CM Trading Broker Review

Is CM Trading a Scam?

With FSCA (South Africa) and FSA (Seychelles) regulation and a history of responsible operations in Africa and the Middle East, we consider CM Trading to be a safe broker for Filipino traders to trade with.

Established in 2012, CM Trading has quickly grown into one of the largest and most popular brokers in Africa and the Middle East.  It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) South Africa and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA): 

• BLACKSTONE MARKETING PROPRIETARY LIMITED is authorised by the FSCA, registration no. 2009/002519/23 (FSP No. 38782).
• GCMT LTD Trading as CM TRADING, is a Securities Dealer registered in Seychelles with registration number 8425982-1 and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) with licence number SD070.

Filipino clients of CM Trading will be trading with GCMT LTD, which owns the CM Trading brand and has been regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) since 2021.

Unlike other regulators in the UK and EU, the FSA does not force CM Trading to restrict leverage, participate in a client compensation scheme, or offer negative balance protection. But all client funds are held in segregated accounts with top-tier banks and CM Trading is subject to frequent audits of its finances and client operations. While clients of CM Trading do not have negative balance protection, stop out levels are set at 50% making it very unlikely that trading accounts will fall into a negative balance.

Overall, although CM Trading lacks oversight from any of the major regulators, it has a good reputation amongst its clients across Africa and Asia, and is widely recognised as a trustworthy broker.

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CM Trading’s Trading Fees

CM Trading’s trading fees are higher than average compared to other brokers

CM Trading is unusual amongst brokers in that it offers six different account types, where most brokers will offer three or fewer. Trading costs will vary depending on the account type chosen by a trader (for more detail on CM Trading’s account types, click here).

Despite the variation, overall trading costs are higher than average across all six accounts, though the accounts themselves do offer more benefits tied to higher minimum deposits. Minimum deposits are higher than average across most of the account types too, although the entry-level account requires 100 USD to open. 

CM Trading’s accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other brokers.  The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spread and commission:

Spread x Trade Size = Total Trading Cost (USD)

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As you can see from the table above, in most cases CM Trading’s trading costs are built into the spread – though the two ECN accounts have a relatively high commission in exchange for tighter spreads. Spreads are variable at CM Trading, meaning that they will get wider or tighter depending on trade volume and market volatility. 

It’s also important to note that CM Trading only publishes its average spreads for the Bronze Account. This is unusual and is not consumer-friendly, as traders want to know what their ongoing trading costs are going to be before opening a live account. 

Overall, spreads are wider than average at CM Trading. The average cost for trading one lot of EUR/USD among similar brokers is about 9 USD per lot. As you can see from the table above, this is only achievable with the Gold and Premium Accounts, which are prohibitively expensive to open for most traders – requiring minimum deposits of 10,000 USD and 100,000 USD respectively. For more on CM Trading’s account types, click here.

The other main trading cost to consider is the overnight swap fee. This is charged on trades held open overnight and is derived from the difference between the interest rates of the two currencies being traded. CM Trading’s swap rates are published on its website for each financial instrument. CM Trading charges swap fees of 14.56 USD on the EUR/USD on a long position, and 2 USD on a short position.

Compared to other similar brokers, CM Trading’s ongoing costs are high across all account options.

CM Trading’s Non-trading Fees

CM Trading’s non-trading fees are high compared to other brokers

CM Trading charges 2% conversion fees for all deposits and withdrawals that are not from a USD or EUR bank account. As most clients will be funding their trading account with a currency different to USD or EUR, this will be an expensive additional cost. For more on CM Trading’s deposit and withdrawal methods and fees, click here.

In addition, CM Trading also charges a 15 USD monthly fee for all accounts that have been inactive for more than three months. This is more expensive than most other brokers.

Overall, CM Trading’s non-trading fees are high when compared to other brokers.

Opening an Account at CM Trading

CM Trading’s account opening process is completed online and hassle-free compared to other brokers. 

Filipino traders are eligible to open a trading account at CM Trading but will have to meet the minimum deposit requirement of 100 USD. Demo accounts are also available but only after you have registered for a live account. This is unusual amongst brokers and not good for beginner traders who wish to trade risk-free before opening a real account.

Creating an account is fast and fully digital, and accounts are usually ready for trading in a matter of minutes. 

