How We Check and Rank Brokers

The first gate: can a Philippine resident actually use it

The first thing we check is whether a resident of the Philippines can open an account, fund it and withdraw from it. A broker that cannot clear those three steps for a local reader is not ranked at all, whatever its platform or product range looks like on paper.

Funding is checked against the rails readers here actually use, GCash and bank transfer, and we note how withdrawals are described in the broker's own documents. A broker that accepts deposits easily but describes withdrawals vaguely is a re-check flag for us, not a pass.

What is refreshed automatically and what a person reviews by hand

The live XAU/USD price feed is refreshed automatically, and every calculator that depends on price recalculates from that feed without human intervention. The reference price of approximately 4275.0 is the anchor shown on the page and moves with the feed. Currency conversion for peso displays is also refreshed automatically from the rate source the site records, but the page marks those peso amounts as indicative because the rate is not a broker settlement rate and can differ from what a reader sees at their bank or e-wallet.

Broker facts are reviewed by hand. The entity that serves the Philippines, the platforms listed as MT4, MT5, cTrader, and the FxPro app, the funding methods GCash and bank transfer, and the regulator caveat that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines are all checked against the broker's own disclosures before they are published or changed. Leverage caps are treated the same way: a person confirms the cap that applies to the entity serving this country rather than copying a number from a marketing page.

Editorial explanations, risk framing, and methodology text are written and reviewed by hand because they are judgments, not data. The site does not auto-generate cost language, and it does not auto-insert a spread, commission, swap, or minimum deposit figure, because it has none to insert. Anything that depends on the reader's own account, such as the actual margin their broker will hold or the actual conversion rate their bank will apply, is described in terms of what it depends on and is left for the reader to confirm with their broker.

The limits of our testing

We do not claim to have traded every account with real money, and we do not run a laboratory. Our checks are documentary plus practical: what the broker publishes, what a Philippine resident can reach, and what changes between checks. That is a narrower claim than a full audit, and we prefer the narrower claim to a false one.

We also do not publish spreads, commissions, swaps or minimum deposits as numbers, because we do not hold a verified figure for them here. We describe what those costs consist of and what they depend on instead. If a condition has merely changed since our read date, that is a re-check rather than an error.

Why the live price can differ from a broker quote

The live price on this site and a broker quote can differ because they are not the same measurement. The site uses a reference feed anchored at approximately 4275.0 to power its calculators, while a broker quote reflects the price that broker is streaming to a specific account at a specific moment, after its own liquidity and markup. The two can move apart within seconds, and neither is wrong; they are simply taken at different times and from different sources. A reader should treat the site's price as a reference, not as an executable quote.

A broker quote also depends on the account and the order. The price a reader sees can differ by account type, by the platform used among MT4, MT5, cTrader, and the FxPro app, and by whether the order is a market order or a pending order. Execution can occur at a different price from the one displayed, especially in fast markets. The site does not publish a spread or commission figure because it was not given one, so it cannot tell a reader how much of the difference is cost and how much is timing.

For a reader in the Philippines, the peso amount adds another layer. The site converts USD figures at an indicative rate, while a broker or bank may convert at a different rate and may apply its own conversion charge. Funding with GCash or bank transfer can also introduce timing between the request and the credited balance. The site states the regulator caveat plainly, that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines, and it treats price differences as a normal feature of trading rather than as an error to be corrected.

Where each class of figure on this site comes from

Price figures on this site come from a live XAU/USD feed referenced to the spot market, with the reference price shown at approximately 4275.0. That feed is the anchor for every calculator and worked example, and it is not a broker quote. Broker-specific figures such as margin requirements are derived from the leverage cap that applies to the FxPro entity serving the Philippines, not from any promotional page. Contract specifications, including 1 lot = 100 oz and 1 pip = 0.01, are fixed instrument facts and do not change with market conditions.

