Forex trading
Harness volatility in the world’s most-traded financial market with the world’s No.1 spread betting and CFD provider.1
Start trading today. Call +35 318 009 95362 or email newaccounts.uk@ig.com. We’re here 24 hours a day, from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.
Why trade forex with us?
Get an edge with the UK’s best web-based platform and award-winning mobile apps2
Negative balance protection ensures that your account never stays below zero3
Get friendly, expert support 24 hours a day from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday
Identify FX opportunities on clear, fast charts and deepen your analysis with ProRealTime
Get peace of mind trading forex online with a regulated spread betting and CFD provider
Open a free forex trading account quickly and easily – you could be trading forex in minutes
Ways to trade forex with us
| Turbo24s | Barriers | Vanilla options | Spread betting | CFD | DMA (Forex Direct) | |
| Main benefits | Unique 24/5 security, traded on-venue | Take control of your leverage and risk | Trade on more than just market movement | Profits are tax-free in Ireland4 | Tax-deductible losses are useful for hedging4 | Increased market transparency and order control |
| Accessible to | All clients | All clients | All clients | All clients | All clients | Professional clients only5 |
| Traded in | Turbos | Contracts | Contracts | £ (or other base currency) per point | Contracts | Lots |
| Tax status | Benefits may be taxed4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deduction4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deduction4 | No capital gains tax (CGT) or stamp duty4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deduction4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deduction4 |
| Commission | Commission-free | 0.1 unit of contract currency per contract | 0.1 unit of contract currency per contract | Commission-free | Commission-free for FX | Variable commission |
| Platforms | Web and mobile app | Web and mobile app | Web and mobile app | Web, mobile app and advanced platforms | Web, mobile app and advanced platforms | L2 dealer, mobile app, terminals and APIs |
| Learn more | Learn more | Learn more | Learn more | Learn more | Learn more |
What is forex trading?
Forex trading is the buying and selling of currencies on the foreign exchange market with the aim of making a profit.
Forex is the world’s most-traded financial market, with transactions worth trillions of dollars taking place every day.
What are the benefits?
- Go long or short
- 24-hour trading
- High liquidity
- Constant opportunities
- Trade on leverage
- Wide range of FX pairs
How do I trade forex?
- Decide how you’d like to trade forex
- Learn how the forex market works
- Open a forex trading account
- Build a trading plan
- Choose your forex trading platform
- Open, monitor and close your first position
Open an FX trading account now
Open an FX trading account now
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Open an FX trading account now
Open an FX trading account now
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
How much does FX trading cost?
Margins
When you spread bet and trade CFDs you do so with leverage – meaning you can win, or lose, a significant amount more than your initial deposit – called your ‘margin’. Though not actually a cost to you, the margin you pay makes a big difference to the affordability of your forex trade.
Turbo24s, barriers and vanilla options are still leveraged, but not subject to margin – your outlay to open is based on the parameters of your trade and the underlying price. This is the maximum risk on your trade.
Spreads
Your key payment for trading forex is the spread – the difference between the buy and the sell price – which is essentially our commission for executing your trade. We work to keep our spreads among the lowest in the business.
| Spot FX | Retail margin | Professional margin What is this? |
| EUR/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| AUD/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| USD/JPY | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| EUR/GBP | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| GBP/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| EUR/JPY | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| USD/CHF | 3.33% | 1.65% |
| Spot FX | IG min. spread | IG av. spread6 | IG av. spread (00:00-21:00)7 |
| EUR/USD | 0.6 | 1.04 | 0.85 |
| AUD/USD | 0.6 | 1.03 | 0.82 |
| USD/JPY | 0.7 | 1.18 | 0.94 |
| EUR/GBP | 0.9 | 1.89 | 1.40 |
| GBP/USD | 0.9 | 1.83 | 1.40 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.5 | 2.43 | 1.97 |
| USD/CHF | 1.5 | 2.22 | 1.99 |
How much will I have to pay?
Margins
When you spread bet and trade CFDs you do so with leverage – meaning you can win, or lose, a significant amount more than your initial deposit – called your ‘margin’. Though not actually a cost to you, the margin you pay makes a big difference to the affordability of your forex trade.
Barriers and vanilla options are still leveraged, but not subject to margin – you’ll pay a premium to open based on the parameters of your trade and the underlying price. This is the maximum risk on your trade.
