IC Markets Review Australia 2026

Is IC Markets safe? ASIC AFSL 335692

IC Markets is licensed in Australia through International Capital Markets Pty. Ltd., which holds ASIC Australian financial services licence 335692, status current since 2 July 2009, as the ASIC register showed when we read it on 16 July 2026. Our search of ASIC media releases and enforcement registers on 27 September 2026 found no ASIC enforcement action against International Capital Markets Pty. Ltd. in the 36 months to that date, no ASIC proceedings, infringement notices, enforceable undertakings, announced licence conditions, banning orders or stop orders.

Four licensed businesses trade under the IC Markets name. Our live account ****5249 sits with International Capital Markets Pty. Ltd. on server ICMarketsAU-Live, and the MT5 terminal names that entity. The other three sit in the table below, read on each register on 27 September 2026. Raw Trading Ltd (IC Markets Global) is listed by the Seychelles FSA with the website www.icmarkets.com, so check you are on www.icmarkets.com.au. See our guide on how to check a broker’s ASIC licence or search the ASIC register yourself.

Court proceedings involving IC Markets

International Capital Markets Pty Ltd (trading as IC Markets) and its founder, Andrew Leon Budzinski, are the respondents to a class action before the Federal Court of Australia, Victoria District Registry, file VID1088/2023. Titled Nathaniel James Bain and another v International Capital Markets Pty Ltd (ACN 123 289 109) and another, it was filed on 20 December 2023. Applicants Mr Nathaniel Bain and Mr Christopher Wyer, both retail investors, brought the proceeding.

According to the court-approved notice, group members are people who between 20 December 2017 and 23 August 2024 entered into or acquired an interest in CFDs issued by IC Markets and suffered loss or damage as a result. Allegations the notice states include misleading, deceptive and unconscionable conduct in supplying CFDs to retail investors, failure to adequately warn investors of the significant risks of highly leveraged CFD trading, not taking reasonable care in selling CFDs, breaching requirements or prohibitions on conflicted remuneration, and conduct that had the effect of avoiding proposed regulatory intervention, with Mr Budzinski said to be accessorily liable. "The Respondents deny the allegations and are defending the claims." Justice Neskovcin ordered the notice on 8 September 2025. As at 27 September 2026 the proceeding remains open, with no judgment or settlement, and a case management hearing listed for 16 October 2026.

Sources: Federal Court orders of 8 September 2025 (Schedule A is the court-approved notice); Commonwealth Courts Portal, file VID1088/2023, read 27 September 2026

Risks and problems we found with IC Markets

The table below lists what went wrong during our own account opening and funding, and what IC Markets’ own September 2026 Account Terms and PDS dated 25 September 2026 say that works against you as the client. Each row carries its date and source, and links to the section of this review where the detail sits.

I think the verification silence and the A$20 inactivity fee matter most to an occasional trader, because the first leaves you unsure whether your account is cleared and the second charges you for doing nothing. If you park a balance, the interest and liability cap rows deserve your attention too.

Client money protection and AFCA with IC Markets

Under the PDS dated 25 September 2026, client money is held on trust in client money trust accounts with an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution, segregated from IC Markets’ own company funds. The money is pooled, so you have no separate trust account, and if there is a deficiency and IC Markets cannot pay it, you may not receive all the money owed. IC Markets keeps all interest earned on client money under clause 17.3 of the Account Terms, so you earn none.

Negative balance protection applies to retail clients and limits your losses to the account value, though the PDS says it does not automatically apply to wholesale clients. Complaints go to IC Markets first, which aims to resolve them within 30 calendar days, then to AFCA free of charge under section 12.5 of the PDS. For complaints received from 1 January 2024, AFCA handles claims up to A$1,263,000 with compensation up to A$631,500 for most claims. The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort caps payments at A$150,000 and does not cover forex or CFD trading complaints. Our guide explains how negative balance protection works and where its limits sit.

Two further Account Terms points cost you something. Under clause 23.6, where IC Markets is found liable for loss on a transaction, its liability is capped at four times the fees, commission or spread paid on that transaction, unless the law prohibits the limit. Clause 30 is a class action waiver, “to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law”, requiring disputes to be resolved individually, and under it the client waives any right to start or join a class action.

AFCA’s Datacube, read 27 September 2026, records 34 complaints received by International Capital Markets Pty Ltd in 2025-26 and 19 in 2024-25. Across the 23 firms the Datacube lists for 2025-26 among the brokers this site covers, the middle figure for complaints received is 13. The figures are not adjusted for client numbers.

