CMC Markets Review 2026: Regulation, Fees, Accounts and Risks

Short answer: CMC Markets is a CFD group founded in 1989 and listed in the FTSE 250. Clients of its international website sign with CMC Markets Bermuda Ltd, licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, not with its FCA-authorised UK company. There is no minimum deposit, retail leverage is capped at 200:1, and the FX Active account charges $2.50 per $100,000 traded per side.

How this review was made: we read CMC Markets’ international website, the Bermuda entity’s MetaTrader Terms of Business, Financial Services Guide, Order Execution Policy and Risk Warning Notice, and regulator pages (BMA, FCA, RBI) as of October 2026. We have not opened a live account, so this edition has no measured spreads or withdrawal times.

CMC Markets in four numbers. Source: CMC Markets website and Bermuda legal documents, October 2026.

CMC Markets at a glance

Is CMC Markets safe and legit?

CMC Markets is one of the older names in retail CFDs. Its international website says it was “Established 1989”, reports “2m+ global clients” based on unique logins across its platforms and partners as of November 2025, and calls itself a “FTSE 250 group” (source). The group’s own figures show 336,523 active clients in its 2026 financial year, up from 290,946 (source). The two numbers measure different things: logins versus clients who actually traded.

Your protection depends on which CMC company holds your account, and the international site uses a newer, offshore one.

Which CMC Markets company holds your account

The MetaTrader sign-up page and the website footer both name CMC Markets Bermuda Ltd (sign-up, footer). Its Financial Services Guide says it holds an Investment Business Standard Licence and a Digital Asset Class F Licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (FSG).

We checked the BMA’s register. It lists CMC Markets Bermuda Ltd twice (BMA):

The group runs other companies for other markets. The FCA Register shows CMC Markets UK plc, reference 173730, authorised since 1 December 2001 (FCA). The group’s office list also names CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (Sydney), CMC Markets Canada Inc, CMC Markets NZ Limited, CMC Markets Germany GmbH with branches in Austria, Norway, Poland and Spain, a Singapore office and CMC Markets Middle East Ltd in Dubai (source). We did not check those companies’ local licences for this review, because none of them holds an account opened through the international site.

What this means in practice:

• Your contract is with the Bermuda company. CMC Markets UK plc and CMC Markets Services Limited act only as paying agents for it (source).
• The FCA Register says clients of CMC Markets UK plc may be able to use the Financial Ombudsman Service and the FSCS. Those links belong to the UK firm. The Bermuda documents name the BMA’s conduct-of-business process as the external complaint route and do not mention the Ombudsman or the FSCS (FSG).
• The FSG mentions professional indemnity insurance that meets Bermuda’s compensation-arrangement rules. It covers claims about professional services by CMC staff. We found no separate investor compensation fund for this entity.
• The Terms of Business are governed by the laws of England and Wales, with English courts having non-exclusive jurisdiction (Terms of Business). The website terms are governed by Bermuda law.

Client money

CMC says client money is kept in segregated bank accounts, and that it holds retail client funds with UK banks regulated by the FCA. It cannot use client money as margin with its own hedging counterparties, and Deloitte audits its client money controls each year (source).

Two details matter if CMC ever failed:

• CMC may place client money in term deposits that need up to 95 days’ notice to withdraw. That does not affect daily withdrawals, but it could delay repayment in a liquidation. Clients would get their share of segregated money back minus the administrator’s costs.
• The FSG says realised and unrealised profits are only protected once they are moved into the segregated account, which happens daily.

Regulator warnings and clones

We found no warning or enforcement notice against CMC Markets Bermuda Ltd on the pages we checked. We did find impostors:

• The FCA warns that CMC GLOBAL MARKETS (websites cmcglobalmarkets.com and cmcgm.org) is unauthorised and targeting people in the UK. The warning was first published on 9 December 2022 (FCA warning).
• The FCA Register lists two clones of CMC Markets UK plc: “IB Platform” (ibplatform.info, ib-platform.info, ibplatform.co), added 30 August 2023, and marketstradeltd.com, added 2 December 2024 (FCA).

CMC says its staff will never offer products or arrange payments through social media, or send balances by personal message (source). Note that the Terms of Business allow CMC to contact you through channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram, so check any message against the official contacts in your client portal.

