The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
IG is the flagship trading brand of IG Group Holdings plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed, FTSE 100 financial technology group headquartered in London. IG offers leveraged trading through contracts for difference (CFDs) and, for UK and Ireland clients, tax-advantaged spread betting, alongside non-leveraged share dealing and exchange-traded derivatives such as options. Its own materials describe access to around 21,000 financial markets spanning forex, indices, individual shares, commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies, delivered through proprietary web and mobile platforms and via third-party platforms and trading APIs for clients who prefer to build their own tools. IG differentiates itself from smaller CFD brokers primarily on regulatory breadth and market access rather than on cost alone: it is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and holds licenses across the roughly 19 countries it operates in throughout Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North America, letting it serve both retail traders and professional or institutional clients from a single group. In the United States, where CFDs are not available to retail clients, the group instead trades under its tastytrade subsidiary, offering options, futures and cryptocurrency trading. Its 2025 acquisition of Freetrade added a UK commission-free stock and ETF investing app aimed at younger, buy-and-hold retail investors, a different customer segment from IG's core leveraged-trading base. The company traces its history to 1974, when it was founded as IG Index (Investors Gold Index) by British financier Stuart Wheeler, reportedly with around 30,000 pounds from six investors, to let UK investors speculate on the gold price during a period of exchange controls; it is commonly cited as the world's first spread betting firm. IG listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 and has since expanded through acquisitions including HedgeStreet in the US in 2007 (later rebranded Nadex and sold to Crypto.com in 2022), Japan's FXOnline in 2008, DailyFX from FXCM in 2016, and tastytrade for around 1 billion US dollars in a deal completed in 2021. The group reported full year revenue of 1,123.4 million pounds for FY2025, up 7 percent year on year, and serves over 1.3 million customers worldwide; Breon Corcoran has served as chief executive since December 2023. More recently, IG Group has been pushing into stock trading and crypto to diversify beyond its traditional leveraged CFD and spread betting revenue: the Freetrade acquisition (announced January 2025, completed April 2025 for 160 million pounds) more than doubled the group's active client base, and in 2025 to 2026 it agreed to acquire a 70 percent stake in Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve for approximately 178 million Australian dollars, using it to launch direct spot crypto trading for clients in Australia in March 2026 with Singapore and the UAE planned later in 2026.
