Worked example
Practising on FXGM's numbers
This is an exercise sheet, not a review. We are going to take three things that FXGM publishes — a spread, a ladder of account types and a list of licences — and turn each of them into something you can do arithmetic with. By the end you should be able to repeat the whole exercise on any firm you come across, which is the actual skill being taught.
The figures we are working from
Nothing below is our estimate. Where a firm has not published something, or we could not read it on a source we trust, the box says so instead of guessing — a habit worth copying when you build your own broker notes.
Exercise one — turn the spread into money
FXGM does not publish a EUR/USD spread we were able to verify, so there is no honest arithmetic to do on this page. Do not substitute a number you read on a comparison site: an unverified spread quietly becomes an unverified cost, and then an unverified plan. Use one of the other examples on the practice index for this exercise and come back to this file for the account ladder below.
Exercise two — read the account ladder
Account tiers are a pricing structure dressed as a status ladder. FXGM offers 0 rungs. Read them as a question — what does each rung ask of me, and what does it give back? — rather than as a set of prizes to climb towards.
Exercise three — what this licence list means for you
A long licence list is not automatically a good sign. What matters to a beginner is a narrower question: which entity would hold my money, and who supervises that entity? Those are often not the same as the impressive name at the top of the list. Here are FXGM's lines, each with a plain reading.
| Regulator | Entity on the register | Number | What that means for a beginner |
|---|---|---|---|
| CySEC · Cyprus | Depaho Ltd | 161/11 | a mid-tier regulator: real supervision and a register, usually with a smaller or capped compensation scheme |
No top-tier line appears on this file. That does not make the firm illegitimate, but it does mean the compensation-scheme and capital-rule protections a beginner usually assumes are present are not evidenced here.
The record behind these numbers
- FXGM is a brand of Cypriot investment firm Depaho Ltd, incorporated in 2011, which also operated the TradeApp and GTCM brands.
- CySEC suspended Depaho Ltd's CIF licence (number 161/11) on 9 July 2021, extended the suspension twice (announcements of 28.7.2021, 10.9.2021 and 22.10.2021), and at its meeting of 2 November 2021 decided to recall the suspension after being satisfied the company had become compliant.
- Poland's KNF includes Depaho Ltd (Nicosia, operating in Poland as FXGM, pl.fxgm.com) on its list of public warnings; the entry notes the entity is not registered in Poland and cites a prosecution notification under Article 178 in conjunction with Article 69(2)(5) of the Polish Act on Trading in Financial Instruments.
- Directory WikiFX lists additional registrations for Depaho Ltd (BaFin 130520, FCA 593528, FSCA 47709, CNMV 3321, CONSOB 3567); these numbers were not re-verified against primary sources in this run and are not adopted here.
What we could not verify
The following are unconfirmed and are deliberately left blank rather than estimated: legalEntities: the briefed 'CySEC 199/13' is not supported by any source found; verified number is 161/11 (CySEC decision + full notice text); FSCA FSP number for Depaho not verified (task instruction) - fxgm.com and fxgm.co.za blocked to fetchers; minDeposit: not verified; maxLeverage: not verified; spreadEurusd: not verified; accountTypes: not verified; segregatedFunds / negativeBalanceProtection: not verified; publiclyListed: not verified; current CySEC register status of Depaho Ltd after the 2021 recall not verified (CySEC pages bot-blocked). Confidence in this file overall: medium. When you build your own notes on a firm, keep a list like this one — the gaps are more useful than the figures, because they tell you what to go and check.
Run the same exercise on another firm
pipdojo.com does not rank brokers, does not award badges and does not tell you where to open an account. This page exists so the arithmetic you learn in the curriculum has real numbers to bite on.