How We Check a Broker

The first gate: Kenya access

The first check is whether a resident of Kenya can open, fund and withdraw. We look at whether the broker accepts Kenyan clients, whether a familiar local funding route such as M-Pesa is available, and whether withdrawal to Kenya is described in the broker's own material. A broker that cannot clear this gate is not ranked, however good its platform looks.

This gate comes first because a spreadsheet of features is useless if the account cannot be opened or the money cannot come back out. We treat access and funding as the foundation, and everything else is compared only among brokers that pass it.

Where each class of figure on this site comes from

The reference price of 4275.0 for XAU/USD comes from a live market feed that aggregates quotes from multiple liquidity providers, not from a single broker. That figure is used only as a worked example; it is not a live executable price and it is not updated tick by tick on every page. When you see it in a calculator, treat it as a snapshot that shows the arithmetic, not as a quote you can trade.

The pip value and margin figures follow from the contract specification: 1 standard lot equals 100 oz and one pip equals 0.01. The worked margin example of about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot gold position is calculated from the leverage cap that applies to the FxPro entity serving Kenya. That cap is a maximum, not a target, and the actual margin your broker holds may differ if your account currency or position size differs from the example.

Broker facts such as platform availability, funding methods and regulatory status come from the broker's own published documentation and from the regulator registers we can access. For FxPro, the platforms listed are MT4, MT5, cTrader and the FxPro app, and the funding method we reference is M-Pesa. The regulatory caveat we repeat is that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK), CySEC and FSCA, not by the CMA of Kenya. No figure on this site is sourced from a bonus, promotion or unverified third-party review.

How a reader can reproduce any number on this site

To reproduce the pip-value figure, take the pip size of 0.01 for gold, multiply by the position size in ounces, and convert to your account currency at the rate you can verify. For a 0.10-lot position, that is 0.01 times 10 oz, which equals 0.10 in the quote currency per pip before conversion. You can check the conversion against any public exchange-rate source. The arithmetic is deliberately simple so that you can repeat it without our tool.

To reproduce the margin figure, multiply the ounces by the reference price to get notional value, then divide by the leverage cap that applies to your entity. In the worked example, 10 oz times 4275.0 equals 42,750, and dividing by the applicable cap gives about $85.50. If your broker applies a different cap or a different reference price, your result will differ, and that difference is the point: the formula is public so you can substitute your own inputs.

To reproduce a broker fact, go to the broker's own legal and funding pages and, for licensing, to the regulator register for the entity named. For FxPro in Kenya, the caveat to verify is that FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK), CySEC and FSCA, not by the CMA of Kenya. Check the date on the page you read and compare it with the current register entry. If the two disagree, trust the register for licensing and the broker's legal documentation for platforms and funding, and treat our page as a dated record.

The honest limits of our testing

We test on paper and by reading, not by trading a live account with real money at every broker. That means we can confirm what a document says on the date we read it, and we can check the arithmetic, but we cannot tell you how a withdrawal feels on a Friday afternoon in Nairobi.

A cap is a cap, not a setting to aim at: at the applicable cap, a 0.10-lot gold position needs about $85.50 margin, and that figure is shown to explain the arithmetic, not to suggest a position size. Anything that depends on your own account, your broker's current terms or the market at the time must be verified with the broker before you act.

Why the live price can differ from a broker quote

The reference price and a broker quote can differ because they are produced by different systems at different moments. Our reference price is a snapshot from a market feed; your broker's quote is the price at which that broker is willing to execute for your account, after its own liquidity and markup. Between the snapshot and your click, gold can move. The difference is not an error in either number; it is the normal gap between an illustration and an executable price.

A broker quote also includes the broker's own spread, which is the difference between the bid and the ask. That spread is not a fixed number we can publish because it depends on the account, the time of day and market conditions. When you see a single price on this site, it is not a bid or an ask; it is a reference midpoint used for arithmetic. Your broker will quote two prices, and the one you trade at will be the less favourable side of that pair.

Execution can add further difference through slippage, especially around news releases or when liquidity is thin. A stop-loss is not a guaranteed price; it becomes a market order once triggered and may fill at a worse level. The calculators on this site assume the stated price is filled exactly, which is why their outputs are planning figures. If you need to know the cost of a trade right now, the only reliable source is your broker's platform at the moment of execution.

The known limits of the method we use

The method cannot tell you what your broker will actually charge. Spreads, commissions and swaps are not published here as numbers because they vary by account, by market conditions and by the entity that serves you. We describe what those costs consist of and what they depend on, but we do not score them. Any page that gives you a single spread figure for gold is either using a snapshot that has already changed or is quoting a marketing rate.

The leverage cap we reference is a maximum, not a recommendation. It is the cap that applies to the FxPro entity serving Kenya, and it is stated as a cap because using the full cap is a risk choice, not a default. The worked margin example of about $85.50 for a 0.10-lot position is arithmetic, not a suggestion that this position size is suitable. The method does not assess your experience, your capital or your ability to absorb a loss.

The reference price of 4275.0 is a single snapshot and gold moves. Every calculator output is therefore an illustration that depends on the price at the moment you run it. The method also does not model slippage, weekend gaps, swap accrual over multiple days or a broker's own margin changes. Those are real costs and real risks, and their absence from the calculator is a limit of the tool, not a statement that they do not exist.

Where the numbers come from

Every number in our pages is taken from the broker's own documents, and we record the date we read them. That includes platform availability, the instruments offered and the leverage cap that applies to the entity serving Kenya. We do not fill gaps with estimates.

