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How much does Pepperstone charge to trade HK50? (November 2026)
By the Economies.com editorial desk · Pepperstone review for Hong Kong traders · Last verified 22 October 2026 against pepperstone.com (the site Hong Kong visitors reach), Pepperstone Markets Limited’s legal documents, the SFC public register and competitors’ own sites. Average spreads are Pepperstone’s published data for 1–31 August 2026.
The short answer
Pepperstone charges no commission on the HK50; the cost is the spread, which averaged 5 points in August 2026 on both Razor and Standard, plus overnight financing of the benchmark rate plus 2.5% a year on positions held past 5pm New York time. Retail margin is 1% (100:1) under the Bahamas entity that serves Hong Kong. The broker itself is not a scam — it is a 2010-founded group with ASIC and FCA licences elsewhere — but for Hong Kong clients it operates without an SFC licence, and that is the single fact to weigh.
- HK50: 5-point average spread, no commission, 1% retail margin, quoted Monday to Thursday until 22:00 server time; closed weekends.
- Razor vs Standard on the HK50: identical — the Razor commission applies only to FX and gold.
- Entity: Pepperstone Markets Limited, Securities Commission of The Bahamas, SIA-F217; 80% of retail accounts lose money.
- Not on the SFC register, not on the SFC Alert List, no Hong Kong office, no FPS.
- Pros: dated pricing, five platforms, HKD accounts, negative balance protection. Cons: no SFC protection, no compensation fund, no weekend HK50, some inconsistent pages.
How much does Pepperstone charge to trade HK50?
Three things, and only the first is visible at the moment you trade.
| Cost | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Spread | 5 points minimum and average, 1–31 August 2026, Razor and Standard | Pepperstone index fees page |
| Commission | None on index CFDs | Costs page |
| Overnight financing | (closing price × size × (2.5% ± benchmark)) ÷ 360, daily at 5pm New York; longs pay benchmark plus 2.5%, shorts receive benchmark minus 2.5% | Costs page |
| Retail margin | 1% (100:1) on the HK50, HSTECH, CN50 and CHINAH | Tiered margin table, SCB retail v2, effective 19 Sep 2026 |
| Contract size | Not published outside the platform | Instrument specification |
| Dividend adjustments | Cash adjustment on constituent ex-dates: longs credited, shorts debited | Terms and support pages |
A worked example at an index level of 26,000 and a HKD 1-per-point contract (check yours in the platform): one lot is HKD 26,000 of exposure, needing HKD 260 of margin; the spread costs HKD 5 to open and close; holding overnight at a 4% HKD benchmark costs about HKD 4.70 a night as a long. Hold it a month and financing is roughly 28 times the spread.
Pepperstone Razor vs Standard account, which is better?
For the HK50, it makes no difference: no commission on either, same 5-point spread. The accounts diverge on FX and gold, where Razor passes through the raw spread (0.1 pips EUR/USD, 0.12 points gold in August 2026) and charges from USD 3.50 per side, while Standard adds about a pip to FX and charges nothing. A trader who does mostly indices can take Standard and lose nothing; a forex or gold trader doing more than a few lots a month should take Razor. Razor also unlocks MT4 and TradingView, which Standard does not.
Is Pepperstone safe to use in Hong Kong?
Who you are dealing with: Pepperstone Markets Limited, company 177174 B, Nassau, licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SIA-F217). It is the group’s international entity, and it is the one pepperstone.com presents to anyone browsing from Hong Kong, in English or Traditional Chinese. The SFC has never licensed Pepperstone — its register shows no record — so the protections below are the Bahamas entity’s, and the Investor Compensation Fund and the SFC’s complaints process are not available to you.
Within that regime, the specifics are better than most offshore brokers’: retail negative balance protection written into the Terms, a 50% close-out, segregated client money, a complaints procedure with a 14–21 day response commitment and an escalation route to the Commission in Nassau, and the same dated spreads and fee tables the group publishes for its ASIC and FCA entities. What a Hong Kong client lacks is any protection that an SFC licence would bring: the Investor Compensation Fund, SFC enforcement, Hong Kong courts. Pepperstone’s own Terms say it is your responsibility to check whether your jurisdiction restricts you from trading with it.
Is Pepperstone a scam?
No. Pepperstone was founded in Melbourne in 2010, its Australian company has held AFSL 414530 since 2013 and is audited by Ernst & Young, its UK company is FCA-authorised, and the group reports more than 900,000 clients and nine licensed entities. The Bahamas entity that serves Hong Kong is a real, licensed company with published legal documents. “Not a scam” is not the same as “protected by the SFC”, and the two should not be confused; the SFC’s Alert List, which Pepperstone is not on, exists for entities that target Hong Kong investors without a licence, and a Hong Kong trader should read Pepperstone’s regional disclaimer as applying to them.
Is Pepperstone a good broker in Hong Kong?
For a Hong Kong trader who has decided to use an offshore CFD broker, yes — it is the one we would pick, for reasons that are checkable: dated average spreads, published fees including the USD 20 wire charge, five platforms, HKD accounts, 46 Hong Kong share CFDs at 0.20%, and a 100:1 HK50 margin with retail negative balance protection. For a trader who needs an SFC-licensed firm, it is not an option, and ATFX’s Hong Kong company (FX only) is the one we found.
