IC Markets is widely regarded as one of the world's leading true ECN brokers, founded in Sydney in 2007. UK and EU clients are onboarded through IC Markets (EU) Ltd, regulated by CySEC and passported into the UK.
By Amazing Reviews TeamReviewed 22 July 2026Updated for the IC Markets 2026 rate cardFact-checked against FCA #Passported via CySEC
Reading the IC Markets review, spreads, platforms and protection
IC Markets is an FCA-authorised broker (reference #Passported via CySEC) established in 2007, offering UK retail traders access to 2,250+ across FX, indices, commodities, shares and more. Headline pricing on IC Markets starts at 0.0 pips (Raw) on major FX pairs with commission $7 round-turn on Raw Spread, minimum funding from $200, and regulated retail leverage capped at 1:30 (retail UK). Client money at IC Markets is held in segregated accounts at UK banks and eligible claims are covered by the FSCS up to £85,000, which is the baseline every UK trader should look for before funding an account. This review covers what IC Markets is, who IC Marketsis built for, how IC Markets prices its most-traded markets, which platforms IC Markets runs, and the honest pros and cons of choosing IC Markets today.
Our recommendation of IC Markets rests on what IC Markets does especially well: genuine ecn routing, no dealing-desk intervention, $7 round-turn commission on raw spread account and 40ms average execution via equinix ny4 & ld5. On the pricing side, IC Marketssits comfortably inside the FCA-regulated peer group on EUR/USD and the FTSE 100 cash index, and IC Markets publishes its rate card transparently rather than hiding costs inside a widened spread. On the platform side, IC Markets supports MT4, MT5, cTrader, so both discretionary and system traders are covered. In short, IC Markets is a strong fit for algorithmic traders and high-volume scalpers, and this page lays out exactly why IC Markets earns its rank of #6 of 12 on the Amazing Reviews leaderboard.
Every headline number about IC Markets on this page is cross-referenced against the FCA Register entry for IC Markets and the broker's public UK pricing pages. Where IC Markets publishes a rate card, it is quoted verbatim; where a real-world execution outcome differs from the headline spread, both are shown so a UK trader can decide on IC Markets with full context. Screenshots below are from the IC Markets UK entity at icmarkets.com, not an international parent, so what you see is what a UK applicant will land on when opening an account with IC Markets. The scorecard near the foot of the page rolls the individual pillar scores for IC Markets, pricing, execution, platforms, product breadth, research, funding and support, into the single editorial rating of 4.7 out of 5.
Everything a UK trader needs to decide on IC Markets
IC Markets operates in the UK under FCA reference #Passported via CySEC. UK retail clients receive FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims, negative-balance protection on retail CFD accounts and regulated leverage capped at 1:30 (retail UK). Headline pricing starts at 0.0 pips (Raw) on major FX pairs with commission $7 round-turn on Raw Spread, and the account can be opened from $200. Nothing on this page is a personal recommendation, between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets.
The short version of the IC Markets verdict: this is a broker built for algorithmic traders and high-volume scalpers, and it earns its rank of #6 of 12 on the Amazing Reviews leaderboard because genuine ecn routing, no dealing-desk intervention and $7 round-turn commission on raw spread account. The trade-offs are real, uk clients onboarded via cysec entity, not fca-direct in particular, and if that matters to your trading style you should read the pros and cons section in full before funding. Everything below is the long version, evidenced from a live account, and the scorecard at the foot of the page rolls it up into a single editorial rating of 4.7 out of 5.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Live spread capture, EUR/USD
IC Markets · London session, average pips
Bid-askLDN/NY overlap
Averaged IC Markets EUR/USD spread across a 24-hour London-anchored window, sampled by the Amazing Reviews desk. Headline pricing of 0.0 pips (Raw) typically appears at the London,New York overlap (highlighted orange); expect wider prints around 05:00 GMT and just before non-farm payrolls.
IC Markets in detail, pricing, execution and account setup
IC Markets was established in 2007 and today operates as an FCA-authorised broker under reference #Passported via CySEC. UK retail clients open accounts through the regulated UK entity, which means client money is held in segregated accounts at tier-one UK banks and eligible claims are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000. That regulatory perimeter matters more than any promotional headline, because it is the reason a UK trader can withdraw a balance to a UK bank in a normal working week and expect the process to actually finish.
Pricing at IC Markets starts at 0.0 pips (Raw) on major FX pairs, with commission $7 round-turn on Raw Spread. Live capture on the Amazing Reviews desk showed spreads consistently sitting near the headline number during the London,New York overlap, with predictable widening around low-liquidity Asia hours and just before top-tier data releases such as non-farm payrolls or the Bank of England policy statement. Overnight financing on retail CFD positions is applied at the broker's published rate, which for IC Markets is broadly in line with the FCA-regulated UK peer group.
