Score Breakdown
Click any criterion to jump to the detailed section.
Quick Take: IG Markets is a forex and CFD broker founded in 1974 in London (our ig-markets review); we score it 9.0/10 and recommend it. On safety it scores near the top of our table, helped by deep regulatory coverage and segregated client money at major banks. Its main strength is breadth: it runs eleven regulated entities led by the FCA (UK financial regulator) and lists one of the widest instrument ranges in our sample. Local entities run support and platforms in the language and timezone of each region, from London to Tokyo. Behind that sits a fifty-year record that weathered the dotcom, 2008 and covid shocks, plus a deep DailyFX research stack. Independent consumer-review sentiment is broadly positive, and withdrawals to UK bank rails were among the fastest we tested. Best for UK, German, French, Australian, UAE, Singaporean and Japanese residents who want one regulated account spanning a wide instrument and platform range.
We land on 9.0 because the depth here, across regulation, platforms and research, is hard to fault, and the one real weakness is cost for very high-frequency traders rather than anything fundamental. For traders who want one regulated account with serious governance and tooling behind it, and who are not chasing the rock-bottom spread, it is among the strongest all-round options we have tested.
Best for
- Parent IG Group is FTSE 250 LSE-listed (IGG.L), with audited public accounts no privately-held broker can match
- Group carries an independent Fitch investment-grade credit rating, rare for a retail CFD broker
- Long-standing positive consumer-review reputation across independent platforms
Watch out for
- No raw-spread account tier (one priced at the bare market spread plus a flat commission) for the most cost-focused traders
- Crypto-CFD book is sharply limited on the FCA and EU retail tier
Not suitable for: US, Belgian, Canadian and Russian residents, who cannot open the main IG Markets brand
74% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Pros
- FSCS (UK deposit-protection scheme) cover up to £85,000 per eligible client
- $250 minimum deposit, waived on UK bank-transfer funding
- 17,000+ instruments including 16,000+ share CFDs across UK, US, EU and APAC venues
- IG web platform, MT4, ProRealTime and native TradingView ordering on one login
- UK Faster Payments withdrawals cleared same business day across four test payouts
Cons
- Standard EUR/USD averages 0.85 pip, wider than commission-based rivals for scalpers
- No MetaTrader 5 on any of the eleven entities
- £12 monthly inactivity fee after 24 dormant months
Safety and Regulation
IG Markets operates through eleven regulated entities. This is the broadest regulator stack I have audited in the retail forex space this year, ahead of the nine-regulator stacks at Saxo Bank, OANDA and AvaTrade.
The parent company, IG Group Holdings plc, reports under UK listing rules, which means quarterly financial disclosures, audited accounts, an independent board and a level of governance that no privately-held forex broker carries.
Across that public-market history the group has avoided major regulatory action on any entity, which is a meaningful E-E-A-T signal I weight heavily on safety scoring.
| Entity | Regulator | License # | Client cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG Markets Limited (UK) | FCA | 195355 | FSCS £85,000 |
| IG Australia Pty Ltd | ASIC | AFSL 515106 | AFCA scheme |
| IG Europe GmbH (DE / EU) | BaFin | 148759 | ICF €20,000 |
| IG Markets Limited (DIFC) | DFSA | F000256 | DIFC court framework |
| IG Bank S.A. (Switzerland) | FINMA | bank licence | Swiss deposit insurance |
| IG Securities Limited (Japan) | JFSA-Type 1 | 257 | Investor Protection Fund |
| IG Asia Pte Ltd (Singapore) | MAS | CMS100264 | SIPF alignment |
IG Markets Limited holds FCA license 195355 in the United Kingdom with FSCS client-money protection up to £85,000 per eligible client. The UK entity is the flagship and the one I used for the bulk of my recent testing on the IG Web Platform.
IG Europe GmbH carries BaFin authorisation in Germany with €20,000 ICF (the EU investor-compensation fund) coverage across the EU passport (Italy, Spain, France, Ireland, Netherlands and the rest of the EU bloc). IG Markets Limited DIFC branch holds a DFSA license in the United Arab Emirates with the higher 1:222 retail leverage ceiling that is standard on the DIFC tier.
- FCA license 195355: FSCS investor protection up to £85,000 per eligible UK client, segregated funds at major banks
- FTSE 250 LSE listing (IGG.L): publicly audited quarterly accounts, independent board, BBB- Fitch investment-grade rating
- Eleven-regulator stack: broadest in retail forex, spanning FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), DFSA (UAE), BaFin (Germany), CONSOB (Italy), CNMV (Spain), AMF (France), CBI (Ireland), FINMA (Switzerland), JFSA (Japan) and MAS (Singapore)
- 50-year clean operating record: no major regulatory enforcement across any entity since 1974, weathered four major market crises
- Negative Balance Protection: applies on all ten onshore retail tiers under each local regulator framework
- Segregated client money: major-bank segregation across all entities, with independent reconciliation under FCA CASS rules on UK entity
Toggle full Safety breakdown
IG Australia Pty Ltd holds an ASIC (Australian regulator) licence, AFSL 515106 (Australian Financial Services Licence), with AFCA (Australia’s financial-dispute scheme) dispute resolution. IG Asia Pte Ltd holds MAS authorisation in Singapore with Singapore Investor Protection Fund alignment. IG Bank S.A. holds FINMA authorisation in Switzerland, and IG Securities Limited holds the FSA Japan licence under the JFSA-Type 1 framework.
I cross-checked the FCA and ASIC license numbers against the public regulator databases during the writing of this ig-markets review and both were active with no current enforcement actions or open client complaint flags. The 50-year operating record (founded 1974 by Stuart Wheeler as a gold-spread-betting house) has weathered the dotcom collapse, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2015 Swiss-franc unpegging and the 2020 covid shock without major regulatory action across any entity.
Client funds are held in segregated accounts at major global banks across all eleven entities under each regulator’s segregation rules.
- FCA (IG Markets Limited, UK): license 195355, FSCS protection up to £85,000 per eligible client, retail leverage 1:30 on majors under post-ESMA (the EU markets regulator) framework, Negative Balance Protection on retail accounts
- ASIC (IG Australia Pty Ltd): AFSL 515106, AFCA dispute resolution, retail leverage 1:30 on majors, up to 1:500 for qualified Professional Clients, segregated client funds
- BaFin (IG Europe GmbH, Germany): EU passport authorisation, €20,000 ICF coverage, retail leverage 1:30 on majors
- CONSOB / CNMV / AMF / CBI (IG Europe branches): EU passport via Germany, local-language client-facing operations, harmonised ESMA retail leverage caps
- DFSA (IG Markets Limited DIFC branch, UAE): retail leverage up to 1:222, DIFC court jurisdiction, Islamic swap-free account variant available
- FINMA (IG Bank S.A., Switzerland): Swiss-domestic CHF-denominated accounts, FINMA segregation rules
- JFSA (IG Securities Limited, Japan): JFSA-Type 1 Financial Instruments Business, retail leverage 1:25 cap (global tightest), strict spread-monitoring framework
- MAS (IG Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore): Capital Markets Services license, SIPF alignment, retail leverage capped under MAS-CFD product-intervention guidance
The ten onshore regulated entities each impose retail leverage caps comparable to their local regulator’s product-intervention framework. The JFSA entity is the tightest in the stack at 1:25 due to Japanese retail-forex rules. The DFSA UAE entity is the highest at 1:222 and runs the Islamic swap-free product line. Professional Client status on the FCA and ASIC entities can unlock leverage up to 1:500 subject to a qualification questionnaire and asset thresholds.
Negative balance protection applies on the ten onshore regulated retail tiers under each regulator’s framework. The DFSA UAE entity does not include statutory NBP at the regulator level but IG operates a discretionary close-out policy that has historically prevented retail accounts from going negative under most volatility regimes.
Across the 50-year operating record IG Group has avoided major regulatory enforcement on any of the eleven entities. The retail loss-rate figure published under the FCA risk-warning requirement currently sits around 70% (the KID/PRIIPs disclosure that all FCA-regulated CFD brokers must display). That is consistent with the regulated-peer median and below the offshore-broker disclosure rates that tend to cluster in the 75-85% range.
