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IC Markets group includes 3 related companies.
IC Markets AU - located in Australia, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
IC Markets CY - located in Cyprus, regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
IC Markets SEY - located in the Seychelles, regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (SFSA).
Be aware, CY company has some trading restrictions because of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) influence.
Unfortunately, AU company also has been imposed with trading leverage limitations by ASIC since the end of March 2021.
IC Markets group accepts clients from all over the world, excluding USA, Yemen, Iran and some other countries from the OFAC list.
Forex broker offers the following underlying assets for trading.
| 60+ Currency Pairs | Based on major and minor world currencies. |
| 10+ Crypto Pairs | Based on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, Avalanche, Dogecoin, Polkadot, EOS, BNB, Dash, Link, Matic, Solana and more. |
| 15 Indice Cash CFDs | Based on baskets of different blue-chip stocks. |
| 2 Indice Futures | Based on US Dollar Index and Volatility Index. |
| 6 Metal Spot CFDs | Based on Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum. |
| 3 Energy Spot CFDs | Based on Crude Oil (WTI, Brent) and Natural Gas. |
| 3 Energy Futures | Based on Crude Oil (WTI, Brent). |
| 5 Soft Futures | Based on Coffee, Corn, Soybean, Sugar and Wheat. |
| 9 Bond Futures | Based on US, UK, JP, German and Italian government securities. |
| 110+ Stock CFDs | Based on shares of US, UK and EU companies. |
Based out of Australia, IC Markets is a forex and CFD broker that employs a no-dealing desk, ECN broker model, and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (SFSA). The broker was originally founded in Sydney in 2007, and first became licensed by ASIC in 2009. It has over the years gained recognition as a leading retail-focused brokerage for forex traders worldwide.
Perhaps most notably, IC Markets has gained recognition as a trusted brand in the trading community thanks to its decision to cover clients' negative balances following the famous “flash crash” in the market for Swiss francs in January of 2015. Two years later, the broker reported record trading volumes of 343 billion USD for August of 2017.
IC Markets offers trading in all major currency pairs, as well as CFDs based on many global stock indices, commodities like gold, silver, oil, and natural gas, bonds, and individual stocks, all with tight spreads as compared to many competitors. The EUR/USD, the most popular currency pair in the forex market, trades with an average spread of only 0.1 pips, and can occasionally be traded with a 0.0 spread.
In addition to the low spreads, IC Markets also has high trading leverage of up to 1:500 as one of its main selling points. Since 2021, however, the maximum trading leverage has been reduced for clients trading under the Australian-based branch, just like it has been for traders at EU-based brokers for several years already. As a result, the only way to get access to high leverage from IC Markets today is to get assigned to the broker's offshore entity in the Seychelles. Unfortunately, as of 2023, European and Australian clients cannot browse the broker's global website and cannot register with IC Markets Global.
Further, IC Markets also brands itself as a truly international broker by offering traders accounts in ten different base currencies, including USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, and CAD.
When it comes to trading platforms, IC Markets offers its users the choice between the standard MetaTrader 4 and 5, and the cTrader platform developed by the Cyprus-based software firm Spotware in 2011. As opposed to MetaTrader, the cTrader platform is web-based and can therefore run on any computer. The platform also features a great and intuitive user experience with fast order execution for traders.
Due to dedicated lines and co-located servers, latency times on the cTrader server is also extremely low at only 1 ms., which provides opportunities even for high frequency (algorithmic) traders and scalpers.
The cTrader platform further features advanced trader protection mechanisms that ensure margin requirements are always maintained, while only forcibly closing out the minimum amount necessary in order to maintain margin requirements at all times.
Account types are tailored to the trading platform the user chooses to go with, with an initial deposit requirement of USD 200 or equivalent in another currency across all account types. Traders can further choose to go with an account type that offers wider spreads with commission-free trading, or a commission-based account with very tight spreads.
Deposit can be made with all major credit and debit cards, in addition to the most common online money transfer services and bank wire transfers to the broker's local bank accounts in several countries. Withdrawals are processed similarly, and can be sent either to the user's credit/debit card or bank account.
IC Markets doesn't disappoint with its customer service either, with live chat during market hours, an email support system, and a call-back option where the user fills in a form online to have a customer service representative call back. However, most common questions are answered in the extensive FAQ section of the website, meaning account set-up and basic trading should be relatively straightforward with this broker.
