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Contracts for difference trading costs

As well as spreads and margins, there are some other trading costs to consider. These depend on how long you hold positions open for, which products you trade and your approach to risk management.

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Holding costs
Commissions
Market data fees
Guaranteed stop-loss order charges
Inactivity fees
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and ADR Fees
CurrencyInterbank rate
CADOne month bankers acceptance bill
AUDOne month bankers acceptance bill
CHFSARON
DKKOne month Copenhagen interbank offered rate
EURESTER
GBPSONIA
HKDOne month Hong Kong interbank offered rate
INROne month deposit
JPYTONAR
NOKOne month Norwegian interbank offered rate
NZDOne month bank bill
SEKOne month Stockholm interbank offered rate
SGDSORA
USDSOFR
ZAROne month deposit

From Monday 1 November 2021, LIBOR has been replaced by a new interbank rate for the following currencies: GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, JPY and SGD. Please refer to the table above for the new interbank rate. Overnight holding costs will be charged based on the new benchmark rate, plus or minus our fee depending on whether you hold a buy or sell position in an index, share or share basket. Based on the new benchmark rates compared with Libor, we don't expect a material change in holding costs.

Holding costs

At the end of each day (5pm New York time), open CFD trading positions may be subject to a charge called a holding cost. The holding cost can be positive or negative depending on whether you are long or short. Forward contracts on indices, forex, commodities and treasuries are not subject to holding costs.

Holding costs for indices are based on the underlying risk-free or interbank rate of the index (see table): plus 2.5% on buy positions and minus 2.5% on sell positions.

For share CFDs, holding costs are based on the underlying risk-free or interbank rate for the currency of the relevant share (see table) plus 2.5% on buy positions and minus 2.5% on sell positions.

FX holding costs are based on the tom-next (tomorrow to next day) rate in the underlying market for the currency pair and are expressed as an annual percentage.

Holding rates for cash commodities and treasuries are based on the inferred holding costs built into the underlying futures contracts, from which the prices of our cash commodity and treasury products are derived.


Please note this information has been provided for reference, and the rates may not match exactly if recalculated. If you have any questions, please contact our client services team.

More on CFD holding costs

Commissions

Share CFDs attract a commission charge each time you enter and exit a trade. The commission charge varies depending on the country where the share product originates.

View our share commission examples

Market data fees

To view the prices for Australian share CFDs on the platform, you will need to activate the relevant market data subscription. There is a monthly fee, which is refunded if you execute two or more trades under the same subscription during the subscription period, which usually runs from the first day of the month until the first day of the following month.

Please note that, where fees apply, local taxes and duties may also be charged. The taxes will include 13% HST, on the basis that you are a resident in Canada. Non-residents will be charged tax based on their country of residence.

More on market data fees
MarketCurrencyMarket data fee (excl tax)
AustraliaCAD22.60
Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USVarious0.00

Guaranteed stop-loss order charges

A guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO) works in the same way as a stop-loss order, except that it guarantees to close you out of a trade at the price specified regardless of market volatility or gapping, for a premium. If the GSLO is not triggered then we'll refund 100% of the original premium.


GSLO premium examples

The GSLO premium rate can be found on the platform for each applicable product. Learn how GSLO premiums are calculated.

The GSLO premium can be calculated in the following way: premium rate x trade size (units). Amounts are automatically converted into your home currency using the prevailing CMC Markets conversion rate.

Read more about GSLOs

Forex

For example, if you go short 50,000 units of GBP/USD, the GSLO premium would be $10.00 ($0.0002 x 50,000 units). If you close the trade yourself, a take–profit is triggered or you remove the GSLO, the $10.00 premium will be refunded.

InstrumentCFD GSLO premium rate
$0.0002 USD per GBP
$0.0001 CAD per USD

Indices

For example, if you go long 5 units of the UK 100, the GSLO premium would be £5 (£1 x 5 units). If you close the trade yourself, a take–profit is triggered or you remove the GSLO, the £5 premium will be refunded in full.

InstrumentCFD GSLO premium rate
£1 per unit
$2 USD per unit

Commodities

For example, if you go long 600 units of Crude Oil Brent, the GSLO premium would be $18 ($0.03 x 600 units). If you close the trade yourself, a take–profit is triggered or you remove the GSLO, the $18 premium will be refunded.

InstrumentCFD GSLO premium rate
$0.03 USD per unit
$0.2 USD per unit

Shares

For example, if you go long 4,500 units of Vodafone, the GSLO premium would be £11.24 (£0.002498 x 4,500 units). If you close the trade yourself, a take–profit is triggered or you remove the GSLO, the £11.24 GSLO premium will be refunded.

InstrumentCFD GSLO premium rate
£0.002498 per unit
$1.014 USD per unit

CFD GSLO premium rates are subject to change. Rates above are updated as of March 2023.

Inactivity fees

There is a monthly charge of $15 (the amount depends on your account currency) on dormant accounts, but no deduction is made if there are no funds in the account. An account is considered dormant if there has been no trading activity for a continuous period of 12 months.

More on inactivity fees
Account CurrencyMonthly Inactivity Fee
CAD$15
USD$15

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and ADR Fees

An American Depositary Receipt (ADR) is a financial instrument issued by U.S. depositary banks that allows U.S. investors to trade shares of foreign companies on American exchanges, such as the NYSE or Nasdaq, in U.S. dollars. ADRs are created when a U.S. bank purchases shares of a foreign company, holds them as inventory, and then issues receipts (ADRs) representing those shares.

Each ADR corresponds to a set number of foreign company shares, which may be one share, multiple shares, or even a fraction of a share. ADRs streamline cross-border investing by eliminating complexities like foreign exchange, international regulations, and tax compliance, making foreign investments accessible within the U.S. legal and financial system.

ADRs also allow foreign companies to raise capital and gain visibility in the U.S. market while providing dividends and share price profits to U.S. investors in dollars.

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