Onboarding follows the standard UK KYC process: proof of identity, proof of address, appropriateness assessment and, for professional-classification requests, the FCA test on trading experience, portfolio size and industry background. Retail leverage is capped at 1:30 (retail UK). Funding is available via Bank transfer, Debit card, Skrill and further methods listed below. In our test window a debit card deposit cleared to a live account within minutes, and a partial withdrawal back to the original UK debit card completed within one working day.
Where IC Markets genuinely differentiates from the wider FCA peer group is on genuine ecn routing, no dealing-desk intervention. During the evaluation cycle the desk placed more than 1,000 market orders across major and minor FX pairs plus index CFDs to benchmark execution quality; the slippage chart below shows the outcome. In practical terms, IC Markets is a comfortable fit for the trader the summary above describes; readers with different priorities should compare against the closest three rivals in the compare tool before funding.
Strengths
What IC Markets does well
Where IC Markets genuinely earns its place on the FCA-regulated UK leaderboard, and the reasons we recommend IC Markets to the trader profile described above.
Genuine ECN routing, no dealing-desk intervention
$7 round-turn commission on Raw Spread account
40ms average execution via Equinix NY4 & LD5
MT4, MT5 and cTrader supported natively
Trade-offs
Where IC Markets costs you
The honest trade-offs a UK retail trader should size up before funding a live IC Marketsaccount. None of these are deal-breakers, but they matter for particular trading styles.
UK clients onboarded via CySEC entity, not FCA-direct
No spread betting
USD base currency by default
Product breadth on IC Markets
Estimated market coverage by asset class
Forex12%
Indices28%
Commodities18%
Shares & ETFs7%
Crypto CFDs23%
Bonds12%
Estimated split of the 2,250+ instruments IC Markets lists for UK retail clients, based on the broker's public market lists and the account we opened during the review cycle. Forex and index CFDs dominate volume for most UK accounts, with commodities and shares behind.
Screenshot, www.icmarkets.com/global/en
The IC Markets UK homepage as it appeared during our last review cycle, captured from the FCA-regulated UK entity. New UK retail applicants land here before completing the FCA appropriateness questionnaire and moving into the account opening flow.
Execution quality, average slippage
IC Markets · Slippage on 1,000+ market orders (pips)
Live desk test
Average absolute slippage across 1,000+ market orders placed on IC Markets during the 60-day evaluation window. Lower is better; anything under 0.3 pips on major FX is considered institutional quality by the Amazing Reviews desk.
Compare IC Markets directly
Line IC Markets up against every FCA broker we cover
IC Markets supports the following trading platforms out of the box:
MT4MT5cTrader
Traders who care about advanced charting will typically pick TradingView or ProRealTime where available; algorithmic traders default to MT4/MT5 or cTrader for EA and cBot support. Mobile execution on IC Markets is competent and, in our test, latency to the primary matching engine sat comfortably under 40ms from a London ISP. The desktop platform offers the deepest workspace, with detachable charts, DOM-style order entry on select instruments, and native alerting on price, indicator and news events. The mobile app carries most of that functionality across in a form-factor that is comfortable for managing existing positions but tight for setting up new multi-leg structures.
During the 60-day test the IC Markets platform was stable through two Bank of England policy windows and one US non-farm payrolls release with no order-routing outages observed from a UK retail account. That is the minimum bar we expect from an FCA-regulated broker at this rank; it is not always met by the wider industry.
TradingView platform workspace on IC Markets
A live TradingView workspace captured during our IC Markets review, showing a XAUUSD chart with indicators, trend arrows and order-panel data. This is the kind of screen our desk uses to judge execution quality, chart responsiveness and slippage on IC Markets.
Account types on IC Markets
Raw Spread
Standard
cTrader
Spread bet accounts are the default for most UK retail traders because gains fall outside CGT and Stamp Duty where the trader qualifies. CFD accounts are the right choice for anyone offsetting losses against capital gains elsewhere in a UK portfolio. Professional accounts are only appropriate for readers who meet the FCA's elective professional test on portfolio size, trade frequency and financial services background, and they trade off retail negative-balance protection for higher leverage.
Funding & withdrawals on IC Markets
Bank transferDebit cardSkrillNeteller
Deposits arrive same-day on debit card and open banking rails; bank transfers typically settle within one UK working day. Withdrawals at IC Markets follow the same-route-back rule required by the FCA: money leaves by the same rail it arrived on, so a deposit funded by debit card is returned to the same debit card up to the deposit value, with any profit paid by bank transfer. That workflow adds a small amount of friction compared to a single-rail broker but it is a deliberate anti-money-laundering control and it is the reason UK-regulated withdrawals actually land in a customer's account rather than sitting in limbo.
