Phillip Capital review.

Overview

Phillip Capital is the group name shared by a number of Singapore-registered companies. The broking business sits with Phillip Securities Pte Ltd, referred to in its own paperwork as PSPL. Fund management runs through a separate company, Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd, and CFD, Forex and Futures trading is written up as the business of a third company, Phillip Nova Pte Ltd. All three sit under the group banner “PhillipCapital”, the name also used for the group’s execution and best-execution policies.

What we could and could not check on Phillip Capital

We searched our regulator register for the Monetary Authority of Singapore and hold no entry there, so the licence claim attached to Phillip Securities Pte Ltd has not been checked; the firm’s own material gives no licence number to look up either. We hold no register entry for the Singapore company registry, so the two company registration numbers quoted on the group’s contact pages, 197501035Z for Phillip Securities Pte Ltd and 199905233W for Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd, are likewise unchecked. None of this is a finding against the firm; it is a gap in our own directory of regulators.

Phillip Nova Pte Ltd and the CFD relationship

For CFD business specifically, the terms read as PSPL and PhillipCapital dealing with the client directly rather than standing aside as a neutral agent. Under section I(l)(iv) of the risk disclosure, PSPL may act as market-maker to Customers’ CFD trades and, unless otherwise specified, acts as principal in CFD transactions. The best-execution policy repeats the same point for the wider OTC book: under clause 11.3.1, “As OTC derivative contracts (such as CFDs) are bilateral contracts, clients will be entering into the transaction directly with PhillipCapital as principal and not as agent.” Section I(c)(vii) of the risk disclosure goes further, stating that “In entering into an OTC transaction with the Customer, PSPL may make a profit despite the Customer incurring a loss,” and that PSPL cannot and does not warrant that there is an active trading market or that the price PSPL secures for the Customer will at any time be the best price available.

An earlier review of the firm reported that Phillip Capital offers negative balance protection to all clients and resets a negative balance to zero. We have not read the document that claim came from. It sits awkwardly next to what the risk disclosure we did read actually says: that margin and CFD customers may sustain losses beyond their deposited collateral and remain liable for any resulting deficit. Anyone relying on a zero-balance guarantee should get the scope of it, in writing, from Phillip Capital directly before trading on margin.

Where the client stands under the contract

The best-execution policy is also explicit about what its own commitments do not create. Clause 3.4 states that PhillipCapital’s Best Execution commitment does not mean that it owes clients any fiduciary or other responsibilities beyond specific regulatory obligations and what may otherwise be contracted. Clause 4.1 adds that following a client’s own instruction on venue or timing satisfies the best-execution duty, and clause 6.3 reserves PhillipCapital the right to intervene in execution of orders it judges capable of moving the market adversely. Clause 11.3.3 warns that the spreads applied to OTC derivative quotes, CFDs among them, form one of the core charges of the trade and may be wider during very high volatility.

Outside CFDs specifically, section I(k) of the risk disclosure sets the baseline for the whole relationship: unless a client has a specific advisory or fund-management agreement, PSPL’s role is execution-only broker or dealer, or counterparty, and answers from PSPL staff should not be assumed to be researched or suitable advice. Section I(b) makes each holder of a joint account jointly and severally liable for the account’s full debts. Sections I(a) and I(e) note that the account terms governing the relationship, and the client’s liability for commissions, fees and interest, are both stated as subject to amendment from time to time.

Key Takeaways

What the register checks turned up on Phillip Capital

Phillip Capital’s Singapore entity, Phillip Securities Pte Ltd, is named in its own risk disclosure as the holder of a capital markets services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We hold no register entry for MAS, so that claim has not been checked, and the disclosure gives no licence number for us to have looked up in any case. The same gap applies to the two Singapore company registry numbers on file, 197501035Z for Phillip Securities Pte Ltd and 199905233W for Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd: we hold no register entry for the Singapore company registry either, so neither number has been checked. None of this is a finding against the firm; it is a gap in our own directory. Separately, the firm’s marketing states it is “Fully licensed and regulated in 15 countries,” but the evidence available to us does not include the licence numbers or entities behind that claim in the other 14.

Terms that bind a client

We read Phillip Securities Pte Ltd’s risk disclosure directly, and several of its clauses carry real weight. Under section I(d), if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made within the prescribed time, the customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification. Sections I(d) and I(l)(i) go further: Customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, and CFD positions may be liquidated at a loss with the customer liable for any resulting deficit. Section I(b) makes each joint account holder jointly and severally liable for all debts incurred in the joint account. Section I(l)(iv) discloses that PSPL may act as market-maker to a customer’s CFD trades and, unless otherwise specified, acts as principal in CFD transactions, meaning the broker can be the counterparty rather than a neutral agent. Section I(c)(vii) adds that in an OTC transaction, PSPL “may make a profit despite the Customer incurring a loss.”

The best-execution policy, also read directly, adds that PhillipCapital’s best-execution commitment does not mean that it owes clients any fiduciary or other responsibilities beyond specific regulatory obligations (section 3.4), and that it reserves the right to intervene in execution if a client’s orders will result in adverse market movement, such as large orders (section 6.3).

On client money, the risk disclosure’s Regulation 18A section states that “the Customer’s money could be withdrawn to meet other clients’ obligations” when held in an omnibus or pooled account. By signing the Account Application Form, a customer is deemed to choose not to have an Individual Segregated Account unless they expressly ask for one. This sits alongside the firm’s separate statement, on its contact page, that customer monies are kept in segregated accounts under Section 104A of the Securities and Futures Act, not available to pay PSPL’s own debts.

What Phillip Capital charges on CFDs

The published fee schedule sets Singapore CFD commission at 0.128 percent with a minimum of S$25 (or the equivalent in US dollars, euros, pounds or Hong Kong dollars), United States CFD commission at 0.18 percent with a US$15 minimum, and Malaysia CFD commission at 0.40 percent with a RM60 minimum. Long finance charges run from 5.50 percent per annum in Malaysia up to 8.00 percent in the United States, while short finance charges start from 2.00 percent in the United States and 3.00 percent in Singapore. An earlier review reported that the firm offers negative balance protection and resets a negative balance to zero for all clients; that statement sits awkwardly next to the risk disclosure’s own wording that margin and CFD customers may owe a deficit beyond their collateral, so the scope and conditions of any such protection need clarifying before a client relies on it.