Where a figure is not in the documents, we describe what the cost consists of and what it depends on rather than inventing a number. Gold is quoted as XAU/USD, one standard lot is 100 oz, and one pip is 0.01, so the arithmetic on the page can be checked by hand against the reference price we state.

What is deliberately not published and why

We do not publish spreads, commissions, swaps or minimum deposits as numbers because those figures are account-specific and change with market conditions. Publishing a single number would imply a precision that does not exist and would quickly become stale. Instead, we describe what each cost consists of and what it depends on, so you know what to ask your broker. A number you cannot verify is worse than a clear statement of what varies.

We do not publish leverage ratios other than the cap that applies to the entity serving Kenya, and we do not present that cap as a target. We do not name funding methods beyond M-Pesa because that is the method we have confirmed for this audience. We do not publish bonuses, promotions or referral offers because they are temporary and often carry conditions that change the effective cost of trading. Omitting them keeps the page honest about what is durable.

We do not publish author names or personal credentials, and we do not publish performance claims or win rates. Trading is high-risk and past results do not predict future outcomes. We also do not publish a definitive answer where our sources conflict; we state the dependency instead. The omissions are not gaps in the method; they are the method. What remains is what we can source, date and defend, and that is the only material that belongs on a page a reader might act on.

How a broker fact is dated and re-checked

Every broker fact on this site carries a date of last verification in our internal record, even when the date is not printed on the page. That date is the day a person last confirmed the fact against the broker's own documentation or a regulator register. When you read a statement about platforms, funding or licensing, you are reading something that was true on that date. It is not a live feed and it is not a guarantee of current status.

Re-checking happens on a fixed cycle and also on trigger events. A trigger event is anything that could change the fact: a regulator notice, a change to the broker's legal entity for Kenya, a platform being added or removed, or a funding method being discontinued. When a trigger occurs, the fact is re-checked before the next publication cycle rather than waiting for the scheduled review. The cycle is not a substitute for the trigger; both run together.

The date is not a promise that nothing changed the day after. It is an honest statement of when the fact was last confirmed. If you are about to open an account or fund it with M-Pesa, confirm the current details on the broker's own site and, for licensing, on the regulator's register. Our date tells you how fresh our record is; it does not transfer the broker's obligation to keep its own disclosures current.

The formula each calculator uses, in words

The pip-value calculator multiplies the pip size by the position size in ounces and then converts that result into the account currency using the prevailing exchange rate. For gold, one pip is 0.01, so a 0.10-lot position (10 oz) moves by 0.01 times 10, which equals 0.10 in the quote currency per pip before conversion. That is the whole formula: pip size, times ounces, times the conversion rate. Nothing else is added.

The margin calculator divides the notional value of the position by the leverage cap that applies to your entity. Notional value is the number of ounces multiplied by the reference price. In the worked example, 0.10 lot is 10 oz, and at the reference price of 4275.0 the notional is 42,750. Dividing that by the applicable cap gives the margin figure we show, about $85.50. The calculator does not add commissions or swaps because those are not fixed numbers we publish.

The position-size calculator works backwards from the risk amount you enter. It takes the cash you are willing to risk, divides it by the stop distance in pips, and then divides again by the pip value for one lot. The result is the lot size that would lose exactly your risk amount if the stop were hit. It assumes the stop is filled at the stated price and does not account for slippage, gaps or swap charges, which is why the output is a planning figure rather than a guarantee.

What is refreshed automatically and what is reviewed by hand

The reference price and the exchange-rate conversion used in the calculators refresh automatically from a market feed. That refresh happens on a schedule, not continuously, so the number you see may lag the live market by minutes or longer. The automatic refresh exists to keep the arithmetic realistic, not to give you a tradable quote. If you need an executable price, you must take it from your broker's platform at the moment you trade.

Broker facts such as platform lists, funding methods and regulatory status are reviewed by hand. A person checks the broker's own pages and the relevant regulator register before any change is published. We do not let an automated scraper update those fields because a layout change or a cached page can produce a false fact. The manual review is slower, but it is the only way to keep the Kenya access and licensing statements accurate.

Editorial explanations, risk warnings and the methodology text you are reading are written and reviewed by hand and are not refreshed automatically at all. They change only when the underlying facts change or when we find an error. That means the prose may be older than the price feed, but it will not silently drift. The separation is deliberate: numbers that move are automated, statements that must be true are checked by a person.

What happens when two sources disagree

When two sources disagree, the primary source wins: the regulator register for licensing, and the broker's own legal documentation for platforms and funding. A third-party review, a forum post or an affiliate page is treated as a lead to check, not as evidence. If the broker's page and the regulator register conflict on licensing, we publish the regulator's position and note the discrepancy rather than smoothing it over. A disagreement is information, not something to hide.

If the disagreement cannot be resolved, we do not publish a number or a definitive claim. We say what the fact depends on and what a reader should verify directly. This is why some statements on this site are phrased as conditions rather than as absolutes. A conditional statement is the honest output when the sources conflict and neither can be confirmed as current. We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a guess.

A resolved disagreement is recorded with the date and the source that won, so the same conflict is not re-litigated on the next review. That record is internal, but its effect is visible: the published fact reflects the primary source and the page does not carry both versions. If a later check shows the primary source has changed, the fact is updated and the old resolution is retired. The method is designed to converge on the best available source, not to average conflicting claims.