forex desk
The maximum leverage on offer is the single fastest way to work out which regulator, if any, stands behind your account. It is a legal fingerprint, and it is printed on the account page.
The published numbers
Saxo Bank publishes the European retail caps plainly: 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities, 5:1 on individual equities and 2:1 on crypto, with professional clients exempt. IC Markets EU advertises a maximum of 1:30 for retail clients. The same group offshore, trading as IC through Raw Trading Ltd under a Seychelles licence, advertises accounts at up to 1:5000.
| Cap you are offered | What it implies | What comes with it |
|---|---|---|
| 30:1 on majors | EU or UK retail rules | Negative balance protection, compensation scheme, ombudsman |
| 200:1 to 500:1 | Australia pre-2021 style or mid-tier offshore | Varies, read the agreement |
| 1000:1 and above | Offshore entity | No statutory compensation scheme, complaints handled in house |
Why it matters more than the number itself
Leverage does not create risk on its own. Position size does, and you control that on any account. What the cap actually signals is the bundle of protections attached to the entity holding your money: whether losses can exceed your deposit, whether a statutory scheme covers a failure, and who you complain to when a withdrawal stalls.
Using high leverage safely is mostly arithmetic
- 01Decide the currency amount at risk first, then derive position size from the stop distance.
- 02Treat the leverage cap as a margin constraint, never as a sizing suggestion.
- 03Check whether negative balance protection is contractual or discretionary. The difference shows up once, on the worst day.
Nobody offers 1:5000 because it helps you. They offer it because the entity that can is not the entity with the badge.
Written by Aram Latifi. Ex-quant developer, now writing about the plumbing of retail trading. No affiliate links on this site.
