rather than just trading a CFD on it. This is a great product for anyone looking to just buy and hold an investment for the long-term.

Exchange-traded derivatives

Kenyan traders can access futures listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange via Scope Markets. The broker is one of the only firms to offer this product to Kenyan traders. Unlike CFD trading, this means you are trading the ‘real’ futures markets, something a segment of traders prefers to do.

1x stock CFDs

Across all regions globally, Scope Markets offers 1:1 trading in stock CFDs. That means you have no leverage when buying the product, allowing you to access the underlying stocks, without the same level of risk that buying a leveraged CFD would give you.

Deposits and withdrawals

Depositing and withdrawing funds on Scope Markets is fast and easy. You can use payment cards, like Visa and Mastercard, as well as a range of local and alternative payment methods.

How long do deposits take?

The fastest way to deposit with Scope Markets is using Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, or Skrill. Using these methods will mean you get your money instantly. Other local payment methods are also likely to be instant. However, processing times can vary and can take up to 8 hours. The slowest process will be if you do an international bank transfer as this can take 3-5 days to process.

How long do withdrawals take?

Withdrawals on Scope Markets will often take longer. There is a good reason for this. For compliance reasons, brokers are almost never allowed to send clients back funds that exceeded their initial deposit, unless they used a bank transfer. For example, if you deposit $1,000 with a Visa card and make a profit of $500, you will still only be able to withdraw $1,000 back onto your card. The rest has to be made via bank transfer. Traders using local bank transfers can get same day access to their funds in most instances. However, if you are making an international transfer then it will likely take 3-5 days.

What are the minimum deposits?

The minimum deposit to Scope Markets is $10. However, that can rise to $210 for traders using Union Pay. We’d also note that if you are depositing in a local currency, like Thai Baht or Malaysian Ringgit, then your minimum will be whatever the equivalent of $10 is in that currency.

Fees

Scope Markets charges three main fees – spreads, commissions, and swaps. These will vary depending on the instrument and account type that you have.

Swaps

Swap fees are a fee you pay when holding CFD positions after market close. When you trade with leverage, you are borrowing money. Swap fees are a way of paying interest on that borrowing. You can check swap rates easily in the Scope Markets MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 platforms using the Market Watch panel.

Commissions

Scope Markets charges variable commissions on a per lot, per side basis. However, in many instances, you will not pay any commissions at all. In simpler terms, a commission is a fee that is charged when you open and close a trade. The fee is based on the volume you trade. As with most brokers, Scope Markets’ commissions are based on per lot transactions, with one lot being $100,000-worth of whatever you are trading. You can see how Scope Markets charges commissions for its global customers below.

Account Type Commissions

Commission fees by account type
Account Type
Commission
One Account
$5 per lot on futures and commodities only. Commissions on certain stock CFDs are also charged.
Islamic Account
$5 per side per lot
Scope Elite
$3.50 per side per lot
Scope Invest
Zero commissions

Spreads

Spreads are the main fee that traders pay when trading CFDs. The spread is the difference between the buy and sell price that you see when making a trade. The tighter the spread, the better the price you are getting. Scope Markets offers attractive spreads, particularly for clients trading in larger size, with Scope Elite account holders getting access to zero spread accounts.

Forex spreads

Forex tends to be one of the most popular asset classes that traders want access to. Scope Markets most popular account tends to offer spreads that are on par with other market leaders. We would also note that there are no commissions for trading forex with the broker. A common tactic other firms use is to quote zero or extremely low spreads, but then charge commissions that mean you are effectively paying the same fee anyway. You can see Scope’s spreads for some popular instruments at the time we were writing this review below.

FX Pair Spreads

Typical spreads on Scope Markets
FX Pair
Spread (pips)
EUR/USD
0.9
USD/JPY
0.7
CHF/USD
1

Commodities spreads

Gold and oil tend to be among the most-traded instruments with all CFD brokers. Gold in particular has proven to be extremely popular over the last few years. Again, Scope Markets offers very competitive pricing for these instruments, with spreads that can be close to parity or even better than the underlying market.

Commodity Spreads

Typical spreads on Scope Markets
Asset
Spread (pips)
Gold
0.3
Oil
2.7
Silver
0.2

Index spreads

Index products are also a popular way for traders to speculate on the financial markets, with popular markets including the US, UK, and Germany. As you can see in the table below, the spreads that Scope Markets offers on these products are very tight.

Index Spreads

Typical spreads on Scope Markets
Asset
Spread (pips)
S&P 500
0.7
UK 100
0.7
DAX
1.4

Platforms

Scope Markets gives traders access to the financial markets via a number of methods.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is one of the oldest and most popular trading platforms in the trading industry. Traders can use MetaTrader 4 to trade Scope Markets. We think the platform is still most likely to appeal to traders using ‘Expert Advisors’, which are automated trading systems.

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is the newer and more up-to-date version of the MetaTrader platforms. Most traders signing up to Scope Markets will use this platform, which offers a range of useful tools, analytical features, and lets users engage in automated trading strategies.

Scope Copy

Scope Markets offers clients access to copy trading via its Scope Copy platform. This lets you copy top traders on the Scope Markets platform. To access this, you simply have to connect your Scope Markets account to your Scope Copy account. From there you can begin copying top-performing traders with the broker.

Iress

Scope Markets also offers access to financial markets via Iress’s systems. This is designed for sophisticated traders that want a more customised set-up. For example they might want to be able to do things like trade via FIX API and get direct market access.

In practice, most traders won’t need this system as it’s designed for professional traders and financial institutions. Having said that, we think it’s testament to the infrastructure that Scope Markets has built that the firm is able to offer the platform.

Final Thoughts

Scope Markets is ultimately a safe, secure broker to trade with. If you are looking for high leverage, good trading conditions, and low costs, then the broker is going to be a good option for you. We also like the other offerings that the firm has, like 1x stock CFDs, as it can also be a way for you to make long-term investments with the broker.

At the same time, we like the fact that you can trust the firm, that it’s transparent, and that the team behind the firm has a lot of experience and expertise, as you feel that you are in safe hands with the broker.

FAQ

Yes, Scope Markets is one of the biggest forex brokers in Kenya. Scope Markets is regulated in Kenya by the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority.
Yes, Scope Markets is a well-regulated broker, with offices and regulatory licences in major financial hubs globally.
Yes, Scope Markets holds regulatory licences in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Scope Markets lets you trade micro lots in all of its accounts.
Scope Markets is owned by Rostro Group, a financial services group that was set up in 2020 by Roger Hambury.

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