• AFCA business size: Very small
• Not adjusted for client numbers
• AFCA listing threshold: Financial firms that received four or more complaints during the selected period appear in the AFCA Datacube.
• Middle of the field: 23 AFCA firms listed for 01/07/2025 - 30/06/2026 among the brokers this site covers, each firm counted once
• Source: AFCA Datacube, complaints by firm, read 27 September 2026

IC Markets at a glance

This table holds the licensed entity behind IC Markets in Australia, the spreads our September 2026 capture measured on its Raw Spread account, the commission it charges, and what its own documents say about a minimum deposit.

IC Markets spreads and fees we measured

IC Markets’ Raw Spread account averaged 0.11 pips on EUR/USD in our September 2026 capture, which ran for 48 hours from 2pm AEST on 22 September to 2pm AEST on 24 September 2026 on our live Raw Spread account ****5249 using CFB-SpreadLogger 1.1.0. Across the eight pairs tested the Raw Spread account averaged 0.26 pips, fourth of the 11 raw accounts in that capture.

The MetaTrader Raw Spread commission is A$9.00 round turn per standard lot, the highest of the 11 raw accounts in our September 2026 capture, and it lifts the eight-pair all-in cost to 1.00 pips, eighth of 19 accounts. Fusion Markets’ Zero account came in at 0.09 pips on the eight-pair spread and 0.46 pips all-in. Our lowest spread brokers in Australia guide ranks the alternatives.

IC Markets Standard account

The Standard account charges a spread only and runs on MetaTrader. Our September 2026 capture holds no Standard account, so this page quotes no measured Standard spread, and the cost calculator below names the May to June 2026 window behind its figure.

What IC Markets costs per trade

MEASURED

Standard lots per month

15102550

Monthly spread cost converts pips to dollars using the EUR/USD pip value as the proxy for the 8-pair average, footnoted on-page. AUD pip value A$14.27 per standard lot at AUD/USD 0.7010 (25 Sept 2026).

Rawraw + commission · September 2026

A$127.09

Standardspread only · May to June 2026

A$142.65

Raw saves A$15.56 a month at this volume, comparing Raw prices from September 2026 with Standard prices from May to June 2026 (the September 2026 capture holds no IC Markets Standard account)

At 10 standard lots per month on Raw accounts, IC Markets costs approximately A$127.09 in spread and commission costs. Rates as of Fri 25 Sep 2026, 5pm New York close.

What it costs to trade with IC Markets

IC Markets charges two commission models. On MetaTrader the Raw Spread account costs A$9.00 round turn per standard lot, A$4.50 per side. cTrader and TradingView instead bill US$3.00 per US$100,000 traded per side, converted to your base currency. IC Markets’ own worked example: one lot of EUR/USD at 1.30 is US$130,000 of notional, billed US$3.90 to open and US$3.93 to close, US$7.83 round turn.

The table shows the cTrader and TradingView commission per standard lot round turn beside MetaTrader’s flat A$9.00, at our rates close of 25 September 2026: AUD-base pairs cost A$6.00 against A$9.00, while EUR-base pairs and GBP/USD cost more on cTrader.

For an Australian trading AUD/USD, the cTrader commission is smaller because one lot is AUD 100,000, a smaller US dollar notional than EUR/USD, while MetaTrader charges A$9.00 round turn either way. Our lowest commission forex brokers guide compares the alternatives. I advise you to settle on your platform first, then compare costs on the pairs you trade.

Other fees in the PDS

• Profit or loss in another currency is converted to your base currency at IC Markets’ own rate (PDS section 10.7).
• A swap-free account pays no swap but is charged an Overnight Position Holding Fee on every overnight contract, and the fee may vary (PDS section 10.4).
• IC Markets states it “does not charge any additional fees for deposits or withdrawals” (funding page, 14 September 2026), though certain payment options may attract a processing fee (PDS section 10.6).
• No interest is paid on money held for you (PDS section 10.5).

The inactivity fee from 25 September 2026

From 25 September 2026, IC Markets charges an inactivity fee of A$20 a month once an account has gone 12 months with no trade and no open position (Account Terms clause 16.2(c), PDS section 10.8). A pending order that never executes does not count as activity, so a resting limit order will not save you from the fee.

