Spread betting in Ireland enjoys many of the same advantages that it does in the UK. As a result, financial spread betting in Ireland has been on the increase over the past decade. This article looks at the benefits of spread trading in Ireland and who the main spread betting companies are.
Advantages of financial spread betting in Ireland
The benefits of spread trading in Ireland are much the same as those in the UK:
- Your profits are free from Capital Gains Tax.
- Your transactions are commission free and do not attract Stamp Duty. The only price you pay for each bet is cost of the spread.
- From one account you can trade a staggering variety of markets and instruments. You can bet on equities, forex, indices, bonds, commodities and interest rates.
- You are not exposed to any currency risk when you bet on the different markets around the world. All your bets are based in Euros.
- You do not own the underlying instrument, you are merely betting on its future price movement. As a result you only need deposit a fraction of the funds that you would need to own the instrument. This means that your capital is highly leveraged and you can make higher value trades with the same capital than you could with standard share dealing.
Main Irish Spread Betting Companies
There are a number of spread betting companies that specifically focus on Ireland. The following companies allow you to trade markets around the world using your base currency of Euros. Note that other companies will accept customers from Ireland, but you may need to trade in dollars or sterling for some markets, thus exposing yourself to currency risk.
WorldSpreads were the first Irish company to offer financial spread betting. Founded in 2000, they have been offering a wide range of markets and tight spreads for nearly a decade. They offer a EUR10,000 demo account and plenty of new trader education resources (including a free one to one tutorial).
Delta Index were founded in 2001. Featuring a good range of markets and tight spreads, they offer controlled risk accounts, a trading simulator account and also publish a weekly trading strategies and opinions newsletter.
Paddy Power, Ireland’s leading book maker, has been a latecomer to the world of financial spread betting, but they have entered the arena with some force. They offer good tools and educational materials for the new spread better and have no minimum deposit on their accounts. They insist that all trades use a stop loss to limit your risk, but they do not offer guaranteed stop losses at this moment in time.
CMC Markets Ireland have been operating since 1989, but the office in Dublin has only been in existence since 2008. They offer a wide variety of markets and have a great execution platform. You can open an account with as little as EUR300.
Conclusion
If you live in Ireland and are interested in financial markets, then spread betting represents a tax efficient, highly leveraged way to profit from movements in the markets. As with all leveraged instruments, you can stand to make large gains but are also exposed to potentially large losses. Ensure that you fully understand the risks inherent in each and every bet you place.
Financial-Spread-Betting.com reviews Irish trading websites like WorldSpreads, Paddy Power and Delta Index and provides a spread betting journal for Irish investors.
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