ICM.com has spent seventeen years building one of the more durable mid-tier brokerage brands, and 2026 has been the year that brand finally had to answer a question it had been deferring since 2023. The company was founded in London in 2009, grew through the years when multi-regulated and award-winning were the standard marketing vocabulary of the industry, and now runs a business built around 5,000-plus CFDs, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, and a heavy concentration of clients and offices in the Middle East and Africa rather than the United Kingdom.
The UK part is now history. ICM Capital Limited surrendered its Financial Conduct Authority authorisation on 2 April 2026, almost two years after it applied to cancel it, and the group’s own regulations page no longer lists a UK or EU licence at all. What remains is a stack of offshore and non-EU permissions: Mauritius, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Zurich, Seychelles. That single change is more important to a prospective client than any spread table on the site, and it is the thread this review follows.
Research note: figures in this review were checked on 11 November 2026 against ICM.com’s own account, regulations, MetaTrader and funding pages, plus the Finance Magnates report on the FCA surrender, the Trustpilot profile, and several independent broker-testing sites. Where a number comes from third-party testing rather than the broker’s disclosure, it is labelled as such. Spreads move; treat them as a range, not a promise.
ICM.com at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | ICM.com (formerly ICM Capital) |
| Founded | 2009, London |
| Current group entities | Mauritius, Abu Dhabi (ADGM), Dubai (CMA), Zurich (ARIF), Seychelles (FSA) |
| Former UK licence | FCA — surrendered 2 April 2026 |
| Account types | ICM Direct (commission-free), ICM Zero (raw spread + commission) |
| Maximum leverage | 1:200 |
| Minimum trade size | 0.01 lot |
| EUR/USD spread | From 0.0 pips on Zero; roughly 1.1–1.4 pips average on Direct (third-party testing) |
| Commission | USD 7 per round-turn lot on Zero, forex and metals only |
| Platforms | MT4, MT5 (desktop, web, iOS, Android) |
| Instruments | 5,000+ CFDs including 300+ single stocks, forex, metals, indices, energies, crypto |
| Base currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, SGD |
| Published minimum deposit | Not fixed by the broker; USD 200 reported consistently by independent reviewers |
| Stop-out level | 5% (30% for the Asia region) |
| Free VPS | Yes, via BeeksFX, for balances from USD 4,000 |
The 2026 Restructuring: What Actually Changed
The FCA exit is not a scandal, and it is worth being precise about that. ICM.com stopped taking on UK retail clients around 2023, applied to surrender the permission in 2024, and the regulator removed it from the register in April 2026. That is an orderly withdrawal from a market where the economics had stopped working for a broker of ICM’s size — tightened CFD rules, capital requirements, and the cost of maintaining a UK complaints and reporting infrastructure. Several mid-sized brokers have made the same calculation.
What changes for a client is everything downstream of the licence. Under the FCA, a retail CFD account carried negative balance protection as a rule, access to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and the prospect of compensation through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the firm failed. Under the Mauritius FSC, negative balance protection is a commercial policy the broker publishes rather than a statutory guarantee, and there is no compensation scheme standing behind your balance. ICM.com does state that client funds are held in segregated accounts and that it operates negative balance protection. Both claims are standard, both are worth taking seriously, and neither is the same thing as a statutory backstop.
The direction of travel is also clear. The group obtained a Seychelles FSA licence in November 2024, opened offices in Ghana and Cape Town, secured ADGM permission in Abu Dhabi and a Category 5 CMA licence in Dubai, and continues to grow its MENA business, including a UAE-focused management team. This is a broker re-platforming itself around emerging-market clients. That is a legitimate strategy, and for traders in Asia, Africa and the Middle East it can mean better local funding and support than a UK-only broker would provide. It also means the protection conversation has to be had honestly.
Regulation: The Entity Map That Matters
ICM.com’s regulations page lists four active entities, and the entity you sign with determines your legal counterparty:
- ICM Capital Limited (Mauritius) — Financial Services Commission licence C118023357. This is the entity that onboards most international retail clients, and therefore the one that matters for the majority of readers.
- ICM Limited (Abu Dhabi) — ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority permission 210045. ADGM is a serious regime in a purpose-built financial centre, though its retail-investor protections are not identical to the FCA’s.
- ICM MENA (Dubai) — UAE Capital Market Authority Category 5 licence 20200000260. Category 5 covers marketing and client introduction, not custody of client money, so treat it as a distribution permission rather than a deposit guarantee.
