Can UK Residents Open an IC Markets Account in 2026?

Yes. A UK resident can still open an account with IC Markets (now trading as IC) in 2026, and plenty do. The catch is which company you sign with. IC has no UK entity, and its Cyprus company says the information on its website is not intended for UK residents, so in practice a UK applicant is onboarded by Raw Trading Ltd, licensed in the Seychelles. Signing up is not an offence on your part. You simply end up outside every UK safety net: FCA conduct rules, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the FSCS.

Below we cover which entity takes UK clients, what the legal position really is, how to confirm the company named on your own agreement, and what the account looks like day to day for someone funding in sterling.

Which IC company takes UK residents

IC Markets is a group of five licensed companies, and the one you contract with decides which rules apply. The Australian company serves Australia under ASIC, and the Kenyan company serves Kenya under the CMA. IC Markets (EU) Ltd, regulated by CySEC in Cyprus, would once have been the natural home for a British client. Its site now states that the information on it is "not intended for residents of Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom or the United States".

That leaves the offshore arms. Raw Trading Ltd holds Seychelles Financial Services Authority Securities Dealer licence SD018, and since the 11 July 2026 rebrand IC’s own wording is that "IC and IC Markets Global are the trading names of Raw Trading Ltd". When a UK resident signs up through ic.com today, this is the company that onboards them in practice. We say "in practice" because IC doesn’t publish a country-by-country list of which entity takes whom, so the reliable check is your own paperwork.

Older accounts may differ. A client who joined years ago, before the Temporary Permissions Regime ended on 30 December 2023, may have started with another group company. Don’t assume. Look at the agreement you accepted, using the steps further down.

Is it legal for a UK resident to use IC?

Yes. UK financial services law is aimed at firms. The general prohibition in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 stops an unauthorised business from carrying on regulated activity in the UK, and separate rules stop it from promoting financial products to UK consumers. Neither makes it an offence for you, as a customer, to hold an account with an overseas broker.

You may see the phrase "reverse solicitation". It describes a client who approaches an overseas firm on their own initiative, without having been marketed to. Offshore brokers sometimes rely on the idea to explain why they accept UK clients. The FCA plainly takes a different view of IC: its Warning List entry says the firm "may be targeting people in the UK". Whatever the firm’s position, your practical result is the same. You can open the account, and you are on your own if something goes wrong.

How to see which company is on your agreement

Five minutes with your own documents answers the question for certain. Work through these in order:

1. Log in to the client area and find the legal documents section. Download the client agreement and terms and conditions you accepted.
2. Search the PDF for "Raw Trading", "IC Markets (EU)", "International Capital Markets" or "IC Markets Ltd". The contracting party is named near the top.
3. Read the governing law clause. On the Seychelles terms it is clause 28, which puts disputes under Seychelles law and courts.
4. Look at your welcome email and monthly statements, where the footer normally names the entity and its licence.
5. Match the licence number to the regulator: SD018 is the Seychelles FSA, 362/18 is CySEC, AFSL 335692 is ASIC.

Save copies of everything. Should you ever need to complain, the company’s name and the version of the terms you signed are the first things anyone will ask for.

Opening an account from the UK: verification documents and the demo

IC verifies identity under the Seychelles Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020, so a UK applicant uploads two things through the Secure Client Area. The first is photo ID issued by a government agency, where your name, signature, expiry date and date of birth are clearly visible; a UK passport or photocard driving licence fits. Next comes proof of address no older than six months, showing the same name and address as your application, such as a bank statement or utility bill. IC says approval usually takes a few minutes, occasionally a couple of hours, and it does not accept applicants under 18.

Two choices at sign-up are hard to change later. Pick GBP as the base currency if you fund in sterling. A swap-free account, too, has to be requested during registration, according to IC’s Help Centre; converting an existing account means emailing support. Cards also need care: if yours isn’t set up for 3D Secure, IC asks you to upload a copy, and the card must be in date and in the same name as the account. Set a modest leverage from the start as well, since the offshore maximums run far above UK limits. IC Markets leverage for UK traders shows the margin maths.

A demo account is the sensible first step, and you can open one from ic.com or add extra demos inside the client area. Virtual funds can be topped up from the Account Summary page. IC’s Help Centre says a demo expires after 30 days of inactivity, and that demo accounts are not connected to its live trading environment, so it does not guarantee that demo results will match live ones. Use the demo to learn the platform and check commission and swap on your usual pairs. Treat a profitable month there as a starting point, not proof.

What the account looks like for a UK trader

The product range is broad. Raw Trading Ltd lets you open an account in 10 base currencies including GBP, so deposits in sterling need no conversion. The GBP Raw account charges £2.75 per lot per side, £5.50 round turn, and the USD Raw Spread account on MT4 and MT5 charges USD 3.50 per side. A Standard account has no commission and spreads from 0.8 pips. There is no minimum deposit on the Seychelles entity; the USD 200 you often see quoted is the Australian company’s figure.

Platforms include MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView through the cTrader Raw account, a web trader and IC’s social trading tools. GBP deposits are accepted by card, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, bank wire, Rapidpay and Klarna, and IC charges no funding fee, although your bank may. Withdrawals are slower than many UK traders expect: card withdrawals usually take 3–5 business days, international wires up to 14, and card withdrawals are capped at the amount you deposited on that card. Our page on IC Markets GBP deposits and withdrawals has the detail.

Tax still applies

An offshore broker changes nothing with HMRC. IC offers CFDs only, not spread bets (why IC has no spread betting explains the gap), so net gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount are subject to capital gains tax at 18% within the basic rate band or 24% above it, reported through self assessment. CFD losses can be set against gains. Convert each disposal to sterling at the date it happened. Our article on how IC Markets profits are taxed in the UK works through an example.

Should you open one?

That depends on who you are. FX Recap earns affiliate revenue from IC Markets, and our honest view is this. An experienced trader who wants raw pricing or cTrader, who understands that an offshore account has no UK safety net, and who only deposits money they could afford to lose to a broker failure as well as a bad trade, can make a considered choice to use it.

We would steer beginners elsewhere, along with anyone who relies on the Ombudsman or FSCS, anyone who would be drawn in by 1:1000 leverage, or anyone who would be better served by tax-free spread betting through an FCA-authorised firm. For those readers, the best FCA-regulated forex brokers is a better starting point, and IC Markets alternatives for UK traders matches IC’s features to FCA firms one by one.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Is IC Markets FCA regulated?
• IC Markets leverage for UK traders
• The FCA warning on IC Markets Global explained
• Does IC Markets offer spread betting?
• IC Markets alternatives for UK traders
• Our IC Markets review