If your balance falls under A$20, the fee takes the account in full, and an account that reaches zero may be closed. IC Markets emailed clients on 26 August 2026 and announced the new Account Terms and PDS on its blog.

IC Markets account types and minimum deposit

IC Markets has two account types: Standard, a spread-only account on MetaTrader, and Raw Spread, raw spread plus commission on MetaTrader, cTrader or TradingView. Neither the CFD PDS dated 25 September 2026 nor the Account Terms sets a minimum deposit. Its website states US$200, or currency equivalent, for full access to all markets. Our A$200 card deposit on 28 August 2026 was approved, which establishes no lower floor.

You can choose a swap-free account at application. Demo accounts mirror the live platforms (PDS).

Opening an IC Markets account in Australia

Noam Korbl opened a live Raw Spread account with IC Markets in about 7 minutes, from sign-up to a live account showing in the client area. The account landed with International Capital Markets Pty. Ltd. on server ICMarketsAU-Live. Leverage on the account is 30:1, the ASIC retail cap.

Deposits and withdrawals with IC Markets

The Australian deposit menu lists eight methods, all free: Visa and Mastercard, PayPal, Neteller and Skrill (these five instant), BPAY (12 to 48 hours), bank wire through National Australia Bank (2 to 5 business days), and broker-to-broker transfer (2 to 14 business days). PayID and POLi do not appear. IC Markets’ live chat confirmed to us on 14 September 2026 that it accepts neither, so BPAY or a wire is your bank-rail route.

Withdrawals

IC Markets’ funding page, read 14 September 2026, states the broker “does not charge any additional fees for deposits or withdrawals”. Withdrawals go back to the source you deposited from wherever available, an anti-money-laundering rule. Neither the PDS nor the Account Terms states a withdrawal time, and we have not yet tested a withdrawal, so this review gives no withdrawal time of its own.

IC Markets trading platforms and app

IC Markets runs MT4, MT5 and cTrader, with TradingView through the cTrader integration, and it builds no platform of its own. Its Australian home page menu on 27 September 2026 listed MetaTrader 5 (marked recommended), MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader WebTrader and MetaTrader apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac, alongside cTrader, cTrader Web, cTrader apps for iPhone, iPad, iMac and Android, cTrader Algo, TradingView and WebTrader Pro. For detail on the cTrader side, see our cTrader guide.

“IC Markets cTrader” sits on Apple’s Australian App Store, sold by International Capital Markets Pty Ltd, rated 4.67 out of 5 from 52 Australian ratings when we captured it on 1 September 2026. MetaTrader users trade through the MetaTrader apps instead.

IC Markets automated trading terms

IC Markets’ Account Terms, September 2026, set the rules for automated trading.

IC Markets’ Australian home page menu, read 27 September 2026, lists cTrader Algo among its cTrader products. Ask IC Markets for written consent before running high speed automated order entry.

ASIC leverage caps and margin at IC Markets

Retail accounts at IC Markets get 30:1 leverage on major forex pairs under ASIC’s product intervention order, which runs to 23 May 2027. Other caps follow the asset class: 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on commodities other than gold and on minor indices, 5:1 on shares and other assets, and 2:1 on crypto assets. The order applies at every ASIC-regulated CFD issuer, so the cap is the same wherever you go. Our ASIC CFD rules page explains how the caps work in practice.

ASIC requires your positions to be closed once your account equity falls below 50% of the total initial margin on those open positions. Our live account showed leverage of 1:30. Negative balance protection limits retail losses to the account value, though the PDS says it does not automatically apply to a wholesale client.

IC Markets execution speed and slippage

IC Markets has no execution measurement in this review: we made no fill speed or slippage test on our September 2026 account ****5249, so this page gives no execution figure for the broker. Our ECN forex brokers guide lists IC Markets first, and that guide ranks brokers on execution model and liquidity disclosure, not on latency. This site publishes no cross-broker latency ranking.

The CFD PDS states in section 7 that when you place an order you deal with IC Markets as “principal and counterparty”, and Account Terms clause 3.1 says it acts as principal. Section 4.8 of the PDS bases its quotes on market prices from external Liquidity Providers, with “no other dealer intervention”. Hedging may run through a Hedge Counterparty, but PDS sections 4.8 and 9.2 say it does not always hedge all CFD transactions. Slippage may occur when volatility or volume rises, generally at news events or gapping (PDS section 3.3). Neither document sets out a best execution policy or mentions requotes. AFCA’s Datacube, read 27 September 2026, labels the firm’s primary business Derivatives Dealer.

