CMC Markets Review 2024

Rating 8/10

Max. Leverage

1:30

for Forex

Minimum Deposit

$0

EUR/USD Spread

0.7 pips

Benchmark

Visit CMC Markets

CMC Markets is an online provider of spread betting and contract for difference (CFD) trading services. The company provides access to an electronic trading platform, through which customers can trade CFDs on forex, shares, indices, ETFs, bonds and commodities with competitive spreads.

CMC Markets was established in 1989 and operates across Australia, Europe, and Asia. They are regulated by ASIC, the UK’s FCA and are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Our review covers the information you need to know about trading instruments, trading fees, customer support and deposit/withdrawal options at CMC Markets.

CMC Markets is regulated by top-tier financial regulators in multiple jurisdictions, including Australia and the UK. The company is also listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) since 2016. These factors make CMC Markets trustworthy and have a low-risk rating.

CMC Markets is based in London. Some of their subsidiaries and the countries in which they are authorised are as follows:

1) Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC): CMC Markets is licensed in Australia by ASIC as ‘CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd’ to offer financial services with ACN 100058213, issued in 2002.

2) Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): CMC Markets is regulated by the FCA as ‘CMC Markets UK Plc’ and authorised to offer financial services in the UK with reference number 173730, issued in 2001.

3) Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS): CMC Markets is regulated in Singapore as ‘CMC Markets Singapore PTE. Ltd.’, and licensed to provide capital market services.

4) Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Germany: CMC Markets is authorized in Germany as ‘CMC Markets Germany GmbH’, with an office in Frankfurt. They serve European clients through the license in the EEA.

5) Financial Markets Authority (FMA), New Zealand: CMC Markets also holds a license in New Zealand as CMC Markets NZ limited. They are authorised as a derivatives issuer with licence number FSP41187 active since 2014.

6) Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO): CMC Markets is regulated in Canada by CIRO as ‘CMC Markets Canada Inc.’ as an investment dealer, and is registered with Canada Securities Administrators (CSA) with NRD (National Registration Database) Number 12570, issued in 2009.

CMC Markets is registered with the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). The CIPF works to ensure that any asset or investment owed to you by a regulated broker is given back up to $1 million.

CMC Markets provides negative balance protection for Australia-based traders.

CMC Markets offer leverages of up to 30:1 for retail traders. This means you can open a position that is worth 30 times the amount of your deposit. If you deposit £100, you can open a £3,000 trade position.

This 30:1 leverage only applies to major currency pairs. For other instruments, the maximum leverage is 1:20 for indices and minor currency pairs, and 5:1 for stocks.

Professional clients can access leverage on CMC Markets, up to 1:500.

CMC Markets offers 2 main account types to traders, which are Shares Trading and CFD Accounts. These accounts are offered as standard accounts for retail traders.

CMC Markets offers Professional Account status to clients, which provides additional features, and you can apply for it after meeting certain requirements.

CMC Markets demo accounts allow new traders to get familiar with the trading platform using virtual money before they put in their real money. No Islamic account options are available on CMC Markets.

Read below to find out more about the features of the various types of accounts on CMC:

Shares Trading Account

CMC Markets offers 2 types of Shares Trading Accounts; a Cash-settled account and a Margin loan account.

1) Cash-settled Account: This is a shares trading account that allows you to trade over 35,000 shares of companies in the US, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia. With the Cash-Settled Account on CMC Markets, you deposit funds into your trading account and use it to trade shares.

2) Margin Loan Account: This is a shares trading account on CMC Markets that allows you to trade over 35,000 shares of companies in the US, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia. With this account, you can trade shares by borrowing money from margin lenders and investing in the financial markets. You do not need to deposit funds into your trading account before you start trading.

You can integrate a margin lender to the CMC trader and use it to trade. The margin lenders approved by CMC Markets are Leveraged, St George Margin Lending and Suncorp Margin Lending.

CFD Account

CMC Markets offers 2 types of CFDs (Contract for Differences) account types to trader, they are CFD and Corporate Accounts.

3) CFD Account: CMC Markets CFD Account allows you to trade CFDs on foreign exchange currency pairs, indices, shares, treasuries and commodities.

No commission fees are charged when you enter or exit a trade with this account, except for trading shares, in which charges starting from $7 apply.

Spread fees on this account start from 0.3 points and you pay swap fees for holding a position open for more than 24 hours.

This account has no minimum deposit requirement, with a maximum leverage of 30:1 for retail clients and offers negative balance protection.

