IUX's companies, from its regulation page.

IUX's companies, from its regulation page.

IUX, which traded as IUX Markets until a 2024 rebrand, says it was founded in 2016 and now serves more than 700,000 traders. Its regulation page names three companies. IUX Markets (MU) Ltd holds an Investment Dealer licence (Full Service Dealer, Excluding Underwriting) from the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, number GB22200605. Its sister company, IUX Markets Limited, is incorporated with the Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines under registration number 26183 BC 2021. A third company, IUX Markets AU Pty Ltd, holds Australian Financial Services licence 529610 from ASIC.

That last licence gets mentioned a lot in marketing, so read the small print carefully. IUX's own regulation page says the Australian company "does not operate, control, or provide any products or services through this website". In plain terms, an account opened at iux.com is not an ASIC-regulated account, and Australians can't open one anyway.

Founded2016 (rebranded from IUX Markets in 2024)
Website operatorIUX Markets (MU) Ltd, FSC Mauritius GB22200605
Second companySt Vincent's IUX Markets Limited, 26183 BC 2021
ASIC licence529610, not used for iux.com clients
Dispute bodyMember of The Financial Commission
Negative balanceReset to zero, according to IUX

The three IUX companies

CompanyWhereStatusServes iux.com clients?
IUX Markets (MU) LtdEbene, MauritiusFSC Investment Dealer, GB22200605Yes, operates the site
IUX Markets LimitedKingstown, St VincentIncorporated company, 26183 BC 2021Named as operating www.iux.com
IUX Markets AU Pty LtdSydney, AustraliaASIC licence 529610No

You can look up the Australian firm on ASIC Connect and the Mauritius licence on the FSC Mauritius website. St Vincent's Financial Services Authority registers companies but doesn't license or supervise forex brokers, so a company incorporated there has no markets regulator watching its trading business.

Which company holds your account

IUX's website footer says IUX Markets (MU) Ltd operates under iux.com, and that IUX Markets Limited operates under www.iux.com. Both are listed on every page. The client agreement you accept at registration is the document that names your counterparty, so read its first page before you deposit and note which of the two companies it names.

If it is the Mauritius company, an investment dealer licence from the FSC applies, with that regulator's capital and conduct rules behind it. Where it names the St Vincent company, your protection rests on IUX's own policies and its membership of The Financial Commission, an independent dispute-resolution body with a compensation fund. Neither arrangement matches the protection you would get from a top-tier regulator such as ASIC or the FCA, which is why IUX's Australian licence doesn't help an international client.

A licence held by one company in a group doesn't cover clients of another. IUX's ASIC licence belongs to a company that, in IUX's own words, provides nothing through iux.com.

Where IUX accepts clients

According to IUX's Help Center, it currently serves clients in 10 countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Laos in Asia; Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa in Africa; and Mexico and Colombia in Latin America. It doesn't accept citizens or residents of Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States or EU member states. Thailand is a special case: IUX takes no new Thai clients, though existing Thai accounts can still trade, deposit and withdraw.

Traders in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other countries not on that list should take note. The registration form may still let you pick a country, but the Help Center list is the one IUX publishes as its service area, and verification documents must match your nationality.

Protections IUX describes

ProtectionWhat IUX says
Segregated client moneyHeld in separate accounts at reputable banks, apart from company funds
Negative balanceBalances below zero are reset, usually within 1 to 5 seconds once trades are closed
Payment securityPCI DSS compliant card processors and 256-bit SSL encryption
Account securityTwo-factor authentication, device management and login alerts
DisputesMembership of The Financial Commission and its Compensation Fund
Stop outPositions closed at a 20% margin level on all accounts

These protections are worth having, but most are company policy rather than law. They hold as long as IUX keeps to them. The negative balance reset, for example, is described in IUX's Help Center as an automated system; our IUX stop out guide explains how it works with the 20% stop out level.

