Trade CFDs with no
hidden fees

There’s no cost when opening a live spread betting or CFD account. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news or Morningstar quantitative equity reports, free of charge. However, you will need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade. You can find out more about the costs of placing a trade here

Yes, CMC Markets UK plc (registration number 173730) and CMC Spreadbet plc (registration number 170627) are fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Retail client money is held in segregated client bank accounts and money held on behalf of clients is distributed across a range of major banks, which are regularly assessed against our risk criteria.

Yes, your eligible deposits with CMC Markets are protected up to a total of 85,000 by the Financial Services Compensations Scheme (FSCS), the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. If CMC Markets ever went into liquidation, retail clients would have their share of segregated money returned, minus the administrator's costs in handling and distributing these funds. Any shortfall of funds up to 85,000 may be compensated under the FSCS.

As a CMC client, your money is held separately from CMC Markets' own funds, so that under property, trust and insolvency law, your money is protected. Therefore your money is unavailable to general creditors of the firm, if the firm fails.

Our income primarily comes from our spreads, while other fees, such as overnight holding costs, make a minor contribution to our overall revenue.

We never aim to profit from our clients' losses. Our aim is to build long-term relationships by providing the best possible trading experience through our technology and customer service.

You can trade on over 10,000 markets when you spread bet with CMC Markets. You can see a list of all our popular markets and instruments here

Contracts for difference (CFDs) are derivative products which enable you to trade on the price movement of underlying financial assets (such as forex, indices, commodities, shares and treasuries).

A CFD is an agreement to exchange the difference in the value of an asset from the time the contract is opened until the time at which it's closed. With a CFD you never actually own the asset or instrument you have chosen to trade, but you can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss should the market move against you.

The main difference between CFD trading and share trading is that you don't own the underlying share when you trade on a share CFD. With CFDs, you never actually buy or sell the underlying asset that you’ve chosen to trade, but you can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you. However, with traditional share trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the shares for money, and you own this equity.
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When trading CFDs, it’s important to understand the risks associated with financial trading in general, as well as the risks that are specific to trading CFDs. The main risks associated with trading CFDs relate to trading with leverage, account close-out, market volatility and market gapping.
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When spread betting, it’s important to understand the risks associated with financial trading in general, as well as the risks that are specific to spread betting. The main risks associated with spread betting relate to trading with leverage, account close-out, market volatility and market gapping.
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Trading CFDs and spread betting are margined products and can provide similar economic benefits to investments in shares, indices, commodities and currencies.
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Our learn section offers a comprehensive introduction to trading CFDs. From understanding leverage to trading CFDs examples, risk-management tips, developing an effective trading CFDs strategy and more.
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Stay on top of breaking economic news events and discover what's moving the financial markets with commentary, video and webinars from our global market analysts.
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