City Index Review

Anyone searching for a City Index review in late 2026 should know one thing first: the City Index name has gone. On 9 September 2026 StoneX Group announced that its UK retail business would relaunch as StoneX Trading, and the City Index brand was retired three days later. This page explains what the brand was, what replaced it and whether the underlying service is still worth considering.

Four Decades of a UK Trading Brand

City Index was set up in London in September 1983 and began trading in 1984, becoming one of the first firms to offer financial spread betting to private clients. Investor Michael Spencer took control in the late 1990s, and the firm expanded through acquisitions such as IFX Group in 2005 and the US broker FX Solutions in 2008. GAIN Capital, owner of FOREX.com, bought City Index in a deal completed in 2015, and in 2020 StoneX Group acquired GAIN for about $236 million, bringing both brands under one Nasdaq-listed parent.

The Wind-Down, Region by Region

StoneX did not retire the brand in one step. City Index Singapore clients moved to FOREX.com in 2025, and City Index Australia was renamed FOREX.com in August 2025. The UK, the brand’s birthplace, was last. There, StoneX Trading is a trading name of StoneX Financial Ltd, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference 446717, the same entity that now runs FOREX.com’s UK business.

According to StoneX, existing clients do not need to do anything. Their accounts, logins, platforms and support teams stay the same, and all new UK account openings go through StoneX Trading. The rebrand coincided with softer results for the division: StoneX reported FX and CFD revenue down 19% year on year in the quarter to June 2026, which it linked to lower trading volume rather than the name change.

What Clients Actually Trade

The product set is unchanged and broad. Clients can reach roughly 13,500 markets, including more than 80 currency pairs, index and share CFDs, commodities, bonds, interest-rate products and options. UK residents can choose between spread betting, which is generally free of capital gains tax under current UK rules, and CFD trading. Underlying shares and crypto are not offered, and crypto derivatives are unavailable to UK retail clients under FCA rules.

Pricing Snapshot

• Forex, indices and commodities: no commission, with costs built into the spread; independent testing puts EUR/USD at around 1.1 pips on average.
• Share CFDs: 0.08% per side with a £10 minimum on UK and European stocks, or 1.8 cents per share with a $10 minimum on US stocks.
• Inactivity: £12 per month after 12 months without trading.
• Funding: no fixed minimum deposit for standard UK accounts, with bank transfer, card and PayPal accepted.

Retail leverage follows FCA caps of 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on major indices and gold, and 5:1 on shares. Elective professional clients can access higher margins and volume-based rebates.

Platforms

The in-house Web Trader is the centrepiece, with TradingView charts, Trading Central research and client sentiment data built in. A matching mobile app offers the same markets. MetaTrader 4 is available for algorithmic traders, while MetaTrader 5 is not offered in most regions, which may disappoint traders who have moved on from MT4.

Should You Still Consider It?

The core proposition remains a stable, FCA-regulated broker backed by a large listed parent, with a deep market list and UK spread betting. The weaknesses are also unchanged: costs are higher than at raw-spread specialists, and education is thinner than at the market leaders. The main new consideration is administrative. Anyone outside the UK who once held a City Index account should now look at FOREX.com, while UK traders will deal with StoneX Trading.

Verdict

City Index as a name belongs to history, but the platform and licence behind it continue. For UK traders who value longevity and spread betting over the lowest possible spreads, StoneX Trading is a reasonable home.

Spread bets and CFDs are leveraged, and losses can build faster than many traders expect, so keep exposure modest.

City Index FAQ

Risk warning: Trading forex and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk. Bonus terms are set by each broker and may change; always check the broker's official terms before claiming.