Independent review · New Zealand
A genuine FMA licence since 12 August 2020 for Black Bull Group Limited, Auckland — and a different company, BBG Limited in the Seychelles, for clients outside New Zealand.
18+ CFDs with leverage can cost you the whole deposit.
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EURUSD1.12095-0.36%
40 days ago5 Oct 2026
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Each class is real BlackBull inventory. Three in a row reveal what the broker publishes about it.
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Black Bull Group Limited · company 5463921 · since 18 Sep 2014Level 20, 188 Quay Street, AucklandTrade
Spreads from 0.0 pipsECN Prime and Prime+, plus US$3 per side
Deposit
US$0minimum on derivatives accountsWithdraw
US$5flat fee per requestLicence
FMA, since 12 Aug 2020Derivatives issuer · FSP403326
Outside NZ
BBG Limited, SeychellesFSA licence SD045
Custody
Segregated at ANZ Bank New ZealandDisputes: FSCL, participant 5623Checked 29 Aug 2026
Black Bull Group Limited, company 5463921, appears on the FSPR as FSP403326 with “Derivatives issuer — Licensed”, authorised 12 Aug 2020 by the Financial Markets Authority. Its own footer mentions only the registration.
ParentBlack Bull Global8133487New ZealandBlack Bull GroupFMASeychellesBBG LimitedSD045
Invest lineBlack Bull TradeFSP1002113Who it is
BlackBull Markets is a forex and CFD broker founded in 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. The company names Michael Walker and Selwyn Loekman as co-founders and says it serves clients from more than 180 countries. If you searched for BlackBull Markets NZ or the blackbull.com site, this is the group behind both.
The trading name belongs to Black Bull Group Limited, company 5463921, NZBN 9429041417799, which is wholly owned by Black Bull Global Limited, registration 8133487. A third company, Black Bull Trade Limited (FSP1002113), runs the BlackBull Invest share-investing line. Clients outside New Zealand deal with a fourth name: BBG Limited in the Seychelles.
The Companies Office publicly shows two directors, Simon John Botherway of Christchurch and Selwyn Jap Loekman of Whitford, Auckland; three are on file in total. Michael Walker is presented as a co-founder on the website but is not among the publicly displayed directors. A growth equity fund managed by Milford Asset Management, which runs over NZ$34bn, holds a minority stake.
The New Zealand ties are public as well: BlackBull is the official trading partner of Auckland FC for the 2025/26 A-League Men season, a major partner of the Starship Foundation and an accredited holder of the government’s FernMark origin mark.
How the companies split the workLicence
Most reviews repeat the broker’s footer: “registered Financial Services Provider, FSP403326”. The Financial Services tab of that same FSPR entry says more. It lists the service Derivatives issuer — licensed, status Licensed, date of authorisation 12-Aug-2020, licensing authority the Financial Markets Authority. The FSPR registration itself dates from 12-Oct-2014, and the same entry lists further services with their own start dates: forward foreign exchange contracts from 24-Jul-2019, a retail custodial service from 15-Jul-2021 and changing foreign currency from 22-Jul-2025.
So BlackBull understates its own position. The footer and the Compliance page mention only the registration; the sentence “licensed by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) as a Derivatives Issuer” sits in a single support article. For a New Zealand client, that licence comes with membership of the free disputes scheme Financial Services Complaints Limited, participant 5623.
None of this travels offshore. Clients onboarded by BBG Limited are covered by the Seychelles FSA licence SD045 and the Seychelles AML/CFT Act 2020 — not by the FMA or FSCL.
Full register recordFSP403326
Broker’s footer“Registered FSP”UNDERSTATEDFSPR, Financial Services tabLicensed · 12 Aug 2020LICENSED
Disputes schemeFSCL · 5623FREEClients outside NZBBG Limited · SD045OFFSHORERead from the register on 29 Aug 2026.
LoginOne for every platformBase currencyFixed at creationAkahu address checkNZ onlySupport 24/7+64 9 558 5142Login and sign-up
The BlackBull Markets login opens one client cabinet, and that single sign-in serves every platform the group offers — MetaTrader, cTrader, TradingView and the broker’s own apps. Signing up is where the question “which company?” gets its answer: the entity that holds your account is named in the account opening documents, in the client agreement and inside the cabinet itself. Check it there before you deposit.
One rule catches people out. The base currency of an account is fixed when the account is created and cannot be changed later. To trade in another currency you open a second account; several accounts in different currencies can run side by side. New Zealand residents can verify their address through Akahu — a shortcut that only works in New Zealand.
Customer service runs 24/7 by live chat, phone +64 9 558 5142, e-mail support@blackbull.com and WhatsApp. The phone number matches the company’s NZBN record.
Install and sign in, step by stepCosts
The global account line has three tiers. ECN Standard builds its price into the spread, from 0.8 pips, with no commission. ECN Prime and Prime+ start at 0.0 pips and charge commission instead: “US$3 per side for US$100,000 traded”, taken when the trade opens — so a full round turn on one standard lot is US$6. Only Prime+ returns part of that commission as cashback. All three tiers run on Equinix London servers and need no minimum deposit.