- ICM House AG (Zurich) — member of ARIF, registration CHE-497.911.976. This is an independent representative that processes card payments on the group’s behalf, which is worth knowing because your statement may show a Swiss entity rather than a Mauritius one.
The practical takeaway is unglamorous: check the entity name on your client agreement before funding, and do not assume the badge on the homepage describes your account. If a UK or EU licence is a condition of your strategy — because you need ombudsman access or a compensation scheme — ICM.com is no longer the broker for you. Our guide to how broker regulation actually works sets out what each tier does and does not cover.
Trading Conditions: Two Accounts, One Real Decision
ICM.com keeps its account range deliberately narrow. There are two live accounts, and the choice between them is a volume calculation rather than a lifestyle decision.
| ICM Direct | ICM Zero | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | None | USD 7 per round-turn lot (forex and metals only) |
| Spread on EUR/USD | Roughly 1.1–1.4 pips average (third-party testing) | From 0.0 pips, typically 0.1–0.2 in liquid hours |
| Maximum leverage | 1:200 | 1:200 |
| Minimum trade size | 0.01 lot | 0.01 lot |
| Stop/limit minimum distance | None on forex and metals | None on forex and metals |
| Swap-free option | Yes, admin fees after 14 days (FX) / 5 days (metals) | Same |
The break-even is easy to compute. Seven dollars per round lot on a standard lot is 0.7 pips of cost before the spread is counted at all. Direct at 1.2 pips all-in and Zero at 0.1 pips plus 0.7 pips commission land at almost exactly the same number, which is why the Zero account only pulls ahead when the raw spread compresses further than Direct follows — and why the difference is a rounding error for anyone trading one or two lots a month. For a scalper running twenty round lots a week, the raw account is the only sensible choice; for a swing trader holding positions for days, Direct removes a line of arithmetic from the P&L.
Leverage is capped at 1:200 across both accounts, which is moderate by offshore standards and roughly in line with what tier-one regulators allow for major pairs. The stop-out level is 5% under normal conditions, but 30% for clients in the Asia region — a footnote on the account page that materially changes how much margin cushion you have. Swap-free accounts exist but are not free in the literal sense: administrative fees kick in after 14 days on forex positions and 5 days on metals, which is aimed at swing and structural positions rather than genuine long-term Islamic finance needs.
What the Spreads Cost in Real Money
A spread table is only useful once it is converted into currency. On a standard lot of EUR/USD, one pip is USD 10.
- Direct, 1.2 pips average: USD 12 per round turn, no commission. Fifty round lots a month costs roughly USD 600 in dealing costs.
- Zero, 0.15 pips average plus USD 7: USD 1.50 of spread plus USD 7 commission, or USD 8.50 per round turn. The same fifty lots costs USD 425.
- Zero, at the 0.0 pip floor advertised: the commission alone, USD 7 — but that floor appears in liquid London and New York hours on the benchmark pair, not on exotics at the Asia open.
The gap between the two structures is roughly USD 175 a month at fifty lots, which is real but not transformative. Where brokers of this type usually cost more than the headline suggests is elsewhere: swaps on positions held across rollover, and the currency conversion charge when you fund in one currency and trade instruments denominated in another. ICM.com quotes SGD as a base currency option, which removes one conversion step for Singapore-based traders, and that is a more meaningful saving than the Direct-versus-Zero debate.
Platforms: MetaTrader, Properly Supported
ICM.com runs MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and a browser terminal. Both platforms are the genuine MetaQuotes builds connected to ICM servers, not relabelled clones, which means expert advisors, custom indicators, the strategy tester and MQL compatibility all work as documented. MT5 adds the depth-of-market window, more timeframes and the built-in economic calendar; MT4 remains the more comfortable environment if your existing EAs were written for it.
The interesting extra is the free VPS through BeeksFX, available to accounts holding USD 4,000 or more. A VPS at that threshold is unusual, and for anyone running automation it is worth more than a fraction of a pip, because it removes the single most common cause of EA failure — a home connection dropping during a news spike. Hosting sits near the broker’s servers, so latency is low and the machine runs when your laptop does not.
What is missing is a proprietary trading interface. Onboarding, funding and document upload all run through a portal called ICM Access, but trading itself is MetaTrader only. That is fine for the majority of users and a hard stop for anyone who has decided they never want to install MT4 again. Our guide to brokers without MetaTrader covers that alternative path, and UZFX’s own web terminal is the reference point most readers of this site will compare against.