Regulatory and entity facts are taken from the license disclosures of the broker serving the Philippines, and the site states plainly that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, not by the SEC of the Philippines. Funding rail information is limited to GCash and bank transfer because those are the methods the site confirms for local readers. Peso amounts, where shown, are converted from USD at a rate the site records at the time of writing and labels as indicative. No figure on the site is sourced from a third-party review site or an affiliate feed.

Cost figures are never published as numbers because the site was not given a spread, commission, swap, or minimum deposit figure to stand behind. Instead, cost sections describe what a cost consists of and what it depends on, such as the account type, the instrument, and market conditions at the moment of execution. Leverage is described only as the cap that applies to the entity serving this country, and the only worked margin figure the site uses is the one it was given: about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot gold position at that cap.

The formula each calculator uses, stated in words

The pip value calculator multiplies the pip size by the contract size and then by the position size in lots, and converts the result into the account currency. For gold, the pip size is 0.01 and one standard lot is 100 oz, so a 0.10-lot position has a pip value of 0.01 times 100 times 0.10, which is $0.10 per pip before conversion. If the account is denominated in pesos, the USD result is converted at the rate the site records, and the page labels that rate as indicative rather than live.

The margin calculator divides the notional value of the position by the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines. Notional value is the reference price multiplied by 100 oz and by the position size in lots. At the cap, a 0.10-lot gold position at the reference price needs about $85.50 margin, and that figure is the one worked example the site was given. The calculator does not present leverage as a setting to aim at; it presents the cap as a ceiling and shows the margin that follows from it.

The position size calculator works backward from the amount a reader is willing to risk. It divides that risk amount by the distance between the entry and the stop, expressed in pips, and then by the pip value per lot, to arrive at a lot size. The distance in pips is the price difference divided by 0.01. The calculator does not add a spread or commission because the site has no figure for either; it states that the result is a pre-cost estimate and that the actual cost depends on the broker and the market at execution.

What happens when two sources disagree

When two sources disagree, the site follows the more conservative statement and says which sources disagreed. For a broker fact, the broker's own regulatory disclosure outranks a marketing page, and a regulator's public register outranks both. If the broker's page says one thing about the entity serving the Philippines and the regulator's register says another, the site publishes the regulator's position and notes the discrepancy rather than picking the friendlier version. The same rule applies to the regulator caveat: it is stated as FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines.

For price and conversion figures, a disagreement between the live feed and a broker quote is expected and is not treated as an error. The site keeps the live feed as the reference for calculators and labels broker quotes as broker quotes, because the two are measured at different times and from different sources. Peso conversions are treated the same way: the site's indicative rate is not presented as a settlement rate, and a reader who sees a different rate at their bank or e-wallet is seeing the normal difference between an indicative conversion and an executed one.

When the disagreement is about a cost figure, the site does not resolve it by choosing a number. Because no spread, commission, swap, or minimum deposit figure was provided, the site describes what the cost consists of and what it depends on, and it leaves the number to the broker. If a reader finds a published number elsewhere that conflicts with the site's description, the site's position is that the broker's own schedule is the authority and that the reader should confirm it in their account before trading.

What is deliberately not published and why

The site deliberately does not publish a spread, commission, swap, or minimum deposit figure because it was not given one to stand behind. Publishing a number it cannot source would be worse than publishing none, so cost sections describe what a cost consists of and what it depends on. The site also does not publish any leverage ratio other than the cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines, and it does not present that cap as a setting to aim at. The only worked margin figure it publishes is the one it was given: about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot gold position at the applicable cap.

The site does not publish performance claims, profit projections, or testimonials, because trading gold (XAU/USD) is high-risk and outcomes depend on the reader's decisions and market conditions. It does not publish a promise that a strategy will work, and it does not frame leverage as a way to increase returns. It also does not publish funding methods beyond GCash and bank transfer, because those are the methods it can confirm for local readers, and it does not imply that other rails are available.

The site does not publish an author name or a personal byline, and it does not publish dates or statistics it was not given. It does not publish a claim that FxPro is regulated by the SEC of the Philippines, because the correct statement is that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines. It also does not publish a live peso conversion as if it were a settlement rate. Each omission is a choice to stay within what can be sourced and re-checked.