Platforms and support

Phillip Capital’s own pages list POEMS 2.0, POEMS Pro and the POEMS Mobile 3 app as its proprietary platforms, alongside MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 per the earlier review. Support runs through a phone line (6531 1555, weekdays 8:30am to midnight, Saturday 8:30am to 1pm), email, live chat with a 24/7 chatbot for FAQs, a separate Japanese-language phone line, and a Night Desk line limited to trade execution in EUR, US and CA markets. Complaints go through an online form, email or post, with a case reference acknowledged within 2 business days and resolution communicated within 14 business days after that.

Licenses & Regulation

Phillip Capital operates through a cluster of related Singapore entities rather than one single company. The risk disclosure describes PSPL as the entity holding a capital markets services licence. The investment-products material is issued instead by Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd, and the Forex, Futures and CFD business sits with Phillip Nova Pte Ltd under the wider “PhillipCapital” group name used in the best-execution policy. A prospective CFD client dealing with “Phillip Capital” is, on this evidence, actually contracting with whichever of these entities the product falls under.

The MAS licence claim we could not check

The risk disclosure states that PSPL is a holder of a capital markets services licence, but the document we read does not give a licence number. We hold no register entry for the authority named as “Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)”, so this claim has not been checked. The claim names no licence number either, so there would have been nothing to look up even if we did. That is a gap in our directory, not a finding about the firm, and it means the licence claim stands as stated in the firm’s own document without independent verification on our end.

Phillip Securities Pte Ltd’s company registration numbers

The contact page gives a Singapore company registration number of 197501035Z for Phillip Securities Pte Ltd and 199905233W for Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd. We hold no register entry for the authority named as “Singapore company registry”, so neither number has been checked against a register on our side. Again, that is a gap in our directory rather than a finding about the firm. Separately, the homepage claim that PhillipCapital is “Fully licensed and regulated in 15 countries” is not accompanied by the licence numbers or entities for those 15 countries in the material we reviewed, so it cannot be traced to a specific authorisation.

How Phillip Capital says it holds client money, and how it qualifies that

The contact page states that customer monies and assets are kept in customer segregated accounts separate from PSPL’s own. It also invokes Section 104A of the SFA in relation to customer monies and assets, but the material we reviewed cuts off before setting out what the section actually provides, so we cannot confirm the specific protection claimed. The risk disclosure we read qualifies the segregated-accounts statement. Under the Regulation 18A disclosure at section 4, it states that Customer money may be held in an omnibus or pooled account and may be pooled with money belonging to other customers or customers/clients of a Third Party, that “the Customer’s money could be withdrawn to meet other clients’ obligations”, and that in such a case “the Customer’s money could be used to meet the Third Party’s general obligations on its insolvency” and “the Customer’s money could be used to meet PSPL’s general obligations on insolvency.” The Regulation 27A disclosure carries the equivalent warning for customer assets rather than money.

The same document sets out how a client can opt out of that pooled arrangement. Under section 2 of the Disclosure Statement for Individual Segregated Account, “By signing on PSPL’s Account Application Form, the Customer will be deemed to have indicated to PSPL the Customer’s choice of not having such Individual Segregated Account unless the Customer has expressly informed PSPL otherwise.” Section 3 of the same disclosure states that Opting for an Individual Segregated Account means additional administrative costs will be payable by the Customer. So the default is pooled custody, and individual segregation against fellow-customer risk is available but priced separately. At sections 7 of both the Regulation 18A and Regulation 27A disclosures, PSPL will generally have rights of set-off, a general lien and other security interests over Customer money and assets, and a third party may hold the same rights, meaning money or assets can be applied against debts beyond the specific position that generated them. Section 3 of both disclosures also states that “Unless PSPL agrees otherwise, PSPL is not liable for any acts or omissions of Third Parties,” pushing custodian and clearing-house risk onto the client.

Where Phillip Capital is a counterparty, not just a broker

The risk disclosure is explicit that PSPL’s role changes by product. At section I(l)(iv), PSPL may act as market-maker to Customers’ CFD trades and, unless otherwise specified, acts as principal in CFD transactions. The best-execution policy repeats this from the group side: at section 11.3.1, For OTC derivative contracts such as CFDs, clients enter into the transaction directly with PhillipCapital as principal and not as agent. Section I(c)(vii) of the risk disclosure goes further for OTC transactions generally, stating that “In entering into an OTC transaction with the Customer, PSPL may make a profit despite the Customer incurring a loss,” and that PSPL cannot and does not warrant that there is an active trading market or that the price PSPL secures for the Customer will at any time be the best price available. Section 11.3.3 of the best-execution policy adds that the spreads applied to OTC derivative quotes form one of the core charges clients pay for the trade and may be wider during very high volatility.

The best-execution policy also limits what that commitment actually promises. Section 3.4 states that PhillipCapital’s Best Execution commitment does not mean that it owes clients any fiduciary or other responsibilities beyond specific regulatory obligations and what may otherwise be contracted, and section 4.1 states that To the extent PhillipCapital follows specific client instructions, it is deemed to satisfy its best execution obligations. Section 6.3 reserves the right for PhillipCapital to intervene in execution if a client’s orders will result in adverse market movement, such as large orders. Elsewhere, section I(k) of the risk disclosure states that unless a client has a specific advisory or fund-management agreement, PSPL’s relationship is execution-only broker or counterparty, and staff answers should not be assumed to be researched or suitable advice. On joint accounts, section I(b) states plainly that “Each joint account holder is jointly and severally liable for all debts incurred in a joint account,” so a shared account exposes each holder to the full debt, not a proportional share.

How to Trade

CFDs at this broker sit inside the PhillipCapital group rather than under Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL) alone: Phillip Nova Pte Ltd is named in the group’s own execution material as the entity providing Forex, Futures and CFD services, while PSPL’s risk disclosure sets out the terms that bind a CFD customer. The fee schedule we read lists CFD commission and financing terms for three markets: Singapore, the United States and Malaysia.

Who a Phillip Capital client is actually trading against

The risk disclosure states plainly, at section I(l)(iv), that “PSPL may act as market-maker to Customers’ CFD trades. Unless otherwise specified, PSPL shall act as principal in respect of CFD transactions with Customers.” The best-execution policy repeats this for the group generally: at section 11.3.1 it states that “as OTC derivative contracts (such as CFDs) are bilateral contracts, clients will be entering into the transaction directly with PhillipCapital as principal and not as agent.” Section I(c)(vii) of the risk disclosure adds that “in entering into an OTC transaction with the Customer, PSPL may make a profit despite the Customer incurring a loss,” and the same section warns that “PSPL cannot and does not warrant that there is an active trading market and the price PSPL secures for the Customer will at any time be the best price available to the Customer.” A client working out how a CFD price is formed here is dealing with a counterparty, not an agent shopping the market on their behalf.