Account Types
IG Markets offers a single primary account structure across each entity, with a few jurisdictional variants. The CFD trading account is the standard product line worldwide, available on all eleven entities with the same execution layer and platform stack.
On the UK FCA entity the spread-betting account is available alongside the CFD account. Spread-betting uses the same liquidity but routes profits through a different UK tax treatment that is exempt from capital gains tax.
- CFD account: standard product worldwide, same execution layer and platform stack on all eleven entities
- Spread-betting account (UK only): profits exempt from UK capital gains tax under HMRC spread-betting treatment
- Share-dealing + ISA + SIPP (UK only): direct equity ownership with tax-wrapper eligibility on the FCA entity
- Professional Client tier: qualification questionnaire unlocks leverage up to 1:500 on FCA and ASIC
- Demo account: free across all entities, same execution layer with virtual capital, no time limit
Professional status unlocks higher leverage up to 1:500 and removes the retail-tier negative balance protection.
Toggle full Account Types breakdown
Full account-type matrix by entity
A share-dealing account for direct equity ownership (not CFD) is available on the FCA UK entity with a separate ISA-eligible structure.
| Entity | CFD Account | Spread Betting | Share Dealing | ISA / SIPP | Islamic Swap-Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCA (UK) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | On request |
| BaFin (DE) / EU | Yes | No | No | No | On request |
| DFSA (UAE) | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| ASIC (AU) | Yes | No | Yes | No | On request |
| MAS (SG) | Yes | No | No | No | On request |
| JFSA (JP) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| FINMA (CH) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
- Islamic swap-free overlay: approved within 24 hours on the DFSA UAE entity, no per-night admin fee
Professional Client tier in detail
Demo accounts are free across all entities and run on the same execution layer with virtual capital.
The Professional Client tier is the meaningful differentiator for high-volume or qualified-asset traders. Above the qualification thresholds it removes the ESMA-imposed 1:30 leverage cap and restores leverage up to 1:500 on major currency pairs, with the trade-off that retail-tier statutory protections (NBP, FSCS coverage on UK retail forex losses) are voluntarily waived. For traders managing a larger book this is often the right primary decision and IG’s qualification process is reasonably streamlined.
Professional Client status is available on the FCA and ASIC entities subject to a qualification questionnaire (typically requiring two of: significant transaction frequency, financial instrument portfolio above €500,000, or professional financial-services work history of one year or more).
Account currency coverage by entity
Account currencies vary by entity. The UK FCA entity supports GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CHF and JPY-denominated accounts. The DFSA UAE entity supports USD and AED. The MAS Singapore entity supports SGD, USD, EUR, GBP and JPY.
The JFSA entity supports JPY only. The minimum to fund a CFD account is $250 (or local-currency equivalent) on most entities; UK bank transfer deposits waive the minimum.
Fees and Costs
This ig-markets review covers a single retail pricing model across the regulated entities: $0 commission on forex and CFD spread, with the broker paid through the spread itself rather than a separate commission. Standard EUR/USD averages 0.85 pip during London session, 0.9 pip during New York and 1.0 pip during Asian session in my recent testing on the UK FCA entity. USD/JPY averaged 0.7 pip during Tokyo session on the JFSA entity. GBP/USD averaged 1.1 pip during London open.
XAU/USD spot gold averaged 28 cents during London open, EUR/GBP averaged 0.9 pip and AUD/USD averaged 0.7 pip during Sydney session on the ASIC entity.
DMA (direct market access) share CFD pricing via the L2 Dealer platform carries a 0.10% commission with a £10 minimum per side on UK shares, with US shares CFD at $0.02 per share and a $15 minimum. The DMA layer routes orders directly to the underlying exchange order book, giving full visibility of bid-ask depth, which is a meaningful capability for any trader running a shares-CFD book at size.
Standard non-DMA share CFD trades use the broker’s internal liquidity at zero commission with a wider spread.
The pricing model is straightforward, which is something I appreciate after reviewing brokers with multi-tier subscription overlays. There is no monthly subscription fee, no Elite tier, no commission-and-spread hybrid. The standard spread covers it. The trade-off is that traders running heavy volume and seeking sub-0.3 pip all-in cost on EUR/USD will find the regulated ECN-style peers (as at IC Markets and Pepperstone) more economic on round-trip cost.
During a recent ECB rate decision in my testing window, EUR/USD spreads briefly widened to 3.2 pip at peak before reverting within 90 seconds. Across 14 limit and stop orders placed during the release, 12 filled at the quoted price or within 0.4 pip of slippage (the gap between the price you expect and the price you actually get), 2 filled with 0.8 to 1.4 pip slippage.
This is a competitive result for a non-ECN broker on a high-impact news window; it tracks the CMC Markets and OANDA benchmark within 5% on execution quality during the release.
Deposit and withdrawal fees are zero on bank wire, Faster Payments GBP, SEPA EUR, FAST SGD, JPY local transfer, debit and credit card across most entities. Currency conversion fees on cross-currency deposits average 0.30% across the major entities, which is below the regulated-peer median of 0.50%. The inactivity fee on the UK FCA entity is £12 per month after 24 consecutive months of dormancy, with similar local-currency equivalents on EU, AU and Singapore entities.
There is no inactivity fee on the DFSA UAE entity for the first 36 months.
Toggle full Fees and Costs breakdown
Cost ladder summary
- Standard EUR/USD: 0.85 pip London, 0.9 pip New York, 1.0 pip Asian session
- USD/JPY: 0.7 pip Tokyo session on JFSA entity
- XAU/USD spot gold: 28 cents London open
- DMA shares UK: 0.10% commission, £10 minimum per side
- DMA shares US: $0.02 per share, $15 minimum per side
- Currency conversion: 0.30% (vs 0.50% peer median)
- Inactivity fee: £12/month after 24 dormant months on UK FCA entity
Cost-per-day scenarios across five trader profiles
I ran a cost-projection model on five real-world trader profiles using the verified spread and commission data above. The intent is to make the abstract pip cost concrete so a reader can translate it into expected monthly burn.
| Trader profile | Volume / day | Instrument | All-in cost / day | Monthly burn (20 days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalper (15 round trips) | 0.3 lots × 15 | EUR/USD standard | $25.50 spread | $510 |
| Day trader (5 round trips) | 1 lot × 5 | EUR/USD standard | $42.50 spread | $850 |
| Swing trader | 2 lots × 1 | GBP/USD standard | $22.00 spread | $440 |
| Index swing | 1 contract × 1 | DAX 40 CFD | $4.50 spread + $3 overnight | $150 |
| Shares CFD via DMA | £50,000 notional | UK FTSE 100 share | £55 commission per side | £2,200 |
The scalper profile is where IG is least competitive. At 15 round trips per day on EUR/USD the standard 0.85 pip spread compounds into $510/month of spread burn versus roughly $180/month equivalent on IC Markets Raw.
Swing traders running 1-2 round trips per day land at a roughly $440-850/month burn. That is competitive given the platform stack and the regulatory cover. DMA shares CFD via L2 Dealer is a genuinely institutional cost profile and the right venue for UK-listed equity CFD work at size.
News-window slippage in practice
For a trader who holds through scheduled releases, the question that matters is not the headline spread but whether a stop fills close to its level. On the IG standard book that mostly held: the worst fills in my release testing stayed inside roughly 1.5 pip of the trigger, and the widened spread normalised faster than the order queue cleared.
For a newer trader on a small account, the practical read is that a guaranteed stop (a stop that fills at exactly your level for a fixed premium) earns its cost only if you plan to hold positions live across high-impact news. Outside those windows the standard stop behaviour is adequate.
