CMC Markets runs a spread betting account you can open today. It advertises tight "from" spreads on the currency pairs we read each month, and it sits low in our ranking anyway.
🗺️ FCA regulated: CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730), checked on the FCA register 22 Sep 2026
Updated on 24 Sep 2026: we recomputed every score on the site as the sum of the six criterion marks, each out of 10, divided by 60 and multiplied by 100, rounded half up, with no criterion weighted, and the ranking follows the scores, with brokers on the same score sharing a place. CMC Markets’s score moved from 62/100 to 65/100 and it stays tenth of 14. The paragraph under the table of marks now states this rule, where it had said the marks do not add up to the score. The comparison with the brokers ranked either side follows the new order.
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Minimum deposit£0
PlatformsCMC web platform, CMC mobile app, MetaTrader 4
Spread figuresMinimums only 6 of 9 pairs
Spread data read18 Sep 2026
Our Verdict On CMC Markets
CMC Markets scores 65/100 and ranks 10 of 14. CMC Markets publishes only minimum spreads, which we do not compare with averages. Judge it on the rest and check its prices on the platform.
How We Scored CMC Markets
Our overall score for CMC Markets is 65 out of 100. Below is the assessment behind it: CMC Markets marked on each of the criteria we score every account against, each one out of 10.
CMC Markets marked out of ten on each of the six criteria we score every account against, shown as a bar on each row.
Criterion
CMC Markets
Trading Cost
4 / 10
Trading Experience
8 / 10
Trading Platform
5 / 10
Trust
10 / 10
Range Of Markets
9 / 10
Customer Service
3 / 10
The overall score shown above the table is the sum of these six marks, each out of 10, divided by 60 and multiplied by 100, rounded half up. No criterion is weighted, and this has been how every score on the site is computed since 24 September 2026.
Our account scoring method sets out what each criterion covers, where the data behind it comes from, and which parts of an account we assess rather than test.
CMC Markets’ UK spread betting is provided by CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730), per CMC Markets’ own page read 3 September 2026; the former dedicated entity CMC Spreadbet Plc (FRN 170627) showed “Authorised - applied to cancel” on the FCA register at 31 August 2026.
The FCA register lists two clone firms impersonating CMC Markets between 30 August 2023 and 2 December 2024; these are fraudsters copying the name, not findings about the firm. Check FRN 173730 on the register before depositing.
Is CMC Markets Regulated By The FCA?
CMC Markets UK plc is on the Financial Services Register under firm reference number 173730, and its status panel reads Authorised, since 1 Dec 2001. We read the entry on 3 Sep 2026, and the capture below is what the register showed that day.
CMC Markets UK plc, FRN 173730, on the FCA Financial Services Register: status Authorised, since 1 Dec 2001. Captured 3 Sep 2026. Source: the firm’s register entry, Financial Conduct Authority.
The permissions panel is not in the capture, so this page makes no claim about which regulated activities the authorisation covers. Our regulation guide sets out the FCA register check, step by step.
CMC Markets Trust, Ownership And Client Money Protection
Can You Trust CMC Markets?
CMC Markets states that under the FCA's Client Money rules it holds your money separately from its own funds in a segregated bank account with a regulated bank, unless you are a professional client and agree otherwise. It also states that as a retail trader you cannot lose more than your account value, because your account is covered by negative balance protection. (CMC Markets's own site, read ; CMC Markets's own site, read )
Who Owns CMC Markets?
CMC Markets UK plc is owned by CMC Markets UK Holdings Limited (company 05554639), which holds 75% or more of its shares and votes. The wider group, CMC Markets plc, is listed on the London Stock Exchange as CMCX and is a FTSE 250 constituent. (Companies House, read ; CMC Markets's own site, read )
What Happens To Your Money If CMC Markets Fails?
CMC Markets states that your money is held separately from its own funds in a segregated bank account with a regulated bank, unless you are a professional client and agree otherwise. It also states that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme offers up to £85,000 to eligible clients should an investment firm cease trading with a deficit in their segregated client money. The FSCS gives that limit as up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, for a firm that failed after 1 April 2019. (CMC Markets's own site, read ; FSCS, read )
How Long Do CMC Markets Withdrawals Take?
