CMC Markets is a leading forex and CFDs broker that was established in 1989. With over three decades of experience, CMC Markets offers forex traders in Africa an excellent trading experience, providing access to multiple assets with competitive spreads. The global broker supports the world’s favourite MetaTrader 4 trading platform and Next Generation, an award-winning proprietary platform, to trade currency pairs and CFDs on indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, shares and treasuries. CMC Markets is regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom and is a safe and reliable broker for forex traders in Africa.
Overall Rating
4.7/5
Rated #227 of
Recommended FX Brokers
Minimum Deposit USD 0
Regulators FCA, ASIC
–
Yes
📈 Total Pairs
300
Islamic Account No
Trading Fees Low
24 Hours
Is CMC Markets regulated?
Yes, CMC Markets is licensed and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, a leading Top-tier authority in Europe.
FCA: Financial Conduct Authority
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for regulating the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. It is an independent entity and regulates over 58 000 businesses across the UK. Many of these companies are governed by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), responsible for safety and risk control within the financial services sector. The FCA is widely regarded as the leading monetary regulatory authority in the world.
Is CMC Markets regulated in South Africa?
No, CMC Markets is not regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa.
Is CMC Markets legit?
Yes, CMC Markets is a legitimate forex and CFDs broker and electronic trading platform. The global broker was established in 1989 and has over three decades of experience in spread betting and CFDs trading. CMC Markets is regulatory compliant and is a safe and reliable broker for forex traders in Africa.
CMC Markets is based in the United Kingdom and is licensed and regulated by one of the most prominent authorities in the world. CMC Markets is known for its transparent pricing, competitive spreads, tight margins in normal trading conditions, and fast execution.
CMC Markets is a publicly-listed company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the symbol CMCX. The forex broker offers dedicated sites for personal, institutional and professional traders and is a good fit for beginners and advanced forex and CFDs traders. Next Generation is an award-winning proprietary trading platform, offering cutting-edge functionality that matches the MetaTrader platforms.
What type of broker is CMC Markets?
CMC Markets is a Market Maker, meaning it can buy and sell financial assets for its private account at prices it publishes in its trading system. The brokerage makes money from the bid-ask spread. CMC Markets’ pricing is automated to reduce potential conflict, and its Dealing Desk (DD) is the primary counter-party for all CFDs transactions.
Is CMC Markets a good broker?
Yes, CMC Markets is a safe and reliable broker for all types of forex and CFDs brokers. CMC Markets provides an excellent trading environment in terms of security, advanced trading platforms, and research and education. The company is regulated by the strictest authority in Europe, has been in business for over three decades and has a proven track record.
CMC Markets security
CMC Markets is regulatory compliant and regarded as safe to use by forex traders in Africa. CMC Markets follows strict regulatory guidelines for trader and investor protection and has implemented industry protocol to secure their clients’ money and information.
Regulated broker
CMC Markets is licensed and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, one of the leading authorities in the world.
Segregated accounts
CMC Markets keeps client funds in a separate account which a leading bank holds. The forex broker cannot access clients’ funds to pay for company expenses or liabilities. The funds are held in ring-fenced accounts separate from CMC Markets’ financial accounts.
SSL-protected personal area
CMC Markets uses highly secure technology to protect its clients’ data and financial transactions. SSL-secured Personal Area is protected with 128-bit encryption, making browsing safe and data inaccessible to any third parties.
Negative Balance Protection
CMC Markets provides Negative Balance Protection for its clients. CMC Markets will automatically top up the balance to 0, and clients don’t pay anything if market volatility prevents them from keeping a positive balance on their trading account.
Two-step authentication
CMC Markets requires two-step authentication to enhance your trading platform’s security and protect your deposits and personal information from hackers using SMS and backup codes. CMC Markets uses 3D secure technology when processing credit and debit cards. This technology makes all Visa transactions transparent and safe.
Know Your Customer (KYC) checks
CMC Markets is required by law to collect and verify certain personal information and execute Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.
CMC Markets trading platforms
CMC Markets is a MetaTrader broker and offers the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform to trade seven financial classes. CMC Markets also has an award-winning proprietary trading platform called Next Generation.
MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader is a pioneer electronic trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software. Since 2002, MetaQuotes Software has released several software applications for trading, but the company hit the jackpot with MT4. MT4 is the most popular and widely-used electronic trading platform for retail foreign exchange (forex) speculative traders.
