IG Markets is the Singapore arm of IG Group, the London-listed broker that has run leveraged trading here since 2006. The local entity, IG Asia Pte Ltd, is MAS-regulated and best known for contracts for difference (CFDs) on indices, forex, commodities and shares. In 2026 it also runs a separate zero-commission investing app for plain SGX, US and Hong Kong shares. The two products are priced very differently, and most of the confusion online comes from mixing them up. This guide splits them apart, prices the real costs as of June 2026, and is honest about who should walk away.
Two products sit under one brand, and they are not the same account. The CFD platform lets you take leveraged positions that rise or fall with a market without owning the underlying asset. The newer IG Markets investing app lets you buy real shares and ETFs outright, with no leverage. You can lose more than your deposit on the first; you cannot on the second.
The Singapore licence holder is IG Asia Pte Ltd (Co. Reg. 200510021K), which has held a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore since the company began operating here in 2006. Client money sits in segregated trust accounts with local banks, separate from IG's own funds. If you are new to leveraged products, read our plain-English guide to CFDs in Singapore before you fund anything.
The CFD account is the one MoneySmart and most review sites mean when they write about "IG Markets". It carries spreads, overnight funding and currency conversion, and it is where the leverage rules bite.
IG does not charge a platform fee or a deposit fee, which is how the marketing reads as "low cost". The real cost lives in three places: the spread, overnight funding if you hold past the daily cut-off, and the currency conversion when your trade is not in your account's base currency. Figures below are IG Singapore's published rates as of June 2026 and move with the market.
Share CFDs are the exception to the spread-only model: they carry a commission of 0.10% of the trade value, with a minimum of SGD 10 per Singapore-share trade. That SGD 10 floor is the number that quietly kills small CFD trades, the same way a flat brokerage minimum does on a normal account.
| Cost | What you pay | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Index CFD spread | From 0.1 point (e.g. major indices) | Every trade, built into the price |
| Forex CFD spread | From 0.6 points on EUR/USD | Every trade, built into the price |
| Share CFD commission | 0.10%, min SGD 10 (SG shares) | Per trade, on top of spread |
| Overnight funding | Reference rate plus IG admin fee | Positions held past the daily cut-off |
| Currency conversion | Up to 0.5% of the spot rate | Profit, loss or trades not in your base currency |
| Inactivity fee | SGD 25 per month | After 24 months of no activity, if a balance remains |
| Deposit / withdrawal fee | SGD 0 (your bank may charge) | All standard funding methods |
There is no account-opening minimum, but the funding method sets the floor. Bank transfer lets you fund from effectively nothing. A debit or credit card deposit, though, triggers a SGD 450 minimum (or the currency equivalent), which catches a lot of first-timers who expect to test the platform with S$50.
Two practical takeaways. Fund by bank transfer if you want to start small. And pick an SGD-denominated contract where one exists, because trading in a foreign currency means every profit and loss gets converted back at up to 0.5%, on top of any spread. Use our risk-free-rate comparison to sanity-check whether a leveraged bet is even worth it against a T-bill before you commit.
Leverage is the whole point of a CFD and the reason people lose money fast. MAS caps the leverage a retail client in Singapore can take, so IG cannot offer you more than the regulator allows no matter how confident you are. The headline cap is 20:1 on major currency pairs, with tighter limits on everything riskier.
Higher leverage means a smaller market move wipes out your margin. At 20:1, a 5% move against you erases the deposit backing that position. IG applies negative balance protection for retail clients, so you should not end up owing more than your account holds, but you can still lose the entire deposit in a single bad session.
Professional-client status unlocks higher leverage by waiving some protections. Do not chase it. The retail caps exist because most retail CFD accounts lose money, and the next downturn is exactly when over-leverage turns a bad week into a closed account.
Separate from CFDs, IG launched a cash-equity app for Singapore that charges S$0 commission, S$0 platform fee and S$0 settlement fee on shares and ETFs. You own the shares outright, with no leverage and no overnight funding. It competes head-on with moomoo and the other zero-commission apps rather than with the CFD business.
You can buy all SGD-denominated stocks, ETFs and REITs on SGX commission-free, and US shares from as little as S$1 using fractional shares. Foreign trades still convert at IG's FX rate, so US and Hong Kong buys are not truly free once currency is in play. As of June 2026 IG advertises 3% annual interest on your first S$50,000 of shareholding, paid monthly on the investing account only, which is the headline promo for the app.
For long-term, buy-and-hold investing this app is the relevant product, not the CFD account. If you mainly want low-cost index exposure, weigh it against an ETF versus unit trust decision and against keeping holdings in your own CDP account for SGX shares.
IG suits an experienced trader who wants deep market access, tight spreads, strong platforms and a MAS-regulated name behind leveraged positions. For straightforward share investing, the free app is genuinely competitive. The honest catch is that the CFD product is built for active traders and is a poor fit for anyone who reads "leverage" as "free upside".
If you are starting out and want to own assets rather than trade them, a cash brokerage or a robo-advisor is the saner first step. CFDs let you lose money in directions a normal investor never can.
Yes. The local entity, IG Asia Pte Ltd, holds a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and has operated in Singapore since 2006. Client funds are held in segregated trust accounts with local banks, separate from IG's own money.
There is no account-opening minimum, but the funding method sets the floor. Bank transfers can fund the account with effectively no minimum, while a debit or credit card deposit requires a minimum of SGD 450 or the equivalent in your account currency.
Share CFDs carry a commission of 0.10% of the trade value, with a minimum of SGD 10 per Singapore-share trade, on top of the spread. Index and forex CFDs instead pay only the spread, which starts from 0.1 point on major indices and 0.6 points on EUR/USD as of June 2026.
SGX shares and ETFs are commission-free with no platform or settlement fee, and you own the shares outright with no leverage. Foreign trades, such as US or Hong Kong shares, still convert at IG's FX rate of up to 0.5%, so they are not entirely cost-free once currency conversion applies.
MAS caps retail leverage, so IG offers up to 20:1 on major currency pairs and lower limits on indices, single shares and crypto. Retail accounts also get negative balance protection, meaning you should not lose more than your account balance, though you can still lose the full deposit.
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.