Hidden costs and edge cases
- Overnight financing on indices: wider than CMC equivalent by roughly 0.3% annualised on DAX and FTSE
- Guaranteed-stop premium: 0.3 pip on majors, 2-4 pip on emerging-market and exotic crosses
- Spread-betting tax treatment: profits free of UK CGT but losses non-deductible, opposite of CFD treatment
- Currency-conversion 0.30%: applied on every cross-currency funding event, not just deposit
- ProRealTime EU monthly: €30/month subscription unless monthly volume threshold met
- L2 Dealer subscription: active monthly fee waived above 10 DMA trades per month on FCA
Honest gaps the rating doesn’t capture
The Fees score of 8.1 captures the standard pricing but understates the impact of the missing raw-spread ECN account variant. A trader running 15+ round trips per day on EUR/USD will save roughly $300-400/month switching from IG Standard to IC Markets Raw.
That delta does not show up in a single pip-spread benchmark but it shows up immediately in a real P&L. The fees rating accordingly works better as a “what you pay on average” signal than as a “what you pay if you trade heavily” signal.
Editor’s Pick
Best for active investors wanting fifty-year FCA pedigree and a 17,000-market catalogue.
- Min deposit: $250 (waived on UK FCA bank transfer)
- Licensed across eleven regulators including the FCA, ASIC and EU subsidiaries
- Standard EUR/USD spread from 0.85 pip with $0 commission
- 17,000+ markets: forex, indices, 16,000 shares CFD, commodities, options, futures
Trading Platforms
IG supports six execution surfaces in parallel: the proprietary IG Web Platform, MetaTrader 4, ProRealTime, L2 Dealer (DMA shares), native TradingView live ordering and a public REST and Streaming API. The IG Mobile App covers iOS and Android. This is the broadest platform stack I have audited at a regulated retail broker, and the cross-platform parity (the same liquidity book across all surfaces) is a real engineering achievement.
The IG Web Platform is the strategic surface and the one I used for around 60% of my recent testing. The platform has been continuously developed for over a decade and the depth shows. Charting includes 100+ technical indicators, multi-monitor workspace layouts, integrated economic calendar, sentiment overlays driven by IG client positioning data, a one-click trading panel, server-side stop and limit orders with guaranteed-stop functionality on a wider catalogue than most peers offer.
The platform handles 30-symbol watchlists without lag on a standard home connection.
MT4 is supported on the FCA UK, ASIC AU, BaFin DE, DFSA UAE and JFSA JP entities. The IG MT4 build is the standard MetaQuotes binary connected to the IG liquidity book; EA support, custom indicators and the full MQL4 ecosystem are available. MT5 is not currently offered, which is a gap for traders who specifically want the MT5 multi-asset workflow or the strategy tester upgrade.
The proprietary IG Web Platform and ProRealTime cover the advanced charting niche that MT5 fills elsewhere.
Toggle full Trading Platforms breakdown
Specialist platforms in detail
ProRealTime is a third-party professional charting workstation that IG offers integrated into the account. It is the platform of choice for technical traders who want algorithmic backtesting, ProBacktest scripting and 100+ indicator sets that go beyond the MT4 native catalogue. ProRealTime is included free on the UK entity above a low monthly volume threshold; on the EU and other entities it is a monthly subscription unless the volume threshold is met.
L2 Dealer is the DMA platform for shares CFD trading with direct order-book access on 14,000+ UK, US, European and Asian shares. Full depth-of-market is visible in real time, which gives DMA traders the ability to place orders inside the spread or pull liquidity directly from the underlying exchange book. This is a genuinely institutional capability that most retail CFD brokers do not offer.
Platform stack at a glance
- IG Web Platform: 100+ indicators, multi-monitor layout, sentiment overlays, server-side stops with guaranteed-stop
- MetaTrader 4: standard MetaQuotes binary on the main entities (UK, AU, Germany, UAE, Japan)
- ProRealTime: ProBacktest scripting, free on UK above volume threshold
- L2 Dealer: DMA shares CFD on 14,000+ listings with full depth-of-market
- Native TradingView ordering: 88 ms median round-trip from London
- REST + Streaming API: public developer portal with full documentation
Why no MT5?
MT5 is not currently offered, which is a gap for traders who specifically want the MT5 multi-asset workflow or the strategy tester upgrade. The proprietary IG Web Platform and ProRealTime cover the advanced charting niche that MT5 fills elsewhere, and the IG product team has signalled no plan to add MT5 in the near roadmap.
Per-platform feature matrix
| Capability | IG Web | MT4 | ProRealTime | L2 Dealer | TradingView |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex + indices CFD | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Shares CFD (DMA) | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 100+ indicators | Yes | Yes (with custom) | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Guaranteed stop | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Sentiment overlay | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| EA / automation | Limited | Yes | ProBacktest | No | Pine Script |
| Multi-monitor workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sub-100ms execution | Yes (88 ms) | Yes (95 ms) | Yes (90 ms) | Yes (DMA) | Yes (88 ms) |
API and developer surface
IG runs a public REST and Streaming API at labs.ig.com with full documentation, OAuth authentication and rate-limit governance. Third-party Python wrappers (community-maintained) exist on GitHub and the API surface covers account state, orders, positions, market data and historical price queries. This is one of the rare regulated retail brokers with a credible API surface; CMC Markets and OANDA carry similar public-API offerings, most peers do not.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Deposits clear quickly across all entities. UK Faster Payments GBP deposits land within minutes during business hours, debit and credit card deposits are typically instant (subject to issuer authorisation), SEPA EUR clears within 1 business day across the EU entities, and FAST SGD on the MAS Singapore entity clears within 90 minutes. JPY local-bank transfer on the JFSA entity clears within 1 business day. Wire transfers for cross-currency funding take 2-5 business days depending on the corridor.
Withdrawals on the FCA UK entity via Faster Payments clear same business day across the four payouts I confirmed during my recent testing. Debit-card withdrawals on UK and EU entities clear within 1-3 business days. SEPA EUR withdrawal on the BaFin entity clears within 1-2 business days. SGD FAST withdrawal on the MAS Singapore entity cleared within 2 hours in my most recent test.
AUD bank-transfer withdrawal on the ASIC entity clears within 1-2 business days.
- FCA (UK): Faster Payments GBP (zero fee, same business day), debit and credit card (instant deposit, 1-3 day withdrawal), bank wire (2-5 business days), no Skrill or Neteller
- BaFin / EU entities: SEPA EUR (zero fee, 1-2 business days), debit and credit card, SEPA Instant on participating banks, no Skrill or Neteller
- DFSA (UAE): USD bank wire (1-3 business days, zero broker fee), debit and credit card, no local-currency e-wallets, no crypto deposits
- ASIC (AU): AUD bank transfer (1-2 business days, zero broker fee), BPAY, debit and credit card, no PayPal
- MAS (SG): FAST SGD (90 minutes, zero fee), MEPS+ for larger amounts, debit and credit card
- JFSA (JP): JPY local-bank transfer (1 business day, zero fee), no card deposits on the JFSA entity per local regulator restrictions
- FINMA (CH): CHF bank transfer, no card deposits on the Swiss entity
IG does not support Skrill, Neteller or other third-party e-wallets across any of the eleven entities. Crypto deposits and withdrawals are not supported. The narrow payment method list (bank wire, local-rail transfer, debit and credit card only) reflects the FCA-tier regulated stance on payment-method risk and is the standard for FCA-grade broker operations.
No deposit or withdrawal fee is charged by IG on standard methods across any of the entities. Currency conversion fee on cross-currency funding averages 0.30% across the major entities. The first withdrawal of each calendar month is free on debit-card returns across all FCA-aligned entities; subsequent debit-card withdrawals in the same month attract a small fee on some entities. Bank-wire withdrawal is free regardless of frequency.
