Is City Index a Scam or Legit?
City Index passes the kitchen inspection. Its licence is public and easy to check.
City Index cooks under FCA licence 113942, issued to GAIN Capital UK Ltd (City Index), and that entry sits right there in the FCA public register. It has kept the doors open since 1983, 43 years on the line. Scam kitchens do not hold a regulated licence year after year; they close and vanish.
The FCA paperwork
| Regulator | FCA |
| Licence number | 113942 ✓ |
| Registered entity | GAIN Capital UK Ltd (City Index) |
| Status | Authorised |
| Register | register.fca.org.uk |
| Years regulated | 43+ |
What the FCA seal buys you
FCA-regulated brokers must keep client funds in accounts segregated from company funds, provide negative balance protection, and contribute to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers up to £85,000 per client if the broker becomes insolvent.
Every licence on the wall
City Index keeps 3 regulatory licences pinned up across different jurisdictions. Which one serves your table comes down to where you live.
| Regulator | Licence | Entity | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCA | 113942 | GAIN Capital UK Ltd (City Index) | 1:30 max |
| ASIC | 345646 | GAIN Capital Australia Pty Ltd | 1:30 max |
| MAS | Registered | GAIN Capital Singapore Pte Ltd | 1:20 max |
Inspect the kitchen yourself
Open register.fca.org.uk and type in licence number 113942, or search the entity name GAIN Capital UK Ltd (City Index). A proper listing shows you the entity, its authorisation status, and exactly which regulated activities it is cleared to serve.
The whole check takes under a minute. When a broker is nowhere to be found on its regulator's register, treat that as a spoiled dish and walk away, every legitimate, regulated firm shows up there.
The usual complaints, and what they really mean
Most complaints about City Index fall into standard categories: withdrawal processing times, spread widening during news events, and account verification requests. These are normal business practices, not indicators of fraud.
None of that is fraud. It is the ordinary grumbling any busy kitchen gets when it holds firm on its own terms. A genuine forex scam runs with no licence at all, blocks every withdrawal, and disappears with the money on the table. That is simply not how City Index operates.
The red flags of a kitchen you should never eat at
Whatever broker you are weighing up, these are the signs of a rotten kitchen to walk out of:
- No licence number on show, or one that turns up nowhere on the official register
- Being pushed to deposit more before they will let you cash out
- Promises of guaranteed returns or "risk-free" trading, nobody serves that dish
- A platform that only ever plates profits and never a loss
- No real address and no way to contact a human
- A licence from a regulator nobody has heard of, with no official website behind it
Not one of these fits City Index. Its FCA licence 113942 is out in the open, it names its offices in London, UK, and it has been serving without a break since 1983.
Frequently asked questions
Is City Index safe to deposit money with?
City Index cooks under FCA oversight, and your money sits in its own segregated pot. UK diners are covered on top by the FSCS, up to £85,000. None of this makes trading itself risk-free, but it walls your deposit off if the broker ever goes under.
Why do people ask if City Index is a scam?
Most "scam" searches come from traders who lost money, not from anyone who was cheated. CFDs are a hot stove, 68% of City Index retail clients burn their fingers. Getting burned on a legitimate platform does not turn it into a scam. Scams block every payout and disappear; City Index has paid out withdrawals for 43 years running.
Is City Index regulated in my country?
The kitchen holds licences reaching 4 countries across 3 jurisdictions. Which entity seats your account depends on where you are; the licence table above shows exactly which one covers your region.
What happens to my money if City Index goes bankrupt?
A FCA-regulated broker must keep client cash in segregated bank accounts, walled off entirely from its own operating money. UK clients also get FSCS cover up to £85,000.