CMC Markets is thought of as one the best companies, offering some 9,000 asset classes that encompass currencies, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds and stocks. The company offers a relatively low spread, the MT4 platform, and fast customer service. It is most suited for traders looking for diversity in asset classes.
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 Evaluation 8.07
Regulations
9.5
Deposits and Withdrawals
5
Commissions
9.7
Assets
9.5
Trading Platform
6
Research and Development
10
Customer Service
7.5
Mobile App Trading
10
Learning
10
Experience with broker
8
Trading Tools
8
Website
5
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.
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?
CMC Markets is suited to all types of traders, from the novice retail trader looking to begin in the online trading arenas of FOREX, CFDs and spread-betting, to the experienced veteran seeking exposure to a broad portfolio of products. The firm's fees are competitive within the industry and it ranks high on several of our lists.
CMC Markets has low FOREX fees and no charge for deposit and withdrawals, except for same-day and international withdrawals. The Web and mobile trading platforms are well-designed, highly customizable, and feature rich, such as an advanced order panel. Research and educational tools are also wide-ranging and sophisticated.
On the downside, stock CFD fees are high, and the product portfolio is limited, covering only CFDs and FOREX products. The account verification process is complicated and can require some time to complete.
No back-testing or automated trading capabilities.
Pros Explained
CMC Markets offers clients one of the largest product catalogs available in the online FOREX brokerage community. As advertised on the CMC Markets’ Website, clients can trade up to 10,000 instruments, which opens up many new opportunities, especially with longer-term portfolio managers.
CMC Markets is regulated by the FCA (#173730), one of the main regulatory agencies in the UK and highly regarded globally for being strict in ensuring that market practices are kept fair for both individuals and businesses.
CMC Markets places an emphasis on customer service, which includes 24/5 telephone support with access to live brokers and a chat service. This, coupled with its educational offerings, buoyed it in the Arincen rankings. Being able to readily contact a broker is crucial for anyone engaged in the arena of online trading.
CMC Markets' dedication to providing clients top-notch research is to be commended. Such service is comparable with the best that the online FOREX brokerage arena has to offer.
CMC Markets offers negative balance protection, which has become a fairly important feature offered by most online brokers currently. The catalyst was most likely the SNB event of January 15, 2015, that shook the markets, especially the highly-leveraged retail FOREX market. Further, CMC also offers Guaranteed Stop Loss (GSLO).
Cons Explained
CMC Markets does not accept US clients due to regulatory constraints, which precludes it being considered a global broker. This would be a red flag were it not for the fact that the company is regulated by the FCA, which, along with US regulatory agencies, is widely considered to be the preeminent regulatory body.
Differences exist between CMC Markets' Next Generation platform and its MT4 platform in terms of spreads, commissions and product offerings. Essentially, CMC's Web-based platform is the company's de facto flagship offering and has far more functionality than its MT4 white-label. This would not be as big of an issue were it not for the fact that MT4 is CMC Markets' only downloadable offering.
CMC Markets charges a much higher-than-average S&P 500 spread (five points) for CFDs and spread bets, which stood out on the index cost disclosures. Also, CMC's Next Generation is not equipped with back-testing or automated trading capabilities, leaving MT4 as the only alternative for algorithmic traders.
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
Multiple deposit and withdrawal options may be used, as well as CFD account base currencies. Withdrawals are mostly free, except for same-day or international bank withdrawals. At CMC Markets, clients can choose from 10 base currencies if they open a CFD account. However, for spread-betting accounts, only British pounds and euros are accepted. Available base currencies at CMC Markets include:
Australian dollar.
British pound.
Canadian dollar.
Euro.
New Zealand dollar.
Norwegian krone.
Polish zloty.
Singapore dollar.
Swedish krona.
US dollar.
This selection of account base currencies is better than that of similar brokers.
CMC Markets charges no deposit fees. In addition to bank transfer, clients can use credit and debit cards, as well as PayPal, the same options as offered by the company's closest competitors. A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card or PayPal is instant. Clients can only deposit money from accounts that are in their name.
CMC Markets charges no fee for a domestic bank, credit/debit card or electronic wallet withdrawals. However, for clients who would like to receive their funds instantly (via bank transfer) or use an international bank transfer, there is a £15 charge. An international bank transfer at CMC Markets is defined as withdrawing money to a bank account denominated in a currency other than the client's CMC Markets account base currency; e.g., if a client withdraws from their GBP-based brokerage account to their EUR-based bank account.
Traders can use the same options for withdrawal as for deposit. There is only one limitation: if a trader has a Spread-Betting Account, they cannot withdraw to Mastercard credit/debit cards.
Customer Support
Currently, an online broker that does not pay attention to its customers may be doomed to failure. CMC Markets is well aware of the importance of customer support and places high priority on addressing the needs of its customers in an efficient and satisfactory manner. Contact options cover all bases, with email for clients and prospective clients, 24/5 local phone support, and comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and support libraries. Live chat can also be launched from within the Next Generation platform, which is very convenient. The FAQs are very informative and well-organized. Chat waiting times averaged 30 to 40 seconds during several contact attempts.
