City Index Review

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Background

City Index was founded in the UK in 1983 as one of that country’s first spread betting providers. This London-based broker offers its clients trading in more than 12,000 assets, which include forex, indexes, commodities and stocks. The company was also one of the first brokers to offer Contracts for Difference or CFD trading in 2001.

In 2005, City Index purchased Finspreads, a leader in the field of online spread betting since 1999. The company continued growing and increasing its business scope by acquiring IFX Markets, a provider of margined foreign exchange trading along with its platform that included trading in precious metals, such as gold and silver; 48 spot currency pairs; and 40 IMM and Finex EFP or Exchange for Physical products.     

City Index’s brokerage operations were enhanced by the 2008 acquisition of foreign exchange broker FX Solutions that held a leading position in retail forex brokerage in the United States. In 2014, City Index was sold by its owner, Michael Spencer, to rival U.S. firm, Gain Capital. Spencer had owned the company since 1997, when he bought a controlling interest in the firm from the original founders.

City Index has its primary office in London, England and is regulated and authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority or FCA under authorization number 113942. The company also maintains offices in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

The official website for City Index is located at www.cityindex.co.uk.

Trading Software

City Index’s trading software is centered around the company’s two proprietary trading platforms and the MetaTrader4 trading platform:

• Advantage Web – this platform was voted ADVFN’s Best Spread Betting platform for 2017. Advantage Web consists of an easy to use, customizable web-based trading platform that features over 80 technical indicators and 12 different chart types. The platform includes a research portal that evaluates the market with both technical and fundamental analysis.
• AT Pro – a sophisticated trading platform designed with the seasoned trader in mind. The AT Pro platform is fully customizable allowing you to create your own templates in C#, .NET and Visual Basic. The software also includes a variety of factory templates to choose from.  In addition, the AT Pro platform includes charts, with more than 100 different indicators, as well as an Excel back testing tool that analyzes trading signals against historical data. Trading strategies that can be applied with the platform include an MACD fast line/signal line cross system, a moving average cross system and the Heikin-Ashi candlestick reversal system.
• MT4 Trading Platform – the popular MT4 trading platform at City Index combines the company’s integrated trading tools with the company’s narrow variable dealing spreads. The MT4 platform comes with an array of customizable indicators and an Expert Advisor feature to automate your trading strategies.  

Both the AT Pro and Advantage Web trading platforms include a Reuters News feed that is extremely useful to traders of all types. In addition, City Index offers its customers a mobile trading platform for both Android and iOS.  

The screenshot below illustrates City Index’s Advantage Web trading platform, which integrates active markets, trading positions, charting, and the trader’s equity and other pertinent data.

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Deposits and Withdrawals

A minimum deposit of £100 or an amount large enough to cover the margin requirements of your first trade is recommended by City Index. Debit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Electron or Maestro are accepted, while Visa or MasterCard credit cards and bank wire transfers can be used for deposits.

City Index has a £50 minimum withdrawal amount requirement, or the available account balance, whichever is lower. Withdrawals are limited to a maximum of £20,000, or £20,000 per day to a credit or debit card.

Withdrawals are free of charge unless a CHAPS payment is required, in which case a £25 fee is assessed for payments under £5000. Bank transfers typically take one to two working days, while debit and credit card withdrawals generally take three to five working days.

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Beginner Support

City Index has focused significantly in educating traders, making available a wealth of educational material through the City Index Trading Academy. The online academy features videos on trading highlighting key technical levels across various markets. In addition, the academy offers clients access to how-to text files and an extensive video library to develop their market knowledge and improve trading results. 

The academy conducts free seminars that educate traders from the basics of trading to more sophisticated strategies and techniques, presented by different market experts and held at the company’s central office in London. Webinars are recorded every other week and feature both market analysis and trading education. These webinars are offered free of charge and do not even require that you open a demo account with the company.

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Safety

GAIN Capital has been the parent company for City Index since 2014 when the firm bought City Index. In addition to City Index, GAIN Capital also owns Forex.com, a world forex broker; and GTX, an independent forex ECN for financial institutions and a futures group that offers commodity and derivatives trading on more than 30 global exchanges.

Bedminster, New Jersey based GAIN Capital’s numbers are impressive, averaging $501.2 billion in monthly trading volume, also, the company has over 140,000 retail customers in 180 countries and employs more than 800 people on four continents. The company is regulated in nine world jurisdictions, including the United States (CFTC and NFA), Japan (FSA), Canada (IIRO), the UK (FCA), Hong Kong (SFC), Singapore (MAS), the Cayman Islands (CIMA) and Australia (ASIC). 

City Index for its part is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom and participates in the FCA’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This allows eligible claimants to compensation if City Index cannot meet its financial obligations. 

Other Services:

In addition to its trading platforms described in the software section above, City Index offers its customers access to its technical analysis portal. Powered by Recognia, the portal scans the market in real time for chart patterns that could potentially present trading opportunities.

Another service offered by City Index is a real-time trading signal alert service sent via SMS or directly to your email account. Partnering with Faraday Research, City Index offers its customers a free 30-day trial of either UK FX or UK Equities Daily Trading Signals.

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Conclusion

With more than 34 years in the business, pioneering both the spread betting and CFD trading markets, the broker’s experience exceeds that of any other online broker that this writer is familiar with. The company has excellent educational resources for novice traders and a sophisticated, fully customizable trading platform for seasoned traders. 

Furthermore, the company’s competitive dealing spreads, the option of three trading platforms — including the MetaTrader 4 platform — an excellent news feed powered by Reuters and other valuable features on its proprietary trading platforms, make City Index a viable broker candidate to consider for traders of all skill levels.

Trading CFDs, Spread Bets and Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk to your capital with the possibility of losing more than your initial investment and may not be suitable for everyone. Ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.