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 in the lower half of our ranking anyway.
🗺️ FCA regulated: CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730), checked on the FCA register 22 Sep 2026
Minimum deposit£0
PlatformsCMC web platform, CMC mobile app, MetaTrader 4
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 / 10Assessed
Trading Experience
8 / 10Assessed
Trading Platform
5 / 10Assessed
Trust
10 / 10Assessed
Range Of Markets
9 / 10Assessed
Customer Service
3 / 10Assessed
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 names the six criteria, what each one covers, and the published sources behind every mark.
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 )
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.
CMC publishes minimum spreads on six of the nine pairs without stating a unit, and our forex spread betting guide explains how points and pips line up.
Guaranteed Stops At CMC Markets
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' spread betting app is listed as “CMC Trading: Spread Bet & CFDs” on both stores, and our comparison of UK spread betting apps carries CMC's Trading Platform mark with the minimum deposits across the ranked providers.
CMC Markets publishes a practice account for spread betting, 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.
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.
CMC Markets’ Trustpilot profile, captured 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 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 70
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.
Opening A CMC Markets Spread Betting Account
If you came here for one market rather than for the account, our pages on index spread betting and share spread betting cover how those bets are priced. Because no allowable losses arise, a spread betting loss cannot offset other gains, and for most UK retail traders the picture depends on your individual circumstances, as spread betting losses and Capital Gains Tax sets out.
69% 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.
Updated . Updated on 14 Oct 2026: CMC Markets' retail-loss disclosure moves to 69% from 68%, per its UK spread betting page. Its index count is now over 70 cash and forward indices, from over 80. We re-read every other CMC Markets fact the same day and found no further changes.
