CMC Markets

Licences for the UK, German, Australian, Singapore, Dubai and Bermuda entities were confirmed on the regulators’ own registers. CMC states that its Canadian company is a CIRO member and that its New Zealand company issues its products there. International clients are onboarded through CMC Markets Bermuda Limited.

• StrengthCMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730) has been authorised by the FCA since 1 December 2001 and CMC Markets Investments Limited (FRN 948126) since 21 March 2022; both may hold client money.
• StrengthCMC Markets Germany GmbH is a securities institution supervised by BaFin (BaFin-ID 10154814). CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (AFSL 238054) and CMC Markets Stockbroking Limited (AFSL 246381) are current ASIC licensees. CMC Markets Singapore Pte Ltd holds a MAS Capital Markets Services licence, and CMC Markets Middle East Limited has held a DFSA licence (F002740) since 28 October 2019.
• MediumCMC Markets Bermuda Limited, licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority for investment business since 13 December 2024 and for digital asset business since 25 August 2025, serves clients outside the regulated regions, outside the main retail protection regimes.
• ObservationCMC Markets Bermuda offers retail clients leverage of up to 200:1 (0.5% margin). This is lawful in Bermuda and is recorded but not scored.
• ObservationCMC Spreadbet plc (FRN 170627) is shown on the FCA register as having applied to cancel its authorisation. A licence given up at the firm’s request is not a sanction.

CMC Markets plc has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since February 2016 and publishes annual reports audited by Deloitte. Its founder and chief executive, Lord Peter Cruddas, holds 59.03% of the voting rights.

• StrengthAnnual Report and Financial Statements for the year to 31 March 2026, with Deloitte’s audit report dated 15 June 2026, list every subsidiary, including CMC Markets Bermuda Limited.
• ObservationLord Peter Cruddas (59.03%) and Fiona Cruddas (3.21%) are controlling shareholders under a relationship agreement dated 26 January 2016 that is designed to keep the company independent of them.

CMC Markets UK plc clients are covered by the FSCS, and CMC states its Canadian company is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The Bermuda entity states that client money is segregated and retail clients have negative balance protection, but no compensation scheme applies.

• StrengthThe group held £1,149.1 million of segregated client money at 31 March 2026, off its balance sheet, and states that it segregates all client money except for a small number of clients under title transfer arrangements.
• StrengthCMC states that UK client money is protected by the FSCS up to £85,000 per eligible person.
• MediumClients of CMC Markets Bermuda Limited fall outside any investor compensation scheme. CMC states that, under BMA rules, they have negative balance protection.

Not assessed in a desk audit. Spreads, slippage and fill quality can only be measured with live accounts.

No fine, sanction or licence action against a CMC company was found in the last eight years. In Australia, CMC Markets Asia Pacific compensated clients after self-reporting breaches of ASIC’s CFD leverage limits, and in 2025 the group set aside £5.2 million to remediate clients over margin discounting practices.

• LowIn November 2023 ASIC reported that CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd was one of seven CFD issuers that self-reported issuing CFDs to retail clients above the leverage limits in ASIC’s product intervention order, which ASIC described as possible breaches, and that compensated affected clients. ASIC did not name which issuers it required to pay additional compensation.
• LowCMC’s 2026 annual report discloses a £5.2 million provision, described as a further provision, to remediate clients for historic margin discounting practices in an Australian subsidiary, linked to what it calls an industry-wide margin netting matter and the regulator’s remediation expectations. In January 2026 ASIC reported that more than half of the CFD issuers it reviewed had breached its product intervention order by offering such margin discounts, without naming them.

Not assessed in a desk audit. Uptime, incident history and security controls require evidence from the firm or live monitoring.

No Great Place to Work certification was found. CMC’s audited 2026 annual report records £172,000 of charitable donations and names its community programmes, including Youth Off The Streets in Australia and the Chapter One reading programme in the UK.

• ObservationNo Great Place to Work certification was found in Great Place to Work’s public listings.
• ObservationCommunity work is reported by CMC itself in its annual report, including staff volunteering with Chapter One and Youth Off The Streets and a scholarship with the Harding Miller Education Foundation; we found no independent reporting.