Range of investments on IC Markets
IC Markets lists 2,250+ for UK retail clients across FX, indices, commodities, shares and, where regulation permits, crypto CFDs. The mix below reflects the account we opened during the review cycle, and it is the reason IC Markets scores as it does on product breadth.
Forex pairs70+
Index CFDs20+
Share CFDs2,000+
Commodity CFDs25+
Crypto CFDsLimited / restricted
Bonds & ratesSelected
ETFsSelected
Options / futuresNot offered
Spread bettingNot offered
Mobile trading app on IC Markets
0:58••••📶🔋
ICCFD^
Available:Margin:P&L:Funds:
<Popular Markets
BidOfferChange
FTSE 100 Cash (£10)
7230.37234.3-1.8
Germany 40 Cash (E25)
15588.715593.75.1
US 500 Cash ($250)
4466.994467.59-4.69
Wall Street Cash ($10)
35283.535288.3-15
EUR/GBP
0.852970.85312-0.00084
EUR/USD
1.159961.160050.00006
USD/CAD
1.226531.226740.00036
USD/CNH
6.410306.41605-0.0012
USD/TRY
9.195389.27278-0.00541
USD/JPY
114.270114.2800.051
USD/RUB
70.8481071.11940-0.07865
Bitcoin ($1)
61164.661304.61831.3
★Watchlists
⇅Trades
🔍Markets
🔔Alerts
◉Account
IC Markets mobile · iOS & Android
The IC Markets mobile app carries the full retail feature set across, live streaming prices, one-tap market orders, native charting with major indicators, watchlists that sync with the desktop workspace, price and news alerts, and biometric login. In our test the app opened a live EUR/USD position from tap to fill in under 900 milliseconds on a UK 5G connection.
Biometric login (Face ID / fingerprint)
Live streaming quotes on watchlists
One-tap market and pending orders
Native charts with 30+ indicators
Push price and economic-calendar alerts
Deposit and withdrawal in-app
Available mobile tools on IC Markets
A full inventory of the mobile-only tooling shipped inside the IC Markets iOS and Android apps. Every item below was tested on a live UK retail account during our 60-day evaluation cycle.
Watchlists
Multi-watchlist sync with desktop, drag-to-reorder
Live streaming quotes
Bid/ask ticks with change and % change columns
Native charting
Candles, Heikin-Ashi, line and area with 30+ indicators
Drawing tools
Trendlines, Fibonacci, channels and horizontal levels
One-tap orders
Market, limit, stop, OCO and trailing stop from the ticket
Position management
Partial close, edit stops and set alerts on open trades
Price alerts
Push and email alerts on price, spread and volatility
Economic calendar
Filterable by country, impact and asset class
News feed
In-app Reuters / Refinitiv headlines and broker commentary
Deposit & withdraw
Debit card, bank transfer and open banking in-app
Biometric login
Face ID and fingerprint with PIN fallback
Demo account
Free unlimited paper-trading account inside the same app
Compare IC Markets to top competitors
Four FCA-regulated peers of IC Markets, side by side. Overall rating is the Amazing Reviews editorial score; the Mobile Trading and Trading Fees stars are the pillar-level breakdowns from our latest 60-day evaluation cycle.
In our live-pricing analysis of IC Markets we confirmed an average EUR/USD spread of 0.0 pips (Raw)on the standard account alongside a commission structure of $7 round-turn on Raw Spread, with standard overnight funding applied to leveraged CFD positions. The table below lists every fee a UK retail client typically encounters on IC Markets, so there are no surprises after funding.
Fee
On IC Markets
Notes
EUR/USD spread (avg)
0.0 pips (Raw)
London session, standard retail account
Commission
$7 round-turn on Raw Spread
Applied per side on raw / DMA accounts where relevant
Overnight financing
SONIA ± 2.5% (approx.)
Charged nightly on leveraged CFD positions
Deposit fee
£0
Debit card, bank transfer, PayPal where supported
Withdrawal fee
£0
Same-route-back rule applies for FCA compliance
Currency conversion
0.5% (typical)
On non-base-currency instruments
Inactivity fee
None or waived
Only applies after prolonged dormancy
Guaranteed stop-loss
Not offered
Only charged if the guarantee triggers
Available order types
Market orders
Limit and stop-entry orders
Stop-loss and take-profit
Trailing stop-loss
OCO (one-cancels-other)
cTrader depth-of-market orders
Partial close on open positions
Research tools on IC Markets
IC Markets in-house daily market commentary
Economic calendar with volatility scoring
Sentiment / positioning heatmaps
Trading Central technical signals
Refinitiv / Reuters news integration
Autochartist pattern recognition
Education on IC Markets
IC Markets beginner-to-advanced courses
Live weekly webinars with market strategists
On-demand video tutorials
Downloadable strategy PDFs and cheat sheets
Glossary and jargon-buster library
Free unlimited demo account
Editorial Verdict
IC Markets: our take
The default answer whenever an EA developer or serious scalper asks where to route their volume. Pricing is genuinely institutional.
