FTMO Singapore Review

Overview: Peter's Honest Audit

FTMO is widely recognized as an established benchmark in the prop trading industry. Founded in 2015 in Prague, they have operated continuously across multiple industry cycles. If you are a Singapore retail trader looking to trade substantial simulated capital without risking personal wealth beyond the evaluation challenge fee, FTMO provides a transparent and battle-tested evaluation framework.

From an industry research perspective, a primary operational consideration with prop firms is whether the firm honors withdrawal requests when you achieve a profit split according to published rules. FTMO has a documented multi-year operational history of processing scheduled payouts. They provide transparent drawdown rules, permit news trading on standard accounts, and offer competitive raw spreads.

Let's examine their challenge rules, how they operate in Singapore, and the regulatory and tax considerations when receiving performance splits from a Czech commercial entity.

MAS Regulation & Prop Trading Legality in Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) does not regulate prop trading firms. Why? Because FTMO is not a broker, and they do not manage retail client deposits. When you pay a challenge fee, you are paying for an evaluation. Once funded, you trade on a demo account, and the company replicates your trades in their live fund. Because no customer funds are being pooled or managed, FTMO does not require a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license from the MAS. It is entirely legal to participate from Singapore, but you do not have MAS dispute resolution protections.

IRAS Tax Rules: Tax Treatment of FTMO Disbursements

The tax treatment of prop-firm payouts depends on the facts and circumstances of the trader's activity. If the activity constitutes a trade, business, profession or vocation, income may need to be reported as self-employment/business income. Singapore traders should assess their individual circumstances against current IRAS guidance.

While Singapore does not tax personal investment capital gains, prop firm disbursements represent performance fees from a commercial evaluation provider rather than returns from personal capital deployment. If IRAS assesses the trading activity as a commercial trade or vocation under the Badges of Trade framework, net earnings may need to be declared in your annual tax filing. Review official IRAS Self-Employed Individuals Guidance. Furthermore, mandatory MediSave obligations may arise if the trader is treated as self-employed and net trade income exceeds statutory thresholds under CPF Board MediSave Guidelines. Consult our guide on Singapore Forex & Prop Trading Tax.

Trading Conditions, Spreads, and Slippage

FTMO operates its own proprietary institutional server. Spreads on EURUSD and GBPUSD routinely sit at 0.0 to 0.2 pips during the London/New York overlap. Commissions are a standard $3 per lot per side ($6 round turn), which is highly competitive. Execution speeds are excellent (usually under 120ms from Singapore). Unlike other firms, you can trade the news on their swing account profile, which is highly recommended if you don't want to get caught by sudden volatility restrictions.

Frequently Asked Questions