How CMC Markets makes money

The FSG is direct about it: “CMC Markets is a market maker and the issuer of CMC Markets’ Products, not a broker.” It acts as principal, not as your agent. The Order Execution Policy adds that CMC is the sole execution venue for your orders, and that back-to-back arrangements pass the market risk to CMC Markets UK plc, which then hedges with external counterparties (Order Execution Policy). The same policy says CMC may reject a market order because of “the speed and volume at which you are trading”.

The group lists “risk management gains/(losses)” as a revenue line, defined as gains or losses from client positions it inherits and from its hedges (source). Its pricing policy also says prices may be adjusted “to assist with market-making” (source). None of this is unusual for a CFD issuer, but it is a conflict of interest, and you should read it as one. Our guide to ECN and STP models explains the difference.

CMC Markets account types

CMC offers two account types on every platform: a standard CFD account and FX Active (source). FX Active also gives access to all the non-FX instruments of a standard account.

Sources: client disclosures, FX Active.

The FX Active terms let CMC refuse or remove FX Active pricing for any client at its sole discretion, without giving a reason (FXAT terms).

Which account should you choose?

• Beginner: start on a demo, then a small standard account with leverage far below the maximum.
• Active FX trader: compare the standard spread on your pair with the FX Active spread plus $5 round-turn commission per $100,000. Our page on spread versus commission shows how to do the sum.
• Share CFD trader: use MT5 or the Next Generation platform. CMC lists shares on those two platforms only (source).

Fees

FX Active commission: a worked example

CMC charges 0.0025% of the transaction value. It says this works out at $2.50 per $100,000 of currency traded, so opening and closing a 1-lot (100,000-unit) trade costs $5. On MT4 the commission for both sides is charged upfront when you open; on MT5 it is charged on each side (FX Active, FXAT terms).

Share CFD commission

Source: trading costs. CMC adds that minimum commissions on MT5 are shown in the product’s currency, so a minimum of 9 on a GBX (pence) product means £9.00.

Other costs

• Holding costs: charged or credited at 5pm New York time on positions held overnight. They can be positive or negative (trading costs). On MT4, crypto positions pay three separate daily charges over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, even though the product spec says a 3-day charge on Friday (source).
• Deposits and withdrawals: CMC and its paying agent charge nothing. Your card issuer or payment provider may.
• Dormant accounts: the sources disagree. The FSG, dated 16 August 2025, sets USD 15 a month after 12 months with no activity. The trading costs page says £10 a month, “the amount depends on your account currency”, after a year without trading, and nothing is deducted if the account is empty. The FSG is the legal document, so plan for the higher figure.
• Guaranteed stop-loss orders: a premium applies, refunded in full if the GSLO is not triggered. The FSG only describes GSLOs on the Next Generation platform.
• Market data: some share CFD price feeds need a paid monthly subscription.

Leverage, margin and negative balance protection

CMC says the maximum leverage for retail clients is 200:1 (0.5% margin) on both the standard CFD account and FX Active (source). Individual products can have higher margin rates, shown in the platform.

On MetaTrader, CMC may close some or all of your trades if your account value falls below 50% of your margin requirement, automatically and without notice (source). The FSG adds that CMC does not guarantee this close-out happens and that you must monitor your own account. See margin call and stop out for how these levels work.

Negative balance protection: the Terms of Business say that as a retail client “you cannot lose more than your Invested Capital”, and that CMC will waive a negative cash balance and reset it to zero, though “this may not happen immediately” (Terms of Business). The terms treat you as a retail client unless CMC tells you otherwise in writing.

Deposits and withdrawals

CMC lists card, bank transfer, crypto via Binance Pay, Neteller and Skrill as funding methods, with the full list shown in the client portal (source). The FX Active page names USDT and USDC through Binance Pay.

From the legal documents and disclosures:

• There is no minimum deposit, but you cannot trade until you have enough money to cover the position.
• Payments are processed through third parties that CMC names as Checkout.com, Skrill, Neteller, Clearbank and Barclays (source).
• Withdrawals only go to an account or wallet in your name. If you funded in fiat, you withdraw in your account currency.
• Crypto cannot fund the account directly. A third-party crypto service converts it to fiat, and a withdrawal goes back the same way, though CMC may choose to pay you through a bank instead (Terms of Business).
• If an account has had no activity for six years and CMC cannot reach you within 30 days, it may deal with the money “at our discretion” under applicable law.

