Capital Index review

Regulated by

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FRN 709693

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 709693

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Approved banking institutions; specific bank not publicly disclosed

Negative balance protection

Yes, UK retail clients

Compensation scheme

FSCS, up to £85,000 for eligible claims

Audited by

Independent statutory auditor

Not available to

United States and jurisdictions where distribution/use would violate local law

Check the licence on the regulator's own site, not on a link somebody sent you.

Capital Index holds a tier-one authorisation from FCA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register.

Legal entity

Capital Index (UK) Limited

Company number

09532185

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2014

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

Capital Index Group

Employees

Approx. 10-50

Also trades as

Capital Index; transitioning/rebranded as Vantos Markets

Deposit methods

Debit/credit card, bank transfer

Withdrawal methods

Bank transfer, cards where applicable

Deposit time

Cards generally immediate; bank transfer typically 1-3 business days

Withdrawal time

Typically several business days depending on method

Minimum withdrawal

Not currently published consistently

Local payment methods

UK bank transfer

Spread from

1.0 pip

EUR/USD spread

Not reliably published currently

GBP/USD spread

Not reliably published currently

Commission

Generally $0 on standard pricing; certain markets/professional arrangements commission-based

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Not reliably published currently

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: overnight financing may be charged or credited

Inactivity fee

Account terms dependent

Deposit fee

Method-dependent

Withdrawal fee

Method-dependent

Currency conversion

Yes

An offer that beats the market by a wide margin is the most reliable warning sign there is.

Spreads from 1.0 pip suggest an all-in account, where the broker's fee is built into the price rather than charged separately. There is usually no commission on top, which makes the cost easier to predict.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

Capital Index lists a minimum deposit of $0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Indices, Commodities, Shares, Fixed Income

Currency pairs

50+

Total instruments

Hundreds

Crypto CFDs

Restricted for UK retail clients

Maximum leverage

1:30

Execution model

Market maker / principal

Execution speed

Not publicly disclosed

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit and MetaTrader pending orders

Servers

Institutional trading infrastructure

Leverage is capped at 1:30, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

Capital Index covers forex, indices, commodities, shares, fixed income. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: debit/credit card, bank transfer. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

MetaTrader 4

Own platform

No

Mobile app

Third-party MetaTrader

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, MarketBOOK/Signal Centre functionality

Indicators

30+ MT4 indicators plus custom indicators

Third-party tools

MetaTrader 4, MarketBOOK, Signal Centre

API access

Not standard for retail accounts

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

Minimum deposit

$0

Account types

CFD, Spread Betting, Professional, Demo

Account currencies

GBP primarily, additional currencies depending on account

Islamic account

No

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

Instrument-dependent

Time to open

Typically within 1 business day subject to verification

Support hours

24/5 trading-week coverage

Contact channels

Live chat, email, telephone

Languages

Primarily English

Telephone

+44 20 7060 5120

Email

support@capitalindex.com

Live chat response

Typically within minutes

Education

Extensive: trading education, webinars, platform guides, MarketBOOK and educational content

Research

Market analysis, weekly outlooks, technical/fundamental commentary, Signal Centre and MarketBOOK