How to open an account at CM Trading:

1. The first step is to click on “Register” on CM Trading’s main page.
2. CM Trading’s registration page requires clients to fill in their name, email address, date of birth, country of residence, phone number and choose either a personal or corporate account. This is more information than is usually required by a broker at this stage – but you will eventually need to provide all these details at any broker as part of the verification process.
3. Once your account is registered you will need to go through the KYC (Know Your Customer) verification process – this is required to prevent money laundering and meet regulatory standards.
   1. CM Trading requires a proof of identity: This can either be a passport or a government issued identity card or driver’s license.
   2. And a proof of residence: This can be any utility bill or bank statement that was issued in the last three months and must show your name and full residential address. PO Boxes are not accepted
4. Verification documents can be sent to CM Trading via two methods
   1. by email to [email protected] with your trading account number as a reference in the subject of the email.
   2. by logging into your trading account and clicking on “My Account”. Select the type of document and click on “Browse” to upload your file. Files can be sent in JPEG/JPG/PDF/Word format.
5. Once all documents have been received, the account will be ready for trading within a matter of minutes.

Compared to other similar brokers, CM Trading’s account opening process is fast, hassle-free, and fully digital. While the lack of support for PO Box residences may be a hassle for some traders, this is a common feature to prevent identity fraud. 

It is unfortunate that new traders need to have a live trading account to open a demo account, this is not a common requirement with most brokers and will make many beginners traders look elsewhere for a demo account option.

While CM Trading offers more account types than most brokers, they have both high minimum deposits and high trading costs – making them unsuitable for beginner traders and unpalatable for experienced traders.

A market maker with 4 instant execution accounts and 2 ECN accounts, CM Trading offers trading on multiple assets, including Forex, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, oil, and metals. For more on CM Trading’s trading assets, click here.  

Trading conditions at CM Markets are generally poor, with high minimum deposit requirements and high trading costs across all six accounts. Spreads average 1.70 pips (EUR/USD) on its entry-level account, which requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD . This spread is wider than those of other brokers’ entry-level accounts. Most brokers will offer an average spread of 1 pip (EUR/USD).

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It is difficult to find any advantages with CM Trading’s accounts, either for experienced or beginner traders. As mentioned above, the entry-level account has higher ongoing costs than similar accounts at other brokers. In addition, CM Trading’s other accounts request very high minimum deposits and don’t deliver the lower ongoing trading costs that more experienced traders would be looking for.

While ECN accounts are available, this is only at the Gold and Premium tiers, putting them out of reach for most new traders.

All CM Trading account-holders have access to market reviews, the CMTrading E-book, and regular webinars. Full support is offered for the MT4 and Sirix platforms and CM Markets allows hedging, scalping, and copy trading, and Islamic swap-free accounts.  Lastly, accounts are denominated in EUR and USD. 

CMTrading offers six live accounts and a demo account.  Spreads tighten, and traders have access to more benefits with increasing deposit amounts.  See below for more details:

Bronze Account

CM Trading’s entry-level account, the Bronze Account, requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD and spreads average at 1.70 pips on the EUR/USD. As mentioned, the minimum deposit on this account is higher than other brokers’ entry-level accounts and the ongoing trading costs are higher.

Silver Account

CM Trading’s most popular account, the Silver Account, requires a minimum deposit of 1000 USD.  Spreads start at 1.2 pips, and traders are afforded one risk-free trade and the services of a personal assistant. Spreads on this account are still wider than one would expect for an entry-level account – despite the high minimum deposit. 

Gold Account/Gold ECN Account

Traders can open a Gold Account with a very high minimum deposit of 10,000 USD.  Spreads are down to 0.9 pips on the EUR/USD – which is about average for entry-level accounts at other brokers. Traders are afforded 3 risk-free trades, the services of a personal assistant, and volume cashback.  

The Gold Account is also available as an ECN Account. Spreads start at 0.1 pips for the EUR/USD and a commission of 14 USD (round turn) per lot is charged per lot. While the spread of 0.1 pips is about average for an ECN account the 14 USD round turn commission is very high when compared to other ECN brokers. Stop-out levels are at 50%, but no Islamic swap-free options are available on this account. 

Premium Account/Premium ECN Account

With an incredibly high deposit of 100,000 USD, traders can open a Premium Account.  Like the Gold Account, spreads are 0.9 pips on the EUR/USD, but traders have access to a trading specialist, news and analyses, and other special offers. 

The Premium account is also available as an ECN Account.   The ECN Platinum Account is a market execution account with spreads starting at 0.1 pips on the EUR/USD, and a commission of 10 USD (round turn) per lot traded. 

Demo Account

Like most brokers, CM Trading offers a free demo account so new traders can get a feel for the trading platforms and an understanding of the assets to trade. Unfortunately, unlike most other brokers, opening a demo account at CM Trading does require registering for a live account first. Once signed up, you’ll receive your login credentials the same day.

