Been trading for a while now but honestly never really looked into the legal side of things properly.
Starting to wonder if there are countries where retail forex is actually banned or heavily restricted. Anyone know which places to avoid?
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia completely block international brokers - you can’t even visit their sites without a VPN. France requires registration for forex trading (though tons of people ignore this). Singapore’s fine for trading, but their local brokers are not great. In Malaysia, banks flag forex withdrawals often. Check your broker’s restricted countries list to avoid regulatory issues.
Islamic countries often have sharia law issues with forex. Japan and EU are fine though.
Most European countries are straightforward, but check local tax rules - some treat forex gains differently.
Brazil has weird leverage and position size restrictions. South Korea’s a paperwork nightmare.
Even where it’s legal, brokers might geo-block you anyway. I’ve seen people use VPNs, but that breaks the broker’s terms.
Definitely not legal everywhere. Some countries ban it outright, others just make it a nightmare to trade.
China and India? Forget it - they’ve basically banned retail forex with overseas brokers. Turkey cracked down hard too.
The US technically allows it, but with 50:1 max leverage and FIFO rules that kill most strategies. It’s practically useless for serious traders.
Middle East’s all over the place - depends on the country. Friend in Saudi couldn’t access any European brokers.
Stick with properly regulated places like UK, Australia, or Cyprus. Their brokers are legit and you won’t wake up to frozen accounts.