Scandinavian Capital Markets
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Scandinavian Capital Markets Review
Introduction to Scandinavian Capital Markets
Scandinavian Capital Markets is the only Swedish forex broker, and they lean into their Swedish heritage. The company launched in 2011 as an asset management firm. In 2018, the company transitioned towards being a retail forex broker. The broker is registered with the Swedish Finansinspektionen (Reg. No. 556863-5972). In 2020, it launched cTrader, and that’s when we wrote our first review of this broker. However, since launching cTrader, Scandinavian Markets has made many changes to its services.
Scandinavian Capital Markets overview
Despite Sweden being a somewhat unfamiliar territory in the online trading industry, the team behind Scandinavian Capital Markets has a wealth of industry experience. The company we know today as Scandinavian Capital Markets first came to life in 2011, when co-founders Arif Alexander and Michael Buchbinder, who each had over a decade of experience in the FX trading sector from previous roles, joined forces.
The company remained on the wealth management path until 2017 when the team saw an opportunity to launch Sweden’s first STP forex broker to provide services to traders seeking direct access to the forex market. In 2020, we interviewed Scandinavian Markets co-founders Arif Alexander and Michael Buchbinder to discuss their cTrader launch plans.
| Year established | 2011 |
| Year started offering cTrader | 2020 |
| Authorisation | Finansinspektionen (Sweden), FSC (Vanuatu) |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Number of employees | 20+ |
Scandinavian Capital Markets Trading Conditions
Scandinavian Capital Markets offers a premium trading environment for experienced traders. The company offers one standard account type with raw spreads and a $7 per lot commission. Regardless of how much you deposit, you will receive their best pricing, which is typically 0.1 or 0.2 pips on major currency pairs during prime trading hours.
| Platforms | cTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
| Maximum leverage | 1:200 |
| Commissions | $7 per lot (forex & metals) |
| Minimum deposit | $1 |
| Spreads | From 0.0 |
| Stop out level | 80% |
| Swap free account | No |
Accessibility to Scandinavian Markets Services
Scandinavian Capital Markets is uniquely positioned to provide services worldwide. Besides the obvious exclusions, the company cooperates with clients worldwide.
| Countries Excluded | US & Sanctioned Countries |
| Deposit Options | Wire Transfer, Visa, Mastercard, Cryptocurrency, Skrill |
| Deposit Currencies | USD, GBP, EUR |
| Withdrawal Fees | Yes, depending on the withdrawal method |
| Social Trading | Yes. cTrader Copy |
Scandinavian Capital Markets trading instruments
Scandinavian Capital Markets offers an impressive variety of trading instruments. Besides the major forex pairs, you can trade exotic currencies, such as the Korean won and the Indian rupee.
While the broker offers indices and commodities, they are only available for traders registered with its Vanuatu entity. Forex, metals and cryptocurrencies are the only products offered to clients registered under its Swedish entity.
Scandinavian Capital Markets account types
Scandinavian Capital Markets offers one standard default account for most clients and the most competitive conditions for every level. New clients can test Scandinavian Markets with a seven-day trial, during which all commissions are waived.
This broker offers a unique account type for high-frequency traders. The HFT account offers lower commissions but a monthly fee of $299. It also has added perks, such as a VPS and consultation on optimising price feeds from different liquidity providers to suit your strategy.
| Account type | Standard | Free trial | HFT |
| Spread from | 0 pips | 0 pips | 0 pips |
| Commissions (FX & metals) | $7 per lot | 0 | $4 per lot |
| Commissions (indices) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Commissions (oil) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minimum deposit | $1 | $1 | $1 |
| Max leverage (all) | 1:200 | 1:200 | 1:200 |
The Pros and Cons of trading with Scandinavian Capital Market
No review would be complete without a summary of the benefits and drawbacks of a broker. Based on our assessment and opinions, here are the advantages and disadvantages.
Because of the way Scandinavian Capital Markets operates, they pass on a number of benefits to their clients.
- There is no minimum deposit and free withdrawals for active traders.
- Highly professional customer support with deep industry knowledge.
- Raw spreads across all products.
- Able to offer high leverage to European traders.
- 7-day commission-free trial.
Because of the very specific customer profile that Scandinavian Capital Markets cooperates with, it would not be fair to compare them directly to another broker. Especially a retail-focused broker which is focused on keeping barriers as low as possible and acquiring as many clients as possible. When you consider all things together, what would be a disadvantage of another broker, is actually just a tradeoff for something better from Scandinavian.
- Do not offer stock CFDs.
- Do not offer Islamic accounts.
- Limited account currencies.
- You must provide personal details to open a demo account.
- Do not offer SEK trading accounts.
Scandinavian Capital Markets is not a discount broker. Its commissions are on par with Pepperstone and IC Markets. However, it offers a 7-day commission-free trial to test its execution and services without paying for any trades. We found its customer support to be not just responsive but proactive. The team often reaches out to clients to give suggestions and tutorials on different platforms and features.