Trade the HK50 commission-free on a Pepperstone demo first
Live pricing, 5-point spread, financing shown in the instrument specification, in HKD or USD on MT5, cTrader, TradingView or the Pepperstone app.
Open a free Pepperstone demoCFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. Pepperstone Markets Limited is licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SIA-F217). It is not licensed by the Hong Kong SFC.
What are the pros and cons of Pepperstone?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Dated monthly average spreads: EUR/USD 0.1, HK50 5, gold 0.12 (Aug 2026) | No SFC licence; Hong Kong clients contract with a Bahamas company under Bahamian law |
| No commission on indices, commodities or crypto; Razor from USD 3.50 per side on FX | No Investor Compensation Fund or Hong Kong ombudsman |
| MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and its own app on one account | No weekend HK50; perpetuals cover gold, oil, US500, NAS100 only on this entity |
| HKD base currency; free, immediate card and Apple Pay deposits | No FPS, no Hong Kong bank method, no Hong Kong office or phone number |
| Retail negative balance protection and 50% close-out written into the Terms | 200:1 retail leverage by default; 80% of retail accounts lose money |
| Published fill rate (99.00% Q1 2026) and execution from 50ms | No slippage statistics; no guaranteed stops |
| 46 Hong Kong share CFDs at 0.20%, no minimum; 100+ US shares 24 hours | Hong Kong share names not published outside the platform; no USD/HKD pair |
| Traditional Chinese site; WhatsApp, LINE and WeChat support | Cantonese voice support not stated |
| Legal documents published and dated | Pages contradict each other: 1,000:1 vs 500:1 pro leverage, inactivity fee, fill rates, client counts |
The contradictions we found on Pepperstone’s own pages
- Pro leverage: homepage “up to 1:1000” vs Pro page and costs page 500:1.
- Inactivity: costs page “no inactivity fees” vs Terms clause 7.19 “may impose inactivity fees”.
- Fill rate: 99.59% (homepage) vs 99.00% (product pages) for the same first quarter of 2026; 98.84% on the indices page for the second quarter.
- The crypto page says all CFDs are “offered under our ASIC regulation” — on the Bahamas-entity site.
- The funding pages cite Australia’s Corporations Act and list BPAY and PayID on a site whose footer is the Bahamas entity.
- Client numbers: 900,000-plus, 909,000 and 830,000 on three pages.
None of these is a reason to avoid Pepperstone; most are a global marketing site reusing Australian copy. They are a reason to read the instrument specification and the Terms for the entity you actually sign with, and we have sent the list to Pepperstone.
Open a Pepperstone account with the full picture
HK50 at a 5-point average with no commission, HKD accounts, five platforms, published Terms. No SFC licence, no compensation fund, no weekend HK50, no FPS — see the notice below.
Open a Pepperstone accountCFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. Pepperstone Markets Limited is licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SIA-F217). It is not licensed by the Hong Kong SFC.
Related reading
- Best index CFD brokers — HK50 and US index pricing compared
- Best brokers — how we compare CFD providers, and on what criteria
- Economic calendar — the releases that move spreads and margins
Important information. This article is general information and editorial opinion published by Economies.com on 22 October 2026. It is not investment advice and does not take account of your circumstances. Economies.com is not licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Pepperstone does not hold an SFC licence: Hong Kong residents who open an account contract with Pepperstone Markets Limited (Company 177174 B), licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SIA-F217), under Bahamian law and without access to Hong Kong’s Investor Compensation Fund or the SFC’s complaints process. Pepperstone states that its products are not intended for distribution where that would be contrary to local law and that it is your responsibility to check the rules in your jurisdiction. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage; 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. Figures were taken from pepperstone.com, Pepperstone Markets Limited’s Terms and Conditions (December 2025), Risk Disclosure Notice and tiered margin table (September 2026), and the SFC public register on 22 October 2026; average spreads are Pepperstone’s published data for 1–31 August 2026; competitor figures are from those brokers’ own sites on the same date. All change; check before you trade.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Pepperstone charge to trade HK50?
No commission; a 5-point average spread (August 2026) on both account types; overnight financing of the benchmark rate plus 2.5% a year on longs held past 5pm New York time; 1% retail margin under the Bahamas entity.
Pepperstone Razor vs Standard account, which is better?
Identical for the HK50 and all index CFDs. Razor is better for forex and gold traders doing more than a few lots a month (raw spread plus USD 3.50 per side) and is required for MT4 and TradingView; Standard is simpler and commission-free.
Is Pepperstone safe to use in Hong Kong?
It is a licensed Bahamas company with retail negative balance protection, segregated client money and a named regulator, backed by a group licensed by ASIC and the FCA. It holds no SFC licence, so Hong Kong clients have no SFC protection or compensation fund.
Is Pepperstone a scam?
No. Founded in 2010, ASIC-licensed since 2013, FCA-authorised, audited by Ernst & Young, 900,000-plus clients. It is also not SFC-licensed, which is a different point.
Is Pepperstone a good broker in Hong Kong?
For traders who accept an offshore entity, it is our pick: dated pricing, five platforms, HKD accounts, 46 Hong Kong share CFDs. For traders who need SFC oversight, it is not an option.
What are the main cons of Pepperstone for Hong Kong traders?
No SFC licence or compensation fund, no weekend HK50, no FPS or Hong Kong office, 200:1 default retail leverage, no slippage data, and several inconsistencies between its own pages.