CMC Markets Review 2024
Key Takeaways
- CMC Markets (CMC) is a global Contract for Differences (CFD) and FOREX broker that was established in 1989. It is regulated by several formidable authorities globally, including the top-tier UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). CMC is also listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol, CMCX.
- CMC Markets is considered low-risk. While CMC Markets does not operate a bank, the broker is nonetheless publicly traded and is authorized by four high trust (tier-1) regulators and two (tier-2) regulators.
- CMC Markets is suited for a variety of traders, from the novice retail trader looking to begin with the online trading arenas of FOREX, CFDs and spread-betting, to the experienced veteran seeking to expand to a broad portfolio of products. At the same time, the firm's fees are considered competitive within the industry and it ranks high on several of our lists.
- CMC Markets offers clients one of the most extensive product catalogs available in the online FOREX brokerage community.
- Clients can use multiple deposit and withdrawal options, as well as CFD account base currencies.
- CMC Markets is cognizant of the importance of customer support and places a high priority on meeting the needs of its customers in an efficient and satisfactory manner.
- CMC Markets offers competitive pricing that is better than the industry average, with typical spreads of 0.74 pips on the EUR/USD, according to CMC Markets price data for August 2020.
- The required CMC Markets minimum deposit is $0, which is ideal for traders who want to start with lower amounts.
- The CMC Markets “Next Generation” trading platform is fast, reliable and comes fully packed with extensive features and tools, making it a market leader that will impress even the most demanding of traders.
- Clients can choose between Next Generation and MetaTrader4 (MT4) for iOS and Android when picking a mobile platform.
- CMC Markets shines in the research category, with extensive research and analysis from in-house analysts and third-party materials.
CMC Markets Evaluate - research result
Overall Summary
CMC Markets (CMC) is a global CFD and FOREX broker, established in 1989. It is regulated by several authorities globally, including the top-tier UK FCA.
The company is also listed on the LSE under the ticker symbol, CMCX. CMC Markets is considered safe because it has a long history, is listed on the London bourse, and is overseen by several top-tier regulators. Like many FOREX brokers, CMC does not accept US traders.
CMC Markets is a globally trusted broker that delivers a formidable offering for traders, thanks to excellent pricing, nearly 10,000 tradable instruments, and the Next Generation trading platform. The platform comes packed with quality research, innovative trading tools, and powerful charting. This, along with the ubiquitous downloadable MT4 platform and a highly functional mobile application, comprises CMC's entire online offering to the consumer.
The CMC Markets Next Generation platform is filled with an extensive selection of nearly 10,000 tradable instruments. It delivers a tremendous user experience, advanced tools, comprehensive market research and an excellent mobile app. In comparison, its MT4 offering is limited to just 62 symbols.
CMC provides traders access to an extensive range of offerings, both CFDs and spread betting, across several different asset classes. Aside from the greater-than-usual complement of FOREX, indices, commodities and individual shares, a comprehensive government-bond listing and 14 cryptocurrency offerings (12 cryptos + two indices) fill out the product roster, providing an overwhelming number of potential trading opportunities for all types of traders.
Further, the broker offers competitive spreads that dynamically widen or contract with trade sizes, and clients' accounts are protected from going into a negative balance condition.
Dedicated sites for professionals and institutions highlight CMC's added commitment to skilled traders, but higher-level additional benefits, such as rebates and a free Application Programming Interface (API) offered to those who qualify as “professional” traders, are not available to the retail trader. Nevertheless, all account holders gain access to guaranteed stop-loss (GSLO) and free bank wire withdrawals, among other useful features.
Is CMC Markets Safe?
Yes. CMC Markets is considered low-risk. While CMC Markets does not operate a bank, the broker is nonetheless publicly traded and is authorized by four high trust (tier-1) regulators and two average trust (tier-2) regulators. CMC Markets is authorized by the following tier-1 regulators: the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and, as noted before, the UK's FCA.
CMC Markets is regulated through the FCA under registration number #173730. The broker also makes an effort to ensure client funds are not co-mingled with corporate funds, in accordance with the UK FCA's client money rules. This ensures that client assets are safeguarded, in the unlikely event that CMC becomes insolvent, by holding those funds in segregated accounts at regulated banks. Furthermore, these segregated funds are held in a host of tier-1 UK and European banks to further disperse risk.
Clients have additional asset protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), up to £85,000, but there are no layers of private insurance, which is an omission, given CMC's large industry footprint.
Negative balance protection is now mandated under European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) rules, in effect since 2018. The broker's dealing desk acts as the initial counter-party on all CFD trades and spreads bets, but pricing is automated through the platforms, reducing conflict-of-interest potential.
CMC's software security is parallel with the best the industry has to offer. In addition to two-factor and biometric authentication, there is a timer that will log the user out of the mobile application if it is not being used.
Who Is CMC Markets Recommended For?
