2026 · Evidence audit

CMC Markets Institutional (CMC Connect / API Direct) — institutional liquidity provider

CMC Markets UK plc has operated since 1989 and is listed on the LSE. It holds an FCA tier 1 licence and serves institutional clients globally. Self-reported metrics include over 64.5 million trades annually and partnerships in over 25 countries.

CMC Markets UK plc (institutional services; group parent CMC Markets Group plc, LSE: CMCX) · City of London, United Kingdom · last re-checked 2026-09 · evidence score 90/100

Licence, read on the register

Regulator	Licence number	Jurisdiction	Tier	Source
FCA	173730	UK	tier-1	open source ↗

Tier classification follows the same scale as the retail register: tier-1 = FCA/ASIC/CFTC-class supervision, tier-2 = CySEC/FSC-Mauritius/MFSA-class, tier-3 = offshore registration. A tier-2 licence is genuine supervision without an investor compensation scheme — never misread it as tier-1 protection.

What the firm commits to

Claims specific enough to be falsified — and the ones that remain the venue's own measurement.

Testable claims

CMC's own institutional page states 'Formed in 1989 and listed on London Stock Exchange, we have accumulated over 20 years' institutional experience, with existing partnerships in more than 25 countries' (cmcmarkets.com/partners/institutional)
Own API Direct description: 'comprehensive multi-asset coverage from a single provider with our API Direct feed, including access to our market-leading CFD liquidity and FX product suite' with 'consistent pricing and market depth across more than 400 instruments' (cmcmarkets.com/partners/institutional)
CMC Connect page: 'CMC Connect offers multi-asset liquidity provision and tailored trading technology to a global institutional client base' (cmcmarkets.com/en/connect)

Claims we cannot verify from outside

64.5m spread bet and CFD trades annually (2018-19) and 80,000+ active clients appear on liquidityfinder.com directory copy of CMC profile — directory source, not verified on CMC's own pages

Perimeter and coverage

Asset classes	Venues	Connectivity	Clients accepted	Explicitly refused
CFDs, FX spot, Spread betting (UK), Multi-asset derivatives (400+ instruments)	API Direct feed, Prime FX, Prime Derivatives, Grey label / white label platforms	FIX API, REST API, Native API (API Direct), MT4/MT5 white label	Banks, Brokers, Funds, Trading desks, Partnerships in more than 25 countries	Retail clients (institutional arm)

A firm that publishes its own negative space — who it refuses, where it is not licensed — is materially easier to diligence than one that doesn't. The refusal list is treated here as a disclosure, not a defect.