The best-execution policy also limits what “best execution” obliges the firm to do. Section 3.4 states that “PhillipCapital’s commitment to Best Execution does not mean that it owes its clients any fiduciary or other responsibilities beyond the specific regulatory obligations placed on it and may otherwise be contracted between PhillipCapital and any particular client.” Section 4.1 states that to the extent PhillipCapital follows specific instructions received from a client, it is deemed to satisfy its best execution obligations in that respect, so an instruction on venue or timing can narrow what the firm has to answer for. Section 6.3 reserves a further right: PhillipCapital reserves the right to intervene in execution if a client’s orders will result in adverse market movement, such as large orders. A large order here is not guaranteed to run through untouched.

What keeps a position open, and what closes it without warning

Margin at Phillip Capital is governed by the same risk disclosure. Section I(d) states that “if required margin deposit or interest payment is not made within the prescribed time, the Customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification.” Sections I(d) and I(l)(i) go further on the downside: Customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, and CFD positions may be liquidated at a loss with the Customer liable for any resulting deficit. An earlier review of this broker reported that it offers negative balance protection and resets a negative balance to zero for all clients; that sits uneasily against this deficit-liability wording, and which terms apply to which account or product is not something we can resolve from what we read. Anyone trading on margin here should get that conflict clarified in writing before funding an account. Joint accounts carry their own exposure: section I(b) states that “each joint account holder is jointly and severally liable for all debts incurred in a joint account,” so a co-holder can be pursued for the full balance a joint position leaves behind, not just their share of it. A prior review also noted a Margin Account facility, where cash or particular investment holdings are pledged as collateral for margin borrowing, and new accounts open with a S$50,000 credit limit as standard.

What Phillip Capital charges to run a CFD position

The fee material we read prices CFD commission by market. Singapore CFDs carry a 0.128% commission with a minimum of S$25, US$18, EUR16, GBP14 or HKD150 depending on currency. United States CFDs carry a 0.18% commission with a US$15 minimum. Malaysia CFDs carry a 0.40% commission with a RM60 minimum. Holding a position overnight adds financing on top of that: long positions are charged 6.75% p.a. in Singapore, 8.00% p.a. in the United States and 5.50% p.a. in Malaysia, while short positions are credited from 3.00% p.a. in Singapore and from 2.00% p.a. in the United States. The best-execution policy notes, at section 11.3.3, that the spreads PhillipCapital applies to OTC derivative quotes form one of the core charges clients pay for the trade and may be wider during very high volatility, so the commission and financing table is not the whole cost of a trade in a fast-moving market.

Platforms for placing the trade

The site lists three proprietary platforms under the POEMS name: POEMS 2.0, described as a platform for investors of all levels to trade multiple products in one place; POEMS Pro, pitched at active traders; and POEMS Mobile 3, the mobile app on the App Store and Google Play. An earlier review of this broker also found MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 available, with the standard charting, technical indicators and expert-advisor automation those platforms carry, plus a demo account covering MT4, MT5 and the Phillip Capital proprietary platforms for practising without real funds.

Account Types

PSPL offers several named account types: a Cash Plus Account, a Cash Management Account, a Margin Account, a Share Builders Plan, and Managed Account Services, alongside a demo account for practising on the platforms. Pricing is published per market (Singapore, United States, Hong Kong, Malaysia) rather than as one flat rate, and the CFD terms sit inside that same published fee schedule rather than a separate CFD-only price list.

Cash Plus Account and Cash Management Account

The Cash Plus Account is billed as the low-cost option: zero commission on US stocks (though US listed shares trading below US$1 per share are excluded), 0.08% brokerage with no minimum commission on Singapore trades, and 0.08% with a HKD 30 minimum on Hong Kong trades. The Singapore rate is set from the account’s Total Asset Value at the previous day’s close, so the price a client pays shifts with their own balance rather than staying fixed. The published feature list for this account also states it lets a client “trade up to 5x” their cash deposit.

The Cash Management Account links to a CDP account and permits contra trading, but its brokerage is tiered and carries a minimum commission that the Cash Plus Account does not: 0.28% (minimum SGD 25) on contract value under SGD 50,000, dropping to 0.22% between SGD 50,000 and SGD 100,000, and 0.18% above that, though there is no minimum commission for SGX-listed ETFs, Singapore Depository Receipts, Daily Leverage Certificates and Structured Warrants. The published fee schedule also lists an account maintenance fee of S$15.00 (subject to GST) per quarter, charged if the account records no trade in that quarter, and a cash dividend handling fee of 1% of the net dividend, minimum S$1.00 and capped at S$50.00, unless waived.

What Phillip Capital charges for CFDs

CFD pricing runs on the same per-market table as the cash accounts. Singapore CFDs carry a 0.128% commission with a minimum of S$25, US$18, EUR16, GBP14 or HKD150 depending on currency; United States CFDs carry 0.18% with a US$15 minimum; Malaysia CFDs carry 0.40% with a RM60 minimum. Holding a position overnight adds a separate financing charge that differs by market and by direction: long positions in Singapore CFDs cost 6.75% per annum, in United States CFDs 8.00% per annum, and in Malaysia CFDs 5.50% per annum, while short positions are charged from 3.00% per annum in Singapore and from 2.00% per annum in the United States.

The risk disclosure that governs these accounts states plainly, in section I(d), that if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made in time, PSPL may liquidate the customer’s collateral or positions at a loss without prior notification, and separately, in sections I(d) and I(l)(i), that customers “may sustain losses in excess of the Customer’s cash and any other assets deposited as collateral”, with CFD positions liquidated at a loss and the customer liable for any resulting deficit. Section I(l)(iv) adds that PSPL may act as market-maker on a client’s CFD trades and, unless stated otherwise, deals as principal rather than as a neutral agent. Set against that, the earlier review claimed that Phillip Capital offers negative balance protection to all clients and resets a negative balance to zero; that claim sits uneasily next to the deficit-liability wording above, and which terms actually govern a given account is not something we can resolve from the evidence at hand.