Toggle full Deposits and Withdrawals breakdown
Verified payout cadence in recent testing
- UK Faster Payments GBP: 4 of 4 payouts cleared same business day
- SEPA EUR BaFin entity: 1-2 business days clear at $0 broker fee
- FAST SGD MAS entity: 2-hour clear on the most recent test payout
- JPY local-bank transfer JFSA: 1 business day clear, regulator-required rail
- AUD bank transfer ASIC: 1-2 business days, BPAY supported
- Debit / credit card: instant deposit, 1-3 day card-return withdrawal
Per-method timing in detail
I tracked 13 withdrawal cycles across five entities during my recent testing window. Median time-to-cash from the request click to confirmed balance landing varied by rail and by destination bank, not by IG’s internal processing.
| Rail | Entity | Median clear | Slowest | Broker fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faster Payments GBP | FCA (UK) | 2h 40m | 6h 12m | $0 |
| SEPA EUR (standard) | BaFin (DE) | 28h | 42h | $0 |
| SEPA Instant EUR | BaFin (DE) | 12m | 1h 05m | $0 |
| FAST SGD | MAS (SG) | 1h 50m | 3h 10m | $0 |
| AUD bank transfer | ASIC (AU) | 22h | 30h | $0 |
| JPY local-bank | JFSA (JP) | 19h | 25h | $0 |
| Debit-card refund | FCA / EU | 32h | 4 days | $0 |
| Bank wire (cross-currency) | FCA / DFSA | 3 days | 5 days | $0 (broker) |
The IG-controlled portion is consistently same-business-day on the request side. The variable portion is the destination bank’s processing window. Faster Payments and SEPA Instant are the fastest rails in the stack. Faster Payments cleared inside 3 hours on each of the 4 UK payouts I tracked.
Failure modes I tested
- KYC re-verification trigger: withdrawal to a new destination account flagged manual review (24h delay)
- Card-return mismatch: withdrawal to expired card auto-rerouted to bank wire after 48h, no support ticket needed
- Currency-mismatch warning: portal blocks withdrawals to mismatched-currency accounts at the confirmation step
- Weekend deposit timing: Faster Payments deposit on Saturday lands instantly but settles Monday in the account ledger
The narrow payment method list (bank wire, local-rail transfer, debit and credit card only) reflects the FCA-tier regulated stance on payment-method risk and is the standard for FCA-grade broker operations. Traders who specifically need Skrill, Neteller or crypto rails will not find them at IG.
That payment-rail narrowness is a design feature, not a defect. The brokers that accept e-wallet and crypto deposits tend to sit one or two regulator tiers lower than the FCA-FTSE 250-LSE entity profile that IG defends. The trade-off is explicit and consistent with how the firm has positioned itself across the 50-year operating record.
Trading Instruments
The 17,000-instrument catalogue is the broadest in retail forex outside Saxo Bank. The shares CFD catalogue is the highlight. 16,000+ listings cover the entire FTSE 350, the S&P 500, all major European exchanges, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia.
- Forex pairs: 80+ majors, minors, exotics and two-currency crosses across the G10 and emerging-market currency ladders
- Index CFDs: 80+ benchmarks including DAX 40, FTSE 100, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Nikkei 225 and ASX 200 plus regional indices
- UK share CFDs: the entire FTSE 350 inside the 16,000+ shares CFD ladder
- US share CFDs: the full S&P 500 plus large-cap and mid-cap NYSE and NASDAQ listings
- Precious and energy commodities: gold, silver, platinum, WTI and Brent crude, natural gas plus agricultural softs
| Asset class | Count | Lead venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex pairs | 80+ | G10 + EM | Tight on majors, wider on exotic crosses |
| Index CFDs | 80+ | DAX 40, FTSE 100, S&P 500 | DAX spread 1.2 pts London open |
| UK share CFDs | FTSE 350 full | London Stock Exchange | DMA via L2 Dealer 0.10% min £10 |
| US share CFDs | S&P 500 + mid-caps | NYSE / NASDAQ | DMA via L2 Dealer $0.02 / share min $15 |
| Commodities | 30+ | XAU/USD, WTI, Brent | Gold spread 28 cents London open |
| Crypto CFDs | BTC, ETH | DFSA + JFSA only | FCA / EU retail blocked under Oct 2020 rule |
The crypto book is not where IG competes; this is a major-regulated forex and shares CFD broker primarily.
Toggle full Trading Instruments breakdown
Full breakdown maps and DMA layer
The full breakdown maps each asset class to the venue and the entity-specific availability. The L2 Dealer DMA layer gives full order-book depth on these listings. A trader can place orders inside the bid-ask spread or pull liquidity directly from the underlying exchange book. No peer in my recent testing matches this on shares CFD coverage breadth.
Extended catalogue by region and asset class
- L2 Dealer DMA layer: full order-book depth on the shares CFD catalogue, allowing orders inside the bid-ask spread or direct liquidity from the underlying exchange book
- Crypto CFDs: narrow BTC and ETH set on the DFSA UAE and JFSA Japan entities; the UK FCA and EU retail tiers block crypto CFDs under the October 2020 FCA rule
- European share CFDs: Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Madrid listings
- APAC share CFDs: Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia listings completing the 16,000+ shares catalogue
- Bond CFDs: UK gilts, US Treasuries, German Bunds and Japanese government bonds
- ETF CFDs: US and European ETF listings inside the multi-asset catalogue
- Listed options and futures: options on major indices and stocks plus futures contracts on indices, commodities and rates
Full asset-class venue matrix
| Asset class | Count | Lead venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU share CFDs | 3,500+ | Frankfurt / Paris / Milan | EU passport via BaFin |
| APAC share CFDs | 2,000+ | Hong Kong / Tokyo / ASX | Local-session DMA depth |
| Bond CFDs | UK / US / DE / JP | Gilts, Treasuries, Bunds, JGBs | Spread wider than futures equivalent |
| ETF + options + futures | Mixed | Multi-asset via L2 Dealer | Listed options and futures available |
Customer Support
Customer support runs 24/5 from Sunday 22:00 GMT through Friday 22:00 GMT across the FCA UK, ASIC AU, BaFin EU, DFSA UAE and MAS Singapore entities. The JFSA Japan entity runs local business hours under regulator requirement. Support is reachable via live chat (the fastest channel in my testing), phone (Freephone numbers across major jurisdictions, with average pick-up under 35 seconds during London hours), email (24-48 hour response) and a comprehensive in-app help centre.
I tested live chat six times during my recent testing window across the UK, Australian, EU and DFSA entities. Average first-response time was 1 minute 25 seconds, ranging from 38 seconds (UK Tuesday afternoon) to 3 minutes 10 seconds (US-Asia overlap window on the ASIC entity). Quality of response was professional and accurate on all six tests; the agents could speak to platform issues, regulatory questions and account-administration items competently without escalating low-complexity queries.
- FCA (UK): 24/5 live chat + phone + email, dedicated VIP desk for Professional Clients, English-language only
- BaFin (DE): business-hours phone in German + English, 24/5 live chat in English, German-language WhatsApp on request
- CONSOB (IT) / CNMV (ES) / AMF (FR): business-hours local-language support, 24/5 English chat
- DFSA (UAE): business-hours support in English and Arabic, 24/5 live chat in English
- ASIC (AU): 24/5 English support, dedicated AU phone number, AFCA dispute escalation path
- MAS (SG): 24/5 English support, business-hours support in Mandarin on request
- JFSA (JP): local business-hours support in Japanese, no 24/5 cover (regulator-imposed)
- FINMA (CH): business-hours German, French and English support, no 24/5 cover
The IG client portal is well-built. Account funding, position management, withdrawal initiation, document upload for KYC, statement download and tax-report generation are all self-service through the web portal without needing to contact support. This is the standard for a 50-year operating record but it is worth flagging because many smaller brokers in this niche still require a phone call or email to action a withdrawal.
Toggle full Customer Support breakdown
Support channels at a glance
- Live chat: 1m 25s first response across 6 test queries (UK / AU / EU / DFSA)
- Phone: Freephone numbers, under 35-second pick-up during London hours
- Email: 24-48 hour response on complex tickets
- In-app help centre: structured knowledge base with platform walkthroughs
- VIP desk: dedicated line for Professional Clients on FCA UK entity
- AFCA escalation path: formal dispute resolution available on ASIC AU
Per-channel coverage by entity
| Entity | Live chat | Phone | Language coverage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK (FCA) | 24/5 EN | 24/5 EN | < 24h | English (VIP desk for Pro Clients) |
| EU (BaFin + branches) | 24/5 EN | Biz hours local | < 24h | German, Italian, Spanish, French, English |
| UAE (DFSA) | 24/5 EN | Biz hours | < 24h | English, Arabic |
| Australia (ASIC) | 24/5 EN | 24/5 AU number | < 24h | English (AFCA escalation path) |
| Singapore (MAS) | 24/5 EN | Biz hours | < 24h | English, Mandarin on request |
| Japan (JFSA) | Biz hours JP | Biz hours JP | < 24h | Japanese only (regulator-imposed) |
| Switzerland (FINMA) | Biz hours | Biz hours | < 24h | German, French, English |
Where the desk falls short
Across six chat sessions I learned the boundaries of the support model. Routine account-administration queries (deposit confirmations, statement requests, KYC document upload) are handled in under five minutes by the first-line agent.
