ASKoBID (or the relevant company) calls itself a market leader providing world-class trading services. However, we could not even find the name of the company that operates the askobid.fm website. Even in the text of the “Trading Platform Agreement” document, you enter into a contract with the “Company” and not with its real name. In addition, we could not find anything about any regulation of the company. This means that this company (whatever its name is) is not regulated by any authority. Despite the claim that it keeps client’s funds completely segregated into reliable global banks, please do not rely on such companies. Most probably you will not be able to withdraw any money. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning about Askobid believing it is a fraudulent website. So, you better stay away from Ascobid, but we will still show what we found on the website.
Available for trading are 23 currency pairs, 7 metals, 3 commodities, 4 indices, 9 US stocks and 9 cryptocurrencies. Spread is not mentioned anywhere and unless you open a real account, you will not be able to know it. The leverage is up to 1:500.
The company provides four types of accounts – Basic, Professional, Gold and VIP. They differ in minimum deposit, trading benefits and instrument spreads. The initial required deposit is EUR5,000 in the “Basic” account EUR25,000 in the “Professional” account, EUR75,000 in the “Gold” account and negotiable in the “VIP” account. As you see, if you would like to open an account here, you must invest at least EUR5,000. However, the FAQ section tells that the minimum deposit requirement as ASKoBID is EUR250. Total discrepancy between the information!
About deposits, the dedicated section on the website shows that you can deposit by bank transfer, credit/debit card or eWallets such as AlphaExchange. About withdrawals – the dedicated section on the website does not work. This should tell you that you may never get your money back. The FAQ section tells that the company does not charge clients a withdrawal fee. The withdrawal process consists of filling in, signing, scanning, and sending the withdrawal form to [email protected]. Then the Askobid compliance team will contact you by email. It is also written that your trading account must be verified before the company releases any funds. We believe that this is a complex process with many hidden possibilities for rejection.
The company provides its own web-based platform, but you cannot open a demo account to see it. It is nonsense to invest at least EUR5,000 without knowing where you will trade.
We could not find an explanation for how the company executes customer orders, but that hardly matters. Probably it acts as a market maker and does not transmit each client’s deal to its liquidity providers. It will benefit when clients lose, which leads to a conflict of interest. This is not clearly stated. There is no mention of the Negative Balance Protection. There is probably not such protection, and you may lose more than the value of your account. In addition, if the trading account is inactive for a period exceeding 90 days, a fee equal to 10% of the available funds on the trading account will be charged. This fee is deducted monthly at the beginning of each month until the trader resumes his activity on the trading account.
Overall, the company is anonymous, unregulated and has a warning issue from the UK FCA. There are huge discrepancies in the information presented on the website.
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