Rates and bonds

A bond is a fixed-income instrument, or debt security, and represents a long-term lending agreement between a borrower and lender – effectively an 'IOU'. The bond issuer is often a corporation or a government, and the funds are used to finance a project or operation. Learn how to trade bonds

There are a number of costs to consider when spread betting and CFD trading, including spread costs, holding costs (for trades held overnight, which is essentially a fee for the funds you borrow to cover the leveraged portion of the trade), rollover costs (on expiring forward positions) and a guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO) charge (if you use this risk-management tool – the cost is refunded if the GSLO isn’t triggered). Find out more about our trading costs

One of the features of spread betting and CFD trading is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position – the initial margin requirement – to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Trading on leverage amplifies your profits and losses equally, so it's important to manage your risk.

Spread betting offers a tax-efficient way* to trade on a huge range of financial markets, including rates and bonds, up to 24 hours a day, from Sunday night through to Friday night. Spread bet from a desktop PC or mobile device, with leverage.

*Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

There's no cost to open a live trading account with us. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news, or Morningstar quantitative research equity reports, free of charge. You'll need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade.

Yes, CMC Markets UK plc (registration number 173730) is 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.

Under the FCA's Client Money rules, we're required to segregate client money (unless you agree with us otherwise) from CMC's own funds. The funds held in segregated bank accounts do not belong to CMC, and will be held in a way that enables it to be identified as client money. Learn more about client money regulations

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