Margin Account, Share Builders Plan and the demo option

Beyond the cash and CFD accounts, the earlier review reported a Margin Account that uses cash or specific investment assets as collateral for borrowing, opening with a basic credit limit of S$50,000 for new accounts, and a Share Builders Plan for regular investing into Singapore-listed shares with adjustable amounts and frequency. The published fee schedule prices that plan separately from the main brokerage accounts: a monthly handling fee of 0.3% per annum of Total Portfolio Value (minimum S$1 per month, capped at S$8.88 for portfolios under S$40,000 and S$5.88 for portfolios at or above that), plus a 1% dividend handling fee on the plan’s holdings, minimum SGD 1 and capped at SGD 50. A demo account is also available, the earlier review noted, for practising on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and Phillip Capital’s own POEMS platforms without real funds.

Managed Account Services

For clients who would rather not place trades themselves, Phillip Capital offers Managed Account Services: an individually managed portfolio, beneficially owned by the client, where a portfolio manager has full discretion to buy and sell stocks, bonds, unit trusts, ETFs or other instruments under an agreed mandate. The service’s own marketing states there are “No lock-in periods or withdrawal restrictions”, a claim worth checking against the actual managed-account agreement before relying on it, since the risk disclosure elsewhere makes clear that account terms and charges can be amended over time and that PSPL’s ordinary relationship with a client is execution-only unless a specific advisory or fund-management agreement says otherwise.

Negative Balance Protection

Phillip Capital’s risk disclosure, published under Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL), says CFDs carry a high degree of risk and that a customer may sustain a total loss of the margin they deposit. We read this disclosure directly rather than working from a summary of it.

What happens when a margin call is missed

Section I(d) of the risk disclosure states that if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made within the prescribed time, PSPL may liquidate the customer’s collateral or positions at a loss without prior notification. The clause describes a prescribed time window for making up a shortfall, but not a further warning after that window closes, so it reads as a caution to keep margin funded rather than a promise that a customer gets additional notice before positions are sold.

Liability beyond the deposit

Sections I(d) and I(l)(i) go further than the margin-call clause: a customer may sustain losses in excess of the cash and other assets they have deposited as collateral, and CFD positions liquidated at a loss leave the customer liable for any resulting deficit. Read against the liquidation trigger above, a customer whose account is closed out under I(d) can still be pursued for whatever shortfall remains once that liquidation happens.

A review published elsewhere on Phillip Capital claimed the broker shields every client from a negative balance, automatically bringing any account that goes negative back to zero. We have not read the document that claim would come from, and we did not find it in the material we checked ourselves. It sits awkwardly next to the deficit-liability language in sections I(d) and I(l)(i) above, which specifically contemplates a customer owing money after liquidation. Anyone trading CFDs on margin here should get the applicable terms confirmed in writing before relying on it.

PhillipCapital’s role as counterparty

Section I(l)(iv) of the risk disclosure says PSPL may act as market-maker to a customer’s CFD trades and, unless otherwise specified, acts as principal rather than agent in CFD transactions. PhillipCapital’s best-execution policy describes the same structure for OTC derivatives: under section 11.3.1, a client enters a CFD contract directly with PhillipCapital as principal, not as agent. Section 11.3.3 of that policy adds that the spreads applied to OTC quotes are one of the core charges a client pays, and that those spreads may widen during periods of very high volatility, which raises the cost of a position at the point drawdown pressure is already highest.

The broker’s rights don’t stop at the losing position itself. Under the Regulation 18A and Regulation 27A disclosures, section 7 of each, PSPL generally holds rights of set-off, a general lien and other security interests over customer money and assets, and a third party such as a custodian may hold the same rights. Collateral applied to cover a deficit is therefore not necessarily limited to funds obviously tied to the trade that produced it.

The carrying cost of staying in a losing position

Published fee material sets long and short finance charges by market. Singapore CFDs carry a long finance charge of 6.75% per year and a short finance charge starting from 3.00% per year; United States CFDs carry 8.00% per year long and from 2.00% per year short; Malaysia CFDs carry a long finance charge of 5.50% per year. These charges accrue on open positions and add to the daily cost of holding a losing trade, on top of the CFD commission itself, which in Singapore is 0.128% with a minimum of S$25, US$18, EUR16, GBP14 or HKD150 depending on currency.

Other loss warnings in the same disclosure

The risk disclosure separately warns that trading in payment-token derivatives may result in losing all capital or more, and notes that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and are not currently subject to MAS regulatory requirements or supervisory oversight. Under section I(c)(vii), the same document says PSPL cannot warrant that an active trading market exists or that the price it secures for a customer will be the best price available at the time.

Trading Instruments

Phillip Capital’s account material lists coverage across “26 stock exchanges and 29 futures exchanges” with 10 currency ledgers and live currency conversion, and separately markets itself as “Fully licensed and regulated in 15 countries”; this is a marketing statement only, and the register verdict on it is not_checked, since the claim names no licence number for any of those countries. For CFDs specifically, the group entity named in the best-execution policy is Phillip Nova Pte Ltd, which provides Forex, Futures and CFD services, while the risk disclosure we read names Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL) as the capital markets services licence holder.

What Phillip Capital lists for CFD trading

The published fee schedule breaks CFD costs out by market. Singapore CFDs carry a 0.128% commission with a minimum of S$25 / US$18 / EUR$16 / GBP$14 / HKD150; United States CFDs carry a 0.18% commission with a US$15 minimum; Malaysia CFDs carry a 0.40% commission with a RM60 minimum. Holding a position overnight adds a long or short finance charge that also varies by market: Singapore CFDs run 6.75% p.a. to go long and from 3.00% p.a. to go short; United States CFDs run 8.00% p.a. long and from 2.00% p.a. short; Malaysia CFDs run 5.50% p.a. long.

The risk disclosure we read is explicit about how PSPL sits on the other side of these trades: under section I(l)(iv), “PSPL may act as market-maker to Customers’ CFD trades. Unless otherwise specified, PSPL shall act as principal in respect of CFD transactions with Customers.” Under section I(d), if a required margin deposit or interest payment is missed, “the Customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification,” and sections I(d) and I(l)(i) together state that customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, with the customer liable for any deficit left after a forced liquidation.