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Broker

Trading Conditions

Base Currencies

EURUSD (Standard)

Trading Cost (Standard)

EURUSD (Best)

GBPUSD (Best)

USDJPY (Best)

Commission

CM Trading

4/ 5

EUR, USD

1.50 pips

USD 15

1.70 pips

2.60 pips

1.70 pips

USD 0

Blackstone Futures

4.5/ 5

ZAR, USD, GBP

0.60 pips

USD 6

0.60 pips

0.80 pips

1.00 pips

USD 0

Khwezi Trade

4/ 5

ZAR, USD

1.00 pips

USD 10

0.60 pips

1.00 pips

0.80 pips

USD 0

CM Trading has a good range of deposit and withdrawal methods, but withdrawal times are slow and fees are high and not transparent when compared to other brokers.

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, CM Trading does not accept payments from third parties and only accepts funds received directly from the named trading account holder. 

The CM Trading client portal allows traders to deposit funds in EUR and USD. Clients that fund accounts in other currencies, such as NGN,  will be charged a margin at a rate of exchange reasonably determined by CM Trading. That this rate is not published is unfortunate, as traders want to know the costs of funding their trading accounts before they register an account. 

Funds can be deposited using a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, payment wallets including Neteller and Fasapay, online banking, and bank wire transfer. Withdrawals take 2 – 3 days to be processed, and a minimum withdrawal amount of 20 USD is required.  See below for more details:

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• Bank wire: Deposits are processed within 2 – 3 days, and CM Trading will charge the going market rate plus 2% with respect to all deposits and market-rate less 2% with respect to all withdrawals processed by bank wire.
• Credit/Debit cards: Deposits are instant, but CM Trading will charge the going market rate plus 3% with respect to all deposits by debit/credit cards and market-rate less 4% with respect to all withdrawals.
• E-wallets: Deposits are processed within 1 hour and withdrawals are not allowed.

CM Trading may charge for incidental banking-related fees such as wire charges for deposits/withdrawals and returned cheque fees. CM Trading charges a monthly fee of 15 USD on accounts that remain dormant for more than three months.

Overall, CM Trading’s deposit and withdrawal system is poor compared to other brokers. Slow withdrawals coupled with non-specific conversion fees and high fees for both deposits and withdrawals will not make many traders happy and is not common in the industry.

CM Trading Base Currencies (Trading Account Currencies)

CM Trading offers only USD and EUR accounts, fewer than most other brokers.

At CM Trading, you can only choose from two base currencies: USD and EUR. This is limited compared to most other international brokers and is especially disappointing for traders who have bank accounts denominated in any other currency, as they will have to pay conversion fees on all deposits and withdrawals.  Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and are usually not presented on the fee report, but affect your profitability.

However, it should be noted that for traders that trade in large volumes (more than 10 lots a month), it is better to open an account denominated in USD, especially for trading on assets such as the EUR/USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair from an account with a different base currency, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

CM Trading’s Forex Trading Platforms

CM Trading offers two trading platforms, about average when compared to other brokers, but offers full support for MT4 – including automated trading via MT4 algos.

CM Trading offers two trading platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and Sirix WebTrader. MT4 is the most popular trading platform in the world and offered by most brokers. Sirix WebTrader is only offered by a very few brokers and is designed specifically for web browsers; more experienced traders may find it limited in functionality.

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Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

Platforms

CM Trading

4/ 5

Yes

MT4

Blackstone Futures

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

Cloud Trade

Khwezi Trade

4/ 5

Yes

MT5

MetaTrader 4

Developed by MetaQuotes in 2002, MT4 is still the most popular CFD trading platform in the world. Although the platform’s interface is now dated, MT4 is still widely recognised for its fast execution speeds, wide range of charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability. The benefit of CM Trading offering a third-party platform such as MT4 is that traders can take their customised version of the platform with them, should they choose to migrate to another broker.

Other features of MT4 include:

• Supports the creation, modification, and utilisation of automated trading strategies.
• Supports MQL4 programming language.
• Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as an Expert Advisor. 
• Allows traders to develop their own custom indicators.
• Superior charting tools in nine timeframes
• 24 graphical objects
• 30 built-in indicators

Four pending order types, including buy stop, sell stop, buy limit, and sell limit. From basic functionalities for Forex trading beginners to advanced technical charting and algorithmic trading for more experienced traders – MetaTrader4 is considered the best trading platform by many traders across the world.