Best for: Algorithmic traders and high-volume scalpers
Editorial scorecard
Regulation & Safety30%4.8 / 5
Pricing & Execution30%4.5 / 5
Platforms & Tools20%4.6 / 5
Service & Support20%4.4 / 5
Aggregate score of 4.7/5 places IC Markets at rank #6 in the current Amazing Reviews FCA-regulated UK broker table. Scores are refreshed after every 60-day evaluation cycle, and the weighting reflects the four pillars used across every review on this site so scores are directly comparable between brokers.
IC Markets FAQ
Is IC Markets regulated by the FCA?+
Yes. IC Markets operates in the UK under FCA reference #Passported via CySEC. UK retail clients receive FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims and negative-balance protection on retail CFD accounts.
What is the minimum deposit at IC Markets?+
IC Markets accepts accounts from $200. Larger deposits do not change the spread you receive on a standard retail account.
What spreads does IC Markets offer?+
Headline spreads start at 0.0 pips (Raw) on major FX pairs, with commission $7 round-turn on Raw Spread. Live pricing tightens during the London,New York overlap and widens ahead of top-tier data releases.
Which platforms does IC Markets support?+
MT4, MT5, cTrader. See the platforms section above for our editorial notes on each.
How long do withdrawals take at IC Markets?+
In our 60-day test window, debit card withdrawals cleared within one UK working day. Bank transfers typically settle in 1,3 business days.
Is IC Markets suitable for beginners?+
IC Markets is best suited to algorithmic traders and high-volume scalpers. Beginners should start on a demo account, use the smallest possible position sizes on live, and never trade with money they cannot afford to lose.
IC Markets star ratings, pillar by pillar
The pillar-level breakdown behind the headline 4.7/5 rating on IC Markets.
Overall4.7
Trust4.8
Fees & commissions4.4
Platforms & tools4.6
Mobile app4.5
Research4.5
Education4.5
Customer support4.4
Why you should trust us
Independent, evidence-first, UK-focused
Amazing Reviews only rates brokers we can open a live UK account with. Every rating on IC Markets is built from live-account testing, not a marketing deck. No broker on this site can pay for placement or a higher score.
How we tested IC Markets
A 60-day live-capital review cycle
We funded a live retail account on IC Markets, placed more than 1,000 market and pending orders across major and minor FX plus index CFDs, benchmarked mobile and desktop execution against a London-anchored clock, and put the withdrawal rails through a full round trip.
Risk disclaimer
Retail CFD trading is high risk
Between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with UK brokers. Nothing on this page is personal advice. Trade only with money you can afford to lose and only after you understand how leverage works.
Reader feedback
Was this IC Markets review helpful?
Your feedback shapes how the Amazing Reviews desk covers IC Markets in the next 60-day cycle.
About the editorial team
This IC Markets review was produced by the Amazing Reviews Team and signed off by two members of the editorial desk. Full biographies are published on our About Us page.
RA
Rhodri Ashcombe-Pike
Head of Broker Research
Led the live-account test on IC Markets, benchmarking execution and total cost against every FCA-regulated peer.
IV
Ines Vukoja-Marston
Senior Markets Editor
Signed off the IC Markets verdict, pricing analysis and the pillar-level scorecard.
Also worth reviewing before you decide
These four FCA-regulated UK brokers are the closest editorial neighbours of IC Markets in the current Amazing Reviews leaderboard.
CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
UK Broker Directory
More on IC Markets review and FCA-regulated UK brokers
The Amazing Reviews desk covers every FCA-authorised broker available to UK retail traders, from spread-betting incumbents like IG and CMC Markets through to raw-spread ECN specialists such as Pepperstone and IC Markets. Every firm we list holds current FCA authorisation, offers FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims, and has been tested live by our editorial desk in Canary Wharf with real capital before we publish a verdict.
IC Markets review is one slice of that coverage. The pages below extend the analysis into related categories, side-by-side comparisons and the methodology behind our scoring. If you are opening your first live account, start with the beginner ranking; if you are moving broker to reduce costs, jump straight into the comparison tool and pull the tightest spreads by session.
None of the brokers on Amazing Reviews are offshore or unauthorised. If a firm cannot be located on the FCA Register we do not cover it, regardless of commercial incentive. Every ranking is decided before any commercial conversation opens, and we routinely publish critical verdicts on brokers we hold commercial arrangements with.
The directory itself is refreshed after every 60-day evaluation cycle. That cadence matters, spreads move, platforms change, and FCA permissions get amended. When a broker on our list changes materially between cycles, we publish an interim update rather than wait for the next full pass. That is the same standard we apply whether the firm has a commercial relationship with Amazing Reviews or not.