We could not confirm withdrawal processing times or the list of account currencies from CMC’s public pages. Check both in the client portal before you deposit.

Platforms and demo accounts

• MetaTrader 4: forex, indices, commodities and cryptos, with over 175 FX pairs. CMC quotes MT4 execution speeds of 0.066 seconds (source).
• MetaTrader 5: adds shares, more order types and depth of market.
• TradingView: link your CMC account and trade from TradingView charts.
• Next Generation: CMC’s own web platform and app, with 300 FX pairs (source), Morningstar research and Reuters news.
• Expert Advisors: allowed, and CMC says its MetaTrader platforms have no minimum stop-loss or take-profit distance. CMC does not endorse automated trading and is not responsible for losses from it.
• VPS: free ForexVPS hosting if you trade at least 15 standard lots per calendar month (source).

CMC’s pages give different instrument counts: the homepage says “over 21,000 instruments” on its web platform and app, while the same page and the FX Active page show “12,000 Financial instruments”. They also differ on MT4 FX pairs (“over 175” and “over 170”).

Demo accounts: the homepage says MT4 and MT5 demos are available for an initial 30 days and expire after 30 days of inactivity. The FX Active page says they stay open as long as you log in at least once every 30 days. The Next Generation demo has no expiry, and the FX Active demo comes with $10,000 in virtual funds. See what a demo account is for how to use one well.

Complaints

Complaints are handled in English only. Contact the Client Management Team at [email protected] or (UK) +44 20 3003 8080. On timing, the documents differ: the FSG says CMC aims to resolve complaints within 15 business days, while the website’s dispute-handling section promises a final response within 60 calendar days. If you are not satisfied, the external route is the Bermuda Monetary Authority at bma.bm/conduct-of-business (source).

How CMC pays introducers

If you join through a referral link, as on this site, CMC may pay the referrer. Its disclosure lists the ranges for MetaTrader accounts (source):

• Forex: 0 to 30 points, up to $30 per lot (100,000 units) closed
• Gold: up to $35 per lot; US30 index: up to $13.50 per lot
• Share CFDs: up to 40% of the commission you pay
• Any product: up to 20% of CMC’s revenue from your account
• Fixed fee: typically $125 per referred client, up to $500

CMC says referrers may not give investment advice, handle your money, trade for you or pressure you to trade, and it asks referred clients to report any misconduct. You can ask CMC what is paid on your own account.

Is CMC Markets available in my country?

The Bermuda Terms of Business require that you are not located in, incorporated in or resident in the USA, or anywhere it would be unlawful to trade, and the website says CFD services are not available to US residents (source). The footer adds that the site is not directed at residents of the United States or Belgium.

The country list on the MetaTrader sign-up form is longer in practice. As of October 2026 it did not offer the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Spain or Belgium, which are served by other CMC companies or not at all. It also left out sanctioned or high-risk countries such as Iran, North Korea, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela (sign-up). The form can change, so treat it as a guide and not a legal list.

United States: US residents cannot open an account. We do not suggest offshore brokers to US residents.

India: CMC Markets is not named on the RBI Alert List (updated 19 November 2025). The RBI says the list is not exhaustive and that a name missing from it should not be taken as authorised. Under FEMA, Indian residents may trade forex only in permitted currency pairs through RBI-authorised persons, recognised Indian exchanges or RBI-authorised platforms, and CMC Markets does not say it holds any Indian authorisation. If you are in India, weigh this legal risk before opening an account.

CMC Markets alternatives

Bottom line

CMC Markets brings a 1989 track record, a listed parent, no minimum deposit, written negative balance protection for retail clients and an FX Active account with a clear 0.0025% commission. Its legal documents are detailed, dated and easy to check.

The trade-off is the entity. Accounts opened through the international site sit with CMC Markets Bermuda Ltd, licensed by the BMA since December 2024, which issues the CFDs it sells and passes the risk to its UK sister company. Some fees and deadlines also differ between CMC’s own pages.

If you go ahead, start on a demo, keep leverage far below 200:1, check the live spread and account currency in the portal before depositing, and only deposit money you can afford to lose.