4) Corporate Account: CMC Markets Corporate Account allows you to register your business and trade on the platform as a corporate entity. You can trade financial instruments such as forex, shares, indices, commodities and treasuries with this account.

This account is not required to pay commission fees for trades except when trading shares in which case commission fees apply starting from $7. Spreads on the Corporate Account start from 0.3 points and the account incurs swap fees for holding a trade position open for more than 24 hours.

Corporate Accounts with a retail client status have a maximum leverage of 1:30 and no negative balance protection, so you can lose more than the amount invested.

5) CMC Markets Alpha: CMC Alpha is CMC Markets Premium Account status reserved for retail or professional clients. This account status gives you some extra benefits. You can get the Alpha status with CFD or Shares Trading Account after meeting the following criteria.

1. You have spent at least $3,000 on annual brokerage
2. You have $2.5 million or more in holding
3. You have $1 million or more in international equity

The CMC Alpha offers a number of top-tier features, including priority customer support, a personal account manager, and a free premium Financial Times subscription. It also offers members access to a community of experts and discounts on spreads of up to 28%.

6) CMC Pro: CMC Markets Pro Account is designed for experienced traders who trade large volumes of financial instruments and want higher leverage.

The Professional Account on CMC Markets offers leverage of up to 1:500 for major forex pairs and indices, 1:200 for gold, 1:133 for other commodities, 1:20 for shares and 1:5 for cryptocurrencies.

To get CMC Pro Account, you need to apply to customer support after meeting one or both of the eligibility wealth criteria below:

1. You have AU$2.5 million in net assets.
2. You have had an annual gross income of at least AU$250,000 for the last 2 years.

You also have to qualify on sophisticated criteria by:

1. Taking an online test to demonstrate your knowledge of financial markets trading.
2. Show proof of placing at least 50 trades each quarter over the last 5 years with a notional value of $500,000

With the CMC Markets Professional Account, you also get a personal account manager and early access to CMC Markets’ new products and initiatives. You can also trade cryptocurrencies as a professional client.

You can apply to upgrade a Shares Trading or CFD Account to a Professional Account status, but you lose the negative balance protection available to retail clients.

CMC Markets Base Account Currency

When opening an account on CMC Markets you can choose from 2 currencies to serve as your base account currency including Australian Dollar-AUD and United States Dollar-USD.

All your trades, deposits/withdrawals will be measured in your base account currency.

Fees on CMC Markets vary depending on your account type, tradable instruments and trade volume. Find an overview of the fees below:

Trading fees

1) Spreads: When you open trades on CMC Markets, you pay a spread fee, which is the difference between the bid and ask prices of instruments. Spreads on CMC start from 0.3 pips for most accounts.

Here are the minimum spreads for major currency pairs on CMC Markets:

2) Commission fees: CMC Markets offers commission-free trading on all instruments, except shares. For opening/closing trades on shares, you will be charged a commission fee of $7 per round turn, which is subject to change based on the volume of trade.

3) Swap fees: Whenever you keep a trade position past the market closing time (5 PM New York Time), you incur holding costs also known as swap fees. Swap fees on CMC Markets depend on the trade size and whether your trade position was long (buy) or short (sell).

Holding costs can also be gained as profits if you are holding a short(sell) position. Any holding costs you have paid to hold a position will be added to your profit or loss at the time you close the trade. Swap fees are usually based on an interbank rate and a percentage of the trade value.

Non-trading fees

1) Deposit and Withdrawal fees: CMC Markets does not charge any fees for depositing funds to your account via PayPal or bank transfers, but credit card deposits attract a 1% merchant fee while deposits via debit cards attract a 0.6% merchant fee. Withdrawals on CMC Markets are free of charge. This applies to all account types.

2) Account Inactivity charges: If you do not place any trades on your account for a year, your account will be designated dormant and you will be charged AUD15 per month on any balance in the account. If you have no funds in your account, you will not incur any negative balance.

*Credit card deposits attract a 1% merchant fee while deposits via debit cards attract a 0.6% merchant fee.

How to Open CMC Markets Account?

Follow these steps to open a trading account on CMC Markets.

Step 1) Go to the CMC Markets website at www.cmcmarkets.com and click on ‘Create account’ on the top right corner of the homepage.

Step 2) Choose the account type you want to open, then enter your email address, create a password, select the trading platform you prefer and click ‘Continue’.

Step 3) Provide your address, full name and phone number then click on ‘Create account’.

Step 4) Type in the verification code sent to your email and click verify to verify your email and proceed with the registration. You will be redirected to sign in to your CMC Trader platform.