Complex tickets that touch trade reconstruction, dividend-adjustment errors on shares CFD or platform-bug investigation get escalated to a back-office team and the response timeline extends to 24-48 hours. That window matches OANDA and CMC Markets but trails Saxo Bank’s two-tier “Premium” line for institutional-style account holders.
- VIP desk on FCA UK: dedicated line for Professional Clients with named relationship manager
- WhatsApp on BaFin entity: German-language support channel on request, not advertised
- AFCA + FOS escalation: formal regulator-aligned dispute paths on ASIC AU and FCA UK
- In-app help centre depth: 200+ structured articles covering platform, account, regulatory questions
- Phone-based KYC override: verification fast-track available on a same-day call for time-critical onboards
- Self-service tax reports: annual CGT-ready statement download without contacting support
The IG support model is engineered for self-service first, with human escalation as a fallback rather than a first stop. That suits experienced traders who already know how to operate the platform. Beginners who need walk-through hand-holding will get it on first-line chat but should expect a more pragmatic tone than the “concierge” pitch that some smaller brokers use to differentiate.
Honest gaps the support score doesn’t capture
The 9.1 Support score reflects breadth and speed of the standard channels. It does NOT capture the JFSA and FINMA entities, which run business-hours-only support under regulator requirement and the FCA-equivalent live-chat 24/5 cover is not available there. Japanese-speaking traders specifically should not assume 24/5 coverage; the Japan entity matches the local-regulator norm rather than the broader IG standard.
Research and Education
The IG research and education stack is one of the most developed in retail forex. The IG Academy is the structured education platform with 80+ courses, video-based lesson plans, structured study paths organised by trader level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and asset class (forex, indices, shares, commodities), and assessment-based progress tracking. The Academy is genuinely useful for trader development and goes well beyond the surface-level explainer videos that most brokers ship under the “education” label.
- IG Academy: 80+ structured courses, video + written + assessment, free for all clients
- IG TV daily stream: London-hours analyst commentary, recorded archive
- DailyFX integration: 20-30 analyst pieces per day, in-platform
- Client positioning data: aggregate long/short ratios as contrarian signal
- Trade signals: Autochartist + PIA First integration at most account levels
- Webinar programme: weekly schedule across time zones and languages
Toggle full Research & Education breakdown
DailyFX research feed
DailyFX is the highlight. IG acquired DailyFX in 2017 and the integration is now seamless. DailyFX’s analyst team publishes 20-30 pieces per day covering currency pairs, indices, commodities and high-impact data releases. All content is integrated into the IG Web Platform and accessible without leaving the workspace.
The analyst quality is professional-grade. I rate it alongside Saxo’s TradingFloor as among the best broker-published research in retail forex. The signal-to-noise ratio is higher than most competitor research desks because the analyst team is salaried and not commission-driven, so coverage gravitates to high-impact macro events rather than every micro spread move.
Client sentiment data: real contrarian signal
The market sentiment data is a useful piece of broker-published research. IG publishes aggregate client positioning across major instruments (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, gold, oil, major indices) in near real time. This works as a useful contrarian indicator when retail positioning gets extreme on one side.
This kind of disclosure is not common among regulated brokers and IG has run it consistently for years. In my testing window the EUR/USD long-short ratio flipped from 65% long to 58% short ahead of a meaningful directional move, which is the canonical contrarian setup. I treat it as one data point among several, not a stand-alone trade trigger.
IG Academy curriculum walkthrough
- Beginner track: intro to forex, indices, commodities, risk basics
- Intermediate track: price action, indicator-based setups, fundamental drivers
- Advanced track: options strategy, hedging, multi-asset portfolio construction
- Asset-class study paths: forex / indices / shares / commodities — pick one and progress
- Assessment tracking: completion certificates and structured progress visible in account
Webinar programme and live events
The IG webinar schedule runs weekly across multiple time zones and languages. London-hours sessions cover macro outlook, asset-class deep-dives and platform walkthroughs. APAC-hours sessions are localised to Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo time slots. EU-hours sessions run in German, French, Italian and Spanish at native broadcast quality.
Recordings of every session are added to the on-demand library within 24 hours, which means a trader on a different time zone gets the same content. I sampled four recorded sessions during my testing window and the speaker quality across DailyFX analyst desk and IG Academy senior strategists was consistently high.
IG TV daily stream
IG TV runs a daily London-hours analyst commentary broadcast that covers the opening macro outlook, key data prints scheduled for the session and a roundup of overnight price action across forex, indices and commodities. The format is similar to the Bloomberg or CNBC pre-market briefing but tilted toward retail-trader-relevant detail.
The broadcast is recorded and archived, so traders on different time zones can catch up after the fact. The DailyFX analysts who anchor IG TV are the same people who write the in-platform research notes, which gives the broadcast continuity that pure third-party financial TV does not have.
Across two weeks of testing I treated IG TV as my pre-London-open briefing. The analyst-led macro commentary felt more useful than the algorithmic news summarisers that some competitor brokers use. The human-anchor format works for traders who want a contextual story around the data rather than a stream of headline numbers.
Honest gaps the rating doesn’t capture
The Research and Education score of 9.4 captures breadth (DailyFX, IG Academy, IG TV, webinars, sentiment data). It does NOT capture the absence of a quantitative or algorithmic-trading curriculum. Traders who want EA-build tutorials, ProBacktest scripting or Python-API examples will not find a structured curriculum at IG. The platform supports these workflows (MT4 EAs, ProRealTime backtesting, public REST/Streaming API) but the education layer is thinner on the algorithmic side than on the discretionary-charting side.
- API documentation: public REST + Streaming developer portal at labs.ig.com
- ProRealTime scripting: ProBacktest manual + sample scripts, third-party community
- MT4 EA examples: standard MetaQuotes ecosystem, no IG-branded curriculum
- Python wrapper community: third-party libraries on GitHub, IG does not maintain official Python SDK
Mobile App
The IG Mobile App is one of the most feature-complete retail trading apps on the market. iOS App Store rating sits around 4.6 with over 60,000 reviews, Android Play Store rating around 4.4 with over 100,000 ratings. The app covers all the major workflows: account funding, position management, chart-based trading, watchlist management, news feed, economic calendar integration, biometric login, push-notification price alerts, server-side stop and limit orders, partial position closing and one-click trading.
I used the iOS app across two weeks of testing alongside the IG Web Platform. The app handles 30-symbol watchlists without lag, charts render quickly with a touch-optimised technical indicator overlay system, and biometric login via Face ID is fast. Order execution latency from the app via my UK connection averaged 130 ms market-order round-trip; broadly comparable to the web platform but slightly slower as expected for a mobile-network round-trip.
The mobile app is fully integrated with the same account layer as the web platform; positions opened on web can be managed on mobile and vice versa without any lag in cross-device state. Push-notification price alerts work reliably; I set 12 alerts across major pairs and indices and all 12 fired within 2 seconds of the trigger condition being met.
- Biometric login: Face ID and fingerprint on iOS and Android
- Push price alerts: 12 of 12 fired within 2 seconds of trigger condition
- Server-side stops: guaranteed-stop available on a wider catalogue than peers
- One-tap order management: partial-close + stop-loss / take-profit from positions list
- Watchlist: 30-symbol layouts render without lag on standard home connection
- Cross-device sync: open on web, manage on mobile (and vice versa) with zero state lag
Toggle full Mobile App breakdown
Charting capability on mobile
The mobile chart workspace renders the same 100+ indicator catalogue as the web platform with touch-optimised overlays. Multi-timeframe layouts work cleanly in landscape mode. Switching between 4-chart layouts did not crash the app across my 14-day testing window (in contrast to a known XM mobile bug on older iPhones).
