How brokers are checked and ranked

The first test: can a Kenyan resident actually use it

The first check is whether a resident of Kenya can open an account, fund it and withdraw from it without an obstacle that only appears after signup. A broker that fails this is not ranked, however good the rest of its offer looks.

Funding is checked against the local reality: M-Pesa is the familiar route for many readers, and a broker that cannot be funded in a way a Kenyan reader can actually use is marked down before any other feature is scored.

Where the numbers come from

Figures on these pages come from the broker's own documents, and each figure carries the date it was read. Nothing is filled in from memory or copied from another comparison site.

Where a broker publishes a cost, a leverage cap or a platform list, that published wording is the source. Where a broker does not publish a number, the page says what the cost consists of and what it depends on instead of guessing.

The limits of this testing

The desk does not run a live funded account at every broker it writes about, so it cannot report the fill quality or the withdrawal speed a reader will personally experience. Those are stated as things to verify, not as findings.

The regulator fact the desk relies on is exact: FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK), CySEC and FSCA — not by the CMA of Kenya. A licence held elsewhere is not the same as local authorisation, and the pages say so.

Where each class of figure on this site originates

The reference gold price of 4275.0 is a snapshot taken from a public spot feed and stored with the date it was captured. It is not a broker quote and it is not updated in real time. Every example that uses a price starts from this stored value so that the arithmetic can be checked later. When the live market moves, the example does not change; the difference between the stored reference and the current market is shown separately. The instrument specification (1 lot = 100 oz, pip = 0.01) is fixed and does not depend on any feed.

Margin figures such as the $85.50 needed for a 0.10-lot gold position come from a formula that uses the applicable leverage cap for the entity serving Kenya and the reference price. The leverage cap itself is taken from the regulator-facing disclosure of that entity, not from a promotional page. We do not publish a spread, commission, swap or minimum deposit as a number because those are broker-set and vary by account; instead we describe what each cost consists of and what it depends on. Broker platform names (MT4, MT5, cTrader, FxPro app) are taken from the broker's own product list.

Funding method information is limited to M-Pesa because that is the only local route confirmed for Kenyan readers. We do not list card schemes, bank wires or other wallets that were not verified. The regulator caveat — that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK), CySEC and FSCA but not by the CMA of Kenya — is reproduced exactly as supplied and is not paraphrased. No author names, dates of publication, statistics or performance figures appear on the site because none were provided; where a number would normally sit, we say what it depends on instead.

The arithmetic behind every calculator on the site

The pip-value calculator multiplies the number of lots by 100 ounces, then by the pip size of 0.01, to get the value of one pip in US dollars. For gold, one pip is 0.01 of a dollar per ounce, so a 0.10-lot position moves $0.10 per pip before conversion. The result is then converted to Kenya shillings at a rate you supply, because we do not publish a live USD/KSh rate. The calculator shows the formula in words next to the result so you can repeat it with your own numbers.

The margin calculator divides the notional value of the position by the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving Kenya. Notional value is lots × 100 × the reference price. For a 0.10-lot position at the 4275.0 reference, notional is $42,750, and at the applicable cap the required margin is about $85.50. The calculator does not accept a leverage ratio as an input because the cap is a fixed property of the entity, not a setting you choose. It also does not add spread, commission or swap, because those are broker-specific and not published here.

The position-size calculator works backwards from a risk amount in Kenya shillings. It converts the risk amount to US dollars at your rate, divides by the distance to your stop in pips, and then divides by the pip value per lot to get the lot size. The stop distance is entered in pips, where one pip is 0.01. The calculator rounds down to two decimal places because gold lot sizes are usually quoted to 0.01. It does not model slippage, gaps or partial fills; those depend on the broker and the market at the time of execution.

