VAF Review by professional Forex trading experts the “ForexSQ” FX trading team, Finding out everything you need to know about the broker is in this VAF Review.
VAF Review
PT. Valbury Asia Futures (or VAF for short) is an Indonesian broker. The company offers access to the global currency markets and the Jakarta futures exchange via two separate trading platforms. We will focus on the forex and CFD offering in this review.
VAF Advantages
Regulated in Indonesia – VAF is a regulated Indonesian broker, registered with the Supervisory Board and the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI). Additionally they are members of the Indonesian Derivatives Clearing House and the Jakarta Futures Exchange. The latter two are necessary for them offering access to the local futures market, but don’t have anything to do with forex trading.
>>Forex brokers in Indonesia<<
Established local broker – The company has been around since 1999 and has multiple offices in the country. While this does not guarantee good trading conditions, it at least proves this is an actual broker and not a total scam.
High leverage – one portion of VAF’s website suggests they offer trading with leverage up to 1:500, while the demo account is capped at 1:100. We are not sure which of the two is accurate but both are pretty decent levels. In fact, one could argue that higher leverage is dangerous, especially in the hands of an inexperienced trader. That being said, if you are looking for a broker, offering even higher leverage, XM provides 1:888.
MetaTrader4 trading platform – you are probably aware of the capabilities of this platform, if you have any experience with forex trading. It is the choice of many brokers and does offer a lot – from the crisp charting package to endless customization options (via the MQL Marketplace). Here is how the one provided by VAF looks.
>>MT4 broker list, find a better one<<
VAF Disadvantages
Poor presentation – Despite being a well regulated company, VAF does a relatively poor job at presenting its trading conditions. We came to most of them after testing the demo platform and with some brokers, it can vary from the real thing, which they offer.
Very wide spreads – The spreads we saw, when testing VAF’s platofm were incredibly high. The EUR/USD one started from 2.6 pips and if that wasn’t enough an additional $30 commission per lot was applied. The commission equates to 3.0 pips (on the currency pairs quoted in USD), making the grand total 5.6 pips.
>>Real-time spread comparison<<
You can compare the spreads provided by some of the top-rated forex brokers with our dedicated tool (in the link above), but even without looking, we can tell you that these levels are extremely non-competitive.
No info on methods of payment – this is just another oversight on the part of VAF. While it isn’t a big deal, it just proves to be slightly inconvenient to have to ask them. Maybe we are a bit too harsh, as we are used to seeing brokers with top-tier marketing strategies.
No info on minimum deposit – another not that significant flaw, which goes in line with the previous point. Some clients will prefer to deposit a $100, while some will even want to go lower. The latter group can always try trading with IG, the FCA-regulated broker and spread betting provider, which accepts clients regardless of their investment.
Conclusion
PT. Valbury Asia Futures (VAF) is a regulated Indonesian forex, CFD and futures broker. We didn’t take a look into their futures trading offer in this review, but when it comes to the currency trading one – we were not impressed. With a lack of information on the website and a very high spread, this is by no means an attractive broker.
When it comes to the legal status of this broker, being regulated by the Supervisory Board and the Commodity Futures Trading (BAPPEBTI) is definitely nice. That being said those of you who have the option to trade with a broke, overseen by an even more established regulators should definitely consider it.
One such highly rated agency is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the United Kingdom’s financial watchdog. They have a very complicated code, which all registered brokers must follow. While the technicalities may be too much for most of you, we will briefly cover two basic rules.
The first of them is that client deposits are held in segregated accounts. This means special banking conditions, which prevent your broker from freely manipulating your account. Additionally, all of the overseen companies are part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This guarantees your investment, in case your broke goes bankrupt. Coverage is limited to £50,000.
The Broker is not a safe forex broker, Instead you can use Plus500, XM, eToro, Fxpro or AvaTrade forex brokers.
VAF Review Conclusion
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