Next Generation
CMC Markets’ proprietary trading platform offers industry-leading charting functions, including multiple chart types, over 115 technical indicators and drawing tools, pattern recognition and a chart forum community. Next Generation supports easy-to-use orders to manage an entry, exit and risk, and other advanced features such as boundary orders, guaranteed stop-loss orders, trailing stops and price ladders. Next Generation is an award-winning trading platform, has a user-friendly interface and is suitable for beginners and advanced forex and CFDs traders.
CMC Markets research and education
CMC Markets publishes an extensive array of content on up-to-date financial news and practical guides on trading forex and CFDs on the two trading platforms. CMC Markets scope of research and educational material for beginner, intermediate and advanced traders is impressive and outperforms many other leading brokers.
Market analysis
A global market analysts and strategists team provides around-the-clock economic news updates and insight covering the UK, European, North American and Asian markets. CMC Markets runs regular in-house events and informative live webinars and publishes an Economic Calendar.
Education
CMC Markets hosts dedicated trading webinars and published video tutorials, in-depth platform guides, advanced trading strategies, and trading articles from their market analysts. You can find historic trading-related articles in the free-to-use CMC Markets Trading Library.
What products does CMC Markets offer?
CMC Markets is a multi-asset forex and CFDs broker. Clients use the MT4 and Next Generation trading platforms to trade currency pairs and CFDs on indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, shares and treasuries with competitive spreads and tight margins in normal trading conditions.
| Forex | Over 330 cash and forward currency pairs, covering all the major and minor pairs inc. EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY |
| Indices | CFDs on over 80 cash and forward indices instruments, including the UK 100, US 30 and Germany 30 |
| Cryptocurrencies | CFDs on 14 cryptocurrencies inc. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin |
| Commodities | CFDs on over 100 cash and forward commodity instruments inc. Brent and West Texas crude oil, gold, silver and natural gas |
| Shares | CFDs on over 9 400 shares from 23 countries, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Tesla, Netflix |
| Treasuries | CFDs on over 50 instruments inc. gilts, bonds, bunds and treasury notes |
Does CMC Markets offer copy trading?
No, CMC Markets does not offer a separate copy trading platform. Add-on copy trading software options are available on the MetaTrader 4 platform.
Does CMC Markets have Nasdaq?
Yes, CMC Markets offers NASDAQ-100 (US100). US100 is traded as a futures CFD on the MT4 trading platform. The US100 assigns a capitalisation-weighted index containing 100 of the largest publicly traded non-financial businesses on the Nasdaq composite index. The US100 is one of the most significant large-cap growth indexes in the world.
How to trade forex with CMC Markets
Traders and investors cannot directly access the global forex market. They must trade through a trading platform hosted by a regulated forex and CFDs broker.
To start trading the financial markets with CMC Markets, you must register with the broker and follow the easy steps to verify your identity and set up a trading account. Deposit funds when your trading account has been approved and start trading.
How to open a CMC Markets trading account
- Open the official website for CMC Markets
- Select Create Account
- Select either a CFD or Stockbroking account
- Provide personal information to verify your identity
- Select a trading platform
- Deposit funds into your trading account
- Start trading with CMC Markets when your account has been verified and opened
What trading accounts does CMC Markets offer?
CMC Markets offers a CFD and Corporate/Stockbroking account. CMC Markets also provides a free demo account and swap-free Islamic account.
CFD account
| Min deposit
Spread Leverage Commission Holding costs Inactivity fee |
$0
From 0.3 pips 30:1 Zero Yes Yes Yes |
Corporate account
| Min deposit
Spread Leverage Commission Holding costs Inactivity fee |
$0
From 0.3 pips 500:1 Commission-based only on shares ($10) Yes Yes |
Does CMC Markets offer a free demo account?
Yes, CMC Markets offers a free demo account on the MT4 and New Generation trading platforms. CMC Markets clients can register and sign up for a free demo account which is instantly available to start trading virtual (fake) money. You can trade forex in real-time under actual market conditions but with zero risks of losing real money. Once beginner traders learn how to trade on a free demo account, they are ready to open a live trading account.
Does CMC Markets offer an Islamic account?
Yes, CMC Markets offers an Islamic swap-free live account to clients of the Muslim faith under Shariah Law.
Deposits and withdrawals
How to deposit money into a CMC Markets trading account
- Log in to the Client Portal
- Click on Deposit Funds
- Choose the payment system you would like to use; banking cards or transfer
- Enter the amount you want to deposit
- Click Continue
- Fill in other information if required and click Confirm
Does CMC Markets charge a deposit fee?
No, CMC Markets does not charge a deposit fee for bank transfers and credit/debit cards. Your bank may charge you additional fees for bank transfers. CMC Markets does not cover any fees charged if you deposit funds in a currency different from the base currency of your account.