We requested a withdrawal from CMC Markets on 27 August 2026. The fee was £0 and the money arrived the next working day. (our August 2026 withdrawal test, requested )
CMC Markets states that you can open an equities, spread betting or CFD account to trade on its proprietary web-based trading platform and native app, so you can read our comparison of spread bets against CFDs before choosing. (CMC Markets's own site, read )
CMC Markets Licence And Terms
Regulator
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Authorised entity
CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730)
Register status
Authorised
Authorised since
1 Dec 2001
Register read
3 Sep 2026
Minimum deposit
£0
Guaranteed stops
Offered
Inactivity fee
£10 a month once an account has been dormant for one year
CMC Markets Spread Betting Costs
CMC Markets publishes only minimum spreads for spread betting on six of the nine pairs.
We list the minimums below as "from" figures.
This table shows what CMC Markets publishes for spread betting on the nine pairs, with the kind of each figure and its window, as read on 18 Sep 2026.
The spread figure CMC Markets publishes for spread betting on each currency pair, with the kind of figure and the window it covers.
Guaranteed stop-loss orders are available at CMC Markets.
CMC Markets charges that premium when you place the order. The premium works out as premium rate × bet size.
CMC Markets publishes the formula and not the rate. The rate varies by instrument, so the platform is the only honest place to read it. We do not publish a worked example here, because we would have to invent the rate to write one.
CMC runs its own software alongside MetaTrader, and the two are not interchangeable for a spread bettor.
CMC Markets recorded a median fill of 180ms in our timed testing, across 15 live orders placed between 18 and 27 August 2026.
On CMC Markets it took four taps to get from a logged-in state to a placed order. Price alerts fired on both builds, and a guaranteed stop can be placed in the app itself. Neither build logged a crash or a stall.
CMC Markets publishes a demo account, and we read its terms off CMC Markets’s own demo page rather than inferring them: £10,000 of virtual funds, no deposit to open, checked 22 September 2026.
Our comparison page names the best UK spread betting platform and scores the fourteen accounts against each other on the attributes we can evidence.
What Our CMC Markets Service Tests Found
CMC Markets answered a live chat on 26 August 2026 in 4 minutes and resolved the query.
CMC Markets resolved the question.
CMC Markets Versus FXCM And ActivTrades
CMC Markets takes the first column.
CMC Markets in the first column, against the brokers ranked either side of it, on the figures our reviews record.
One row per dated testing event on CMC Markets: the date, and what we did and what we found on it.
Date
What we did and what we found
Both builds driven on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 18.6 and a Google Pixel 8 running Android 15 (iOS on 22 Aug 2026, Android on 23 Aug 2026): four taps from login to a placed order, and price alerts fired on both builds.
Support contacted by live chat. First response in 4 minutes; resolved.
Criterion scores read from our master scoring sheet.
Withdrawal requested. Fee £0; the money arrived the next working day.
15 live orders timed between 18 and 27 August 2026. Median fill 180ms, eleventh-fastest of the fourteen accounts we timed.
CMC Markets’ Trustpilot profile, captured 28 Sep 2026. We re-read these ratings every month, so the figure in the table is the one the platform displayed on that capture date.CMC Markets’ Apple App Store listing, captured 28 Sep 2026. We re-read these ratings every month, so the figure in the table is the one the platform displayed on that capture date.CMC Markets’ Google Play listing, captured 28 Sep 2026. We re-read these ratings every month, so the figure in the table is the one the platform displayed on that capture date.CMC Markets’ TradingView profile, captured 28 Sep 2026. We re-read these ratings every month, so the figure in the table is the one the platform displayed on that capture date.
CMC Markets At A Glance
Key facts about CMC Markets: its FCA-regulated entity, minimum deposit, spread bet platforms, markets, inactivity fee and guaranteed stops.
🗺️ FCA regulated
CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730)
💰 Minimum deposit
£0
💷 Minimum stake
from £0.01 per point (varies by instrument)
📊 Spread bet platforms
CMC web platform, CMC mobile app, MetaTrader 4
🛍️ Markets available
21,000
💱 Inactivity fee
£10 a month once an account has been dormant for one year
🛡️ Guaranteed stops
Available
What You Can Bet On
CMC Markets publishes these counts on its own market pages.
Forex pairs: over 330
Indices: over 80
Commodities: 100+
ETFs: 5,000+
CMC Markets Pros And Cons
Pros
No minimum deposit
Guaranteed stop-loss orders available
Minimum stake from £0.01 per point (varies by instrument)
If you have traded with CMC Markets, tell us what a new customer should know. Submissions are read by the team. Only reviews we can verify are ever published, and none are published yet. Nothing you enter here appears on this page.
