CMC Markets Review Australia 2026

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.

The Standard account pricing named in that table carries the cost story, and the per-pair figures follow below.

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, second of 21 standard accounts in the 2026 test cycle. No commission applies on the Standard account.

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

The Standard account prices through the spread rather than charging commission. The 2026 test cycle places CMC Markets Standard pricing mid-pack across the Australian field. That pricing runs tighter than easyMarkets, AvaTrade and Mitrade, 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 one covered in the Mitrade review and 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 21 brokers on the eight-pair standard-account average, behind only Axi.

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.

What trading with CMC Markets costs

Trading with CMC Markets costs nothing in commission on the Standard account, while the FX Active account charges 0.0025% per transaction, US$2.50 per side and 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. The 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 that commission. The FX Active account prices EUR/USD at roughly a 1.0 pip equivalent all in, at an AUD/USD rate of 0.65. That total is competitive without reaching the cheapest tier of the 32-broker set.

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 trading platforms

CMC Markets trading platforms run to three, Next Generation, MetaTrader 4 and TradingView, and 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. Next Generation runs on the web, on Windows and macOS desktop, and on iOS and Android. The platform carries seven strengths over MetaTrader:

• 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 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 rather than the full 12,000-instrument range.

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.

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.

Is CMC Markets safe? ASIC AFSL 238054

CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd holds ASIC AFSL 238054, current since 24 February 2004, and the group carries seven further licences across the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Bermuda.

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 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. CMC Markets client money sits under a separate set of protections, set out below.

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.

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 a retail account cannot lose more than the money in it. AFCA hears claims up to A$1,263,000 and awards compensation up to A$631,500. The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort sits behind that with an A$150,000 cap and excludes CFD trading losses, so it covers unpaid awards for misconduct rather than losing trades.

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.

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:

• 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 3,328 reviews, which Trustpilot labels great, captured August 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 at CMC Markets cover platform stability, product breadth and support quality, and the recurring complaints cover support hours and share CFD financing rates.

What other review sites say

CMC Markets' iOS app rates 3.34 out of 5 from 149 ratings on the Australian App Store (August 2026), listed as CMC: CFD Trading.

TradingView users rate CMC Markets 4.3 out of 5 from 1,157 ratings (August 2026). 10.3K TradingView users have connected a CMC Markets account.

App Store AU

3.34

149 ratingsAugust 2026

TradingView

4.3

1,157 ratings10.3K Traders via TradingViewAugust 2026View on TradingView

CMC Markets account types and minimum deposit

CMC Markets account types cover four tiers on an A$0 minimum deposit, from the spread-only CFD Trading account through to FX Active at US$2.50 per side.

Account options for AU clients

The CMC Pro account carries the Corporations Act wholesale classification. CMC Pro qualification runs on 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.

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.

Minimum deposit

The minimum deposit at CMC Markets is A$0, and funding follows 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 the unlimited CMC Markets demo placed third in the comparison of demo trading accounts in Australia.

CMC Markets funding methods and withdrawal times

CMC Markets funding methods reach six, with PayID and BPAY at no charge, credit cards at 1% and debit cards at 0.6%. Withdrawals settle in 1 to 2 business days by bank transfer.

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, BPAY and PayPal carry no deposit fee at all. A card-funded account starts 1% behind on the first deposit.

Withdrawals

CMC Markets charges no fee on standard withdrawal methods and returns withdrawals to the deposit method where possible, under anti-money-laundering rules. Withdrawal processing runs 1 to 2 business days for bank transfers and same-day for card refunds.

Account opening

Account opening at CMC Markets is fully online and AUSTRAC-compliant, on one photo identity document and a second proof of address. Most Australian applications are approved within 24 hours. CMC Markets requests more onboarding documentation than the lightest-touch flows at Plus500 and eToro.

CMC Markets markets and instrument counts

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.

Indices

The index set at CMC Markets 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. CMC Markets sits alongside the few Australian rivals listing rates products in the 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, 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.

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.

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.

CMC Markets leverage and margin under ASIC rules

CMC Markets applies a maximum retail leverage of 30:1 on major forex pairs 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 rather than at CMC Markets alone. The leverage tiers behind the 30:1 cap are explained in the 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.

CMC Markets closes out a retail client’s 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.

CMC Markets customer support

CMC Markets customer support answered live chat in under 90 seconds during the 2026 test cycle, across phone, live chat and email, 24 hours a day Monday to Friday.

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 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.

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. CMC Markets does not serve weekend crypto traders wanting live phone cover.

CMC Markets research, tools and education

CMC Markets 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. Next Generation holds those 115 technical indicators inside the platform rather than in a separate research portal, which keeps 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 traders holding equities and indices alongside forex.

How CMC Markets compares to IG Markets

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 the CMC Markets vs IG Markets comparison. IG Markets, the rival that finished ahead on service, is priced in full in the IG Markets review.

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

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.

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. CMC Markets places beginners between the two, running Next Generation in full on the unlimited demo at an A$0 minimum deposit.

The CMC Markets decision turns on breadth against raw forex pricing, and the broker answers the first far better than the second. Breadth places CMC Markets among the best forex brokers in Australia on this site.

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