Scandinavian Capital Markets

What Scandinavian Capital Markets does

Scandinavian Capital Markets is a Stockholm-headquartered, privately held STP-ECN forex and CFD broker founded in 2011 and operating through its parent Scandinavian Capital Markets SCM AB, registered with the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, registration #80438) since 2012, alongside a Mauritius-regulated entity licensed by the FSC (#GB24203561). The company runs an agency-only execution model with 100% of client order flow routed to external counterparties, aggregating raw spreads from Tier 1 banks and prime brokers (with ISPrime as the primary liquidity provider) through co-located infrastructure in Equinix NY4 (New York) and LD4 (London) data centers.

The product portfolio centers on three trading platforms — MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader — accessible via FIX API for algorithmic, HFT, and institutional clients. Commercialization is structured as three pricing tiers: a Free tier ($0/lot RT, 10-lot monthly cap) for strategy testing, a Growth tier ($4/lot RT with unlimited volume and FIX API access) for active experienced traders, and a custom Institutional tier with dedicated liquidity, advanced analytics, and 1-hour dedicated support. An Introducing Broker affiliate program paying $2/lot RT serves as a parallel distribution channel. Supporting products include an education and market insights hub, a Trader's Dictionary, and the migrated Place A Trade signal-trading service.

The firm targets experienced retail forex traders, signal/system traders, asset managers, and small-to-mid institutional clients such as hedge funds and prop trading firms, excluding residents of the USA, the EU, and approximately thirty additional restricted jurisdictions. Revenue mechanics are transaction-commission driven with supplementary inactivity and discretionary withdrawal fees; no venture capital or external equity is disclosed, and the company is currently led by co-founder and manager Arif Alexander Ahmad following the November 2025 departure of longtime partner Michael Buchbinder.

Name

Scandinavian Capital Markets

Legal name

Scandinavian Capital Markets SCM AB

Website

https://scandinavianmarkets.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Scandinavian Capital Markets is a privately held Stockholm-based STP-ECN forex and CFD broker serving experienced retail, algorithmic, and institutional traders via MT4, MT5, and cTrader, regulated in Sweden and Mauritius.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Trading Commissions: Commission-based revenue charged per lot traded. The Free plan has $0/lot, Growth plan charges $4/lot RT (round turn), and Institutional plans have custom pricing. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Inactivity Fees: Discretionary $25 fee for withdrawals if no trading activity is undertaken or withdrawal amount is lower than $25. Monthly rolling charge of $20 USD/EUR/GBP for accounts inactive for 12 consecutive months.
3. IB/Affiliate Referrals: Revenue from Introducing Broker program where affiliates earn commissions based on trading volume of referred clients. Default commission is $2 per lot RT.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Scandinavian Capital Markets is an asset management firm that operates as a STP-ECN forex and CFD broker, providing institutional-grade execution of trades in Forex, Metals, Indices, Oil, Commodities, and Cryptocurrency CFDs via raw spreads sourced from Tier 1 banks and prime brokers. Clients access the broker's aggregated deep ECN liquidity through MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and FIX API channels, choosing between a Free, Growth ($4/lot RT), or custom-priced Institutional pricing tier. The offering is rounded out by an Introducing Broker affiliate program, educational/market analysis content, and a Trader's Dictionary resource.

Product overview

Scandinavian Capital Markets is a STP-ECN forex broker operating as a single integrated platform with multiple trading interfaces and tiered pricing plans. The core offering is institutional-grade forex and CFD execution via Straight-Through Processing and ECN aggregation, delivering raw spreads sourced from Tier 1 banks and prime brokers. The product portfolio spans three proprietary-featured trading platforms — MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader — alongside three commission-based pricing tiers (Free, Growth at $4/lot, and custom Institutional), providing execution infrastructure for retail and institutional traders. The company further extends its offering through educational content (Education & Market Insights hub and Trader's Dictionary), an Introducing Broker (IB) affiliate program with real-time revenue reporting, and the acquired signal-trading service Place A Trade. FIX API access is available across all platforms for automated trading. The broker is regulated in Sweden (Finansinspektionen) and Mauritius (FSC), supports deposits via card, Skrill, and USDT stablecoin, and does not engage in AI or machine learning capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Scandinavian Asset Management: A platform that previously offered passive currency trading strategies to customers. The company no longer provides this asset management service.