Beyond CFDs: what else sits on the Phillip Capital shelf

The Cash Plus Account carries 0% commission on US stocks and a 0.08% brokerage rate (no minimum commission) on Singapore online trades, priced off the account’s prior-day Total Asset Value. The Cash Management Account is tiered by contract value, from 0.28% (minimum S$25) on trades under S$50,000 down to 0.18% on trades over S$100,000, with no minimum commission on SGX-listed ETFs, Singapore Depository Receipts, Daily Leverage Certificates or structured warrants. Unit trusts carry a 0% sales charge on both account types. Outside equities, Phillip Capital lists OTC bonds – a 0.25% default commission plus GST on the nominal amount, and a 0.05% p.a. custody fee for bonds cleared via Clearstream or Euroclear (waived for bonds cleared via CDP) – and a Share Builders Plan for recurring purchases of Singapore-listed shares, charged at 0.3% per annum of Total Portfolio Value with the monthly handling fee capped at S$8.88 (or S$5.88 once the portfolio passes S$40,000) and a 1% dividend handling fee capped at S$50. A separate Managed Account Services product hands a portfolio manager full discretion to buy and sell “stocks, bonds, unit trusts, exchange-traded funds or other financial instruments” against a stated mandate; its page advertises “No lock-in periods or withdrawal restrictions,” a claim that sits alongside the risk disclosure’s general point that account terms and charges can be amended “from time to time” under sections I(a) and I(e), so the actual mandate and any exit terms are worth confirming in the managed-account agreement itself rather than the marketing page.

Where the asset list and the fine print pull apart

Trading in payment-token derivatives gets its own warning in the risk disclosure: the document notes that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and are currently not subject to MAS regulatory requirements or supervisory oversight. An earlier review of this firm reported that Phillip Capital advertises negative balance protection for all clients, resetting a negative balance to zero; we did not read that page ourselves, and it sits awkwardly next to the risk disclosure language above, which states plainly that margin and CFD customers can owe more than their deposited collateral. Anyone trading CFDs here should get the current negative-balance policy in writing rather than relying on either source alone.

Education & Analysis

Phillip Capital’s platform lineup, as published, includes multiple POEMS products. The website lists POEMS Mobile 3 as the mobile app, available on the App Store and Google Play. Alongside it sit POEMS 2.0, pitched as a platform for investors of all levels who want to easily trade multiple products on one platform, and POEMS Pro, described as an advanced trading platform for active traders. A separate page names POEMS in full as the Phillip On-line Electronic Mart System, a suite covering real-time quotes, interactive charts and trading tools. None of the fetched pages break out what POEMS 2.0 offers over POEMS Pro beyond that framing, so a trader choosing between them is working from marketing description rather than a feature table.

MT4 and MT5 at Phillip Capital

The earlier published review that fed this rewrite reported MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as supported platforms, with charting, technical indicators and automated trading through expert advisors. We did not fetch or read the MT4/MT5 pages ourselves, so that description is restated from the prior review rather than confirmed against Phillip Capital’s own material. Whether MT4/MT5 access sits under the CFD offering run through Phillip Nova Pte Ltd, the group company named in the best-execution policy as the provider of Forex, Futures and CFD services, is not something the fetched evidence settles either.

A demo account is also on the list from the same imported source: a practice account for MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and the Phillip Capital proprietary platforms, running without real funds. Again, that’s restated from the earlier review rather than a page we read directly.

What the CFD contract actually says about pricing

The best-execution policy we read describes Phillip Capital’s role in OTC derivatives plainly: at section 11.3.1, “clients will be entering into the transaction directly with PhillipCapital as principal and not as agent” for CFDs and other OTC derivative contracts. Section 11.3.3 goes further on cost: the spreads Phillip Capital applies to OTC derivative quotes are described as one of the core charges a client pays for the trade, and the policy states that “when markets experience very high levels of volatility, we have slightly wider spreads.” That’s a statement that execution cost on the platform is not fixed and can be slightly wider in periods of very high volatility.

The risk disclosure adds a market-making note at section I(l)(iv): PSPL “may act as market-maker to Customers’ CFD trades.” Unless otherwise specified, PSPL “shall act as principal in respect of CFD transactions with Customers.” Section I(c)(vii) states that PSPL cannot and does not warrant that there is an active trading market or that the price PSPL secures for the Customer will at any time be the best price available, and separately that “in entering into an OTC transaction with the Customer, PSPL may make a profit despite the Customer incurring a loss.” Whatever charting tools sit on top of POEMS or MT4/MT5, the pricing underneath them runs through a principal counterparty relationship, not a neutral execution desk, and the contract says so.

Named CFD fees

The published fee schedule breaks CFD commission out by market. Singapore CFDs carry a commission of 0.128%, with a minimum commission of S$25, US$18, EUR16, GBP14 or HKD150 depending on currency. United States CFDs run 0.18% with a US$15 minimum, and Malaysia CFDs run 0.40% with a RM60 minimum. Holding a position overnight adds a separate charge: long finance charges of 6.75% p.a. in Singapore, 8.00% p.a. in the United States and 5.50% p.a. in Malaysia, against short finance charges starting from 3.00% p.a. in Singapore and from 2.00% p.a. in the United States.

Market reach claimed, not verified

The same marketing material describes PhillipCapital as “Fully licensed and regulated in 15 countries” without listing the licence numbers or entities behind that claim in the material we fetched, so it stands as a claim on the page rather than something this pipeline could check.

What isn’t in the evidence

The fetched pages don’t specify chart timeframes, indicator counts, drawing tools, or algorithmic/API trading options for either POEMS or MT4/MT5, and don’t say whether POEMS Pro’s CFD dealing shares infrastructure with the MetaTrader connection or runs as a separate feed. A trader who needs to know before funding an account, rather than after, is left without that information in the published material available here.

Special Offers

Phillip Capital does not publish a signup bonus or deposit-match promotion in the material we reviewed. What we found instead is a set of fee waivers and caps written into the published fee schedule and account pages, several of which carry conditions worth reading before assuming they apply.

The “0 US Commission” headline on Phillip Capital’s Cash Plus Account

The Cash Plus Account is marketed with “0 US Commission” alongside competitive brokerage rates across 26 markets and a 0% Sales Charge on Unit Trusts. The published fee page qualifies the headline: US Asian Hours trading is excluded, and US-listed shares trading below US$1 per share are not eligible for the zero-commission rate, at which point offline rates apply instead. The same account page states a client can trade up to 5x their cash deposit, which is a leverage feature bundled into the account rather than a standalone offer.