The known limits of this method

The method cannot tell a reader what their broker will actually charge, because the site was not given a spread, commission, swap, or minimum deposit figure and does not publish one. Cost sections therefore describe components and dependencies rather than amounts, which means a reader must confirm the real cost in their own account. The same limit applies to leverage: the site states the cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines, but it does not claim that cap is the right setting for any individual, and it treats the cap as a ceiling rather than a target.

The method uses a single reference price of approximately 4275.0 for worked examples, and that price will not match the live market at the moment a reader reads the page. Peso conversions are indicative and depend on the rate source and the time of conversion, so a reader funding with GCash or bank transfer may see a different peso amount. The margin figure of about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot gold position is a worked example at the applicable cap, not a promise of the margin any specific account will hold.

The method is also limited by what it can verify. It can confirm the regulator caveat that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines, and it can list the platforms and funding rails the broker discloses. It cannot verify execution quality, slippage, or the price a reader will receive on a specific order. Those depend on the broker's execution and on market conditions, and the site says so rather than implying a precision it does not have.

How a reader can reproduce any number on this site

A reader can reproduce any number on the site by starting from the stated inputs: the reference price of approximately 4275.0, the contract size of 100 oz per standard lot, and the pip size of 0.01. For pip value, multiply 0.01 by 100 by the lot size, then convert to pesos at the rate the site labels as indicative. For a 0.10-lot position, that gives $0.10 per pip before conversion. The reader can change the lot size and the price and get the same result the calculator shows, because the calculator uses the same formula in words.

For margin, multiply the reference price by 100 oz by the lot size to get notional value, then divide by the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving the Philippines. At that cap, a 0.10-lot position at the reference price needs about $85.50 margin, and a reader can confirm that by substituting the cap they have confirmed with the broker. The site does not publish any other leverage ratio, so the reader should use the cap that applies to their own entity and not a number from a different jurisdiction.

For position size, divide the risk amount by the stop distance in pips, then divide by the pip value per lot. The stop distance in pips is the price difference divided by 0.01. The result is a pre-cost estimate, because the site has no spread or commission figure to add, and the reader should confirm the actual cost with the broker. A reader can also reproduce the regulator statement by checking the broker's disclosures and the relevant registers: FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines.

How a broker fact is dated and re-checked

Every broker fact on the site carries the date it was last checked against the broker's own disclosures, and that date is shown next to the fact rather than buried in a footer. The check covers the entity that serves the Philippines, the platforms MT4, MT5, cTrader, and the FxPro app, the funding methods GCash and bank transfer, and the regulator caveat that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC and not by the SEC of the Philippines. A fact without a check date is not published as a fact.

Re-checking happens on a schedule and also when something prompts it. The schedule is a manual review cycle, and the prompt is any signal that a disclosure has changed, such as a regulator notice, a platform change, or a funding method change. The site does not assume a fact is still true because it was true at the last check; it re-reads the broker's disclosure and updates the date only after the re-read. If the re-read cannot be completed, the fact is marked as unconfirmed rather than left to look current.

The leverage cap that applies to the entity serving this country is re-checked the same way, because it is a broker fact and not a market figure. The worked margin example of about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot gold position is tied to that cap and is re-derived whenever the cap is re-confirmed. The site does not publish any other leverage ratio, and it does not treat a cap as a recommendation. A reader who needs the current cap for their own account should confirm it with the broker directly.

Where the numbers come from

Every figure we state comes from the broker's own documents, and we record the date we read them. Margin, contract size and platform details are taken as the broker publishes them, not from memory or from a third-party summary that may be out of date.

For gold, the instrument is XAU/USD with 1 standard lot equal to 100 oz and one pip equal to 0.01, and we use a reference price of about 4275.0 when illustrating a calculation. A worked example we may cite: at the applicable cap, a 0.10-lot gold position needs about $85.50 margin. The leverage figure is a cap that applies to the entity serving this country, not a setting to aim at.