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Extensive range of offerings.
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Regulated by the FCA (UK).
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Low FOREX fees.
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Emphasis on education and customer service.
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Great Web and mobile platforms.
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Offers protection for client accounts.
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Research amenities are industry leading.
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Does not accept US clients.
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Limited product portfolio.
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High stock CFD fees.
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High CFD spreads for certain indices.
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Differences between Next Generation and MT4.
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Complicated account verification.
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No back-testing or automated trading capabilities.
Offering of Investments
CMC Markets offers clients among the largest product catalogs available in the online FOREX brokerage community. The below list summarizes the different investment products available to CMC Markets' clients:
FOREX Trading Yes.
CFDs (Total) 9,852.
FOREX Pairs (Total) 330.
Cryptocurrency (Physical) No.
Cryptocurrency (CFD) Yes.
Social Trading/Copy-Trading Yes.
In excess of 9,000 shares and ETFs.
More than 110 commodities.
50 + treasuries.
Spreads are competitively low and all financial instruments, other than individual shares, have specified margin percentages.
Note that cryptocurrency trading is available through CFDs, but not available via trading the underlying asset (e.g., buying Bitcoin). At the same time, Crypto CFDs are not available from any broker's UK entity, nor to UK residents.
The FCA banned the sale of crypto-derivatives to UK retail consumers from January 6, 2021. Also, you cannot change leverage levels at CMC Markets. For FOREX products, it is automatically set at 30:1. This is a deficiency, as changing leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Available assets
| Markets | Available | Number of Assets |
| Currency Pairs | 330 | |
| Stocks | 10000 | |
| Commodities | 100 | |
| Crypto | 19 | |
| Indices | 80 | |
| ETFs | 200 |
- Australian dollar.
- British pound.
- Canadian dollar.
- Euro.
- New Zealand dollar.
- Norwegian krone.
- Polish zloty.
- Singapore dollar.
- Swedish krona.
- US dollar.
Customer Support
- Chinese.
- English.
- French.
- German.
- Italian.
- Norwegian.
- Polish.
- Spanish.
- Swedish.
Commissions and Fees
CMC Markets offers active traders liquidity rebates beginning at $5 per million when a trader surpasses at least $25 million in notional trading volumes per month, to as much as $10 per million for those who trade over $300 million monthly. This program in the UK is available only to professional clients.
Account Types
- You worked in the financial sector for at least one year.
- Your portfolio exceeds €500k.
| Account Type | Minimum Deposit | Spread Commission | Commission | Swap Commission | Deposit Commission | Withdrawal Commission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFD account | 0$ | Starting from0.3 pip | Starting from $7 | Available | 0$ | 0$ |
| FX Active | 0$ | Starting from 0 pip | Starting from $7 | Available | 0$ | 0$ |
| Spread betting | 0$ | Starting from 0 pip | $0 | Available | 0$ | 0$ |
Platforms and Tools
The CMC Markets Next Generation trading platform is fast, reliable and comes full of extensive tools and features, making it a market leader that will impress even the pickiest of traders. During our testing, we were extremely impressed with the Next Generation platform’s design, which focuses on speed and usability.
For example, the layout wizard lets you choose between floating or fixed windows, in addition to predefined layouts or custom setup. Further, module linking is supported with five levels color-coded, which helps save time when clicking a watchlist symbol and seeing the corresponding chart update to that instrument.
With regard to charts, the Next Generation experience is quite lavish, with 80 technical indicators and studies, 40 drawing tools, and 60 candlestick patterns (73 when including 13 chart patterns) that are easily attachable.
Stands out from the charting experience are the “Breakout” and “Emerging Patterns” tools, which are categorized and ranked by their signal strength probability. These chart patterns auto-adjust when the chart time-scale is changed, enabling traders to scan from a one-minute chart, to a monthly chart and see any respective patterns identified.
CMC Market's latest innovation is its Chart Forum, which is a social-media-style forum that allows you to post technical analysis and see the posts of others directly on a chart, including posts from CMC Markets analysts. Once enabled, if you are looking at a EUR/USD chart, for example, and click to view a user's post in the accompanying Chart Forum section, their full analysis (indicators included) loads on your chart.
Of course, you want to be careful from whom you accept opinions, but being able to distinguish in-house staff from the public is a nice innovation and we were impressed. The feature reminded us of IG’s Community.
Although advanced order types, such as the “Boundary Order,” are available to help traders set a deviation parameter (e.g., limit potential slippage), the Next Generation platform does not feature the ability to run automated trading strategies. That said, even though pattern recognition and social-trading tools are available, traders looking for automated trading can choose the CMC Markets MT4 platform, although it is limited to a much smaller product range. With just 62 instruments available in MT4, and far fewer tools and features, we do not recommend MetaTrader over Next Generation.
Cryptocurrency CFD trading and spread betting are seamless, requiring no special interface or exchange. However, relatively high average spreads could reduce client interest.