How IUX executes your trades

IUX's Help Center describes the firm as a hybrid market maker. In some conditions IUX takes the other side of your trade and matches orders internally; for other trades it passes the order to tier-1 liquidity providers and doesn't act as counterparty. It earns from spreads and commissions. A market maker model isn't a red flag in itself, but it does mean the broker can profit when clients lose, so firm rules on prices, slippage and execution matter.

One such rule shows up in IUX's leverage policy. During news, around market closes and at rollover, it caps leverage at 1:400 or lower, and it reserves the right to change leverage without notice. Our IUX leverage guide lists those caps.

Is IUX safe?

IUX has a real offshore licence in Mauritius, a St Vincent company and an ASIC licence that doesn't apply to its website clients. Treat it as an offshore broker: keep deposits modest, check which company your agreement names, verify your account fully before you need to withdraw, and turn on two-factor authentication. Compare it with better-regulated alternatives in IC Markets vs IUX and XM vs IUX.

Questions to ask before you deposit

  • Does my client agreement name IUX Markets (MU) Ltd or IUX Markets Limited?
  • Is my country on IUX's list of 10 served countries?
  • Do my ID and bank documents come from my country of nationality, as IUX requires?
  • How would a dispute be handled, and is The Financial Commission route open to me?
  • Can I afford to lose the amount I'm about to deposit?

Honest answers to these five questions tell you far more than a list of licence numbers. If any of them makes you uneasy, start with a small balance and test a withdrawal before you add more.

Signs worth watching

IUX publishes a lot of detail in its Help Center: margin call and stop out levels, a full leverage cap schedule, lot size limits and swap rules. That openness is a good sign. A few things are less tidy, though. Some Help Center articles contradict each other, for example on how many accounts you can open and on whether hedging is allowed, and the trading accounts page quotes 120+ instruments while the crypto page alone lists 70+ coins. When rules conflict, ask support to confirm in writing which one applies to you.

IUX's ASIC licence looks good in a headline, but the broker itself says that company has nothing to do with the website. For our readers the real question is Mauritius or St Vincent, and in both cases you should size your deposit like an offshore account.
Ranjan NiskrityChief Editor, FX Recap
Illustrative case: Tuan, 32, Ho Chi Minh City

Tuan read IUX's regulation page before signing up and saw that the ASIC company didn't serve the website. He checked his agreement, kept his first deposit to $200 in a Raw account, turned on two-factor authentication and made a $50 test withdrawal in his first week to see how the process worked.

Frequently asked

Is IUX regulated?

IUX Markets (MU) Ltd is licensed by the FSC Mauritius as an investment dealer (GB22200605). Its sister company IUX Markets Limited is incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines. A third company, IUX Markets AU Pty Ltd, is ASIC-licensed but doesn't serve iux.com clients.

Is IUX regulated by ASIC?

IUX Markets AU Pty Ltd holds ASIC licence 529610, but IUX says that company doesn't operate, control or provide any products or services through iux.com. Website clients aren't covered by it.

Which IUX company operates iux.com?

The website footer names IUX Markets (MU) Ltd in Mauritius and IUX Markets Limited in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Your client agreement names your counterparty.

Which countries does IUX serve?

Its Help Center lists Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Laos, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Mexico and Colombia.

Does IUX accept clients from Malaysia, the UK or the US?

No. IUX doesn't accept citizens or residents of Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Ukraine, the UK, the US or the EU, and takes no new clients from Thailand.

Does IUX have negative balance protection?

Yes. IUX says a negative balance is reset to zero automatically, usually within 1 to 5 seconds once all trades are closed.

Is IUX a market maker?

IUX's Help Center calls it a hybrid market maker: it acts as counterparty in some conditions and sends other orders to tier-1 liquidity providers.

Does IUX keep client money separate?

IUX says client funds are held in segregated accounts with reputable banks, separate from company operating funds.

What is The Financial Commission?

An independent dispute-resolution body for forex brokers. IUX says it is a member, which gives clients an outside route for complaints and access to the Commission's Compensation Fund.