CMC Markets Review Australia 2026

Is CMC Markets safe? ASIC AFSL 238054

ASIC regulation and global licences

CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd holds AFSL 238054 with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. That licence is the most relevant credential for an Australian retail account, issued by a tier-1 regulator. CMC Markets has held it continuously since 24 February 2004, and I note no public ASIC enforcement action or licence condition has been imposed in the last 36 months.

The parent company, CMC Markets plc, is regulated globally by:

• Financial Conduct Authority, UK (Tier 1)
• BaFin, Germany (Tier 1)
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (Tier 1)
• Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (Tier 1)
• DFSA, UAE (Tier 2)
• FMA, New Zealand (Tier 2)
• Bermuda Monetary Authority (Tier 3)

Seven licences in seven jurisdictions place CMC Markets under several sets of disclosure rules and capital requirements at once, which leaves no room for regulatory arbitrage. Client money sits under a separate set of protections, set out below. I consider that multi-jurisdiction protection a strong safeguard, and it means your account is overseen by more than one credible authority.

Before depositing, confirm CMC Markets holds AFSL 238054 using the site's guide to checking a broker on ASIC's register.

CMC Markets client money protection and LSE listing

Client money protection at CMC Markets runs through segregation at an Approved Australian Bank, AFCA membership, and a London Stock Exchange listing held since 2016 under the ticker CMCX, a combination that I think is solid.

Client money and negative balance protection

CMC Markets holds retail client money in segregated accounts at an Approved Australian Bank, separate from company funds. ASIC mandates negative balance protection on retail CFD accounts, so you cannot lose more than the money you put in. AFCA hears claims up to A$1,263,000 and awards compensation up to A$631,500. Compensation Scheme of Last Resort payments cap at A$150,000 and cover only personal advice, securities dealing and credit, leaving forex and CFD trading outside the scheme. I find the layered protections encouraging.

CMC Pro clients take the wholesale classification and give up the retail protections with it, negative balance protection included. That trade-off is the point of the classification, so the Pro tier is not a retail product, and you should understand that before you qualify. In my view, the trade-off is clear.

History and ownership

CMC Markets was founded in London in 1989 by Peter Cruddas. CMC Markets plc listed on the London Stock Exchange under CMCX in 2016, at a market cap around 700 million pounds as of late 2024. The Australian entity has been the largest contributor to group revenue across multiple recent annual reports, and four further Australian markers sit on the public record. I would want to know all four before opening a position.

• CMC Markets Stockbroking Limited, now branded CMC Invest, is the white-label provider behind ANZ Share Investing
• Featured in Australian Financial Review broker coverage
• Member of AFCA for retail dispute resolution
• Segregated client funds held with an Approved Australian Bank

Public reviews

CMC Markets holds a Trustpilot rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 3,389 reviews, which Trustpilot labels great, captured September 2026. The profile has been claimed by the broker since March 2018.

CMC Markets draws slightly higher ratings from Australian reviewers than from the global set. The recurring positives cover platform stability, product breadth and support quality, and the recurring complaints cover support hours and share CFD financing rates, which you should weigh against your trading style. In my opinion, support hours are the main area for improvement.

How popular is CMC Markets in Australia?

CMC Markets ranked 2nd for search interest among the 32 brokers we review in August 2026, on 34,570 branded Google searches from Australia, behind Interactive Brokers. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.

2of 32Search interest rank

34,570

Brand searches, August 2026

-0.2%

vs July 2026

12,100

Login searches

19.2%

Share of all broker searches

Source: Google search volume, Australia, August 2026. How this is measured

What other review sites say

CMC Markets' iOS app rates 3.33 out of 5 from 150 ratings on the Australian App Store (September 2026), listed as CMC: CFD Trading.

TradingView users rate CMC Markets 4.3 out of 5 from 1,190 ratings (September 2026). 10.8K TradingView users have connected a CMC Markets account. TradingView named CMC Markets its Best in Forex and CFD broker for Southeast Asia 2025.

App Store AU

3.33

150 ratingsSeptember 2026

TradingView

4.3

1,190 ratings10.8K Traders via TradingViewSeptember 2026View on TradingView

CMC Markets at a glance: 17 key facts

CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd has held ASIC AFSL 238054 since 2004, with more than 12,000 instruments on three platforms and an A$0 minimum deposit.

The 17 key facts below name the regulators and the fee schedule, so the essentials can be scanned quickly.

The Standard account pricing named in that table tells the cost story, and the per-pair figures follow below for you to compare.

CMC Markets spreads on the Standard account

CMC Markets Standard account spreads sit at 0.50 pips on EUR/USD and average 0.89 pips, which ranked second of 19 standard accounts in the 2026 test cycle.