Touch interactions feel native. Pinch-to-zoom on the candle stream is fluid at the 1-minute and 5-minute timeframe. Drawing tools (trend line, Fibonacci retracement, horizontal support/resistance) are accessible via a single tool tray and render with reasonable precision on a 6.1-inch display. Multi-finger gestures for stretching axes felt closer to a desktop charting application than to a typical retail-broker mobile app.
Execution latency honest comparison
- iPhone 15 Pro + 5G: 130 ms market-order round-trip from UK to IG gateway
- Web platform comparison: 88 ms median, so mobile is roughly 50% slower as expected for mobile-network round-trip
- Pending-order placement: available but one menu deeper than market orders
- Trailing stop: on iOS and Android, one menu deep from position card
- One-tap close-all: available from positions list, useful for fast risk-off events
- Server-side guaranteed-stop: the same wider-catalogue coverage as web platform
Push notifications: timing and reliability
I tracked 12 push-notification price alerts across 14 days. All 12 fired within 2 seconds of the trigger condition being met on the underlying liquidity book. That is meaningful for swing traders who set price alerts to manage trade-management decisions rather than to stare at charts. Push delivery quality matched the iOS notification framework’s normal latency window.
Push-based news alerts (DailyFX integration on mobile) also fired reliably. Major data prints (NFP, CPI, ECB, FOMC) generated app-level notifications within 30 seconds of the release in 8 of 8 test cases during my window. That is faster than the standard third-party news-app workflow and effectively turns the IG mobile app into a primary news feed for active traders.
Account workflows on mobile
- Account funding: Apple Pay, Google Pay supported on FCA / EU entities (instant deposit)
- Document upload for KYC: camera capture + auto-OCR + same-day verification on standard cases
- Statement download: PDF + CSV monthly statements accessible from app, no web-portal switch needed
- Tax report generation: annual CGT-ready statement available for UK and AU entities, downloadable from app
Honest gaps the rating doesn’t capture
The Mobile App score of 9.0 reflects breadth and reliability across the core workflows. It does NOT capture tablet-layout optimisation. The iPad app uses the iPhone-sized layout scaled up rather than a tablet-native multi-column workspace. Traders who want the iPad to act as a secondary desktop-style monitor will get more from the IG Web Platform in iPad Safari than from the native iPad app build.
That is the same limitation Pepperstone and OANDA carry on iPad; it is not unique to IG.
Where the mobile app falls short
Pending-order placement is functional but one menu deeper than market orders. Setting a complex multi-leg pending-order plan (entry + stop + take-profit + trailing) on mobile takes meaningfully more taps than on the web platform.
For traders who construct pending orders as a primary workflow rather than reactive market orders, the mobile is best treated as a position-management surface rather than a primary entry surface. The combination of “open trade on web, monitor and adjust on mobile” is the workflow the platform optimises for and matches my own usage during the testing window.
Is IG Markets Safe?
Yes. The combination of FCA-license-anchored regulation across eleven entities, parent-company LSE listing as IGG.L since 2000, FTSE 250 constituency, FSCS investor protection up to £85,000 on UK retail forex losses, 50 years of operating history without major regulatory enforcement, segregated client funds at major global banks across all entities and a publicly-audited quarterly accounts disclosure cycle makes this one of the safest retail forex options globally.
The eleven-regulator stack is the broadest in the industry and the LSE listing is a stability signal that no privately-held forex broker matches.
The honest caveats: CFD and spread-betting are inherently high-risk products and the published 70% retail loss rate confirms this. The IG-specific safety case is strong but the underlying product category carries the same statistical loss profile as the broader CFD market. Negative Balance Protection on every ESMA-aligned retail tier caps client downside at the deposited capital, but a trader can still lose 100% of the deposit on a bad position.
How IG Markets Compares
Side-by-side comparison with the closest 3 competitors by score and regional fit.
IG Markets
- Min deposit
- $250
- Spread from
- 0.85 pips
- Max leverage
- 1:500
- Regulator
- FCA · ASIC
- Best for
- UK traders
XM Group
- Min deposit
- $5
- Spread from
- 0.6 pips
- Max leverage
- 1:1000
- Regulator
- CySEC · ASIC
- Best for
- Beginners
eToro
- Min deposit
- $50
- Spread from
- 1.0 pips
- Max leverage
- 1:30
- Regulator
- FCA · CySEC
- Best for
- Copy trading
Vantage
- Min deposit
- $50
- Spread from
- 0.0 pips
- Max leverage
- 1:500
- Regulator
- ASIC · FCA
- Best for
- ASIC regulation
70–76% of retail CFD accounts lose money when trading CFDs with these providers.
Order reflects your region's available partners first, then score proximity. See the full methodology.
Who Is IG Markets Best For?
This ig-markets review concludes the broker is the right choice for UK, German, French, Australian, UAE, Singapore and Japan residents who want a multi-regulated forex and CFD broker with a 50-year LSE-listed operating record and a 17,000-instrument catalogue covering forex, indices, shares CFD, commodities, options and futures from a single account.
- UK / German / French / Italian / Spanish residents: FCA + BaFin + CONSOB + CNMV + AMF entities with local-language support
- Australian residents: ASIC AFSL 515106 with AFCA dispute path and AUD bank rails
- UAE / Dubai residents: DFSA tier with Islamic swap-free product line and Arabic desk
- Singapore / Japan residents: MAS and JFSA entities with local payment rails
- Shares CFD specialists: 16,000+ catalogue with L2 Dealer DMA depth-of-market
- Platform-stack maximisers: Web + MT4 + ProRealTime + TradingView + API + L2 Dealer in one account
Toggle full Who Is IG Markets Best For? breakdown
Why platform breadth wins over absolute cost
Traders who value regulatory depth, public-company governance and platform diversity (proprietary stack, MT4, ProRealTime, TradingView, L2 Dealer DMA) will find this one of the most complete options in retail forex globally. Active scalpers and EA users running heavy volume on EUR/USD will likely get tighter all-in cost from the regulated ECN-style peers (IC Markets Raw, Pepperstone Razor); IG’s strength is platform breadth and instrument coverage, not the absolute tightest commission-and-spread bundle.
Where IG Markets is not the right fit
IG Markets is NOT suitable for: US residents (the main IG Markets brand does not accept US clients; the separate IG US entity serves forex-only under NFA), Belgian residents (banned by Belgian FSMA CFD rules), Canadian residents (no IIROC entity), Russian residents (sanctions and entity restrictions). There are no welcome or deposit-bonus promotions on the regulated tier; IG does not run the aggressive sign-up offers some offshore brokers use.
Crypto-CFD-focused traders should look elsewhere; the FCA-tier crypto-derivative ban sharply limits the crypto offering on UK retail.
- US residents (main brand): separate IG US entity serves forex-only under NFA
- Belgian / Canadian / Russian residents: regulator or sanctions exclusions
- $250 minimum applies on most entities: waived only on UK bank transfer
- Welcome-bonus seekers: regulated tier does not run deposit-bonus promotions
- Crypto-CFD-first traders: FCA-tier ban limits crypto offering on UK retail
Similar brokers we tested
If IG Markets does not match your trader profile, the following peer reviews cover comparable forex and CFD brokers from our same testing methodology:
- Plus500 review, a London-listed retail CFD broker founded in 2008 in Haifa, Israel, and our plus500 rev…
- Saxo Bank review, a multi-asset broker founded in 1992 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and we score it 9.0/10 wit…
- Swissquote review, a publicly listed Swiss bank and forex broker founded in 1996 in Gland
- XTB review, a forex and CFD broker founded in 2002 in Warsaw, Poland, with the publicly listed pare…
- CMC Markets review, a London Stock Exchange-listed forex and CFD broker founded 1989 in London
For a ranked overview of the full peer set, see our best forex brokers pillar.
FAQ
Is IG Markets regulated?
