The six criteria for being compared
The six criteria for being compared check who regulates a group, who audits it, how long it has been licensed and whether we can keep its facts up to date.
- Licensed where it’s basedThe group holds a trading licence in the country of its main headquarters, so the regulator nearest the people running it supervises the company licensed there. That regulator’s rules protect only that company’s clients.
- Independently auditedIts licensed companies file accounts that an independent statutory auditor has checked. For each group, we name the firm we found.
- Traded by our teamMost of our team has traded with the group for more than two years and had a good experience trading with them.
- Readable by our toolsIts public pages can be read reliably, including by automated tools, so the facts on this site can be kept current.
- Licensed for at least 9 yearsWithin the group, a licensed company in its headquarters country has held its licence for at least 9 years or has existed for that long.
- A Global Forex AwardThe group has won at least one award from the Global Forex Awards.
What we found for each broker group
What we found for each broker group is listed below. Each entry has a document behind it. Our own authors check the team criterion, and we check the tools criterion by whether we can read a group’s pages, so neither has a column.
| Group | Headquarters and licence there | Auditor found | Licensed or founded | Global Forex Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital.com | Limassol, Cyprus (Capital.com). CySEC licence 319/17 (CySEC) | Buzzacott Audit LLP, for Capital Com (UK) Limited, 2025 accounts (accounts) | CySEC licence dated 7 April 2017 (CySEC) | Best Trading App, 2026 (winners) |
| CMC Markets | London, United Kingdom (CMC Markets). FCA authorised | Deloitte LLP, for CMC Markets UK plc, accounts to 31 March 2026 (accounts) | CMC Markets UK plc incorporated 1 December 1989 (Companies House) | Best Institutional FX Liquidity Provider, 2026, won by CMC Connect, its business-to-business arm (winners, CMC Markets) |
| Eightcap | Melbourne, Australia (Eightcap). ASIC licence 391441 | BKL Audit LLP, for Eightcap Group Ltd, accounts to 30 June 2025 (accounts) | ASIC licence dated 29 April 2011 (ASIC) | Best Client Trading Experience, 2026 (winners) |
| IG | London, United Kingdom (IG). FCA authorised | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, for IG Markets Ltd, 2025 accounts (accounts) | IG Index Ltd incorporated 18 November 1974 (Companies House) | Best Multi-Asset Trading Platform, 2026 (winners) |
| Pepperstone | Melbourne, Australia (Pepperstone). ASIC licence 414530 | Ernst & Young LLP, for Pepperstone Limited, accounts to 30 June 2025 (accounts) | ASIC licence dated 4 February 2013 (ASIC) | Best MT5 Broker, 2026 (winners) |
| XTB | Warsaw, Poland (XTB). KNF licence | PwC Polska, for the XTB group, 2025 accounts (report) | KNF brokerage licence received in 2005 (XTB) | Most Reliable Broker, 2026 (winners) |
What the auditor column can and can’t tell you
The auditor column names the firm that signed the latest accounts we could read for one licensed company in each group. Brokers don’t have to tell you who audits them, so what you see here is what we found in filed accounts, not a guarantee about every company in a group.
Holding a licence in the UK or Australia already requires an audit of the licensed company. A UK firm must appoint an auditor under the FCA’s rules (FCA SUP 3), and an Australian licensee submits audited accounts to ASIC each year (ASIC). Four of the six groups use one of the four largest audit firms. Eightcap and Capital.com both work with independent London firms.
What leaves a broker out
A single failed criterion means a broker is excluded from the comparison. A frequent reason for this is that some brokers’ sites stop automated tools from reading their pages. Because we can’t keep their details up to date for you when that happens, those brokers don’t appear. We don’t name any broker we considered but left out.
We check the criteria again whenever a group’s page is updated. If a group no longer meets them, it is removed from the comparison.
Sources
The original documents this page cites, in the order they first appear.
- Global Forex Awards 2026: winners, Global Forex Awards
- Capital.com: investor relations, Capital.com
- Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, CySEC
- Cyprus Investment Firms: list of regulated entities, CySEC
- Capital Com (UK) Limited: full accounts made up to 31 December 2025, Companies House, 2026-08-28
- CMC Markets: our offices, CMC Markets
- Financial Conduct Authority, FCA
- CMC Markets UK plc: full accounts made up to 31 March 2026, Companies House, 2026-07-10
- CMC Markets UK plc: company overview, Companies House
- CMC Markets re-brands B2B business unit as CMC Markets Connect, CMC Markets
- Eightcap: where was Eightcap founded?, Eightcap
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission, ASIC
- Eightcap Group Ltd: full accounts made up to 30 June 2025, Companies House, 2025-10-16
- ASIC Australian Financial Services licensee dataset, September 2026, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, 2026-09
- IG Group: about us, IG Group
- IG Markets Limited: full accounts made up to 31 December 2025, Companies House, 2026-04-14
- IG Index Limited: company overview, Companies House
- Pepperstone: about us, Pepperstone
- Pepperstone Limited: full accounts made up to 30 June 2025, Companies House, 2026-04-10
- XTB: Polish site, company details in the footer, XTB S.A.
- Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, KNF
- XTB S.A. Group: consolidated financial statements for 2025, independent auditor’s report, XTB S.A., 2026-03-20
- XTB: about us, XTB S.A.
- FCA Handbook, SUP 3: Auditors, Financial Conduct Authority
- Submit Australian financial services licence annual financial statements (FS70), Australian Securities and Investments Commission