Product Range: Broad, With Regional Caveats
The headline is 5,000-plus CFDs. In practice that breaks down into major, minor and exotic currency pairs; spot metals led by gold and silver; UK Brent and US WTI crude plus energy futures; US and European index CFDs; more than 300 single-stock CFDs including the usual mega-caps; and crypto CFDs on bitcoin, ether, litecoin and others. There is also a futures and cash-CFD line that goes beyond what a typical retail MetaTrader broker offers.
One footnote deserves attention: the account page states that in the Asia region the available products are forex, energy futures and precious metals. If you are reading this from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia and your plan involves index or single-stock CFDs, confirm availability with support before funding rather than after. Regional product restrictions are common and usually driven by local rules, but they are easy to miss in a global product list.
Funding, Withdrawals and the Paperwork
ICM.com processes withdrawals within 24 working hours of the request, which is a published commitment and matches what most reviewers report in normal cases. Card withdrawals are capped at the amount originally deposited by that card, the standard anti-money-laundering pattern; profits above that go by bank transfer or another method. Third-party deposits are rejected outright, so funding a spouse’s or a business partner’s account from your own bank account will bounce.
Bank transfers can carry intermediary fees that are deducted before the funds reach ICM, and the company is explicit that it credits what it receives. Card deposits are at the broker’s cost. For traders in Southeast Asia, the practical question is local rails — bank transfer, e-wallet or QR payment — and that availability changes by country, so it is worth confirming before choosing a base currency.
Customer Support
Support is 24/7 by the company’s description, multilingual, and reachable by live chat, email, a UK phone line and WhatsApp. Account opening is automated with AI-assisted verification, which the broker markets as a three-minute process; in practice, document checks are where onboarding slows down, and the complaint pattern below reflects that.
Support quality at brokers of this size tends to track language coverage more than training depth. Arabic, English and the main Asian languages are covered, which is consistent with the client base, and WhatsApp is the channel most regional clients actually use. Expect competent answers on funding and platform issues and less depth on execution questions.
User Feedback: What the Record Shows
Trustpilot shows an average of 2.8 out of 5 from roughly 37 reviews. The sample is too small to be authoritative, and a 37-review average at a broker with a global client base is closer to noise than signal — but the themes are consistent: accounts stuck in verification for days, withdrawal requests that stall without a stated reason, and one detailed complaint from a New York business accusing the company of using its Wall Street address. ICM.com replied publicly that it has no US office and no connection to the address.
Two things are true at once here. There is no public record of enforcement action by the Mauritius FSC or ADGM against the operating entities, and the number of complaints is small in absolute terms. There is also no tier-one regulator in the loop, no ombudsman to escalate to, and no compensation scheme if the firm fails. A trader weighing ICM.com should treat the review record as a reason to test the withdrawal process with a small amount early, not as a reason to dismiss the broker outright.
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Genuine MetaTrader 4 and MT5 support across desktop, web and mobile, with expert advisors working as intended
- Raw-spread Zero account at USD 7 per round lot, which is competitive for the instrument range
- Free BeeksFX VPS from a USD 4,000 balance — rare at this account size
- 5,000-plus CFDs including 300+ single stocks, plus energy futures
- 24/7 multilingual support with WhatsApp and regional language coverage
- SGD base currency option, which suits Singapore and Malaysian clients
- Withdrawals processed within 24 working hours as a published standard
Weaknesses
- No tier-one licence: the FCA permission was surrendered in April 2026, and the remaining regimes are offshore or non-EU
- No statutory compensation scheme behind client balances
- Minimum deposit around USD 200, twenty times the entry point at UZFX
- Support activities and product availability vary by region, with a narrower product set in Asia
- Stop-out at 30% for the Asia region reduces margin cushion
- No proprietary platform; everything runs through MetaTrader
- Swap-free accounts carry administrative fees after 14 days on FX and 5 days on metals
ICM.com vs UZFX at a Glance
| ICM.com | UZFX | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry cost | ~USD 200 | USD 10 |
| Platform | MT4 / MT5 plus ICM Access portal | Proprietary web terminal, H5 mobile, iOS/Android, Windows and Mac apps |
| Instrument count | 5,000+ CFDs, 300+ stocks, futures | 46+ instruments across forex, metals, energies, indices, crypto and stock CFDs |
| Pricing model | Two accounts: commission-free or raw plus USD 7 | Single standard account, no ECN tier |
| Regulatory posture | Offshore and non-EU licences; FCA exited 2026 | Disclosed on site with entity and risk documentation |
| Best fit | Traders who need MetaTrader, automation and breadth | Traders who want a small first deposit and one clean interface |
The comparison is not a contest in the abstract; it is a question of what you are buying. ICM.com sells breadth and MetaTrader familiarity, and it charges a USD 200 entry ticket plus an offshore protection tier for them. UZFX sells a low entry point and a single platform experience with a deliberately narrow product list — 26 currency pairs, four metals, three energies, seven indices and a handful of stock CFDs, with no MetaTrader and no ECN account to choose between.