Caps and waivers inside the fee schedule

The Share Builders Plan charges a monthly handling fee of 0.3% per annum of Total Portfolio Value, minimum S$1 per month, but the fee is capped: S$8.88 per month where TPV is under S$40,000, and S$5.88 per month where TPV is S$40,000 or more. Dividends collected through the plan carry a separate 1% handling fee, minimum SGD1, capped at SGD50.

Outside the Share Builders Plan, the general cash dividend handling fee is 1% of the net dividend, minimum S$1.00, capped at S$50.00 plus GST, and the fee page notes this applies only where the fee is not waived – the evidence does not say what triggers a waiver, so we can’t tell a reader when that applies.

OTC bond holdings carry a 0.05% per annum custody fee on market value for bonds cleared via Clearstream or Euroclear, charged monthly, but the same fee is $0 for bonds cleared via CDP. And the S$15.00 quarterly account maintenance fee (subject to GST) is only chargeable if the account does not record at least one trade in the quarter – an active account avoids it entirely.

A marketing claim on Phillip Capital’s Managed Account Services worth checking

The Managed Account Services page states “No lock-in periods or withdrawal restrictions.” That’s a favourable term if it holds, but the risk disclosure we read separately states that the terms and conditions in the Conditions Governing Phillip Securities Accounts govern the relationship and can be amended from time to time, so a reader relying on the no-lock-in claim should check it against the actual managed-account agreement rather than the marketing page alone.

Two claims from an earlier review we have not independently verified

The earlier published review this entry draws on reported that Phillip Capital’s Margin Account carries a basic credit limit of S$50,000 for new accounts, using cash or specific investment assets as collateral for margin borrowing. It also reported that Phillip Capital offers negative balance protection to all clients and will reset a negative account balance to zero. We have not read the document behind either claim. The second one sits awkwardly next to the risk disclosure we did read first-hand, which states that customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, and that CFD positions may be liquidated at a loss with the customer liable for any resulting deficit (sections I(d) and I(l)(i)). Whether negative balance protection applies to the CFD accounts covered by that disclosure, and on what terms, is not established by the evidence available to us and would need to be checked against Phillip Capital’s actual client agreement before relying on it.

Opening an Account

Opening an account here means signing up with Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL), the Singapore entity named in the firm’s own risk disclosure as holder of a capital markets services licence. The risk disclosure names the regulator as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), but we hold no register entry for MAS, and the claim names no licence number either, so there would have been nothing to look up; that is a gap in our directory, not a finding about the firm. PSPL’s Singapore company registration number, 197501035Z, appears on the firm’s contact page alongside 199905233W for the separate fund-management entity Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd; neither number has been checked against a company register either.

Who Phillip Capital will open an account for

The contact page sets eligibility for a trading account at anyone above the age of 18 years old, subject to no delinquent record, not insolvent or not blacklisted. The same page restricts the investment products described in its material from U.S. Persons. Applicants opening a joint account should know that the risk disclosure makes each joint account holder jointly and severally liable for all debts incurred in a joint account, under section I(b), meaning any one holder can be pursued for the whole balance, not just their share.

What you are agreeing to before you fund it

The risk disclosure states, under section I(a), that the Conditions Governing Phillip Securities Accounts and the relevant information sheets are referred to and construed as part of the agreement, and separately states, under section I(e), that the commissions, fees, interest and other charges a customer is liable for are subject to change “as may be amended from time to time.” In practice this means the rules a customer signs up to are not fixed at account opening.

One choice gets made by default at the application stage rather than by an active decision: under the Disclosure Statement for Individual Segregated Account, section 2, by signing the Account Application Form the Customer is deemed to choose not to have an Individual Segregated Account unless the Customer expressly informs PSPL otherwise. Section 3 of the same disclosure notes that opting for an Individual Segregated Account instead means additional administrative costs will be payable by the Customer. So the account opened by default sits in a pooled arrangement, and stepping out of it costs extra and has to be requested.

The account types Phillip Capital opens

The published fee schedule lists a Cash Plus Account, built around zero US commission and competitive brokerage across 26 markets, and a Cash Management Account, which links to CDP and supports contra trading. An earlier review of the firm described a further account type, a Margin Account, which uses cash or specific investment assets as collateral for margin borrowing and carries a basic credit limit of S$50,000 for new accounts. That earlier review also described a demo account, usable on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and the firm’s own POEMS platforms without committing real funds, which is one way to look at the trading screens before an application goes in. Separately, the accounts page describes Managed Account Services, where a portfolio manager takes full discretion to buy and sell stocks, bonds, unit trusts, exchange-traded funds or other financial instruments beneficially owned by the investor, according to the agreed mandate.

What happens once margin is missed

Anyone opening a margin or CFD account should read section I(d) of the risk disclosure before funding it: if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made within the prescribed time, the Customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification. Sections I(d) and I(l)(i) go further, warning that customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, and that CFD positions may be liquidated at a loss with the Customer liable for any resulting deficit.

Funding the account

Once opened, the fee schedule lists PayNow, eNets and FAST Transfer as payment services, alongside settlement by Singapore bank account or telegraphic transfer. The multi-currency facility referenced there settles in ten currencies: SGD, USD, HKD, AUD, MYR, JPY, GBP, EUR, CNY and CAD. Support for setting an account up runs through the same channels as ongoing service, including phone on 6531 1555 (Monday to Friday 8:30am to 12:00am, Saturday 8:30am to 1:00pm), email at [email protected], and website live chat.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Phillip Capital moves client money through PayNow, eNets and FAST Transfer, alongside ordinary Singapore bank transfer or telegraphic transfer. The firm’s contact material notes that during the stated maintenance period for these payment services, the live cash balance shown to a client will not be updated. The telegraphic transfer route runs on a multi-currency facility that settles in ten currencies: SGD, USD, HKD, AUD, MYR, JPY, GBP, EUR, CNY and CAD.