No commission applies on the Standard account, so the only cost you pay is the spread.

Standard (no-commission) spreads on AUD/USD and majors

The Standard account prices through the spread rather than charging commission. Our 2026 test cycle places CMC Markets Standard pricing mid-pack across the Australian field. That pricing runs tighter than easyMarkets and AvaTrade, and wider than the raw-spread accounts at IC Markets, Pepperstone, FP Markets and Fusion Markets. The standard accounts priced above CMC Markets include the spread-only account set out in the AvaTrade review. Standard-account pricing at 0.50 pips ranks CMC Markets in the lowest spread brokers in Australia table, second of 19 brokers on the eight-pair standard-account average, behind only Axi, so you are getting a price that sits near the top of the non-commission field.

CMC Markets prices every pair in that table under the Australian standard-account average, with the widest gap on AUD/JPY at 1.2 pips against 2.1. Commission on the FX Active account runs on a separate basis, priced in US dollars, so you must convert that cost to AUD to see your true round-turn charge.

What trading with CMC Markets costs

CMC Markets charges no commission on the Standard account, so trading with CMC Markets costs only the spread; the FX Active account charges US$2.50 per side.

The FX Active rate is 0.0025% per transaction, which works out to US$5 in round-turn commission per US$100,000 traded.

FX Active (commission) account

The FX Active account charges a fixed 0.0025% per transaction. That commission works out to US$2.50 per US$100,000 per side, or US$5 in round-turn commission per standard lot, and buys a spread closer to the underlying market. Spreads start at 0.0 pips on six major pairs, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD and USD/JPY, before the commission. Our September 2026 capture put the EUR/USD round turn at A$8.05, or 0.57 pips, and adding the 0.08 pip average spread from the same window gives an all-in of 0.65 pips. In my view, that total is competitive, but it does not reach the cheapest tier of the brokers this site covers.

Other fees AU traders should check

• Overnight holding cost applies to CFD positions held past 5 PM New York. Direction-dependent, and a credit on certain pairs.
• Guaranteed stop-loss premium is debited when the order is placed and refunded in full when the stop never executes. The cost applies only when the guaranteed stop triggers.
• Inactivity fee of A$15 per month after 12 months without a trade, applied until the account reaches zero or a trade reactivates it.
• Currency conversion fee of 0.30% on any instrument priced in a currency other than the account base currency.
• Market data fees apply to advanced data on certain markets, and most retail accounts never trigger them.

Those fees apply across all three CMC Markets platforms, set out next.

CMC Markets funding methods and withdrawal times

CMC Markets lists five funding methods for Australian clients: credit card, debit card, bank transfer, PayID and PayPal, and withdrawals return to card, bank account or PayPal.

Card charges of 1% and 0.6% are deducted from the payment. A bank withdrawal is “processed near real-time” once registered, per CMC’s Australian funding FAQ, read 22 September 2026.

Deposit methods (AU clients)

Card funding is the exception to fee-free routing at CMC Markets. The card fee runs 1% on credit and 0.6% on debit, while bank transfer, PayID and PayPal carry no deposit fee at all. A card-funded account starts 1% behind on the first deposit, so I recommend using the free methods.

On 3 September 2026 Noam Korbl ran a A$200 card deposit into the live CMC Markets account, mask ****7024, choosing from the captured three-tile funding menu of Card, Bank transfer and PayPal, with a ticked confirmation that the card was registered to the account holder and Mastercard, Maestro and Visa listed as accepted. The success screen read “Your payment will be credited to your account immediately, subject to our standard checks.” Two minutes later the History showed “Currently you have no history items”, and Noam tried to reach support from the platform because the accepted deposit was not showing. My reading of the portal’s own wording against a History that showed nothing the same day is that the credit ran on the broker’s clock, and the 18 September portal confirmed it: Account Value $200.00, with the first Payment In stamped 15 September 2026 beside a fee line whose amount is off the frame. I would tell you to deposit ahead of when you want to trade, and to check History rather than the success screen.

Withdrawals

You withdraw from the Account tab, then Funding, then Withdraw, choosing card, bank account or PayPal; the portal’s own line, captured 3 September 2026, reads “Withdraw your funds to your card, bank account or PayPal”. Bank transfers first require registered bank details, with a statement dated within the last three months showing the bank logo, the BSB and account number, the account holder’s name and the registered address. CMC’s Australian funding FAQ, read 22 September 2026, says each request is reviewed and, unless further information is required, “processed near real-time to the nominated bank account”. Cards are capped at the amount originally deposited: the FAQ’s example is that a client who deposits $10,000 and makes $20,000 can return only the initial $10,000 to the card. Noam Korbl did not run a withdrawal on this account, so I report the broker’s wording and no observed time. In my view the cap matters little, because profits can leave by bank transfer or PayPal; my advice is to register your bank account before you need the money out.

