Is CM Trading a Scam or Legit?
CM Trading passes the kitchen inspection. Its licence is public and easy to check.
CM Trading cooks under FSCA licence 38782, issued to Global Capital Pty Ltd, and that entry sits right there in the FSCA public register. It has kept the doors open since 2012, 14 years on the line. Scam kitchens do not hold a regulated licence year after year; they close and vanish.
The FSCA paperwork
| Regulator | FSCA |
| Licence number | 38782 ✓ |
| Registered entity | Global Capital Pty Ltd |
| Status | Authorised |
| Register | investingchef.com |
| Years regulated | 14+ |
What the FSCA seal buys you
FSCA-regulated brokers must meet conduct and capital requirements set by the regulator. Client funds must be held separately from company funds.
Every licence on the wall
CM Trading keeps 2 regulatory licences pinned up across different jurisdictions. Which one serves your table comes down to where you live.
| Regulator | Licence | Entity | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| FSCA | 38782 | Global Capital Pty Ltd | 1:400 max |
| FSA | SD053 | CM Trading Ltd | 1:500 max |
Inspect the kitchen yourself
Open investingchef.com and type in licence number 38782, or search the entity name Global Capital Pty Ltd. 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 CM Trading 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 CM Trading 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 CM Trading. Its FSCA licence 38782 is out in the open, it names its offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it has been serving without a break since 2012.
Frequently asked questions
Is CM Trading safe to deposit money with?
CM Trading cooks under FSCA oversight, and your money sits in its own segregated pot. The regulator requires client money to be kept apart from the firm's own funds. 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 CM Trading is a scam?
Most "scam" searches come from traders who lost money, not from anyone who was cheated. CFDs are a hot stove, 74% of CM Trading retail clients burn their fingers. Getting burned on a legitimate platform does not turn it into a scam. Scams block every payout and disappear; CM Trading has paid out withdrawals for 14 years running.
Is CM Trading regulated in my country?
The kitchen holds licences reaching 39 countries across 2 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 CM Trading goes bankrupt?
A FSCA-regulated broker must keep client cash in segregated bank accounts, walled off entirely from its own operating money. That means your deposit cannot be handed to the broker's creditors if the business fails.