Next Generation has three basic order types with the option of attaching "take profit" and/or "stop-loss" orders to them. Additionally, the trader can set an initial stop-loss at the time of execution for market orders and then amend it to a GSLO after execution. For pending orders, the trader can choose both guaranteed and/or trailing options when filling out the order ticket prior to execution.
1. Market – The simplest order, where a trader signals that their trade request should be executed at the prevailing market rate.
2. Limit – A pending order, where the entry is at a predetermined point below or above the prevailing market rate depending on whether it is a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
3. Stop – A pending order, where the entry is at a predetermined point above or below the prevailing market rate depending on whether it is a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
Clients may choose between Next Generation and MT4 for iOS and Android when picking a mobile platform. The homegrown app outshines MT4 in nearly all aspects, but includes fewer features than its Web version. More importantly, chart optimization has been emphasized. Clients can build complex orders and generate customized alerts through push notification or email. The apps provide fingerprint ID entry, but this useful feature is not part of a two-tier authentication process. MT4 is offered as an add-on or standalone account option, but is limited to CFDs and has no share capacity.
Next Generation does not have back-testing capabilities, forcing some account holders to use MT4, which is inferior to the homegrown platform in other ways. CMC does not offer direct Virtual Private Server (VPS) service, either. The same holds true for an API that permits the use of more sophisticated trading platforms that support algorithmic and automatic trading routines. Client positioning data embedded within the proprietary software is an excellent feature that could have been enhanced if social or copy trading was also available.
Mobile Trading
The overall look and feel of the CMC Markets' mobile app closely resembles the Web-based version of the Next Generation platform. There is no question that extensive time was invested in the app's development, especially given the challenge of organizing so much information with such limited screen space.
The only minor drawback we found was that indicators added in the Web do not automatically sync with the mobile app, which is a feature provided by Saxo Bank and TD Ameritrade. Cons aside, watchlists do sync with the Web version, and once you add indicators, the layout can be saved as a preset to apply to other charts on the CMC Markets mobile app.
CMC Markets’ staff provides research under the Intraday Update, Morning Call, Evening Call and Price Mover categories, among other themes available in the Next Generation mobile app. Once subscribed to an event in the economic calendar, an alert will notify you when the news release time approaches.
Research and Development
- Demo account.
- General educational videos.
- Platform tutorial videos.
- Quality educational articles.
- Webinars.
- Glossary.
Final Thoughts on CMC Markets
Conclusion
CMC Markets in Brief
Review Methodology
The team at Arincen collected more than 120 pieces of data covering in excess of 100 licensed FOREX companies. Data collection was done in three ways:
Companies’ Websites.
Other Websites that have ranked FOREX companies.
A survey questionnaire (referred to here as Survey “1”) we had sent to the companies invited to participate in the exercise.
We have identified 12 criteria for our assessment, each containing several aspects and carrying its own relative weight. These include licensing, deposits and withdrawals, number of assets etc.
Afterward we validated the data by:
Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.
Survey number “2,” in which we asked these companies’ customers for important feedback and past experience.
The next step saw us evaluate and rank each company, relying on the hard work of 15 Arincen employees. We were very careful in ensuring the most accurate assessment possible, including taking into account different languages, as well as the various mobile-app operating systems, e.g., Apple, Samsung etc.
To add credibility to our research project, we sent a final and third survey (referred to here as Survey “3”) to enable participating FOREX companies evaluate our own research and whether it accurately reflects the realities on the ground. We were fortunate enough to receive a mark of 9.9 out of 10! We have kept to a minimum the margin of error, which stood at a measly 1%. To learn more on how we came up with the evaluation, please click here.
FAQ
CMC Markets is authorized by four tier-1 regulators (high trust): the ASIC, the IIROC, the MAS and the FCA. It is also regulated by two tier-2 (average trust) regulators.
The broker takes steps to ensure client funds are not co-mingled with corporate funds, in accordance with the UK FCA's client money rules. These segregated funds are held in a host of tier-1 UK and European banks so as to disperse risk further. Clients enjoy asset protection through the FSCS up to £85,000. Negative Balance Protection is now mandated under ESMA rules that went into effect in 2018.
All countries, but does not accept US clients.
Cryptocurrency trading is available through CFDs, but not available via trading the underlying asset (e.g., buying Bitcoin). At the same time, Crypto CFDs are not available to UK residents.
At the time of writing, the broker offered a $250 bonus for referring a friend. Both the referring client and their friend were eligible for the bonus.
You can use multiple withdrawal and deposit options, including bank transfer, credit and debit cards, as well as PayPal.
CMC Markets offers its proprietary Next Generation trading platform, as well as MT4 for iOS and Android.
Contact options cover all the bases, with email for clients and prospective clients, 24/5 local phone support, and comprehensive FAQ and support libraries. Live chat is also available.