Reviews are never paid for and never edited for a broker.
CMC Markets Spread Betting: FAQs
Which company do you contract with when you spread bet at CMC Markets?
Spread bets at CMC are placed with CMC Markets UK plc, which is FCA-authorised under firm reference number 173730. That is the entity CMC's own spread betting page names, and your account terms name the entity you are actually contracting with.
How does CMC Markets charge for a guaranteed stop-loss order?
CMC takes the premium when you place the order and refunds all of it if the order is never triggered. The charge is the premium rate multiplied by your bet size. The rate depends on the instrument, so the deal ticket is the only place the figure appears before you confirm. Several competitors take nothing up front and charge only when the stop fires.
Does CMC Markets charge an inactivity fee on a spread betting account?
Yes. CMC applies a monthly charge once an account has gone a full year with no trading activity, and it takes nothing from an account holding no funds. The figure is on our summary table above, read from CMC’s own trading costs page.
Are CMC Markets spread betting profits tax-free in the UK?
For most UK individuals, spread betting profits are free of Capital Gains Tax and the bets carry no Stamp Duty. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and can change, so you should seek professional tax advice if you are unsure.
68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Your capital is at risk. Spread betting is leveraged, so losses can exceed the amount you set out to risk on a bet. This page is not financial or tax advice.
Justin Grossbard co-founded Spread-Bet.co.uk with Noam Korbl in 2024, and co-founded the broker comparison network CompareForexBrokers with him in 2014. He has written for Kiplinger, Entrepreneur, Finance Magnates and MoneyShow since 2022, with articles on forex and trading at MoneyShow, Finance Magnates and Kiplinger.
Change history: 7 earlier dated notes
Updated on 23 Sep 2026: Every claim was checked against primary sources on 22 and 23 September 2026, and a large amount of text was removed, including passages that repeated what other pages own and the discussion of why the ranking and the published minimum spreads disagree. The app test now counts four taps from a logged-in state, a support first response of 4 minutes was added, and a video review from the SpreadBet YouTube channel was linked.
Updated on 22 Sep 2026: Broker facts were re-read at CMC Markets’s own UK pages and the FCA register on 22 Sep 2026, including the demo terms and the platform list, now the CMC web platform, CMC mobile app and MetaTrader 4. The old average wording was renamed the brokers’ average throughout.
Updated 19 Sep 2026. A new section answers whether you can trust CMC Markets, who owns it, what happens to your money if it fails and how long withdrawals took in our test, each with its sources and the date we read them (19 September 2026). The FCA register section now opens with the question of whether CMC Markets is regulated. The byline now credits David Levy as fact-checker, and a sentence notes that CMC Markets also offers CFDs, with a link to our comparison of the two products. No score, rank or spread figure changed.
Updated 18 Sep 2026. We changed how we read spreads: we now read each broker’s own UK site and record what kind of figure it publishes, average, typical, fixed, target or minimum. The cost section, the verdict and the pros and cons now follow what CMC Markets publishes. No score or rank changed.
Updated 5 Sep 2026. A section inviting readers who have traded with CMC Markets to tell us what a new customer should know now sits before the FAQ: a rating, how long they have traded, the markets, one thing to know, and their consent. Submissions are read by the team, only reviews we can verify are ever published, and none are published yet; nothing entered there appears on this page. No figure changed.
Updated 3 Sep 2026. Three changes on the day. First, a cost band now opens the page: what a spread bet costs at your stake and bet count against the brokers’ average, computed from the same harvest as the spread table further down. Second, the FCA register entry for the authorised firm was re-read and captured, and the capture sits under the section on who you contract with, beside the licence list; the rail’s section list was cut to the sections readers use. Third, the page moved onto the new review layout: a head-to-head against the two accounts either side of it in our ranking, a dated testing log built from the August datasets, a licence list, a per-bet cost tool on the spread table, and a section carrying the third-party ratings read from the platforms themselves, each with the date it was captured. No spread figure, score or rank changed.
Updated 1 Sep 2026. CMC’s own spread betting page, read 31 Aug 2026, names CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730) as the provider of its UK spread betting, where this page previously named the dedicated entity CMC Spreadbet Plc. The entity section and the entity FAQ were corrected to the current company, and the argument this review built on the dedicated entity was removed. The section now also states the former entity’s register status and the register’s clone-firm warnings, rendered from the same 31 Aug 2026 register read. No spread figure, score or rank changed.
65
CMC Markets68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
