The safety dossier

Safety first

Capital Index review

Who regulates Capital Index, under which licence, and what that means for your money.

Last checked

Capital Index offers some protection if it fails and not all of it, which is the ordinary offshore trade-off: you gain leverage and lose the safety net. Regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FRN 709693, offering MetaTrader 4.

Our rating

★★★½

One rating, identical across our sites - only the way it is shown changes. It averages six assessments: regulation, trading costs, platforms, markets, support and education.

Regulation and safety

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

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.

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.

The company behind the brand

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

What it costs to trade

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

Cost is the last thing to weigh here, and never the thing that should decide it.

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.

Platforms and tools

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.

Markets and execution

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.

Accounts

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

Deposits and withdrawals

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

Support and education

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

Information is regularly updated. Last compiled from Capital Index's own website on 26 August 2026.

Questions people ask about Capital Index

What happens to my money if Capital Index goes bust?

Capital Index sits behind FSCS, up to £85,000 for eligible claims. A scheme covers eligible clients of the entity that holds the licence, so the entity you were onboarded to decides whether it covers you.

Which bank actually holds client money at Capital Index?

Capital Index holds client money with Approved banking institutions; specific bank not publicly disclosed, in accounts kept separate from the firm's own. Almost no comparison site publishes this, and it is the thing that decides how quickly you would see your money again if the broker failed.

Can I lose more than I deposit with Capital Index?

Capital Index provides negative balance protection, recorded as yes, UK retail clients. So it exists and it does not reach every client, and which entity you were onboarded to decides whether it reaches you.