What Phillip Capital charges once money is in the account

An account that goes a full quarter without at least one trade is charged an account maintenance fee of S$15.00 (subject to GST) at quarter-end. Cash dividends are not paid through untouched: a cash dividend handling fee of 1% of the net dividend applies, with a minimum of S$1.00 and a cap of S$50.00 (subject to GST), plus any foreign fees and taxes, applicable where the fee is not waived. Moving a foreign shareholding out of the account costs SGD 100 per stock per transfer (subject to GST), and the fee schedule flags that additional charges apply for transfers out to specified markets including the UK, Japan, Australia, Europe and the Philippines. Clients who borrow against their holdings pay a securities borrowing administration charge of SGD 20 per loan contract plus GST, on top of a securities borrowing rate quoted from 6% p.a. with a minimum borrowing fee of SGD 15. Bonds cleared via Clearstream or Euroclear carry a custody fee of 0.05% p.a. on market value, charged monthly; bonds cleared via CDP are not charged this fee.

Financing and CFD carrying costs that eat into a held position

Holding a leveraged position costs money every day it stays open. The fee schedule lists financing charges of SGD 6% p.a., USD 7% p.a. and HKD 7% p.a., and separately sets CFD long finance charges at 6.75% p.a. for Singapore, 8.00% p.a. for the United States and 5.50% p.a. for Malaysia, with short finance charges from 3.00% p.a. (Singapore) and from 2.00% p.a. (United States). CFD commission runs 0.128% in Singapore (minimum S$25 / US$18 / EUR16 / GBP14 / HKD150), 0.18% in the United States (minimum US$15), and 0.40% in Malaysia (minimum RM60). None of these figures are withdrawal fees as such, but they reduce the balance a client has left to withdraw the longer a financed or CFD position stays open, and the risk disclosure we read separately warns that spreads on OTC derivative quotes may be wider during very high volatility (best execution policy, section 11.3.3), adding to that cost precisely when markets are moving hardest.

Terms that can reduce what Phillip Securities Pte Ltd actually pays out

The risk disclosure we read, issued by Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL), states that customer monies may be held in an omnibus or pooled account with money belonging to other customers or customers/clients of a Third Party (Regulation 18A disclosure, section 4), and that this money “could be withdrawn to meet other clients’ obligations” (same section). By signing the standard Account Application Form, a customer is deemed to choose the pooled arrangement by default; opting instead for an Individual Segregated Account is available but “additional administrative costs will be payable by the Customer” (Disclosure Statement for Individual Segregated Account, sections 2 and 3). The same disclosure gives PSPL rights of set-off, a general lien and other security interests over Customer money and assets, and notes a Third Party may hold a lien or set-off right too (Regulation 18A disclosure, section 7; Regulation 27A disclosure, section 7) – a right that can be used to apply a client’s cash or assets against debts before any withdrawal is honoured. Separately, the contact page material describes customer segregated accounts kept apart from PSPL’s own under Section 104A of the Singapore Securities and Futures Act; the two statements describe different layers of the same custody arrangement and a client weighing withdrawal safety needs to read both, not just the headline segregation claim.

On margin and CFD positions specifically, the risk disclosure states that if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made in time, “the Customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification” (section I(d)), and that customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, with CFD positions liquidated at a loss and the customer liable for any resulting deficit (sections I(d) and I(l)(i)). The earlier published review we drew on separately reported that the firm advertises negative balance protection for all clients, resetting a negative balance to zero; that claim, as reported, sits awkwardly next to PSPL’s own risk disclosure on deficit liability, and a client relying on it should get the exact scope confirmed in writing before funding a leveraged account rather than take the marketing line at face value. Joint accounts carry their own exposure on the way out: each holder is “jointly and severally liable for all debts incurred in a joint account” (section I(b)), meaning either holder can be pursued for the full balance regardless of who traded it up. And underneath all of this, PSPL’s terms reserve the right to amend the governing account conditions and the client’s commissions, fees and interest “from time to time” (sections I(a) and I(e)), so the cost of holding and moving money in this account is not fixed by what a client read on signup.

Customer Support

Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL) is the entity the risk disclosure names in describing the client relationship. The published contact page lists a general phone line, email, live chat, and two narrower lines for specific use cases, plus a separate route for lodging a complaint with a stated timeline.

How to reach Phillip Capital

• Phone: 6531 1555, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 12.00am, and Saturday 8:30am to 1:00pm.
• Email: [email protected].
• Live chat: a website live chat channel, plus a 24/7 chatbot described as being for navigating FAQs.
• Japanese-language phone service: 6531 1276, restricted to Japanese-speaking clients.
• Night Desk: 6531 1225, which the contact page limits to trade execution for EUR, US and CA markets only, not general support.

The spread of numbers means a client has to pick the right line for the job: the Night Desk will place an order in those three market windows but the contact page does not present it as a channel for account or complaint queries, and the Japanese line is gated by language rather than by topic.

What happens when a client complains to Phillip Capital

Feedback and complaints can be lodged through the online contact form, by emailing [email protected], by calling 6531 1555, or by post. The contact page states that a case reference number is acknowledged within 2 business days, and that a resolution is communicated within 14 business days after that acknowledgement. That gives a complaint two clocks: up to 2 business days before it is even logged with a reference number, then up to 14 more business days before a resolution is communicated, so a client should expect roughly three working weeks between filing a complaint and hearing an outcome in the stated worst case.

What support can and cannot tell a client

The risk disclosure we read caps what a support conversation can be treated as. Section I(k) states that unless the Customer has a specific advisory or fund-management agreement, PSPL’s relationship is purely execution-only broker/dealer or counterparty, and that answers from PSPL should not be assumed to be researched or suitable advice. A client calling in with a question about a position is, on this wording, not entitled to treat the answer as researched or suitable advice unless they hold a separate advisory agreement.

The best-execution policy adds a further limit: clause 3.4 states that PhillipCapital’s commitment to Best Execution “does not mean that it owes its clients any fiduciary or other responsibilities beyond the specific regulatory obligations placed on it and may otherwise be contracted between PhillipCapital and any particular client.” Clause 4.1 goes further and treats a client’s own instruction on venue, price or timing as satisfying the broker’s best-execution obligation by default. A client disputing an execution outcome through support is arguing against a policy that already limits the broker’s duty to the regulatory minimum, and that treats the client’s own order instructions as discharging that duty.

The account terms sit on top of this. Section I(a) and I(e) of the risk disclosure state that the governing account conditions and the charges the Customer is liable for may be amended “from time to time”, so a query raised through any of the channels above is answered against terms that PSPL can change going forward, not a fixed contract.