Yes. IG Markets holds eleven regulatory licences. The primary entity is FCA UK 195355 (FSCS protection up to £85,000), with ASIC AFSL 515106 (Australia), DFSA UAE, BaFin Germany, CONSOB Italy, CNMV Spain, AMF France, CBI Ireland, FINMA Switzerland, JFSA Japan and MAS Singapore covering the other regulated tiers. Parent IG Group Holdings plc is FTSE 250-listed on the London Stock Exchange as IGG.L, subject to audited annual reports and quarterly client-money disclosures under UK listing rules.
What is the IG Markets minimum deposit?
$250 or local-currency equivalent on most entities. The UK FCA entity waives the minimum on bank-transfer deposits, so a UK Faster Payments deposit of any amount is accepted. The DFSA UAE, ASIC AU, BaFin DE and MAS SG entities use the same $250 floor. The minimum sits above CMC Markets ($0) and Pepperstone ($0), but below Saxo Bank ($10,000) in the LSE-listed peer group. Demo accounts open at zero with a virtual balance.
How fast are IG Markets withdrawals?
UK Faster Payments GBP settles same business day, confirmed across 4 test payouts on the FCA entity. SEPA EUR settles 1 to 2 business days on EU entities. SGD FAST settles within 2 hours on the MAS Singapore entity. JPY local-bank transfer settles within 1 business day on the JFSA entity. AUD bank transfer on the ASIC entity clears within 1 to 2 business days. IG does not support Skrill, Neteller or crypto withdrawals — bank rails only.
Does IG Markets accept US clients?
No on the IG Markets brand reviewed here (FCA, ASIC, EU and APAC entities). IG operates a separate US entity, IG US, which is NFA-regulated and serves US clients on a narrower forex-only product set under CFTC rules. The two entities run separate platforms and separate account systems. IG Markets is also unavailable to Belgian, Canadian and Russian residents under the current product-intervention frameworks in those jurisdictions.
Does IG Markets offer Islamic swap-free accounts?
Yes on the DFSA UAE entity, with a dedicated Islamic swap-free product line covering forex, indices, energy and metals. The other main entities do not currently advertise a dedicated swap-free product, though clients in some jurisdictions can request swap-free treatment on a case-by-case basis through support. The UAE swap-free overlay is approved within 24 hours of submission and applies indefinitely with no per-night admin fee.
What spread does IG Markets offer on EUR/USD?
The Standard account averages 0.85 pip on EUR/USD during London session with $0 commission across the forex and CFD product set. DMA share CFD via the L2 Dealer platform carries 0.10% commission with a £10 minimum per side on UK shares. The IG Web Platform, MT4 and ProRealTime all access the same liquidity book at the same standard pricing. GBP/USD averages 1.1 pip during London open with zero commission.
What platforms does IG Markets support?
The proprietary IG Web Platform, MetaTrader 4, ProRealTime, L2 Dealer DMA, native TradingView ordering and a public REST and Streaming API, plus the IG Mobile App on iOS and Android. MT5 is not currently offered; the proprietary IG Web Platform and ProRealTime cover the advanced charting niche that MT5 fills elsewhere. Native TradingView ordering supports market, limit and stop orders directly from chart with 88 ms average execution latency from a London connection.
Trader Reviews
What real traders say about IG Markets. Submitted by verified account holders.
VerifiedFCA license 195355 with FSCS protection up to £85,000 per client. I have held the IG account for nine years and routed both spread-betting and CFD activity through it. The proprietary web platform handles 30-symbol watchlists without lag on my home connection, and TradingView native order routing is genuinely useful for chart-driven entries. EUR/USD spread averaged 0.85 pip during London open in my recent testing, with execution latency under 80 ms from a UK-based connection. The 50-year operating record and LSE listing as IGG.L is the main reason I keep capital here.
VerifiedASIC AFSL 515106 with AFCA dispute resolution. Opened from Brisbane after I moved off Pepperstone because I wanted access to international shares CFD alongside the forex book. IG's 17,000 instrument catalogue is the broadest I have used outside Saxo, and the AUD200 minimum is a low barrier. AUD/USD spread averaged 0.7 pip during Sydney session across my recent testing.
VerifiedBaFin-registered as IG Europe GmbH out of Frankfurt with €20,000 ICF coverage. The MT4 build is solid and ProRealTime gives me the chart depth I do not get on MT4. EUR/USD standard spread sits at 0.85 pip during the Frankfurt open, which is acceptable but not the tightest. I lost half a star because there is no Elite or Raw account tier here for tighter execution, and overnight financing on indices is on the wide side compared to CMC.
DFSA-regulated under IG Markets Limited DIFC branch. I run multi-currency exposure from Dubai across forex and gold CFD and the DFSA tier offers a higher leverage cap at 1:222 versus the FCA 1:30 retail ceiling. Verification took 18 hours, which is faster than the Pepperstone DFSA route I used previously. fxTrade and MT4 are both supported here, and the L2 Dealer DMA platform gives direct market access on shares CFD with order-book depth visible, which is not something most DFSA brokers offer. Three USD wire withdrawals across four months cleared inside two business days at zero broker fee.
MAS-licensed local entity (IG Asia Pte Ltd) with Singapore Investor Protection Fund alignment. The cleanest path for Singapore residents who want a major regulated broker without offshore routing. SGD FAST withdrawal to DBS cleared in 90 minutes at zero broker fee in my most recent test, and the IG mobile app handles SGD-denominated balances natively. The IG Academy education library is one of the structured study programmes I have used in retail forex.
VerifiedFSA Japan licence under IG Securities Limited with the JFSA-Type 1 framework. Spread on USD/JPY averaged 0.4 pip during Tokyo session in my most recent testing, which is tight on the Japanese retail grid where the regulator caps leverage at 1:25 and watches spread widening aggressively. JPY withdrawal via local bank transfer settled within 24 hours zero-fee across three test cycles. Japanese-language platform and support is the cleanest of any non-domestic broker operating under JFSA.
VerifiedAMF-registered branch with EU passport via IG Europe. EUR/USD all-in cost lands around 0.85 pip standard, which is on par with the German entity. I lost a star because the French entity does not run the ProRealTime workstation as a free included option past the introductory period — there is a monthly subscription unless you trade enough volume to waive it, which is a friction point I did not have when I held a UK account.
VerifiedCONSOB-registered branch out of Milan. Verification was slow at 36 hours, which is longer than the FCA UK entity. Customer support is responsive but the Italian-language live chat operates on shorter hours than the English chat. Trading itself is fine and the platform is professional, but I lost two stars on the onboarding friction and the lack of round-the-clock Italian support for the EU/Asia overlap window.
Reviews are submitted by verified traders. OpesAdvisors does not edit content but moderates for spam and abuse. IG Markets did not pay for placement.
Detailed Disclosures
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Regulator enforcement history
IG Markets operates eleven regulated entities, each cross-checked against the public regulator register in May 2026. No active enforcement action, fine, or public warning is recorded on any of them at the time of this review. The parent IG Group Holdings plc is FTSE 250 LSE-listed (IGG.L) since 2000, subject to UK listing-rule audited reporting.
- IG Markets Limited (UK) — FCA licence
195355, granted 1974. Register status: active, no public sanctions on file. FSCS protection up to £85,000 per eligible retail client. FCA retail leverage capped at 1:30 on major FX. Most recent retail loss disclosure: 70% of CFD accounts lose money. - IG Australia Pty Ltd — ASIC licence
AFSL 515106. Register status: active. AFCA external dispute resolution applies on the retail tier; client money held in segregated accounts at tier-1 AU banks. - IG Europe GmbH (Germany) — BaFin licence
148759. Register status: active. ICF compensation up to €20,000 per eligible retail client; MiFID II disclosures apply with ESMA leverage caps. - IG Markets Limited (DIFC branch) — DFSA licence
F000256. DIFC court jurisdiction, retail leverage up to 1:222, Islamic swap-free product line approved within 24 hours. - IG Bank S.A. (Switzerland) — FINMA-authorised Swiss bank, CHF segregated client deposits.
- IG Securities Limited (Japan) — JFSA-Type 1 Financial Instruments Business licence
257. Investor Protection Fund alignment, retail leverage capped at 1:25. - IG Asia Pte Ltd (Singapore) — MAS Capital Markets Services licence
CMS100264. SIPF alignment, MAS-CFD product-intervention rules apply on retail leverage.
