10  Best Forex Islamic Accounts in Malaysia 2023

How to compare Islamic accounts

Most brokers will have an Islamic account option for clients of the Muslim faith. While these account types are simply an adaptation of the live account, trading conditions at the broker and specific modifications to the Islamic account trading conditions can potentially influence trading costs. In comparing Islamic accounts, it is important to consider:

Regulation: Regulation is the security of funds for traders. Without regulation, the broker is free to make decisions about your trading funds. 

Your broker should be governed by your local regulator or a combination of other well-respected international regulators like ASIC, the FCA and MAS, who have processes in place to protect your funds.

Free swap rates: Swap fees are charged every 24 hours a position is held open. For a trading account to be considered swap-free or Shari’ah-compliant, the broker must never charge a swap fee. Select brokers will restrict swap-free trading to a period of time – usually up to 14 days after the trade was opened – and would make the account swap-free for this period. As you compare Islamic accounts, always ask the broker if there is a time-limited swap-free period for trades.

Not offered on all account types: A majority of brokers offer various live accounts, but not all of these accounts can have the swap fees removed. Always ask your broker which of the live accounts have a swap-free option. The broker can also restrict leverage for Islamic accounts.

Minimum deposit: A live account will always have a minimum deposit requirement, but occasionally brokers will increase this minimum deposit for Islamic accounts. Always check the minimum deposit for this account type before signing up.

Instrument restrictions: Brokers often restrict the trading instruments an Islamic client can trade. At AvaTrade, Islamic accounts are subject to an increased spread on all Forex pairs, and Islamic accounts can not trade cryptocurrency. Tickmill charges an Islamic account fee on exotic FX pairs.

Additional Fees: Brokers occasionally make money from the swap, and to replace lost income, the broker may take steps to increase spreads or introduce additional commissions. Here are some examples of additional fees:

FP Markets charge an admin fee of 5 USD per lot on major currency pairs per night. However, fees are not charged for the first ten nights the position is open and will only be applicable from the eleventh night.

Admirals charge a flat commission after positions are held open for longer than three nights on Islamic accounts.

If a position at Axiory is open overnight, a commission is charged instead of a typical swap. The commissions and holding period are subject to change according to market conditions and when necessary.

What is Islamic Forex Trading

There are three articles of the Islamic Mua’malat that are relevant to Forex trading:

• Riba: Prohibition of payment and receipt of interest
• Gharar: Prohibition on gambling
• Shared Risk: Both profit and losses

The key element here is the elimination of Riba – or interest on loans or assets.

Riba is central to conventional Forex trading, but according to Islamic law, or Shari’ah law, Muslims are banned from earning interest on loans. Some scholars believe that the practice of removing Riba, as brokers do on their Islamic Forex accounts, legitimises Forex trading under Shariʻah.

Islam also emphasises that when conducting business transactions, elements of uncertainty, excessive speculation and gambling should also be avoided, so it could be argued that hedging trades with Forex is also legitimate under Shari’ah. It is also widely agreed that conventional Forex transactions – if used carefully – are a very effective means of protecting banks from exposure to international risk.

Shared Risk

Another concern about the Islamic nature of Forex trading is the element of shared risk. Luckily, with Forex trading, when you trade, you are investing in an asset – the currency purchased. If this asset increases in value, you will make a profit and if the asset loses value, you will make a loss. The result is a sharing of the benefits and losses of the currency exchange with your counterparty. From this point of view, Forex trading and Islam are compatible in terms of shared risk.

Islamic Finance in Malaysia

Malaysia is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Islamic financial system and the Islamic interbank market, but it is only relatively recently that Islamic banking truly emerged in Malaysia. For decades, conventional banks were the only way to access the banking system.

In 1983 Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) launched Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd (BIMB) to handle the financial needs of the country’s Muslim population.

But it wasn’t until 1993, when the Ministry of Finance introduced the Skim Perbankan Tanpa Faedah SPTF or the Interest-Free Banking Scheme, that Islamic banking became widely available as a consumer product.

The Interest-Free Banking Scheme made it a legal obligation for all conventional banks to offer Islamic banking options alongside more traditional methods. Banks quickly developed Shari’ah-compliant subsidiaries to handle the huge demand for Islamic banking and by 1994 the BNM had approved a total of 21 Islamic financial products for domestic financial institutions.

This rapid increase in both the supply of and demand for Islamic banking products was simultaneous with the development of the Islamic interbank system, which only further boosted growth of the Islamic money market. This explosive growth is visible in the increase of total assets of the Islamic banking sector from MYR21.6 billion in 1998 to MYR35.7 billion in 1999, an incredible growth rate of 65.8%.