Sirix Webtrader

Sirix WebTrader was released in 2014 by Leverate and was developed in HTML5 so can be used on any phone, tablet, or desktop. Unlike MT4, Sirix is not popular and traders will not be able to take their own customised version of the trading platform with them if they switch brokers.

Sirix has over 60 built-in indicators, a high level of security, and receives regular software updates. Designed to speed up trading, the Sirix trading windows can be pre-configured to include the instruments and lot sizes you trade regularly. One-click-trading can be enabled or disabled.

Benefits of the Sirix platform include:

• 24/7 user updates
• Backup options
• Secure interface
• 24/7 software availability
• Encrypted services
• Management of multiple accounts
• Hassle-free transactions
• Real-time online trading tips
• Forecasts, graphical representations, and more

While Sirix has a more modern interface and may be easier to use than MT4 for most beginners, it does now allow for automated trading via algos – which more experienced traders may find limiting. As a note, the Sirix Web Trader allows traders to copy other traders’ trades on the CopyKat system. For more on CM Trading’s CopyKat copy trading system and other trading tools, click here.

CM Trading Mobile Trading Apps

CM Trading offers an average range of mobile trading apps when compared to other brokers

CM Trading offers support for all the MT4 mobile trading apps for Android and IOS, including the native iPad app.

The MT4 mobile apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with nine timeframes, 30 indicators and interactive currency charts. Functionality to close and modify existing orders, calculate profit/loss in real-time, and tick chart trading further empowers traders while on the move.

As Sirix is developed in HTML5, it can run in browsers on all mobile and desktop devices without needing to install any further software.  

CM Trading offers a limited range of trading tools compared to other brokers, but it does offer copy trading via the Sirix WebTrader platform.

CopyKat

CM Trading clients who opt to use the Sirix WebTrader platform will also receive access to Sirix CopyKat, Sirix’ copy trading tool.

CopyKat allows you to observe professional traders’ deals and copy them in real-time but also allows for automated copying. The system is easy to use and supports one-click trading.

Guardian Angel

CM Trading runs a Smart Communication System for its customers called Guardian Angel, which provides support and direct messages concerning market trends and provides automated feedback on how you trade, highlighting market volatility indications and a stop loss calculator.

CM Trading offers an average range of trading assets but has a wider range of crypto CFDs than most other brokers. Leverage on non-currency assets is low compared to other brokers.

CM Trading offers over 1000 CFD trading instruments on all trading accounts, except for the HFcopy Account. Besides Forex pairs, HotForex offers metals, energies, indices, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, bonds, DMA stocks (MT5 only), and ETF trading.

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• Forex pairs: CM Trading offers 47 Forex pairs to trade, including majors, minors, and exotics such as USD/ZAR. While this is a substantial number, other brokers will offer 60+ pairs to trade. Maximum leverage is 200:1.
• Metals and Commodities: CM Trading offers silver and gold crosses with the USD as well as some of the most common commodities available, including oil, natural gas, sugar, cotton, and wheat. This is an average selection of commodities compared to other brokers. Maximum leverage is 1:50 on all commodities, whereas with many other brokers leverage on commodities can be as high as 200:1, especially on precious metals.
• Indices: Cm Trading offers CFD trading on a small group of international indices, including the S&P 500, FTSE100, DAX30 and the JSE. Again, maximum leverage is low compared to other brokers at 1:50.
• Equities: CM Trading offers 68 share CFDs to trade, including popular US tech companies and multinational energy companies. This is a smaller range of share CFDs than offered by other brokers and leverage is limited to 10:1.
• Cryptocurrencies: CM Trading offers 14 cryptocurrencies to trade, including some that are not found at other brokers such as Chainlink, Dogecoin and Uniswap. While this is a wider range of cryptos than is usually found at other brokers, leverage is again limited to 5:1 and sometimes 2:1 on the lesser-known cryptocurrencies.

While some traders will be disappointed that CM Trading restricts leverage on its non-Forex CFDs, the range of assets available to trade is comparable to many other brokers and the number of cryptocurrencies available is more than is normally seen at other similar brokers.

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CM Trading Research and Analysis

CM Trading’s research and analysis is poor compared to other brokers.

The analysis material at CM Trading is basic compared to most other brokers. Analysis material includes a functional economic calendar, highlighting the major events of the day. This is accompanied by a five-minute daily market review every morning before market-open, which highlights potential trading opportunities across the major financial markets for the coming day, and is generally well researched. All the video material is also available on CM Trading’s YouTube channel and is compiled by a team of in-house market analysts.