Account opening

Registration through the public site creates a demo account first, and the live CFD application runs inside the platform. Our capture records a live MT4 account, FX Active tier in AUD, mask ****7024, dated 18 August 2026, and I read that date against frames taken on 3 September 2026. Identity and address checks were not captured, so this page states nothing about them. What the frames show is a demo registration, a knowledge test, a W-8BEN and the card turning Active.

The first screen asks for your email, a password and a choice between the CMC Markets Platform and Metatrader 4, with a separate link for Trust or SMSF accounts. Noam Korbl chose Metatrader 4. You then pick Standard or FX Active, the latter carrying the tile “FX spreads as low as 0.0 pips on 6 major FX pairs”, before your state, contact details and a marketing consent with an opt-out after submission. Email verification opens the way to “continue to the live CFD account application form”, and the admin portal then lands on a $10,000.00 demo with a modal reading “Action required”. My reading is that the demo-first sequence gives you a place to explore before you commit to the live steps.

Two outstanding actions sat on the live account: a knowledge test and a US tax form. The rule read: “You need to correctly answer 6 out of 8 questions to pass. Please note that you have only three attempts to pass the test. After that the test will be blocked for 30 days.” Question 1 of 8, captured at 14:33, described a long position with a stop at 12,250 and asked at what price the stop executes after a gap from 12,260 to 12,240. The W-8BEN screen said the form lets the broker apply the correct withholding rate to US dividends. At 14:38 the card read “Status: Active”, beside a funding alert that trading first needs a funded account. In my view, a 30-day lockout after three failed attempts is a fair gate, provided you prepare first.

Noam’s assessment, recorded after the capture, was that the flow is fairly structured but carries several stages between creating the demo and being ready to trade live, with the test threshold clearly stated, the W-8BEN handled inside the platform, and funding options broader than at some brokers tested. My advice is to read the ebook before you attempt the test, and to expect the W-8BEN even though this is a CFD account. The A$200 card deposit that followed is recorded in the funding section above, which sets out how the balance and History stood on the day.

CMC Markets account types and minimum deposit

CMC Markets account types cover four tiers on an A$0 minimum deposit.

The tiers run from the spread-only CFD Trading account through to FX Active at US$2.50 per side, so clients can choose the pricing model that suits them. This flexibility means you are not locked into a cost structure that penalises your trade size.

Account options for AU clients

The CMC Pro account carries the Corporations Act wholesale classification. To qualify, you need net assets of at least A$2.5 million, or gross income of at least A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years, certified by a qualified accountant. CMC Pro then opens leverage to 500:1. Pricing matches retail, with cash rebates on forex turnover of 5% on A$25M to 100M per month, 10% on 100M to 200M, 15% on 200M to 300M and 20% above 300M. In my view, the eligibility criteria are clearly laid out.

CMC Markets runs no swap-free (Islamic) account, confirmed with the desk in July 2026. Sharia-compliant trading rules the broker out before the pricing comparison starts, so if you need that, look elsewhere.

Minimum deposit

The minimum deposit at CMC Markets is A$0, and you fund the account before the first trade. The platform trades fractional position sizes at smaller balances, and margin requirements still apply. All four account types open alongside a practice account, and I note the unlimited CMC Markets demo placed third in our comparison of demo trading accounts in Australia.

CMC Markets trading platforms

CMC Markets trading platforms run to three, Next Generation, MetaTrader 4 and TradingView, and note that MetaTrader 5 left the Australian entity in 2022.

Next Generation platform

Next Generation is the flagship proprietary platform at CMC Markets and the strongest proprietary platform in our testing. In my view, it sets the standard for proprietary platforms in Australia. It runs on the web, on Windows and macOS desktop, and on iOS and Android. The platform carries seven strengths over MetaTrader, and each one makes a real difference to how you work:

• 115+ technical indicators built in
• Pattern recognition scanner that flags chart patterns automatically
• Client sentiment data showing position bias on each instrument
• 70 chart patterns and 12 chart types out of the box
• Multi-screen layout templates
• Native guaranteed stop-loss orders
• Module-based interface splitting forex, indices, commodities and equities into separate workspaces

Next Generation runs no third-party expert advisors, so your automated strategies stay on MT4 at CMC Markets.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 runs the full CMC Markets execution stack, including the commission-based FX Active account. CMC Markets operates a market-maker model that aggregates pricing from 18 feeds, so FX Active delivers tighter spreads plus commission rather than ECN execution. MetaTrader 4 survives on the AU entity, which places CMC Markets among the MT4 brokers in Australia. The CMC Markets MT4 build carries forex, key indices, gold, silver and oil, not the full 12,000-instrument range, so the trading set you get is narrower.

