Why EU brokers can't offer trading bonuses (and what "bonus" offers really cost)

Our old site listed "the best forex bonuses". We removed that page because, for most European readers, the offers it described were either unlawful for EU-licensed brokers to make, or came from offshore entities where the bonus terms worked against the client.

#What the rule says

ESMA's product-intervention measures on CFDs – adopted in 2018 and made permanent by national regulators – include a prohibition on monetary and non-monetary benefits relating to CFD trading for retail clients. The only exception is information and research tools. That rules out:

• deposit bonuses ("100% bonus on your first deposit");
• trading credits, cashback linked to volume, and "no-deposit bonuses";
• prizes, gifts and trading competitions tied to CFD activity.

The UK FCA's rules contain the same ban for UK retail clients.

#How offshore bonuses usually work

A bonus is credited to your account but cannot be withdrawn until you trade a set volume – often expressed as lots per dollar of bonus. Common conditions include:

• Volume requirements that are far larger than a normal trader would reach, encouraging overtrading.
• Withdrawal locks: any withdrawal before the volume is met cancels the bonus, sometimes along with profits made using it.
• Bonus as margin: the bonus props up your margin, so positions are larger than your own money justifies – until the bonus is removed and the account is stopped out.

Because of this, a bonus is best understood as a marketing cost recovered through your trading costs.

#What you can legitimately expect from an EU broker

• Lower costs instead of bonuses – tighter spreads or lower commissions for active traders.
• Interest on uninvested cash, common at neobrokers and banks, which is a feature of the cash account, not an incentive to trade CFDs.
• Welcome offers on share accounts such as free shares or fee waivers, which fall outside the CFD incentive ban. Treat them like any promotion: read the conditions.

If a firm is dangling a CFD bonus in front of you as an EU resident, that is a strong sign you are talking to an offshore entity – or to a scam.