CMC Markets in Singapore is really two products wearing one brand. CMC Invest is the cash brokerage for buying real stocks and ETFs across 15 markets, and it leads with free monthly trades and low headline commissions. The older CMC Markets CFD platform is a leveraged trading account, which is a completely different risk profile. Most Singapore investors searching for CMC Markets actually want CMC Invest, so this guide covers the 2026 fees for both, the 0.2% FX fee that quietly eats into every foreign trade, and the cases where a custodian broker like this beats a CDP account or a US deep-discount broker.
The first thing to get straight is which CMC you are signing up for. CMC Invest is a cash equities account regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under a Capital Markets Services licence. You put in money, you buy shares or ETFs, and you own the position through a custodian. There is no leverage and no overnight financing.
The CMC Markets CFD platform is the legacy product. A contract for difference lets you trade with leverage, going long or short on shares, indices, forex and commodities without owning the underlying asset. That magnifies both gains and losses, and you pay holding costs to keep positions open overnight. If you are new to investing, the CFD account is not the one you want. Our CFD trading for beginners guide explains why most beginners lose money on leverage.
For the rest of this review, CMC Invest is the focus, with a separate section on CFD costs near the end for traders who specifically want leverage.
CMC Invest's pitch is structural: there are no platform fees, no custody fees, no settlement fees, no inactivity fees and no withdrawal fees. You are charged commission only when you trade beyond your free allowance, plus an FX fee on any non-SGD trade and the usual exchange levies.
Every figure below is for the free Invest tier and is current as of June 2026. CMC reprices periodically, so check the live fee page before you commit real money.
| Market | Free trades / month | Commission after free trades | Minimum charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore (SGX) | 5 | 0.04% | S$2 |
| United States | 10 | 0.03% | US$3 |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 0.05% | GBP 5 |
| Hong Kong | 10 | 0.06% | HKD 50 |
| Canada | 10 | 0.06% | CAD 6 |
CMC Invest only takes deposits in SGD. The moment you buy a US, UK, Hong Kong or Canadian stock, your Singapore dollars get converted at a 0.2% FX fee on the transaction. That fee applies even on a free trade, so a free trade is not actually free once foreign currency is involved.
On a S$5,000 US stock purchase, the FX fee is S$10. Buy and later sell and you pay it twice, so roughly S$20 round trip on that position before any commission. For frequent traders of foreign stocks, a broker that lets you hold a multi-currency wallet and convert at near-spot once can work out cheaper over time.
CMC Invest sells three tiers. The free Invest tier suits almost everyone starting out. The paid tiers buy you a larger pool of free trades, so they only pay for themselves if you trade heavily every month.
Run the maths before upgrading. Platinum at S$108 a month is S$1,296 a year, so it only beats the free tier if the extra free trades save you more than that in commission. For a buy-and-hold investor making a handful of trades, the free tier is the obvious pick.
| Tier | Monthly fee | Free SG trades | Free trades per foreign market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invest | Free | 5 | 10 |
| Platinum | S$108 | 10 | 20 |
| Diamond | S$128 | 20 | 25 |
CMC Invest holds your shares under a custodian arrangement rather than in your own name at the Central Depository. That means your SGX holdings are not parked in a CDP account, so you do not get direct shareholder mailings, scrip dividend options or AGM voting the way a CDP holder does. If those matter to you, read up on what a CDP account is before deciding, or look at our guide to the CDP account.
Custodian models are normal for low-cost brokers and are how the likes of Moomoo, Tiger and Interactive Brokers operate too. The trade-off is cost versus control. You give up the bells and whistles of direct CDP ownership in exchange for lower fees. The protective backstop is regulatory: client assets are meant to be segregated, but CMC Invest is not covered by the Singapore Deposit Insurance scheme, which only applies to bank deposits, not brokerage holdings. Read more on what SDIC covers.
CMC Invest gives access to roughly 15 markets including Singapore, the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and Spain. The London listing access is genuinely useful for buying Ireland-domiciled ETFs, which carry a lower 15% US dividend withholding tax than the 30% a Singapore resident pays on US-listed funds.
On headline commission, CMC Invest sits among the cheapest in the market, and the free-trade allowance makes it especially good for small, regular SGX purchases. Where it loses ground is the SGD-only funding and the lack of a multi-currency wallet, which the US-leaning brokers handle better for frequent foreign-stock traders.
If your goal is long-term passive investing, the broker matters less than the strategy. A simple plan of buying a global ETF and holding it usually beats active trading. Our active versus passive investing comparison lays out the evidence, and you can model the long-term effect with the compound interest calculator.
| Feature | CMC Invest | Typical US-leaning broker |
|---|---|---|
| Free monthly trades | Yes (5 SG, 10 per foreign market) | Usually none, but very low flat fees |
| Funding currency | SGD only | Multi-currency wallet |
| FX conversion | 0.2% per trade | Often near-spot, convert once |
| Fractional shares | Not available | Usually available |
| Recurring auto-invest | Not available | Often available |
| Custody | Custodian (no CDP) | Custodian (no CDP) |
The CMC Markets CFD account is a separate, leveraged product for active traders who understand the risks. You do not own the underlying asset, you pay a spread on entry, and you pay holding costs to carry positions overnight.
Overnight holding costs are based on the tom-next interest rate differential plus a 0.0014% CMC charge, and positions held over a weekend are charged at triple the daily rate on the relevant day. There is also an inactivity fee of S$15 (or US$15) a month after 12 continuous months with no trades, which the cash CMC Invest account does not have.
Leverage cuts both ways and the majority of retail CFD accounts lose money. Treat the CFD platform as a trading tool, not an investing one, and never risk money you cannot afford to lose.
For a Singapore investor who wants cheap access to global stocks and ETFs and trades a modest number of times a month, CMC Invest is a strong, low-cost option with a clean no-hidden-fees structure. The free SGX trades are a real edge for dollar-cost-averaging into local names.
The two things to weigh are the 0.2% FX fee, which adds up if you trade foreign stocks often, and the lack of CDP ownership and fractional shares. If you trade US stocks frequently or want fractional and recurring buys, a multi-currency broker may serve you better. If you mostly buy SGX shares and the occasional ETF and hold for years, CMC Invest's free trades are hard to beat.
They share a parent but are different products. CMC Invest is a cash brokerage for buying real stocks and ETFs, while the CMC Markets CFD platform is a leveraged trading account where you do not own the underlying asset. Most Singapore investors want CMC Invest.
Commission is free up to your monthly allowance, which is 5 SG trades and 10 per foreign market on the Invest tier. But any non-SGD trade still incurs a 0.2% FX fee plus exchange levies, so a foreign free trade is not entirely free. SGX free trades only carry the small clearing and trading fees.
No. CMC Invest holds your Singapore shares under a custodian arrangement rather than in your own CDP account, so you miss out on direct shareholder mailings, scrip dividends and AGM voting. The trade-off is lower fees, which is standard for low-cost brokers.
CMC operates under a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and client assets are meant to be segregated. It is not covered by SDIC deposit insurance, which only protects bank deposits, not brokerage holdings, so the safeguard is regulatory rather than an insurance backstop.
CMC Invest does not impose a stated minimum deposit to open or fund the account, so you can start small. You fund in SGD via FAST, PayNow or bank transfer, and withdrawals typically take one to two working days back to your linked bank account.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.