TradingView

TradingView is available to Australian clients on a linked CMC Markets CFD account. TradingView integration puts CMC Markets among the TradingView brokers on this site. CMC Markets carries no cTrader in Australia, and that absence, alongside the retired MT5, holds the platform sub-score below the proprietary strength, and I think that’s a shame for cTrader users.

Mobile apps

Next Generation and MT4 both ship mobile apps at CMC Markets, with Touch ID and Face ID authentication on the Next Generation iOS build, so login is secure and you can check a position in seconds.

CMC Markets markets and instrument counts

What I find most impressive is the breadth: CMC Markets markets and instrument counts pass 12,000 across seven asset classes, running from forex to government bonds, with CMC Invest adding real ASX shares on the same login.

Forex is the deepest single line at 330 plus pairs, six of them AUD crosses. CMC Markets runs a commodity book past 100 markets, from gold and silver through to WTI, Brent and the agricultural softs. CMC Markets lists 39 crypto CFDs at the ASIC 2:1 retail cap, and the ETF list passes 1,000 contracts. Only IG Markets covers comparable ground under an ASIC licence, so if you want variety, these two are the best bets.

Indices

Broad index exposure comes from the index set at CMC Markets, which covers the ASX 200 and the S&P/ASX SPI 200 alongside every global major at the ASIC 20:1 retail cap on major indices.

Treasuries and rates

CMC Markets carries real depth in rates. The Australian 10 year bond, US T-Notes, German Bunds and UK Gilts all trade as CFDs, a class most Australian brokers skip entirely, so you get a rates book that simply is not available elsewhere. CMC Markets sits alongside the few Australian rivals listing rates products in our guide to bond and treasury CFDs. Share CFDs and the stockbroking account run on separate rails, priced below.

CMC Markets share CFDs and CMC Invest stockbroking

Share CFDs and CMC Invest stockbroking run on separate accounts at CMC Markets but are both available under one login, with A$0 brokerage on a first daily ASX buy under A$1,000 and real shares across 16 markets.

CMC Markets lists more than 10,000 share CFDs across the ASX, NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE and the EU exchanges, the deepest ASX coverage of any Australian broker. CMC Invest pairs that CFD book with real ASX stockbroking. The CMC Markets share CFD range sits against every rival in the share CFD range compared guide, so a direct comparison is available.

CMC Invest pricing

CMC Invest is CMC Markets Stockbroking Limited, AFSL 246381, a linked account rather than a second login. Brokerage runs at A$0 on a first ASX buy order under A$1,000 per security per day, and at A$0 on US, UK, Canadian and Japanese shares and ETFs. The other 11 international markets cost A$59 or 0.59% per order. A 0.60% FX spread applies to international orders. CMC Invest coverage reaches more than 40,000 shares and ETFs across 16 markets on the same login, so a diversified portfolio can be built without leaving the platform.

Real shares bought through CMC Invest are unleveraged holdings. That is the structural difference between the two product lines, and the ASIC caps below apply to the CFD side alone, so you need to understand which product you are using.

CMC Markets leverage and margin under ASIC rules

CMC Markets applies a maximum retail leverage of 30:1 on major forex pairs, which is the standard cap under ASIC rules, with lower tiers on minors, indices, commodities and cryptocurrency.

ASIC caps retail CFD leverage at 30:1 on major forex pairs and 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices. The lower tiers run 10:1 on commodities other than gold, 5:1 on share CFDs and 2:1 on crypto assets. Those caps come from a product intervention order extended to 23 May 2027, so they apply at every ASIC broker, not just CMC Markets. The leverage tiers behind the 30:1 cap are explained in our guide to how leverage works on CFD accounts.

CMC Markets offers higher leverage to wholesale clients who pass the eligibility tests, reaching 500:1 through the CMC Pro account. The Corporations Act criteria sit under account types above, so eligibility can be checked there.

CMC Markets closes out your retail positions once account equity falls below 50 percent of the total initial margin on all open positions. ASIC requires that close-out of every licensed CFD issuer. Positions cannot be netted off against each other to reduce the figure, and a gapping market closes a position below the 50 percent level, so you could lose more than expected.