If your strategy depends on single-stock CFDs, energy futures, expert advisors or a raw-spread account, ICM.com’s instrument range is the deciding factor and UZFX is not a substitute. If you are starting with a few hundred dollars, want one interface and would rather not manage a licence hierarchy across four entities, the arithmetic points the other way: a USD 10 minimum and a proprietary platform remove two of the biggest friction points in this review. Our low-deposit broker comparison covers the middle ground.
FAQ
Is ICM.com still regulated after losing its FCA licence?
Yes, but not by a tier-one regulator. ICM Capital Limited operates under Mauritius FSC licence C118023357, ICM Limited under ADGM FSRA permission 210045 in Abu Dhabi, ICM MENA under a UAE CMA Category 5 licence, and ICM House AG as an ARIF member in Zurich, with a Seychelles FSA licence added in November 2024. The FCA authorisation was surrendered on 2 April 2026. The licences are real; the protection tier is lower than the UK badge most long-term clients remember.
What is the difference between the ICM Direct and ICM Zero accounts?
ICM Direct charges no commission and quotes a wider all-in spread, typically around 1.1 to 1.4 pips on EUR/USD in third-party testing. ICM Zero quotes from 0.0 pips and charges USD 7 per round-turn lot on forex and metals. Because USD 7 equals 0.7 pips on a standard lot, the two accounts land within a fraction of a pip of each other at moderate volume, and Zero only wins clearly for high-frequency execution.
What is the minimum deposit at ICM.com?
The broker’s own FAQ declines to give a fixed figure and says it depends on the account type. Independent reviews consistently report USD 200 for both Direct and Zero accounts under the Mauritius entity, so budget for that. It is the single biggest practical difference between ICM.com and low-entry brokers, and it is worth being honest that a USD 200 ticket changes the risk math for a small account.
Which trading platforms does ICM.com offer?
MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and in the browser. Accounts holding USD 4,000 or more also get a free VPS through BeeksFX, which is genuinely useful for expert advisors. There is no proprietary trading platform — ICM Access is a client portal for funding and documents, not a charting environment.
What do ICM.com client complaints actually say?
The public record is small: around 37 Trustpilot reviews averaging 2.8 out of 5, with recurring themes of slow verification, stalled withdrawals and one disputed address claim the company denies. There is no record of enforcement action by the Mauritius or ADGM regulators, but there is also no compensation scheme behind the account. Test a small withdrawal early rather than assuming either the best or the worst.
Final Verdict
ICM.com in 2026 is a competent, well-equipped MetaTrader broker wearing a lighter regulatory coat than it did three years ago. The product range is real, the platforms are the genuine article, the raw-spread account is priced competitively, and a free VPS at a USD 4,000 balance is a benefit most competitors reserve for far larger accounts. If you trade single-stock CFDs, energy futures or automated strategies and you are comfortable with a Mauritius counterparty, there is a solid case for it.
The case weakens the moment regulation enters the conversation. Surrendering an FCA licence is a legitimate business decision, and it is also a transfer of risk from the broker’s compliance budget to your balance sheet. With no ombudsman, no compensation scheme and a complaint record that is thin but not clean, the correct posture is scepticism with a small first deposit, a documented withdrawal test, and a clear-eyed read of which entity name sits on your agreement.
Our view: ICM.com earns a place for traders who specifically need MetaTrader breadth and automation, and it should not be anyone’s first broker. If your account is measured in hundreds rather than thousands, the USD 200 minimum and the offshore tier both argue for starting somewhere simpler — our 2026 broker comparison and the deposit-safety checklist are the two pages to read before you fund anything, anywhere.
Risk Disclaimer: Trading forex and CFDs carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. CFDs are leveraged products and you could lose more than your initial deposit. Client money held under offshore licences is not covered by statutory compensation schemes such as the FSCS, and dispute resolution options are limited compared with tier-one regulated accounts. Spreads, commissions and product availability vary by entity and region, and advertised spreads are not indicative of future execution. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Trade only with capital you can afford to lose. For how to verify a licence, see our broker regulation guide.
Recommended Broker: Visit UZFX Official Website