Markets and instruments you can trade with IC Markets

The PDS dated 25 September 2026 lists seven asset classes: shares, indices, commodities, bonds, forex, crypto and ETFs, all as CFDs, with ETF CFDs the new class in that document. In the table below, the counts are IC Markets’ own statements from its Australian home page on 27 September 2026, and that page’s totals disagree with each other, saying 1800+ tradable instruments in one place and over 2,250 in another. Treat the figures as the broker’s, not ours. IC Shares, the separate share investing product, has registrations temporarily closed, so share CFDs remain the way to trade company exposure.

The ETF CFDs carry 20% initial margin, which is 5:1 leverage, and US-listed ETF CFDs cost USD 0.02 per share per side, the same basis as US share CFDs. Distributions are paid as a cash adjustment, so no franking credits reach you as the holder.

Reaching IC Markets customer support

IC Markets’ Australian home page stated on 27 September 2026 that support is available 7 days a week. Its live chat answered our PayID question on 14 September 2026, which is the one contact we can report from experience. We have not timed support replies, so we make no claim about speed. If something goes wrong, the complaints path is IC Markets first, which aims to resolve complaints within 30 calendar days, then AFCA free of charge.

IC Markets research, tools and education

IC Markets’ Australian home page menu of 27 September 2026 lists IC Insights, Trading Central, MT4 Advanced Trading Tools, an economic calendar, forex calculators, Web TV, webinars, a podcast, tutorial videos and a Help Centre. The PDS says the broker’s demo accounts mirror its live platforms.

What traders say about IC Markets

Public ratings of IC 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	Profile	Rating	Based on	Who rated	Captured
Trustpilot	icmarkets.com.au	3.9 out of 5	28 reviews	Worldwide	September 2026
App Store	IC Markets cTrader app	4.67 out of 5	52 ratings	Australia only	September 2026
TradingView	IC Markets broker page	4.6 out of 5	8,263 ratings	Worldwide	August 2026
Google	IC Markets Australia, Sydney	3.3 out of 5	79 reviews	Worldwide	September 2026

Each row above is a public rating of IC 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 IC Markets, withholds it, cannot be matched to IC Markets with confidence, or we have not captured it yet.

The Trustpilot row is the icmarkets.com.au profile, at 3.9 out of 5 from 28 reviews in September 2026. IC Markets' Australian home page shows a Trustpilot widget reading 4.8 out of 5 from 56,714 reviews on 27 September 2026, which belongs to a different, larger profile. The Google row is the Google Business Profile for IC Markets Australia in Sydney, at 3.3 out of 5 from 79 reviews on 27 September 2026.

How popular is IC Markets in Australia?

Australians made 6,010 branded searches for IC Markets in August 2026, placing it 7th of the 32 brokers we review. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.

7of 32Search interest rank

6,010

Brand searches, August 2026

+0.2%

vs July 2026

480

Login searches

3.3%

Share of all broker searches

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

How IC Markets compares with ASIC alternatives

Our September 2026 capture put IC Markets’ Raw Spread account at 0.26 pips across eight pairs, fourth of the 11 raw accounts, with Fusion Markets first at 0.09 pips. On the 2026 scoring, Pepperstone leads with 98, Fusion Markets sits third on 91 and IC Markets fourth on 90. Pepperstone was not in that capture. For a head-to-head, see our Pepperstone vs IC Markets comparison.

The clearest cost gap is commission: MetaTrader Raw Spread costs A$4.50 per side here, against A$2.25 per side at Fusion Markets in the same capture. Pepperstone and Fusion Markets both state no minimum deposit, while IC Markets’ website states US$200 for full access to all markets.

Should you open an IC Markets account?

Yes, for AUD-pair cTrader traders and share CFD traders.

• AUD-pair traders open Raw Spread on cTrader at A$6.00 against A$9.00 round turn per standard lot on AUD-base pairs, rates close 25 September 2026.
• MetaTrader users open Raw Spread on MT5 and check Fusion Markets first if cost comes first.
• Share CFD traders: IC Markets states a larger range than Fusion Markets, read 27 September 2026.
• To automate, ask IC Markets in writing for consent before automated order entry under clause 12.9.
• Occasional traders weigh the monthly inactivity fee first.
• Everyone starts on the demo account IC Markets offers.
• Check withdrawals before funding since we have not yet tested one.

For more options, see our top-rated forex brokers in Australia.