CMC Markets customer services are available in multiple languages:
Chinese.
English.
French.
German.
Italian.
Norwegian.
Polish.
Spanish.
Swedish.
The broker also has 13 satellite offices on four continents to support licensed operations in other venues. Our review research found that Twitter and Facebook accounts were filled with up-to-date comments and active client interactions.
Commissions and Fees
If trading costs are a concern to you, CMC Markets has you covered. For our 2021 review, CMC Markets finished among the best in class in this category because of its low-spread offering, which is available to all its customer segments and account types.
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. 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.
Using the average spread data of 0.74 pips on the EUR/USD for August 2020, the all-in cost on the highest tier would be 0.64 pips and is comparable to similar programs offered by IG (0.59 pips) and Saxo Bank (0.60 pips).
Meanwhile, the CMC Markets Alpha offering provides free access to services such as premium reports, market data and Trading Central, and consists of three tiers. The base tier, Classic, requires 11 trades per month. The second tier, Active Investor, requires 11-30 trades per month, or five trades with at least $500 in commission spend. Last, the highest level, Premium Trader, is available if you place more than 30 transactions per month. Each tier comes with a base charge of AUD9.9 per trade, in addition to respective discounts ranging from 0.1 bps to as little as 0.075 bps for larger trade sizes.
Like many of its peers, CMC Markets offers GSLOs. These orders guarantee the stop-loss order price will be honored; there is a premium for using GSLOs, which is displayed in the trade ticket window. Most brokers charge for GSLOs. If GSLO is not triggered, CMC Markets refunds this cost automatically.
A commission charge comes into play when one is trading individual shares and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). This may be charged to your account directly upon order execution or added to either side of the spread, depending on whether it is classified as a CFD or Spread-Betting Account.
A much higher-than-average five-point S&P 500 spread for CFDs and spread bets stood out like a sore thumb on the index cost disclosures. That spread is charged through all hours of the trading day, including local time in the US, making it an unappealing trading instrument for most account holders. In contrast, the NASDAQ spread at 1.0 point and DJIA spread at 1.6 points are closer to industry standard.
CMC does not have a minimum deposit requirement for customers wishing to open a live account, but logic suggests that this amount will be subject to the margin requirements of the smallest trade size that the customer wishes to place. Clients with high account balances are eligible for premium services, such as higher trading leverage, a personal account manager, perks (rebates and rewards), priority access to new products and segregated accounts.
Aside from an inactivity fee of £10 (or its equivalent in the account's base currency) per month for each live account with no trading activity in 12 months, and a market data fee for certain CFD shares, CMC does not charge any other non-trading-related fees.
Account Types
The account-opening process is fully digital and there is no minimum deposit, but confusion about what documents to upload for identification can prolong the verification process. CMC Markets is available all over Europe and in most of the remainder of the world.
As noted, the required CMC Markets minimum deposit is $0. This is great if you want to start trading with lower amounts only.
CMC Markets offers two account types, which differ based on the countries in which they are available, the range of accepted account base currencies, pricing and taxes.
1.CFD Account.
2. Spread-Betting Account.
These are available in all countries where CMC Markets operates, including the UK and Ireland. Further, you can open a Pro Account that allows you higher leverage. However, to open a Pro Account, you have to satisfy the following preconditions:
Placed 10 trades in the previous quarter; these trades were relevant with significant size.
You worked in the financial sector for at least one year.
Your portfolio exceeds €500k.
Account Type
Minimum Deposit
Spread Commission
Commission
Swap Commission
Deposit Commission
Withdrawal Commission
CFD account
0$
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 CMC Markets' mobile app is cleanly designed and comes filled with multiple research tools, pre-defined watchlists for scanning, powerful charts, integrated news and educational content and much more. Bottom line: CMC Markets delivers a terrific mobile-app experience. 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.
As with much of the rest of the app, charting was just as impressive as the Web version of the CMC Markets Next Generation platform. Although just 29 of the 86 technical indicators are available, it is still a strong offering compared to many of CMC Markets' competitors. 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
CMC Markets stands out in this category, with extensive research and analysis from both in-house analysts and third-party materials that include Morningstar quantitative equity research reports (live accounts only). This feature alone might entice a serious trader to open a live account with CMC Markets.
CMC Markets' research offering is rich with in-house content, including its Insights News, CMC TV, a bi-monthly print magazine and the Opto market intelligence portal, which features articles and podcasts. There is also third-party content from Reuters and Morningstar.
Many resources may be accessed directly through the Website, while news sources are able to be filtered by region and asset class. The site also features a standard economic calendar. If there is one criticism, it regards the lack of a dedicated search function or well-organized archive, which makes it difficult to find many topics.