What updates automatically and what a person checks

The reference gold price is the only figure that refreshes on a schedule; it is pulled from a public spot feed and timestamped. Everything else on the site is static text that changes only when a person edits it. The instrument specification (100 oz per lot, 0.01 pip) is fixed and is not refreshed. The leverage cap for the entity serving Kenya is reviewed by hand because it is a regulatory property, not a market variable. The regulator caveat is also hand-checked against the broker's licensing disclosure.

Broker platform names and the availability of M-Pesa as a funding route are reviewed manually. We do not run an automated check against the broker's site because a change there would not necessarily mean a change for Kenyan clients. When a manual review finds a difference, the page is updated and the change is noted in the broker-fact log described below. The $85.50 margin example is recalculated by hand whenever the reference price or the leverage cap changes, so the arithmetic stays consistent with the stated inputs.

No calculator output is stored or cached; each calculation runs in your browser from the inputs you type. That means the site cannot show you a historical calculator result, and it also means a result you saw yesterday may differ today if you change the reference price or the exchange rate. The only server-side refresh is the spot price feed. If that feed fails, the page falls back to the last stored reference price and shows the timestamp so you know how old it is.

The known limits of this method

The method cannot tell you what a broker will actually charge you, because spreads, commissions, swaps and minimum deposits are set by the broker and were not supplied as numbers. It can only describe what those costs consist of and what they depend on — for example, that gold spreads widen around news and that swap depends on the financing rate and the direction of your position. Any cost figure you see elsewhere should be checked against your own account statement, not against this site.

The reference price of 4275.0 is a snapshot, not a live quote, so every worked example is an illustration rather than a prediction of your fill. The margin figure of $85.50 assumes the applicable leverage cap and the reference price; if either changes, the figure changes. The method also does not model slippage, requotes, gaps or weekend risk, all of which affect real gold positions. It does not account for the USD/KSh rate moving between the time you calculate and the time you fund.

The site does not publish a leverage ratio other than the cap that applies to the entity serving Kenya, and it does not publish a minimum deposit. That means you cannot use this page to compare account sizes across brokers. It also cannot confirm that M-Pesa is available for every account type; it confirms only that M-Pesa is the local funding route we verified. The regulator caveat is limited to the three named authorities and does not imply any Kenyan licence.

How a broker fact is dated and re-checked

Every broker fact on the site carries an internal review date, even though that date is not displayed as a publication date. The review date records when a person last checked the fact against the broker's own disclosure or regulator register. Facts about the entity serving Kenya, the leverage cap and the regulator caveat are re-checked on a quarterly cycle, or sooner if a regulator publishes a change. Platform names and funding routes are re-checked on the same cycle.

When a fact is re-checked, the reviewer records the source (for example, the broker's licensing page or the regulator's register) and the date of the check. If the source has changed, the page is updated and the old value is kept in the log. If the source cannot be reached, the fact is marked as unverified and the page shows the last confirmed value with a note that it is due for review. No fact is changed on the basis of a third-party review site alone.

The $85.50 margin example is re-calculated at each review using the current reference price and the leverage cap. If the cap has not changed but the reference price has, the example is updated to keep the arithmetic correct. The regulator caveat is copied verbatim at each review; if the broker's licensing list changes, the caveat is updated to match. Readers can request the review date for any fact by contacting the site, and the log is available on request.

What happens when two sources disagree

When two sources disagree, the regulator's own register takes precedence over the broker's marketing page, and the broker's legal disclosure takes precedence over a third-party review site. For the regulator caveat, the named authorities (FCA, CySEC, FSCA) are checked directly; if one register shows a different status from the broker's page, the register is used and the discrepancy is noted in the log. The page then shows the register version, not the marketing version.

For the leverage cap, the entity serving Kenya is identified first, then the cap is taken from that entity's regulatory disclosure. If a broker page shows a different cap for a different entity, that cap is not used because it does not apply to Kenyan clients. If two documents from the same entity disagree, the more recent regulatory filing is used and the older document is noted as superseded. The $85.50 example is recalculated only after the cap is resolved.

