CMC Markets Review

If your trading idea involves the Polish zloty against the yen or the Mexican peso against the Swiss franc, this CMC Markets review is worth reading, because CMC lists more currency pairs than any other major broker we follow. The company has been around since 1989, floated on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CMCX, and today combines leveraged trading, UK spread betting and, in some countries, a share investing service.

CMC Markets by the Numbers

• Founded in 1989 in London.
• More than 336,000 active clients and about £46 billion in assets under administration.
• 14 offices and over 1,100 staff.
• Over £457 million in tier-one regulatory capital as of March 2026.
• Around 21,700 tradeable symbols, including 303 currency pairs.

As a listed company, CMC publishes audited accounts, and its retail businesses are supervised by the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, CIRO in Canada, MAS in Singapore, the FMA in New Zealand and BaFin in Germany. The regulator that covers you depends on where you open your account, and protections such as compensation schemes follow that local entity.

Currency Coverage and Other Markets

The 303-pair forex list is the headline, covering majors, minors and a long tail of exotic crosses, plus 12 forex indices that track baskets of currencies. Outside forex, clients can trade more than 15,000 share CFDs, about 5,800 ETFs, 82 indices, 127 commodities, 48 treasuries, share baskets and 54 crypto CFDs. CMC does not offer exchange-traded futures or underlying crypto ownership.

Choosing an Account

Standard

The default account is spread-only with no minimum deposit. Independent testing found EUR/USD averaging around 1.3 pips, wider than in previous years and above the advertised minimum.

FX Active

For frequent currency traders, FX Active cuts spreads to as low as zero and charges 0.0025% of notional per side, roughly $2.50 per side per standard lot. Average EUR/USD spreads near 0.65 pips give an all-in cost of about 1.15 pips.

Alpha, Professional and Spectre

CMC Alpha, offered in regions such as Australia, needs a $20,000 deposit plus volume targets in return for rebates and extra services. Professional clients can reach leverage of 500:1, compared with 30:1 for EU and UK retail traders. In the UK, the new Spectre account offers spread betting without leverage or overnight financing for a 1.2% annual maintenance fee.

The Next Generation Platform

CMC’s own Next Generation platform runs in the browser and as a Windows desktop application. It offers 65 indicators, 33 drawing tools and 18 timeframes down to one-second charts, with client sentiment and Reuters headlines built into the trade ticket. Pattern recognition scans for breakouts and emerging formations. The mobile app carries 30 indicators. Account management now sits inside the platform, so switching between demo and live no longer requires leaving it.

MetaTrader 4 is available globally, MetaTrader 5 in the UK, Australia and Canada, and TradingView and FX Blue are also supported. More than 5,000 US shares and ETFs can now be traded 24 hours a day, five days a week.

Deposits, Withdrawals and Fees

Funding options are bank wire, bank transfer, debit and credit cards and PayPal; Skrill, Neteller, Apple Pay and crypto are not accepted. International wires carry no CMC fee. An inactivity charge of £10 a month applies after a full year without trading or open positions, although timing varies by region. Guaranteed stops cost a premium, and overnight financing applies to leveraged positions.

Our View

CMC Markets suits forex traders who want unusual crosses, strong charting and a well-capitalised, publicly listed counterparty. Its weaknesses are a rising standard spread, no copy trading or retail API, and education that lacks structure. Active currency traders should look closely at FX Active rather than the standard account.

Remember that CFDs and spread bets are leveraged and a large share of retail accounts lose money with them.

CMC Markets 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.