Research and news integration between the Website and trading platforms could be improved, with a few resources forcing the client to exit the platform and go to a Web page. That said, and as noted previously, Next Generation offers the client access to Reuters News (live accounts only), both fundamental (OPTO Magazine) and technical (pattern recognition software embedded into the platform and chart forum) market analysis. Meanwhile, CMC TV, the broker's flagship in-house broadcasting offering, produces market analysis videos and is comparable to IG TV, albeit at less frequency.
CMC Markets provides trading ideas in a variety of forms. One is “Insights,” where CMC collects market-related info, e.g., the planned output of a US Tesla factory, and then compares it with market speculation. It works more like an information service.
Another service is “Chart Forums.” Upon opening, the trader sees a number of short technical analyses and speculations by CMC experts and CMC users. It is somewhat like social trading: where people can share their chart analyses with one another.
As noted, CMC Markets has a well-structured economic calendar. It is powered by Thomson Reuters and lists the most important data releases each day. Each event has a “market impact” meter depicting the effect it might have on financial markets, and also links to previous and forecasted data for each indicator. A trader is able to filter these events by date, country or market impact. Also, alarms may be established separately.
With regard to education, CMC Markets competes with the best in the industry by offering FOREX and CFD traders a diverse selection of education in a variety of formats, including written articles, video updates, podcasts and live Webinars.
We counted at least 34 pieces between the FOREX trading basics and related beginner articles, accompanied by advanced strategy guides and content about cryptocurrency trading.
An extensive trader's library will get less-skilled clients up to speed quickly, although the technical and fundamental tutorials are beginner level and lacking in advanced instruction. Much of the educational resources are devoted solely to platform and software instruction, which is quite useful given Next Generation's abundance of features.
Introductory guides to trading the wide array of products offered are also available, along with an array of videos devoted to trading strategies. A healthy roster of online Webinars, offered through a partnership with Trade with Precision, fills the need for advanced topics, but there is no archive of previous programs.
Further, CMC Markets hosts a variety of learning videos and podcasts on its YouTube channel, some of which are also available on its Website and platforms. For example, the Artful Trader Series 3 contains eight recordings, and the Opto Sessions series contains nearly a dozen.
In addition to platform tutorials, there are a further 17 videos in CMC Markets' learn section also integrated into its Next Generation mobile app. Further, CMC Markets has a good selection of Webinars throughout the week from offices in Australia and the UK, led by in-house analysts, as well as Trade with Precision, a third-party provider.
Overall, CMC Markets has the following types of educational materials:
Demo account.
General educational videos.
Platform tutorial videos.
Quality educational articles.
Webinars.
Glossary.
Generally, the educational resources are impressive, but the lack of a search function makes it harder to find less-popular topics and leaves one with the impression that this section is poorly organized. The glossary is adequate, however.
Final Thoughts on CMC Markets
CMC Markets is an excellent fit for all types of traders, with a wide product offering along with an accessible, feature-rich platform (Next Generation), a plethora of research amenities, useful educational resources and an emphasis on customer service.
Being FCA-regulated lends credibility, as does the extent to which CMC emphasizes account security. Negative balance protection gives clients peace of mind and the premium GSLO execution is reasonable, given the account-saving risk management it provides in volatile market conditions. There are no hidden costs, and free withdrawal through wire transfer is a welcome feature.
It is harder to recommend the broker for mid- and higher-level accounts without professional designation because the former cannot access active trader rebates or the API interface. Conversely, professionals and institutions will find broadly attractive feature sets that make the service a suitable fit with a few exceptions, such as the high spread costs for certain instruments (S&P 500).
Conclusion
With competitive pricing and nearly 10,000 instruments from which to choose across nearly every market and asset class, CMC Markets is a great choice for global FOREX and CFD traders. Furthermore, the CMC Markets Next Generation platform is powerful and versatile, with plenty of configuration options and tools for traders to customize the platform to meet their needs. Overall, CMC Markets finished Best in Class across 10 categories in 2021, continuing its streak near the top of the industry in all key areas.
CMC Markets in Brief
CMC Markets is considered one the best companies, offering some 10,000 asset classes that encompass currencies, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds and stocks. The company offers a relatively low spread, the MT4 platform, and fast customer service. It is most suited for traders looking for diversity in asset classes.
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
Where is CMC Markets regulated?
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.
In what other ways does CMC Markets protect me?
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.
Which countries does CMC Markets serve?
All countries, but does not accept US clients.
Does CMC Markets offer Cryptocurrency trading?
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.
Does CMC Markets provide any extra offerings?
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.
How do I fund my account?
You can use multiple withdrawal and deposit options, including bank transfer, credit and debit cards, as well as PayPal.
Which trading platforms does CMC Markets offer?
CMC Markets offers its proprietary Next Generation trading platform, as well as MT4 for iOS and Android.
How can I access customer service?
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.