The broker adds a footnote that matters: these commission rates apply to forex and metals, and other asset classes can differ.
The leverage headline is “up to 1:500”, but that is a ceiling, not a rate. Leverage is tiered inside a single position. On BTCUSD, for example, the first 25 lots get 1:100, lots 25 to 50 get 1:50, and everything above 50 lots gets 1:20.
Price one round turnEURUSD
+ US$5 each time you request a withdrawal
Broker’s rates, 29 Aug 2026. 1 lot = US$100,000, US$10 per pip.
See the account types
+1Cards & walletsIn: instant* · Out: 1–3 days · Min US$50 · Max US$50,000
Skrill · NetellerIn: minutes · Out: same business day* · Min US$50
9 coinsCryptoIn: minutes to an hour · Out: same business day* · From US$25
Wire · AMEXWire 1–3 days · AMEX 1–2 days, AU$5,000 a week* after approval
Money
Deposits by Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay and Apple Pay land instantly once approved, from US$50 to US$50,000 per transaction, and BlackBull charges nothing to deposit. Crypto starts at about US$25 depending on the network and covers BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, XRP, LTC, LINK, BCH and XLM. Skrill and Neteller take US$50 or more in USD, CAD, AUD, NZD, EUR or GBP. An international bank transfer needs 1–3 business days.
Withdrawals are where the number you will not see in the advertising appears: a flat US$5 internal fee for every withdrawal request, charged per request rather than as a percentage. Australian card issuers add 2.5% of the amount on their side. Cards pay out in 1–3 business days; Skrill, Neteller and crypto the same business day after internal approval. Card withdrawals follow a refund order — your deposit goes back to the card first, profits go out by another method.
Between the two, client money sits in segregated client accounts with ANZ Bank New Zealand, apart from the company’s operating funds.
Broker review
A broker review is only useful if it reads the broker’s own documents against each other. Three of BlackBull’s published figures disagree with themselves, and a fourth is simply out of date. Tap a card to see the second version.
First, the account comparison page carries two different account lines. The global one — ECN Standard, ECN Prime, Prime+ — has no minimum deposit. Below it sits a localised Standard / Raw / Pro table with minimums of US$50, US$100 and US$500 and a line “Local INR Payments: Yes”: it belongs to the Indian storefront and should not be mixed with the global offer.
Second, margin call and stop out are published twice — 70 % and 50 % in the global help centre, 50 % and 20 % in the localised table. Third, the New Zealand landing page says execution averages 20 ms while a badge on the same page says under 100 ms. Finally, the S&P, Fitch and Moody’s ratings on the Compliance page belong to the custodian bank, not to the broker, and date from June 2022.
FAQ
Yes, and the register is specific about it. Black Bull Group Limited appears on the Financial Service Providers Register as FSP403326 with the service "Derivatives issuer - licensed", status Licensed, authorised on 12 August 2020 by the Financial Markets Authority. That is a licence, not only a registration — a distinction the broker's own footer does not make.
It depends on where you live. Black Bull Group Limited primarily services clients in New Zealand; clients in supported jurisdictions outside New Zealand are onboarded by BBG Limited, a Seychelles company registered as 857010-1 and licensed by the Seychelles FSA under SD045. Your account opening documents, client agreement and the client portal all name the entity that holds your account.
There is no minimum deposit to open a derivatives trading account on the Standard, Prime or Prime+ tiers. Individual payment methods do impose their own floors: US$50 per card or e-wallet transaction and about US$25 for crypto, depending on the network. A BlackBull Invest share-investing account requires US$1,000 in the account base currency.
Yes. BlackBull Markets charges no deposit fees but applies a flat internal withdrawal fee of US$5 per withdrawal request, charged per request rather than as a percentage. Australian card issuers separately charge 2.5% of the transaction value. Card withdrawals follow a refund hierarchy: the deposit is returned to the card first, profits are paid by other methods.
The broker states that client funds sit in segregated client accounts with ANZ Bank in New Zealand, kept apart from its own operating funds. Segregation is not the same as insurance: it separates your money from the company's, but it does not cover trading losses. Complaints go to Financial Services Complaints Limited, participant number 5623, free of charge.
Verdict
What you can check yourself: the FMA licence in the register, the company numbers, the FSCL scheme, the ANZ custody and the published fees. What remains the company’s word: 26,000+ instruments, 180 countries, execution speed and the awards. On Trustpilot the broker holds 4.7 out of 5 from 3,466 reviews; 5 % are one-star, it answers 63 % of negative ones, and the repeat complaints are withdrawal times and bonus policy changes.
4.7/ 5 · 3,466 reviews
FSPR, Companies Office and FSCL records, read 29 Aug 2026; fees from BlackBull’s own help pages.
How we check a brokerInstrument count, country count, execution speed and awards — published by the broker, not verified by us.
Trading leveraged CFDs can lose you everything you deposit. An FMA licence is no guarantee your money is safe and does not cover trading losses. Clients outside New Zealand are served by the Seychelles company.
Read the risk notice