Where support does not reach

Two of the entities named in Phillip Capital’s own material sit outside the contact page’s remit: Phillip Nova Pte Ltd is named in the best-execution policy as the PhillipCapital group company providing Forex, Futures and CFD services, and Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd is named as the fund manager behind the investment-products material. We hold no register entry for the Monetary Authority of Singapore or for the Singapore company registry in our own directory, so we have not been able to check the licensing or registration status of any of these entities against a primary source; that is a gap in our records, not a finding about how Phillip Capital handles support.

Prohibited Countries

Phillip Capital’s published material draws exactly one hard nationality line, and it runs the opposite direction from a normal prohibited-countries list: it excludes United States persons from the firm’s offerings rather than listing which non-US countries are turned away.

US Persons locked out

The contact page states that the investment products described in the fund material are not offered to U.S. Persons.

Who Phillip Capital’s account rules exclude regardless of country

Separately from nationality, the same contact page sets trading account eligibility at anyone above the age of 18 years old, “subject to no delinquent record, not insolvent or not blacklist.” That is an eligibility bar tied to the applicant’s personal and credit record rather than to where they live, and it sits alongside, not instead of, the US Persons exclusion above.

What the “15 countries” claim does not tell us

The same site material describes PhillipCapital as “Fully licensed and regulated in 15 countries.” We read that line on the page; we did not read a country list or licence register to go with it, so it cannot be used here to say which countries the group can or cannot serve.

The entities named in the material we reviewed are all Singapore-domiciled: Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (referred to as PSPL, holder of what the risk disclosure describes as a Monetary Authority of Singapore capital markets services licence), Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd, and Phillip Nova Pte Ltd. We hold no register entry for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, so that claim has not been checked against a regulator’s own records. The two Singapore company registry numbers given for Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (197501035Z) and Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd (199905233W) are likewise unchecked, because we hold no register entry for the Singapore company registry either. None of that is a finding that the firm lacks authorisation anywhere; it means our own directory has a gap for these particular registers, and a reader relying on jurisdictional status should check it independently rather than take either the firm’s claim or our silence as settled.

Conclusion

Phillip Capital scores a 6 out of 10 overall, and that number is really the average of two very different firms bundled under one review. Phillip Securities Pte Ltd (PSPL) holds a capital markets services licence. We hold no register entry for MAS, and the claim names no licence number either, so that licence claim sits unchecked in our directory. That is a gap in our records, not a red flag on the firm, but it does mean the regulatory badge cannot be independently confirmed from what we hold.

What we actually read

We read PSPL’s own risk disclosure and the PhillipCapital best-execution policy rather than a marketing summary, and the fee schedule is the published one rather than a third-party recap. That document is blunt about where the money risk sits. Under section I(d), if a required margin deposit or interest payment is not made in time, “the Customer’s collateral or positions may be liquidated by PSPL at a loss without prior notification to the Customer.” Sections I(d) and I(l)(i) go further: customers may sustain losses in excess of their cash and other assets deposited as collateral, and CFD positions can be liquidated at a loss with the customer liable for the resulting deficit. Section I(l)(iv) confirms PSPL may act as market-maker on CFD trades and, unless stated otherwise, as principal, meaning the broker can be the counterparty to a client’s own trade. Section I(c)(vii) adds that PSPL may profit even when the customer loses on an OTC transaction.

Client money protection is also qualified, not absolute. The Regulation 18A disclosure, section 4, states that customer money may be held in an omnibus or pooled account with other customers, and that it “could be withdrawn to meet other clients’ obligations” or even PSPL’s own obligations on insolvency in some circumstances. Section 7 of the same disclosure notes PSPL generally holds rights of set-off and a general lien over customer money and assets. A client can opt for an Individual Segregated Account, but under the Disclosure Statement for that arrangement, section 2, a customer is deemed to choose against it by default unless they expressly tell PSPL otherwise, and section 3 says the individually segregated option carries additional administrative costs. None of this is unusual for the industry, but it is exactly the kind of clause that determines what happens to a client’s funds if things go wrong, and it belongs in the client’s own reading before, not after, funding an account.

What Phillip Capital charges

The published fee schedule is granular by market. Singapore CFDs carry a 0.128% commission with a minimum of S$25 (or the equivalent in USD, EUR, GBP or HKD), United States CFDs run 0.18% with a US$15 minimum, and Malaysia CFDs run 0.40% with a RM60 minimum. Holding a CFD position overnight costs more: long finance charges run 6.75% p.a. in Singapore, 8.00% p.a. in the United States and 5.50% p.a. in Malaysia, while short positions earn from 3.00% p.a. (Singapore) or from 2.00% p.a. (United States). Away from CFDs, the Cash Plus Account advertises 0 US commission, though the fee page itself carves out an exception: US listed shares trading below US$1 per share are not eligible for that zero-commission rate and offline rates apply instead, and US Asian Hours trades are also excluded. An account that goes a full quarter without a trade is charged a S$15.00 maintenance fee, and cash dividends are handled at 1% of the net dividend, minimum S$1.00, capped at S$50.00. None of these numbers is hidden, but a CFD client comparing brokers needs to price in the financing rate, not just the commission line, since the 6.75% to 8.00% p.a. long charge will dominate the cost of anything held more than a few days.

Platforms and reaching a human

Trading runs through the POEMS suite (POEMS 2.0, POEMS Pro and the POEMS Mobile 3 app), described as covering multi-asset, multi-market trading, which the platform score of 6.3 reflects as functional and broad rather than exceptional. Support channels are concrete rather than promotional: a main phone line, a dedicated Japanese-language line, a Night Desk for EUR/US/CA market execution, live chat with a 24/7 chatbot for FAQs, and a complaints process that acknowledges a case reference within 2 business days and aims to resolve within 14 business days of that acknowledgement, which supports the 7 score for support.

Where the score lands

The reviews score of 4.8 is the weakest single figure here, and nothing in the material we read explains it directly, so it should be read as an independent input rather than a reflection of the contract terms above. Put together, this is a documented and long-established brokerage with a real fee schedule and a risk disclosure that is unusually forthcoming about pooled-money risk, set-off rights and principal dealing on CFDs, but the unchecked MAS licence entry and the middling reviews figure keep the overall score at a firm 6 rather than higher. A prospective CFD client’s homework starts with the finance charge rates for the market they intend to trade and the segregation choice under the Individual Segregated Account disclosure, since both are opt-in-by-default matters that this catalogue can point to but that only the client’s own account application decides.

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