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Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

CM Trading

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

Blackstone Futures

Yes

No

No

No

No

Khwezi Trade

No

No

No

No

No

CM Trading’s Educational Content

The educational content available at CM Trading is comparable to that found at other African brokers but falls behind when compared to the education available at large international brokers. 

While most beginners will find the majority of CM Trading’s educational content useful, it does not cover many of the advanced topics that more experienced traders would find helpful. It includes regular webinars on a range of markets and live seminars – though these have been on pause for most of the pandemic. 

Training Videos

The backbone of the education section is a generic library of animated training videos, with subjects covering common Forex terms, social trading, the MetaTrader 4 platform, trading strategies, and trading psychology.  While most of the training videos are aimed at beginner traders, lessons in technical and fundamental analysis and trading plans support more advanced learning. Other more advanced videos cover EAs to use with the MT4 platform and other methods of automated trading.

The one downside to CM Trading’s video library is that all the videos are only accessible through CM Trading’s own player, which is dated and has very limited functionality. This is frustrating, especially for those of us accustomed to YouTube and other popular players.

Webinars

CM Trading hosts weekly webinars on a range of subjects, recent webinars include the Psychology of Trading and Trading Cryptocurrencies. These webinars are simple to register for and, once more, you do not have to be a CM Trading customer to access them.

Video Chart Analysis

The chart analysis section is accompanied by a brief, yet useful, analytical breakdown of the major currency pairs. The video chart analysis on offer is straightforward and detailed and is helpful to both novice and expert traders.

Ebooks

CM Trading, through a 3rd party, offers a collection of eBooks covering Forex terms, trading psychology, basic and advanced technical analysis, and basic and advanced trading strategies. These are also available to non-customers but unfortunately non-downloadable.  Much like with the Training Videos, CM Trading’s player is not a particularly easy way to digest new information, even in written format.

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Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

CM Trading

No

No

No

Medium

Yes

Blackstone Futures

Yes

No

Yes

Medium

Yes

Khwezi Trade

Yes

No

Yes

Medium

No

Customer Support

CM Trading’s customer support is about average when compared to other brokers

Customer support is available 24/5 via live chat, WhatsApp, email, via 11 different international phone numbers (in South Africa, Canada, Malaysia, UK, China, France, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Bahrain, but unfortunately, not Philippines) with full language support for each region.  Additionally, CM Trading provides MT4 support to help beginner traders get started and one-on-one training is available to larger depositors.

Evaluation Process

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the CM Trading offer. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker, and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.

CM Trading Risk Statement

Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. CM Trading would like you to know that: Trading Foreign Exchange (Forex) and Contracts for Differences (CFD’s) is highly speculative, carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. You may sustain a loss of some or all of your invested capital, therefore, you should not speculate with capital that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading on margin.

Overview

CM Trading is one of the largest online Forex and CFD brokers in Africa. Equipping clients with a free MT4 platform download and the Sirix WebTrader system in addition to an interesting range of trading tools, trading is offered on four live commission-free accounts, two that have ECN account options.  Minimum deposit requirements are high compared to other brokers and spreads are wide, starting at 1.70 pips for the EUR/USD on its entry-level account.  A significant drawback is the lack of educational and market analysis material, making it a poor choice for beginner traders.

Editorial Team

 

Chris Cammack
Head of Content

Chris joined the company in 2019 after ten years experience in research, editorial and design for political and financial publications. His background has given him a deep knowledge of international financial markets and the geopolitics that affects them. Chris has a keen eye for editing and a voracious appetite for financial and political current affairs. He ensures that our content across all sites meets the standards of quality and transparency that our readers expect.

 

Alison Heyerdahl
Senior Financial Writer

Alison joined the team as a writer in 2021. She is the Senior Editor for FXScouts.  She has a medical degree with a focus on physiotherapy and a bachelor’s in psychology. However, her interest in forex trading and her love for writing led her to switch careers. She has a passion for Forex trading and over a decade of editorial experience researching Forex and the financial services industry, producing high-quality content. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Let’s Talk Forex,” alongside her colleague, Chris, and has produced over 100 Forex educational videos for the FXScouts YouTube channel. She also writes weekly technical analyses and has tested and reviewed over 100 Forex brokers.

 

Ida Hermansen
Financial Writer

Ida joined our team as a financial writer in 2023. She has a degree in Digital Marketing and a background in content writing and SEO. In addition to her marketing and writing skills, Ida also has an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks. Her interest in crypto trading led to a wider fascination with Forex technical analysis and price movement. She continues to develop her skills and knowledge in Forex trading and keeps a close eye on which Forex brokers offer the best trading environments for new traders.