The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
BlackBull Markets is a New Zealand based online broker offering trading across forex, commodities, indices, metals, cryptocurrencies and equity CFDs through an ECN (electronic communication network) execution model, alongside a separate service, BlackBull Invest, for direct ownership of shares, ETFs, options and bonds. The firm gives access to more than 26,000 tradable instruments through MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView and its own BlackBull CopyTrader platform, with spreads advertised from 0.0 pips and leverage up to 1:500 on eligible accounts. The broker targets both retail traders and institutional or algorithmic clients, the latter served through FIX API connectivity, free VPS hosting and support for Expert Advisor automation. Three account tiers, Standard, ECN Prime and Prime+, segment pricing by trading volume, with Prime+ aimed at high volume clients seeking commission rebates. Its point of difference versus other ECN brokers is combining CFD trading with a genuine direct investing arm, BlackBull Invest, under one brand, plus institutional backing from exchange infrastructure operator LMAX Group, whose partnership is aimed at improving pricing, execution speed and market depth, including for BlackBull's cryptocurrency offering via LMAX Digital. The company was founded in 2014 in Auckland by Michael Walker and Selwyn Loekman; Walker, then a University of Auckland student, turned down an offer from JP Morgan to build the business, which the founders kept self funded in its early years rather than take outside investment. It operates as Black Bull Group Limited in New Zealand and as BBG Limited (Seychelles company number 857010-1) for clients served under its Seychelles licence, and holds a Derivatives Issuer Licence from New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority, active since 12 August 2020 under FSP403326, plus a Seychelles Financial Services Authority licence, SD045. BlackBull says it serves tens of thousands of traders across more than 180 countries, with New Zealand clients now under 10 percent of its base, and lists representative offices in New York, London, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur alongside its Auckland headquarters. BlackBull Markets has taken on two minority institutional investors. Milford Private Equity Fund III, part of New Zealand and Australian fund manager Milford Asset Management, which manages over NZ$34 billion, took a stake announced in May 2023, with Milford's Brooke Bone joining the board and Simon Botherway becoming independent chair. LMAX Group, operator of institutional forex and crypto exchange infrastructure in London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore, acquired a minority stake announced in June 2024 as part of a strategic partnership on pricing, execution and crypto infrastructure via LMAX Digital.
