CMC Markets Review – 25 Years And Counting

Forex trading is relatively a new concept in the retail trading market that has allowed smaller traders and investors to invest in the global financial markets, a feat which was usually reserved for the wealthy and affluent until recent times. Therefore, it is not a huge surprise that most Forex brokers in the industry have established their presence in the early part of the last decade, with even more brokers coming to the fore in recent years. CMC Markets, on the other hand, has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, having set up a dedicated Forex dealing service as back as 1989. In this CMC Markets broker review, our aim is to find out whether traders can indeed trust the broker for their reliability, or whether the broker fails to live up to the expectations.

Opening An Account & CMC Markets Regulatory Status

A CMC Markets account allows traders to deposit as low as $1 and use a maximum CMC Markets leverage of 1:500, which is one of the highest leverages offered in the market. Even though there aren’t any specific minimum deposit restrictions, traders are suggested to deposit a minimum of $200 to start trading. Although there are two different types of accounts on offer, the CFD account, and the Corporate account, the broker only follows the STP protocol that matches orders internally without passing on to the global liquidity provider. Deposits and withdrawals are accomplished through credit cards or bank transfers, as the broker does not support any other type of payment. CMC Markets does not have an ECN account, which is considered to be a significant drawback. Nevertheless, the standard account type offers CMC Markets spreads as low as 0.3 pips on the major currency pairs, and only includes commissions for share trading and investing in equities. Typically, ECN brokers offer spreads starting from 0.5 pips, but most of them quote around 1 pip or higher during normal market conditions. Hence, CMC Markets does have the advantage when it comes to saving costs through spreads alone. The lower investment capital, higher leverage, lower spreads, and no commission on trades is an excellent opportunity for scalpers, hedgers, and high-frequency traders for investing in the FX markets without any significant cost restrictions. CMC Markets shows its true potential by offering the largest number of financial instruments for trading. With over 10,000+ financial products that include the full list of Forex currency pairs, shares, indices, commodities, bonds, and other ETFs, CMC Markets is one of the very few Forex brokers that allow traders to diversify their funds by creating different investment portfolios. The entire list of financial instruments is available for traders on both the CFD, as well as the Corporate accounts. CMC Markets has its main headquarters in London and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The broker has its branches in 12 different countries, but the FCA issues the primary CMC Markets regulation and all allied licenses under the EU MiFID derivatives. UK Forex brokers are part of the European Economic Area Agreement and are hence allowed to provide their different products to clients from all over the EU. CMC Markets also has the sufficient regulatory clearances from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to cater to traders from Australian under the ASIC regulatory agreement. Being regulated by some of the top regulators in the industry provides an immense amount of credibility for the broker, and is one of the primary factors for the continued success enjoyed by CMC Markets.

Other Features & CMC Markets Platforms

Apart from the traditional FX, CFD, and Equity trading products, CMC Markets also provides access to other investment options such as spread betting, binary options, and countdown trades. Countdown trading is similar to binary options trading, but Countdown trades have a shorter duration and fixed odds when compared to the conventional binary options trading strategy. UK traders can take advantage of the excellent tax-free status of spread betting and enjoy better returns without worrying about the additional costs of taxes on profits or stamp duties. Since CMC Markets offers a broad range of financial instruments and trading products, the company has designed its award-winning trading platform that grants unprecedented access to traders. The CMC Markets trading platform is an intuitive and graphically rich interface that provides cutting-edge charting functionalities and a host of added features that may have the potential to trump other competing platforms in the industry. There is only one platform available for traders, and CMC Markets mobile traders are provided apps for the iOS and Android through their respective app stores. The CMC Markets is certainly pleasing to the eye, which in turn provides an aesthetical appeal to the platform. That said, the platform not only looks good, but is also super fast in its operations, and is immensely powerful in providing error-free access to the different financial markets.

What Is The Difference Between CMC Markets & Other ECN Brokers?

CMC Markets is a market maker, which does not connect a trader to a liquidity pool provider. Therefore, every order is filled in-house, either by passing on orders to other traders or by accepting the opposite end of the trade. Market maker brokers have a significant conflict of interest with their clients, especially when brokers are unable to pass orders between traders due to the difference in supply and demand. In such a case, brokers might resort to unethical means of tampering with the trading environment to make illegal profits. Traders also do not receive any CMC Markets bonus on their deposits, which is a standout feature with most leading brokers in the industry. Although some mainstream brokers shy away from outright bonuses, they do provide rewards and bonus points for trading and making deposits. CMC Markets does not indicate the presence of any points based reward option, which may affect customer retention in the long run. Traders may not find any incentives for opening an account at CMC Markets, but the broker does have several excellent features that might prove to be extremely useful for a majority of traders. There are other good choices in the market, but you may choose CMC Markets if their trading conditions do not contradict your basic trading requirements.