How to withdraw money from a CMC Markets account
- Log in to your Client Portal
- Choose the account you want to withdraw funds from
- Click on Payments
- Click on Withdrawals
- Apply for a bank withdrawal
- Enter the amount you would like to withdraw
- Fill in other information if required
- Click Request
- Check the withdrawal amount is correct
- Click Confirm to send your request to the financial department to be processed
How many days do CMC Markets withdrawals take?
All withdrawal requests from CMC Markets accounts are processed within 1 to 3 hours during the working week. CMC Markets will notify you by email as soon as your request is processed. Due to the anti-money laundering protocol, it can take 2 to 3 days to reflect in your bank account.
Does CMC Markets charge a withdrawal fee?
No, CMC Markets does not charge a withdrawal fee. Your bank may charge you additional fees for monetary transfers.
CMC Markets commission and spreads
CMC Markets commission and spreads depend on the type of account you choose. CMC Markets is a Market Maker broker and makes money on the bid-ask spreads on retail trading accounts. CMC Markets charges an Overnight Holding fee and an Inactivity fee.
Commission is charged on Corporate accounts for share trading and is about 0.0% (depending on the asset’s country of origin). CMC Markets charges a minimum commission if the actual commission does not meet this threshold.
| CFD account | Spreads from 0.3 pips | Commission-free trading (except on shares); mark up on spreads |
| Corporate account | Spreads from 1.6 pips | Commission-based trading only on shares |
What awards has CMC Markets received?
CMC Markets is an award-winning forex and CFDs broker and trading platform. Its most recent accolades include:
- Best Trade Execution, Global Forex Awards 2023, UK
- Best Spread Bedding Provider, The City of London Wealth Management Awards 2023, UK
- No 1 Platform Technology, ForexBrokers.com 2023, UK
- No 1 Web-based Platform, ForexBrokers.com 2023, UK
- No 1 Professional Trading, ForexBrokers.com 2023, UK
- Best Feature-packed Non-bank Online Broker, Money Magazine Best of the Best 2023, UK
- Best Spread Betting & CFD Education Tools, ADVFN International Financial Awards 2023, UK
- Best Broker for Beginners, ADVFN International Financial Awards 2023, UK
- Best Forex Broker for Beginners, BrokerChooser Awards 2023, UK
- Best Trading Technology Provider, HedgeWeek European Awards 2023, UK
FAQs: CMC Markets
Does CMC Markets have a Welcome Bonus?
No, CMC Markets does not offer a Welcome Bonus.
CMC Markets offers a Refer a Friend bonus of $250 per successful introduction. Both you and your friend earn the bonus money when your friend opens a new CFD account and starts trading.
Can I start trading with no money in my live CMC Markets account?
Yes, you can open a live trading account with CMC Markets with no money; no initial deposit is required. You need to deposit funds into your account to start trading forex and CFDs.
What leverage does CMC Markets offer?
The maximum leverage offered by CMC Markets is 500:1 on Corporate accounts and 30:1 on CFD retail accounts.
Does CMC Markets have a mobile app for forex trading?
Yes, CMC Markets offers an easy-to-use mobile app for the MT4 and New Generation trading platforms.
Does CMC Markets publish an Economic Calendar?
Yes, CMC Markets publishes an Economic Calendar.
Where is CMC Markets based?
CMC Markets is based in London, United Kingdom.
CMC Markets has representative offices in Australia and Canada.
Who is the CEO of CMC Markets?
The CEO of CMC Markets is Peter Cruddas, Baron Cruddas of Shoreditch (2013–).
Does CMC Markets offer online support?
Yes, CMC Markets offers 24/5 online Customer Support, available Monday to Sunday via Live Chat on their website. You can also contact CMC Markets Customer Services via email or telephone.
Who can I speak to at CMC Markets for help?
CMC Markets provides dedicated 27/5 Customer Service supported by Live Chat, email or telephone.
Live Chat CMC Markets
24/5 support +44 (0)20 7170 8200
Email clientmanagement@cmcmarkets.co.uk
Urgent enquiries 1300 303 888.
FOREX TRADING AFRICA DISCLAIMER
Forex and CFDs are complex instruments, and trading these instruments come with a high-risk warning. Trading forex and CFDs involves a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage and margin. You need to understand how forex trading works and decide whether you can afford to take the risk of losing money on trade orders that do not go your way.
Forex Trading Africa annually reviews brokers and financial instruments and provides information to help traders and investors make better decisions when trading on global markets. The information is published to help improve your knowledge and understanding of international multi-asset trading and market participants.