Products and services

• MetaTrader 4 Trading Platform The world's most widely used Forex trading platform, made available via Windows desktop client, Android, and iOS apps, supporting Expert Advisors (EAs), custom indicators, advanced charting, and manual/automated trading strategies for retail and institutional traders.
• MetaTrader 5 Trading Platform Next-generation multi-asset successor to MT4, offering advanced depth of market (DOM), faster execution, and enhanced features for trading Forex, Indices, and Commodities. Available on Windows, Android, and iOS for sophisticated and institutional traders.
• cTrader Trading Platform Advanced third-party trading platform with sophisticated features geared toward sophisticated traders, supporting FIX API connectivity and partial-close stop-out mechanics for precise risk management. Available on Windows Native, Mac OS, Android, and iOS.
• FIX API Connectivity Direct API access to aggregated ECN liquidity via the FIX protocol through MT4, MT5, or cTrader platforms, enabling automated and algorithmic trading, Expert Advisors, cTrader Bots, and black-box executions for institutional clients and algorithmic traders.
• Institutional Trading Infrastructure Dedicated trading infrastructure for financial institutions with custom liquidity builds, advanced analytics, and 1-hour dedicated support response times. Targets hedge funds, prop trading firms, and asset managers requiring bespoke liquidity solutions.
• Introducing Broker (IB) Affiliate Program Global IB program where affiliates earn a default $2 per lot RT commission (customizable) for referred trading clients, with a real-time IB portal for revenue tracking and customizable commission splits.
• Place A Trade Signal/Strategy Trading Service Signal and strategy trading service migrated from Eightcap in November 2024, offering trading signal subscriptions with reduced commissions, multi-platform access, and premium multilingual support for subscribers of automated trading strategies.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ISPrimecoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary liquidity provider in London. Scandinavian Markets aggregates the best bid and ask prices from numerous prime brokers and ECNs, with ISPrime as the primary LP, to ensure the best possible execution for clients.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• IC Markets: Pure STP-ECN forex broker offering MT4/MT5/cTrader with raw-spread execution and institutional liquidity. Operates in the same retail and institutional FX/CFD segment with comparable pricing tiers and global serving model.
• Pepperstone: Major Australian-headquartered STP/ECN forex and CFD broker with MT4/MT5/cTrader access and institutional flow. Competes directly with SCM for algorithmic and high-volume retail traders.
• Vantage: Multi-asset STP-ECN broker providing FX and CFD execution via MT4/MT5/cTrader with ECN pricing. Targets the same experienced retail and institutional clients as SCM.
• Tickmill: ECN/STP-regulated forex broker offering low-commission execution on MT4/MT5. Direct competitor in the algorithmic and high-volume retail STP space.
• FxPro: Multi-jurisdiction-regulated FX/CFD broker with MT4/MT5/cTrader support and institutional-grade execution. Closely comparable offering across the platforms and pricing tiers.
• Eightcap: STP/ECN-regulated broker across MT4/MT5/cTrader. Notably, SCM absorbed Eightcap's Place A Trade client book in November 2024, making Eightcap a directly relevant peer for migration execution.
• Axi: ECN/STP forex broker with MT4/MT5/cTrader and PsyQuation tools. Targets the same algo/scalper/HFT retail segment with raw spreads and institutional connectivity.
• FP Markets: Australian ECN forex and CFD broker with MT4/MT5/cTrader/Iress platforms. Comparable STP execution model and tiered account structure targeting both retail and institutional traders.

Broad incumbents

• Interactive Brokers: Large multi-asset broker with deep FX offering, institutional liquidity, and FIX API. Operates across equities, options, futures, and FX — broader portfolio but overlapping institutional client base.
• OANDA: Established multi-jurisdiction FX broker with proprietary platform plus MT4. Direct retail competitor with broader geographic acceptance and significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Scand_markets
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ScandinavianCapitalMarkets
• Facebookfacebook.com/scandinaviancapitalmarkets
• Instagraminstagram.com/scandinaviancapitalmarkets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scandinavian-capital-markets

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scandinavian Capital Markets