Long-established, publicly listed (LSE: IGG), one of the widest regulatory footprints of any broker on this list.
| Regulated entity | IGM Forex Ltd |
|---|---|
| Regulation | CySEC No. 309/16 + FCA No. 195355 |
| Other Tier-1 regulators | ASIC, +9 more Tier-1 |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Minimum deposit | £1 |
| Avg. spread (EUR/USD) | 0.6 pips |
| Platforms | Proprietary, MT4, ProRealTime |
| Instruments | 17,000+ across forex, indices, shares, commodities, crypto CFDs |
See IG's full regulation dossier → · How to check whether a forex broker is regulated
Derived from the same confirmed data behind this broker's score (regulation, cost, platforms, deposit minimum) -- not a separate editorial judgment.
Via its FCA-regulated UK entity, eligible clients are covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails. Via its CySEC-regulated Cyprus entity, eligible clients are covered by Cyprus's Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) up to €20,000 per person if the firm fails.
Beyond the headline spread and minimum deposit above. Where our research hasn't independently confirmed a specific detail, we say so rather than guess -- verify directly with the broker before relying on it.
| Account types | Leveraged spread betting (via IG Index Ltd, UK/Ireland only, tax-free there) and CFDs (via IG Markets Ltd), for both retail and professional clients, plus non-leveraged share dealing/ISA accounts (via IG Trading and Investments Ltd). A "Limited Risk" account requires a guaranteed stop on every position (a premium is charged if it's triggered) and caps losses at the margin committed; professional accounts are exempt from retail leverage caps. Figures in this section reflect IG's UK/FCA entity -- its Cyprus/CySEC entity's fee schedule wasn't separately verified. |
|---|---|
| Execution model | Standard CFD and spread-betting accounts are OTC/market-maker -- IG is the counterparty and sets its own spread. A separate "IG Forex Direct" service offers DMA pricing with no IG spread, charged via a variable commission from roughly $10 per $1m traded, but it's restricted to professional clients only. |
| Withdrawals & deposits | Card, PayPal, and bank transfer, with no withdrawal processing fee per IG's own help pages. Minimum withdrawal is around £100/day (or the full balance if under that), with maximums varying by method (e.g. £20,000/day by card, £5,500 per PayPal transaction). Card withdrawals typically take 2-5 working days, PayPal usually same or next working day, and bank transfer the same day if requested before noon UK time. |
| Overnight financing (swap) | Charged on CFD and spread-betting positions held overnight: position value times a benchmark rate (e.g. SOFR for USD, SONIA for GBP) plus or minus an admin-fee markup IG discloses at roughly 2.5-3% depending on instrument and region. Futures-style positions avoid this charge but carry wider spreads instead. |
| Currency conversion cost | A 0.7% fee on spread-betting/CFD accounts when a trade's currency differs from your account currency; a reduced 0.49% applies on share-dealing/ISA accounts, which IG describes as a discretionary rate guaranteed only until September 2026. |
| Inactivity fee | £12/month after 24 consecutive months with no open positions and no deposits on CFD/spread-betting accounts, per IG's help pages -- exact current exemptions weren't independently confirmed. A separate quarterly custody fee on low-activity investment accounts was reportedly scrapped from January 2026. |
| Customer service | Phone, live chat and email, with IG stating near-24-hour availability (closed roughly 10pm Friday to 4am Saturday UK time). Independent sentiment is mixed: a Trustpilot average around 3.5/5 across roughly 10,000 reviews, with some reviewers praising support for complex queries and others reporting long wait times. |
| Mobile experience | 4.6 rating on Apple's App Store (29,000+ reviews); a commonly cited Google Play rating near 4 could not be independently confirmed directly on Play Store. Independent comparison sites generally rate the app among the stronger all-round trading apps for charting, stability, and guaranteed-stop support. |
| Educational offering | IG Academy offers structured courses, quizzes, articles, webinars and a dedicated app, plus a reported $10,000 demo account. ForexBrokers.com rates IG's research/education package highly, naming it among the best for free forex education. |
See how IG's spread cost compares across every researched broker → · Forex broker fees explained
Is IG regulated?
Yes -- CySEC No. 309/16 + FCA No. 195355. See the regulation dossier on this page for the underlying licence numbers.
Is my money protected if IG fails?
Via its FCA-regulated UK entity, eligible clients are covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails. Via its CySEC-regulated Cyprus entity, eligible clients are covered by Cyprus's Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) up to €20,000 per person if the firm fails.
What is the minimum deposit at IG?
Our research confirms a minimum deposit of £1.
What trading platforms does IG offer?
IG offers Proprietary, MT4, ProRealTime.
What is IG's average spread on EUR/USD?
Our research confirms an average EUR/USD spread of 0.6 pips. See our cost calculator to compare this across every broker we've reviewed.
When was IG founded?
IG was founded in 1974.
How is IG's overall score calculated?
IG currently scores 3.81/5 overall under our disclosed nine-category methodology -- regulation & client protection 30%, trading costs 20%, non-trading fees 10%, platforms & tools 10%, execution/trading conditions 10%, product range 5%, deposits/withdrawals 5%, transparency 5%, track record 5%. It is not a comparison to other brokers and not based on hands-on testing.
Ratings as found via each site's published/indexed content, not our own testing and not independently re-verified against the live page -- treat as a snapshot and check the source before relying on it. Each card links to where we found it.
A dated log of when our own published data about this broker actually changed -- not a reconstructed history of what the broker itself did. See the full change log tool for every broker.
EU clients typically served under Central Bank of Ireland / MiFID passporting rather than a direct CySEC CIF licence -- worth confirming which entity applies to you.
Publicly listed on Nasdaq (IBKR) and an S&P 500 constituent, Interactive Brokers is one of the largest electronic brokers globally by client equity, with access to 150+ markets worldwide. Founder Thomas Peterffy remains Chairman. Widely regarded as a low-controversy, Category-A-regulator-only broker relative to CFD-focused peers.
ThinkMarkets is a dual-headquartered (Melbourne/London) group founded in 2010 by brothers Nauman and Faizan Anees, in which each of its major-jurisdiction licences (FCA, ASIC, FSCA, DFSA, FMA) sits in a different legal entity from its CySEC-licensed European arm.