When you visit JQL Markets’ website (jqlmarkets.com) the first thing that greets you is a welcome bonus offer. This is a huge red flag because regulated brokers don’t offer bonuses to their clients. Bonuses complicate withdrawals for the client and allow brokers to impose unfair restrictions on their client’s accounts.
So, JQL Markets is not off to a good start. In my JQL Markets review, I’ll share more facts and information about this broker to help you understand whether you can trust them or not:
JQL Markets License and Regulation
JQL Markets claims to be headquartered in Ontario, Canada. The financial regulator in Canada is IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada).
As a broker based in Canada, JQL Markets must have a license from IIROC. So, I checked the IIROC register but I didn’t find any mentions of this broker. I also checked the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s register as the headquarters of JQL Markets is there.
Did You Know/
IIROC was founded in 2008 in Toronto and stands for ‘Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada’. It is a non-profit, national self-regulatory organization.
Yet again, I didn’t find any mention of the broker.
This is proof that JQL Markets is an unregulated and unlicensed broker. Trading with them is quite dangerous and you should avoid doing business with them.
You shouldn’t trade with unlicensed and unregulated brokers. There are many scams in the forex industry and so, financial regulators exist in many regions such as the US and Europe. These regulators impose heavy restrictions and laws on forex brokers (and similar service providers) to ensure that the broker doesn’t act against the interests of its client.
However, unregulated and unlicensed wouldn’t have to follow those restrictions. They can act against your interests (such as steal your data) and get away scot-free.
Another thing is the financial regulator of Canada isn’t as strict as the notable regulators in the industry. The only good thing about this regulator is that it requires brokers to invest in the Canadian Investor Protection Fund from which you can get compensation in case of disputes.
Other notable regulators like FCA also offer insurance compensation in case the broker steals the funds of their clients. For example, FCA can give you up to £85,000 if an FCA-regulated broker steals your funds.
However, you don’t get such facilities with unregulated brokers. This is a strong reason why I don’t recommend trading with an unregulated forex broker like JQL Markets.
JQL Markets Trading Conditions
You should always check the trading conditions of a forex broker before doing business with them. Let’s see what are trading conditions of this broker:
Trading Platform
JQL Markets offers the MetaTrader 5 trading platform to its clients which is the most popular and reputed trading platform in the industry.
Almost all reputed forex brokers use this platform because they offer a ton of features. MetaTrader 5 gives you exclusive access to some amazing technical analysis features such as custom scripts, trading signals, a financial calendar, and a dedicated app market. You don’t get such amazing benefits with other trading platforms.
Minimum Deposit
JQL Markets offers multiple trading accounts to its clients and the lowest deposit it requires is $1000. This is another indication that this broker doesn’t have the right intentions.
Regulated brokers keep their minimum deposit requirement around $100 and some go as low as $10.
Many forex scams keep their initial deposit requirement high which allows them to grab a lot of funds immediately. Such brokers are aware of their pathetic services and so, they don’t give you a chance to test out their services beforehand. Instead, they force you to make a big financial commitment. In case you decide to discontinue availing of their services, they will steal the huge deposit you had made.
It’s a common strategy among shady forex brokers and that’s why I don’t recommend trading with such brokers.
Leverage and Spreads
The offered leverage with this broker can go up to 1:400 which is way higher. It’s unsafe and can drive you to financial ruin.
High leverage is usually a sign of a scam. This is why financial regulators restrict their brokers on how much leverage they can offer to their clients. For example, the UK-based regulator FCA doesn’t allow its brokers to offer a leverage ratio higher than 1:30.
High leverage ratios can wipe out all of your earnings and even put you in debt quickly. They are very risky, especially if you’re a beginner.
Due to some error, I wasn’t able to create an account with this broker. And they don’t give any information about the spreads so I don’t know what spreads they offer. However, even if they offered the best spreads possible, I couldn’t have recommended them as they are unlicensed brokers.
Trading Accounts
JQL Markets offers the following trading accounts to its client but please note that I don’t recommend any of them:
Silver
You’d need to deposit $1,000 for this account. You get a 10% deposit bonus with this trading account. Apart from the bonus, JQL Markets doesn’t specify any other advantages.
Ruby
The minimum deposit for this account is $3,000. You get a 15% bonus here.
Gold
The Gold account requires an initial investment of $5,000 and provides you with a 20% deposit bonus.
Diamond
The Diamond account requires a minimum deposit of $10,000 and offers you a 30% deposit bonus.
Platinum
The minimum deposit requirement for this account is $30,000. You get a 30% deposit bonus with this account as well. Apart from the bonuses, the broker doesn’t give any information about the accounts’ features.
JQL Markets Payment Methods and Charges
Transaction Methods
This broker hasn’t specified its payment methods which makes them more suspicious. Usually, brokers keep this information available to their clients to help them make better-informed decisions.
Fees
Just like the transaction methods, JQL Markets hasn’t given any information about the fees it charges. This is quite dangerous because it gives the broker the leeway to charge you randomly and drain your account of any funds it might have had.
Another important thing I wanted to highlight is that the broker has kept its Terms and Conditions hidden from its clients. They are not available on the website and you can’t access them through any method.
Offered Bonuses
It seems to me that this broker aims to lure traders through the various bonuses it offers. JQL Markets offers you a $100 bonus which you can’t withdraw.
On top of that, if you deposit $30,000, $10,000, or $5,000, you’ll get a bonus for your first trade of every month for a year’s duration. This bonus will match that trade’s profit or loss up to $100.
Another bonus is a cashback of a maximum of $3 and a minimum of $0.3 when you trade a standard lot with a deposit equal to or higher than $1,000. JQL Markets runs plenty of promotional campaigns and note that regulated brokers aren’t allowed to offer bonuses.
A common strategy among shady forex brokers is they would offer you a ton of bonuses. Bonuses in the forex industry are notorious as they allow the broker to complicate the withdrawal process for the user. The funds you receive in a bonus always belong to the broker, not you.
JQL Markets doesn’t let you access it terms and conditions and has kept its trading conditions hidden. It relies on its various bonuses to attract traders but regulated brokers aren’t allowed to offer brokers. This indicates JQL Markets is a fraud.
Is JQL Markets a Scam? Yes!
The forex industry attracts a lot of scams and they are of various sorts. Some scammers tend to give an unsolicited call and claim that you’re eligible for a random bonus. Others would run ads on the internet claiming to offer attractive deposit bonuses or easy profits.
Creating a website and filling it with lies is very easy. And these scammers target inexperienced traders too. Usually, these brokers operate from offshore areas such as St. Vincent or the Commonwealth of Dominica. They operate from such areas because these places don’t have financial regulators like the US or the UK. So they don’t have to follow any strict laws and can easily steal the funds of their users without facing any legal repercussions.
You should always check a broker’s regulations and T&Cs before trading with them.
JQL Markets Review: Conclusion
JQL Markets is an unregulated broker that has kept most of its valuable information hidden. You can’t see their terms and conditions or their fees or their payment methods. All of them are important to determine if a broker is reliable or not.
It’s clear from what I have seen that JQL Markets is a scam and you should stay away from them.
There are many scams in the forex industry like JQL Markets. And they keep growing. The best way to combat these scams is to spread the truth about them so their schemes would fail before they even start.
If you know someone who’s interested in forex trading, share this article with them. They should know the truth about such scammers.