CMC Markets customer support

CMC Markets customer support answered live chat in under 90 seconds during our 2026 test cycle, across phone, live chat and email, 24 hours a day Monday to Friday. I would call that a quick response.

CMC Markets runs three contact channels, telephone, live chat and email, from Monday morning to Saturday morning Sydney time. That 90-second figure is a first-response average on live chat in our testing, not a resolution time. Agent knowledge of platform features rated strong, and I liked that agent knowledge of tax treatment rated cautious in the right direction, with agents deferring to a client’s accountant rather than guessing.

CMC Markets staffs the desk in nine languages: English, Mandarin, German, French, Italian, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian and Spanish, so you can get help in a native tongue.

CMC Markets closes the desk at weekends, which is the main customer service negative here and the reason that sub-score sits lowest. Pepperstone, IG Markets and Plus500 all run some form of weekend cover. If you trade crypto on weekends and want live phone cover, CMC Markets does not serve you.

CMC Markets research, tools and education

The research suite at CMC Markets is substantial for a broker platform: research, tools and education run to five research feeds inside Next Generation, from Morningstar fundamental data to a Reuters news wire, alongside more than 115 technical indicators.

Market research

Next Generation carries the research stack at no additional cost:

• Morningstar fundamental research
• Reuters news feed
• CMC TV, the in-house technical analysis video channel
• Economic calendar
• Client sentiment data

Client sentiment data is the CMC Markets feed with no MetaTrader equivalent, showing position bias on each instrument. The integration is useful: Next Generation holds those 115 technical indicators inside the platform rather than in a separate research portal, keeping analysis and order entry on one screen.

Education content

CMC Markets publishes five education formats for Australian clients:

• Beginner course covering forex, CFDs and technical analysis basics
• Intermediate webinar series with in-house analysts
• Glossary of trading terms
• Trading guides for each platform
• YouTube channel with regular market analysis

Education at CMC Markets runs through the platform rather than a paywalled academy, and every format opens to demo users. The named stack matters most to you if holding equities and indices alongside forex.

What traders say about CMC Markets

Public ratings of CMC Markets from the rating sites that list it, showing the number of reviews or ratings behind each score and the month it was captured.

Rating site	Rating	Based on	Who rated	Captured
Trustpilot	4.2 out of 5	3,389 reviews	Worldwide	September 2026
App Store	3.33 out of 5	150 ratings	Australia only	September 2026
TradingView	4.3 out of 5	1,190 ratings	Worldwide	September 2026

Each row above is a public rating of CMC Markets taken from a rating site, dated to the month its figure was captured. An App Store rating counts ratings left on Apple's Australian App Store only, while a Trustpilot figure counts reviews and a TradingView figure counts ratings from anywhere in the world. A site with no row has no rating for CMC Markets, withholds it, cannot be matched to CMC Markets with confidence, or we have not captured it yet.

How CMC Markets compares to IG Markets

What you value determines the choice: IG Markets ranks ahead on customer service and overall trading experience in the 2026 cycle, while CMC Markets compares more strongly on the proprietary platform and on FX Active pricing at US$2.50 per side.

The CMC Markets range and the IG Markets range are set side by side in our CMC Markets vs IG Markets comparison. IG Markets, the rival that finished ahead on service, is priced in full in the IG Markets review. The part I keep coming back to is that the choice is genuinely close, and the right answer depends on what you trade.

CMC Markets takes the platform comparison and the commission account. IG Markets takes the service comparison and the overall trading experience. Both hold ASIC licences and both run proprietary platforms. The decision between them turns on which of those two axes carries more weight for you.

The table below names the broker to pick for a specific priority.

Should you open a CMC Markets account?

CMC Markets suits multi-asset and ASX-focused traders who want more than 12,000 instruments and CMC Invest on a single login. Scalpers chasing raw forex pricing pay less elsewhere than on a CMC Markets account, so I would not recommend it for that style.

Three reader types resolve differently at CMC Markets. A multi-asset trader holding forex, indices, commodities, share CFDs, treasuries and ASX equities under one ASIC licence gets the strongest case on this site. An active forex scalper gets the weakest, because Standard spreads on the majors trail the raw-spread accounts and no cTrader runs on the Australian entity. Beginners sit between the two, with Next Generation in full on the unlimited demo at an A$0 minimum deposit, so you can test the platform risk-free.

The CMC Markets decision turns on breadth against raw forex pricing, and the broker answers the first far better than the second. In my view, that breadth places CMC Markets among the best forex brokers in Australia on this site, and for the right trader it is the strongest single-login option available.

Open a CMC Markets demo → (affiliate link, see our advertiser disclosure)