Step 5) When you first signup, you get a Demo Account, after you sign in to the Platform, click on ‘Open a Live Account’, then select ‘Apply Now’.

Step 6) Select an account type (individual or corporate) and account currency, then click ‘Next’

Step 7) Provide your date of birth, and driver’s license number, and answer the questions about your nationality and tax, provide your full address and click ‘Find Address’ then select your address from the options and click ‘Next’.

Step 8) Answer questions about your employment status and financial background, then click ‘Next’.

Step 9) Answer some questions to test your knowledge and experience of trading financial instruments, then click ‘Next’.

Step 10) After reading and confirming that you understand and agree to the terms, check the declaration box to agree with the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Then click ‘Submit’.

Click on ‘Continue’ on the ‘Thank you page that appears’

Step 11) Upload documents to verify your identity and address. You can upload a driving license, bank statement, utility bill or other documents that show your identity and address.

Deposit and withdrawal methods accepted by CMC Markets include cards, bank transfers, POLi, BPAY and PayPal. Find details of the deposit and withdrawal methods on the platform below:

CMC Markets Deposit Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods accepted by CMC Markets for deposits.

CMC Markets Withdrawal Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods for withdrawals accepted on CMC Markets.

What is the minimum deposit for CMC Markets?

The minimum deposit on CMC Markets is $0. This means that there is no mandatory meaning deposit amount, you can deposit any sum you want and start trading. Although the recommended minimum deposit is $100, it will allow you to place a sizable amount of trade.

How do I Deposit Funds to CMC Markets?

Step 1: Log in to your CMC Markets Dashboard, and click on the ‘Funding’ tab on the left side menu.
Step 2: Select ‘Add Funds’ and choose a payment method
Step 3: Enter the amount you want to deposit and follow the on-screen prompts to complete your deposit.

CMC Markets Minimum Withdrawal

There is also no minimum withdrawal sum required by the broker, you can withdraw any amount you want as long as you have funds in your trading account.

While card withdrawals are processed within 1 hour, withdrawals to local bank accounts and PayPal take 1-2 business days to process and some card issuers may take up to 5 business days to process a withdrawal.

There is a withdrawal limit for card transactions, pegged at $40,000 per day, or its equivalent in GBP. The bank transfers option has no maximum withdrawal.

Note that you can only withdraw funds to cards if you have used cards to make deposits into your trading account. This condition does not apply to PayPal and bank transfers.

How do I withdraw money from CMC market?

Step 1: Log in to your CMC Markets Dashboard, and click on the ‘Funding’ tab on the left side menu.

Step 2: Select ‘Withdrawal’, choose your preferred payment method and follow the on-screen prompts to complete your withdrawal.

Withdrawals initiated before 2 PM time are processed the same day.

You can trade over 10,000 financial instruments on CMC Markets, find a breakdown of the instruments below:

Trading platforms supported by CMC Markets are:

1) MetaTrader 4: You can access the CMC Markets instruments on the MT4 trading application, available on the web, desktop, and mobile devices (Android & iOS).

2) CMC Markets Trader: This is a CMC Markets’ owned trading platform, available for trading with the broker. The platform can be accessed on the web and downloaded from the App Store and Google Play Store.

CMC Markets Australia offers online customer support to traders via the following channels:

1) Live chat support: CMC Markets live chat is available for traders who have an account with the broker during working hours from Monday to Friday. The live chat can be accessed from the support tab on your dashboard or the website homepage.

When our team tested it, the wait time was less than 2 minutes and the answers to our questions were relevant, although the live chat agent left the chat abruptly.

2) Email support: CMC Markets also offers email support to traders which is available for 24 hours on business days. When we tested it, and after several hours, we received no response.

The CMC Markets email address is [email protected].

3) Phone support: CMC Markets has phone support for clients that you can call on business days. The CMC Markets phone number for support is 1300-303-888.

Do we Recommend CMC Markets Australia?

We recommend CMC Markets to traders because they are regulated in Australia by ASIC and in the UK by the FCA. This means your funds are safe and protected.

The trading fees on CMC Markets are moderate and you do not pay commission on all instruments except shares, so if you do not trade shares majorly, you will enjoy overall commission-free trading.

The website of CMC Markets has easy navigation and UI/UX for traders and you can easily find information. Although the registration process is a bit long.

Although their customer support is not so prompt and is not available 24/7, they are responsive on business days.

There are other brokers who are regulated in Australia that you can try out, you should read our review again and check out the CMC Website to decide if they meet your trading needs.

CMC Markets Australia FAQs