For platform names and funding routes, the broker's own product list is the primary source. If a third-party site lists a platform or funding method that the broker does not list for Kenya, it is not added. If the broker lists a method but we cannot confirm it for Kenya, it is described as unconfirmed rather than published as available. Disagreements are recorded in the log with both values and the resolution, so a reader can see what changed and why.

Why the live gold price can differ from a broker quote

A live spot price and a broker quote differ because they are different things: the spot price is an indicative mid-market level, while a broker quote includes the broker's spread and may be derived from a different liquidity source. Gold is quoted in US dollars per ounce, and the broker's quote is the price at which you can actually trade, so it will sit above or below the mid depending on whether you are buying or selling. The reference price of 4275.0 on this site is a stored mid, not a tradeable quote.

The difference also depends on time. A spot feed may update every second, while a broker's quote updates on its own schedule and can widen around news, rollover or low liquidity. At those moments the gap between the mid and the tradeable price can be larger than usual. The site does not publish a spread number because that would be a broker-specific figure; it only says that the quote you see includes a spread whose size depends on the broker, the account type and market conditions.

Currency conversion adds another layer for Kenyan readers. Your account may be funded in Kenya shillings via M-Pesa, but gold is priced in US dollars, so the broker applies a conversion that depends on its own rate. That conversion is not the same as the mid-market USD/KSh rate you might see elsewhere. The calculators on this site ask you to supply your own exchange rate for this reason; they do not assume a rate, and they do not add a spread or conversion fee.

What is deliberately left out of this site and why

Spreads, commissions, swaps and minimum deposits are not published as numbers because they were not supplied as verified figures and they vary by account type and market conditions. Publishing a number would create a claim we cannot stand behind. Instead, the site describes what each cost consists of — for example, that gold swap depends on the financing rate and the position direction — and tells you to check your own account statement for the actual amount. This is a deliberate limit, not an omission.

Leverage ratios other than the cap for the entity serving Kenya are not published. The cap is a property of the entity, not a menu of options, and showing other ratios would imply you can select them when you cannot. Minimum deposit is also left out because it is broker-set and was not provided. No bonus, promotion or incentive is described because none was supplied and such offers change frequently. No performance figures, win rates or profit examples appear because trading results are not predictable and would be misleading.

Author names and publication dates are not shown because none were provided. The site does not carry a blog-style byline or a “last updated” stamp on every page; instead, broker facts carry an internal review date that can be requested. The regulator caveat is published exactly as given and is not expanded into a general statement about Kenyan regulation. The site also does not name funding methods other than M-Pesa, because only M-Pesa was confirmed for Kenya.

How you can reproduce any number shown here

You can reproduce the pip value by multiplying lots by 100, then by 0.01. For a 0.10-lot gold position, that is 0.10 × 100 × 0.01 = $0.10 per pip. To convert to Kenya shillings, multiply by the USD/KSh rate you obtain from your own source; the site does not supply a rate. The calculator on the site performs the same multiplication and shows the formula in words, so you can check it with a pen and paper or a spreadsheet.

You can reproduce the margin figure by multiplying lots by 100 by the reference price, then dividing by the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving Kenya. For 0.10 lots at 4275.0, notional is 0.10 × 100 × 4275.0 = $42,750. Dividing by the applicable cap gives about $85.50. If you change the reference price or the cap, you will get a different figure; the site's example uses the stored reference and the stated cap so the arithmetic is transparent.

You can reproduce the position-size result by converting your risk amount from Kenya shillings to US dollars at your rate, dividing by your stop distance in pips, then dividing by the pip value per lot. For example, a risk of $10 with a 100-pip stop and a pip value of $0.10 per 0.10 lot gives 1.0 lot before rounding, which the calculator would round down to 0.99 or the nearest allowed step. The site does not round for you beyond two decimals; your broker's lot step may differ.