Overview

IC Markets (International Capital Markets Pty Ltd) has been operating since 2007 out of Sydney, Australia, and has built its reputation specifically around ECN-style raw pricing rather than a wide instrument catalogue or proprietary platform gimmicks. It ranks first in our comparison on the strength of tight spreads on its Raw account, dual Tier-1 regulation, and a platform lineup that includes cTrader alongside the usual MetaTrader options.

The broker operates through multiple entities: International Capital Markets Pty Ltd under ASIC (licence 335692), IC Markets (EU) Ltd under CySEC, and Raw Trading Ltd under the Seychelles FSA (licence SD018) for clients outside Tier-1 jurisdictions. CySEC fined the EU entity €200,000 after finding it had offered leverage up to 1000:1 in violation of EU retail rules, a real mark against its compliance record and one worth weighing alongside its regulatory breadth.

Trading Costs

The Standard account carries a headline EUR/USD spread from 0.6 pips with no commission. The Raw Spread account (available on MT4 and MT5, not cTrader) is the more competitive option for active traders: recent testing puts its EUR/USD average around 0.10 pips, plus a $3.50 per lot, per side commission. On cTrader specifically, the equivalent raw pricing carries a $3 per lot per side commission.

Platforms

IC Markets supports MT4, MT5, and cTrader. The Standard account works across all three, but the Raw Spread account is limited to MT4/MT5 only. This is one of the broader platform selections among the brokers we cover, useful if you specifically want cTrader's charting and order-management tools rather than being limited to MetaTrader.

Strengths

True ECN/raw pricing with tight headline spreads
Dual Tier-1 regulation (ASIC + CySEC) plus a Seychelles entity for broader access
Three supported platforms including cTrader
Long operating history since 2007, with negative balance protection

Watch Out For

CySEC fined the EU entity €200,000 for a leverage-rule violation, a documented compliance mark rather than speculation
Seychelles entity offers much higher leverage with meaningfully weaker protection than the AU/EU entities
EU entity charges an inactivity fee (~$10/month) after 6 months of no activity
Raw/cTrader accounts carry a per-lot commission on top of the tighter spread

Our Verdict

IC Markets is a strong fit for traders who place enough volume that the spread-plus-commission math on the Raw account beats a wider all-in spread elsewhere, and who want the option of cTrader rather than being MetaTrader-only. The CySEC fine is worth factoring into your own risk assessment rather than ignoring. Confirm which specific entity you'd be onboarded to, and open a demo account first to check live conditions match what's advertised before committing real capital.