Spreads
Your key payment for trading forex is the spread – the difference between the buy and the sell price – which is essentially our commission for executing your trade. We work to keep our spreads among the lowest in the business.
| Spot FX | Retail margin | Professional margin |
| EUR/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| AUD/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| USD/JPY | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| EUR/GBP | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| GBP/USD | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| EUR/JPY | 3.33% | 0.45% |
| USD/CHF | 3.33% | 1.65% |
| Spot FX | IG min. spread | IG av. spread6 | IG av. spread (00:00-21:00)7 |
| EUR/USD | 0.6 | 1.04 | 0.85 |
| AUD/USD | 0.6 | 1.03 | 0.82 |
| USD/JPY | 0.7 | 1.18 | 0.94 |
| EUR/GBP | 0.9 | 1.89 | 1.40 |
| GBP/USD | 0.9 | 1.83 | 1.40 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.5 | 2.43 | 1.97 |
| USD/CHF | 1.5 | 2.22 | 1.99 |
Opening a forex trading account with IG is free and simple, gives you access to over 80 FX pairs, and carries no obligation to fund or trade.
You can trade in smaller sizes for your first two weeks, to help keep costs down while you get comfortable.
Discover your next opportunity
Search our huge range of forex pairs.
Choose your currency trading platform
Seize opportunity at your desk or on the go with an award-winning web trading platform and mobile trading app.2
Discover a clear, smart way to trade forex that’s intuitive and requires no downloads.
Build forex trading algorithms to execute automatically, even if your machine is off.
Our flexible design allows you to move windows around to suit your needs.
Discover our award-winning web-based platform and natively designed apps.
Award-winning service
We’ve been recognised9 time and time again by our industry, both for the services and the technology that we provide.
#1 Overall Broker
ForexBrokers.com
#1 Trust Score
ForexBrokers.com
#1 Research
ForexBrokers.com
#1 Platform & Tools
ForexBrokers.com
Best for Forex Trading
Investopedia Online Brokers Awards
ForexBrokers is compensated by IG for marketing
Open an account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open an account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open an account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open an account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
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1 Based on revenue (published financial statements, 2022).
2 Best trading platform as awarded at the ADVFN International Financial Awards and Professional Trader Awards 2019. Best trading app as awarded at the ADVFN International Financial Awards 2020.
3 Negative balance protection applies to trading-related debt only, and is not available to professional traders.
4 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
5 The advertised offering is only available to individual clients capable of obtaining ‘professional’ status. This requires experience of trading relevant products on your own account above a certain size, experience of working within the financial sector for at least one year in a relevant position and/or a personal investment portfolio worth at least €500,000.
6 Average spread (Monday 00:00 - Friday 22:00 GMT) for the 12 weeks ending 8th January 2021. For our minimum spreads, please see our forex spread bet and CFD details.
7 Average spread (between 00:00-21:00 GMT Monday to Friday) for the 12 weeks ending 8th January 2021. For our minimum spreads, please see our forex spread bet and CFD details.
8 Average spread (Monday 00:00 - Friday 22:00 GMT) for the 12 weeks ending 19th March 2019. There is also a commission charge for Forex Direct.
9 Trusted" and "Award-winning”, #1 Overall Broker, #1 Mobile App, #1 Trust Score, #1 Education, #1 Web Platform are accolades presented to IG on January 23, 2024, during the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards. Accolades were awarded by the ForexBrokers.com research team based on demonstrated excellence in categories considered important to investors, traders, and consumers. Click here to learn about how they rate brokers.
Connect with us
Options and turbo warrants are complex financial instruments. Trading these financial instruments involves the high risk of losing money rapidly.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Professional clients can lose more than they deposit.
CFD, spread betting, options and turbo warrants accounts are provided by IG Europe GmbH. IG Europe GmbH (a company incorporated in the Federal Republic of Germany and registered in the Frankfurt Trade Register under number HRB 115624 with registered office at Westhafenplatz 1, 60327 Frankfurt, Germany). IG Europe GmbH (Register number 148759) is authorised and regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht and Deutsche Bundesbank.
The information on this site is not directed at residents of the United States, Belgium or any particular country outside the EEA and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
CAC 40® is registered trademark(s) of Euronext N.V. or its subsidiaries. Euronext N.V. or its subsidiaries holds all (intellectual) proprietary rights with respect to the Index. Euronext N.V. or its subsidiaries do not sponsor, endorse or have any other involvement in the issue and offering of the product. Euronext N.V. and its subsidiaries disclaim any liability for any inaccuracy in the data on which the Index is based, for any mistakes, errors, or omissions in the calculation and/or dissemination of the Index, or for the manner in which it is applied in connection with the issue and offering thereof.