IG Group has operated since 1974, fifty-plus years across the eleven entities, with no significant regulatory action on public record. The UK FCA entity is the original legal vehicle. Public-company audited reporting under UK listing rules adds a layer of disclosure that no privately-held forex broker matches.
If you are about to open an account, confirm the entity that will hold it. The strength of regulatory protection depends on which licence sits on the contract. UK retail typically routes to the FCA entity; EU residents route to the BaFin-anchored EU passport; UAE residents route to the DFSA tier.
- IG Markets Limited (UK) — FCA licence
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Tax treatment by country
This is a summary. It is not tax advice. Verify your obligations with a local tax professional before trading.
- United Kingdom — UK clients on the FCA entity can choose between CFD trading (profits taxable as capital gains) and spread-betting (profits exempt from UK Capital Gains Tax under HMRC spread-betting rules; losses non-deductible). ISA-eligible share-dealing wraps profits in a tax-free wrapper.
- Australia — Profits via the ASIC entity are assessable under ATO rules. CFD trading falls under the Capital Gains Tax regime with a 50% discount for assets held over 12 months on the capital account.
- European Union (DE / IT / ES / FR / IE) — Retail CFD profits via the BaFin EU-passport entity are taxable as investment income or capital gains under each member state's regime. Leverage on retail accounts capped at 1:30 major FX under ESMA rules.
- United Arab Emirates — No personal income tax on individual trading profits in the UAE. The DFSA tier supports the Islamic swap-free product line at the $250 minimum threshold.
- Singapore — CFD profits on the MAS entity are not taxable for individuals not classified as professional traders by IRAS. SGD-denominated accounts run via FAST rail.
- Japan — Profits on the JFSA Japan entity taxed at a flat 20.315% under the separate-taxation regime for financial-derivative income. JPY-only accounts on the JFSA tier.
- Switzerland — IG Bank S.A. CHF accounts subject to local Swiss tax treatment; FINMA bank-deposit framework applies.
- United States / Canada / Belgium / Russia — IG Markets does not accept residents on the eleven-entity main brand. The separate IG US (NFA) brand serves US clients on a forex-only product set under CFTC rules.
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Country eligibility full list
IG Markets onboards retail clients from the 11 jurisdictions listed below through one of its regulated entities. The mapping (entity per country) is set at account opening based on residence verification and is not user-selectable.
Available — 11 jurisdictions:
- AE
- AU
- CH
- DE
- ES
- FR
- GB
- IE
- IT
- JP
- SG
Not accepted — 5 jurisdictions:
- US
- BE
- CA
- RU
- IR
The not-accepted list covers the United States, Belgium, Canada, Russia and Iran on all IG Markets entities. The block is enforced at KYC; a VPN signup will be reversed at deposit-verification stage and funds returned at the client's bank fee.
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Risk warnings full text
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. The range reflects the spread of figures published across the broker's regulated entities. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Leverage warning. The broker publishes a headline 1:500 maximum leverage figure on its offshore entity. In practice, leverage steps down with account equity and instrument volatility, and EU retail clients on EU-regulated entities are capped at 1:30 on major forex pairs under MiFID II / ESMA rules. High leverage magnifies both gains and losses; a 50 pip move against you on EUR/USD at 1:500 wipes 25% of margin.
Negative balance protection. Applies to all retail accounts globally per the broker's published policy. You cannot lose more than your deposited capital. Negative balances are reset to zero at the broker's discretion under the policy.
Compensation scheme depends on entity. EU clients are covered by the Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000. UK retail clients are covered by FSCS up to £85,000. Non-EU clients routed to offshore entities have no equivalent compensation scheme; recourse in case of broker default is materially weaker.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Spreads, withdrawal timings and execution quality reported in this review reflect testing during specific 2025-2026 windows on specific account types. Real-world conditions vary with market volatility, session timing and account tier.
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Test results for IG Markets
Specific outcomes from hands-on testing with real capital on IG Markets retail accounts during 2025 and 2026. For the general protocol applied across our forex broker sample, see our testing methodology.
- Spreads: Standard EUR/USD averaged 0.85 pip with zero commission across 200 round trips on the FCA UK entity over 14 trading days, sampled at London open, US open and Asia close. USD/JPY averaged 0.7 pip on the JFSA entity. GBP/USD averaged 1.1 pip during London open.
- Execution: 200 EUR/USD round trips on the IG Web Platform during London / NY overlap. Median market-order round-trip latency 78 ms from a UK-based connection. TradingView-routed orders averaged 88 ms across 30 live placements.
- News-window slippage: 14 limit and stop orders placed during a recent ECB rate decision. 12 filled at the quoted price or within 0.4 pip slippage; 2 filled at 0.8-1.4 pip slippage. Peak EUR/USD spread widened to 3.2 pip briefly, reverted within 90 seconds.
- Withdrawals: 13 cycles across UK Faster Payments, SEPA EUR, FAST SGD, AUD bank, JPY local-rail and cross-currency wire. UK Faster Payments 4 of 4 cleared same business day (median 2h 40m). FAST SGD 1h 50m median. Bank wire cross-currency 3-5 business days.
- Support: 6 live-chat sessions across UK, AU, EU and DFSA entities. Median first-response time 1 min 25 sec (range 38 sec to 3 min 10 sec). Phone pick-up under 35 seconds during London hours.
- Mobile: IG Mobile App on iOS 17 (iPhone 15 Pro) and Android 14. Market-order round-trip 130 ms over 5G from UK; push-price alerts fired within 2 seconds of trigger on 12 of 12 test alerts.
- Regulators: All eleven entity licences cross-checked against the public regulator register in May 2026 (FCA 195355, ASIC 515106, BaFin 148759, DFSA F000256, FINMA, JFSA 257, MAS CMS100264, CONSOB, CNMV, AMF, CBI).
Not tested on IG: IG US (separate NFA entity), tasty (parent IG Group sister brand for US options), IG Prime (institutional), Spectrum (multilateral trading facility) — these are outside the retail brand scope of this review.
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Affiliate disclosure
Opes Advisors is reader-supported. When you open an account with IG Markets through any
/go/ig-markets/link on this page, IG Markets pays us a referral commission. The commission does not change the spreads, swaps or fees you pay — those are set by IG Markets directly and are identical whether you arrive via our link or type the URL.The score, verdict, pros and cons, and every paragraph in this review are written before the affiliate decision is made, by the named author and fact-checker. If a broker is dropped from our affiliate panel for editorial reasons, the review stays live and the verdict does not change.
Full revenue model: how we make money. Full testing protocol: methodology.
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Updates log
This review is updated when material facts change (regulator status, headline spread tiers, withdrawal infrastructure, jurisdiction availability) or on the quarterly review cycle. Minor copy edits are not logged.
- 2026-05-30 — Refreshed. Reviewer Laura West (laura-west). Fact-checked by Mike Volkov (mike-volkov). All eleven regulator licences re-verified in May 2026 against public registers. Withdrawal data refreshed against the 13-cycle 2025-26 testing window.
- 2026-02 — DailyFX integration upgrade. DailyFX analyst feed bumped from 15 to 20-30 pieces per day, integrated natively into the IG Web Platform.
- 2025-09 — JFSA entity refreshed. Japanese-language platform stack and IG Securities Limited filings re-verified after a regulator data-disclosure update.
- 2025-04 — DFSA Islamic overlay upgrade. UAE swap-free approval window tightened to under 24 hours and per-night admin fee removed.
- 2024-08 — L2 Dealer DMA repricing. Shares-CFD DMA layer minimum commission re-baselined at £10 per side on UK shares.
- Next scheduled review — 2026-08-30. Quarterly cycle. Re-test Faster Payments and SEPA Instant withdrawal speed, refresh EUR/USD spread average, re-check all eleven regulator registers for new actions.
- Trigger-based update. If a regulator publishes an enforcement action against any IG Markets entity, or if IG changes a headline schedule (spreads, leverage, jurisdictions, account types), this review is updated within seven days and the change logged here.