Today, the nation is in the curious state of having two parallel banking systems, one conventional and the other Islamic, but both well developed and hugely profitable.

Islamic Forex Trading in Malaysia

The key article of Islamic Mua’malat on Forex is the elimination of Riba – or interest on loans or assets.

Riba is central to conventional Forex trading, but some scholars believe that Islamic Forex transactions are not premised on the same philosophy as conventional practices, and are therefore legitimate under Shariʻah.

Islam also emphasises that when conducting business transactions, elements of uncertainty, excessive speculation and gambling should also be avoided, so it could be argued that hedging trades with Forex is also legitimate under Shari’ah. It is also widely agreed that conventional Forex transactions, if used carefully, are a very effective means of protecting banks from exposure to international risk.

In Malaysia, several brokers offer Shari’ah compliant accounts to make sure that your trading is not haram – though this does mean that there are a few differences when compared to traditional Forex accounts.

What is an Islamic Forex Account?

Islamic Forex accounts have two underlying attributes:

• Free swap rates.
• No interest rate payments – or no Riba (page 2 – pdf).

Other than the above, Islamic Forex accounts usually have the same trading terms and conditions as a regular Forex account. However, some most Forex brokers change the commercial terms of trading with them and might limit the trader from trading cryptocurrencies. 

Some Forex brokers will widen their spreads on Islamic accounts to compensate for the missed revenue that would have otherwise have been generated by collecting interest. Another practice, but is far rarer, is that some Forex brokers charge an up-front commission on trades instead of widening the spreads.

Forex Brokers with Islamic Swap-free Accounts

There are a variety of brokers that offer Islamic accounts tailored for Muslim traders. There are usually no limitations on this account type – this means you can trade Forex, commodities, CFDs contracts and every financial instrument that complies with the Islamic financial regulations.

An important note:  With some Forex brokers, you will need to open a real trading account which can then be converted into an Islamic account.  Very few brokers have a registration page specifically for Islamic accounts, but many brokers taking clients from predominantly Muslim countries automatically create accounts as Islamic accounts.

If you are in doubt, do not make any deposits before discussing with your account manager.

Forex Rollovers & Swap Rates Explained

In the Forex market, any position held overnight generates a rollover which will be earned or paid out depending on the currency you are trading and the direction of the market. Rollover interest is a form of interest that can be credited or debited from your Forex trading account, and thus it is prohibited by Islamic financial regulations.  In the financial world, this rollover is also known as the swap rate.  So, Islamic Forex accounts are swap-free accounts where no overnight interest is credited or debited.

Islamic Financial Regulatory Bodies

The central financial regulatory bodies in the Islamic world are the following:

• Islamic Financial Services Board – IFSB.
• Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic and Financial Institutions – AAOIFI.
• International Islamic Financial Market – ISFM.
• Liquidity Management Center – LMC.

Forex brokers that are registered in Muslim majority countries often have to comply with many local regulations and are required to follow the Sharia law, whereas Western Forex brokers have much more flexibility when it comes to the interest charged to their clients.  This is why only some of the brokers offer this account type.

Summary

An Islamic Forex, or swap-free, account is an optional account type that is often selected after signing up with a broker.  They are intended for use by traders of the Islamic faith, which prohibits generating income from interest payments.  A majority of Forex brokers can accommodate followers of the Islamic faith by offering swap-free trading accounts that are compliant with Sharia law.

Forex Risk Disclaimer

Trading Forex and CFDs is not suitable for all investors as it carries a high degree of risk to your capital: 75-90% of retail investors lose money trading these products. 

Forex and CFD transactions involve high risk due to the following factors: Over-leveraging, unpredictable market volatility, slippage arising from a lack of liquidity, inadequate trading knowledge or experience, and a lack of regulatory protection for clients.

Traders should not deposit any money that is not disposable. Regardless of how much research you have done, or how confident you are in your trade, there is always a substantial risk of loss. (Learn more from the FCA or from ASIC)

Our Methodology

Our State of the Market Report and Broker Directory are the result of extensive research on over 180 Forex brokers. The explicit goal of these resources is to help traders find the best Malaysian Forex brokers – and steer them away from the worst ones – with the benefit of accurate and up-to-date information.

With over 200 data points on each broker and over 3000 hours of research and review writing, we believe we have succeeded in our goal. 

In a world where trading conditions and customer support can vary based on where you live, our broker reviews focus on the local trader and give you information about these brokers from a Malaysian perspective.

All research has been conducted by our in-house team of researchers and writers, gathering information from various company representatives, websites and by sifting through the fine print. Learn more about how we rank brokers.