The amount of leverage available to UK traders is usually capped at 1:30; however, if you’re a professional client or use an offshore platform, higher limits are available should you choose to access a high leverage broker.
In this guide, we review some high leverage brokers available to UK traders.
Key Takeaways on High leverage brokers in UK
- High leverage brokers are trading platforms that allow users to trade a range of assets with high amounts of leverage.
- There are caps on the amount of leverage that can be employed for certain assets, ranging from 30:1 for FX, to 5:1 for equities.
- To choose between the various high leverage brokers UK on offer, users often tend to focus on the pricing structure, asset selection, and payment methods.
High Leverage Brokers in UK 2022
In the section below, we provide a quick breakdown of the popular high leverage stock brokers in the UK.
- Capital.com
- eToro
- Libertex
- Skilling
- FinmaxFX
- Plus500
When looking for a high leverage brokerage, users review the assets and markets the broker supports, what fees and commissions it charges.
In the sections below, we review some UK-based brokerages that support high leverage trading.
1. Capital.com
Capital.com is a popular brokerage, allowing users to open a trading account with a minimum deposit of just £20.
This is the case when funding your Capital.com account with a UK debit card, credit card, or e-wallet. If, however, you transfer funds from your UK bank account – the minimum deposit increases to £250.
This platform allows you to practice buying and selling leveraged financial products in a 100% risk-free environment. In addition to this, Capital.com provides educational resources – which includes a mobile app dedicated to trading courses. In terms of supported markets, Capital.com covers thousands of instruments.
This includes stocks, indices, forex, and commodity trading assets – all via CFDs. Most of all, Capital.com is a 100% commission-free broker and most of its supported markets can be traded with tight spreads. When it comes to leverage, Capital.com is authorized and regulated by the FCA. As such, you’ll be capped to a maximum of 1:30 unless you are a professional client.
83.45% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
2. eToro
eToro is an online broker and trading platform that now has more than 26 million investors using the site. This broker allows you to trade everything from stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies to forex, indices, and hard metals.
Although this low spread broker supports traditional investments, each and every financial market on the platform can also be traded as a CFD instrument. In turn, this means that you will have access to leverage.
In terms of limits, this falls in-line with FCA regulations. That is to say, unless you are a professional client, the most you will be able to get is 1:30. This is available when trading major forex market pairs like GBP/USD and EUR/USD – meaning that eToro will offer you lower limits on other asset classes.
For example, if you want to trade minor/exotic forex pairs or gold, you’ll get 1:20. If commodities like silver, copper, wheat, corn, or sugar are more up your street, you have the option to trade these instruments on eToro with leverage of 1:10. You may also trade more than 2,400 stocks from 17 UK and international markets on this popular high leverage broker.
When it comes to trading fees and commissions, the broker charges no commissions when you purchase and sell assets. There are no monthly platform fees either, and traditional UK share purchases do not attract stamp duty.
To begin trading on eToro, you only need to meet a small minimum deposit of $10; however, the minimum trade size at the platform starts at only $10 for stocks and the popular ETFs.
You can deposit funds with a UK debit card, credit card, e-wallet, or bank account transfer. And eToro is heavily regulated in the UK. This includes a license with the FCA and your funds are covered by the usual FSCS protections.
| Stock Broker | Minimum Deposit | Fractional Shares? | Pricing System | Cost of Buying Stocks | Fees & Charges |
| eToro | $10 | Yes – $10 minimum | 0% commission on ALL real stocks, spreads for CFDs | Market spread is not included when buying real stocks | No Deposit fees, $5 withdrawal fee, $10 inactivity fee, no account management fees. |
Sponsored ad. 68% of retail investors lose money trading CFDs at this site
3. Skilling
Skilling is an online CFD trading platform that offers a full suite of financial instruments at competitive fees. You can trade CFDs in the form of stocks, indices, hard metals, energies, and forex.
The Skilling platform is simple to use. However, perhaps seasoned trading pros will like Skilling too, not least because it is fully compatible with third-party platforms MT4 and cTrader.
This means that you may use the Skilling platform alongside automated forex EAs, advanced chart reading tools, and customizable screens. As a relatively new online broker that was first launched in 2019, Skilling is looking to increase its client base by offering really competitive trading fees.
At the forefront of this is the fact that Skilling does not charge any trading commissions whatsoever. In fact, spreads are often very tight too, with major forex pair markets starting from just 0.1 pips. In terms of leverage, this once again depends on your trading status. That is to say, as a UK retail client you will be capped to 1:30.
But, if you manage to upgrade your account status to a professional-client, Skilling will offer you up to 1:200. This is, however, based on a dynamic leverage system – meaning that your limits increase in line with your trading volume. For example, in order to get the full 1:200 limit, you would need to trade at least $10 million in a 30-day period.
Nevertheless, if you’re happy trading with leverage of 1:30 as a UK retail client, getting started at Skilling takes minutes. You can deposit funds with a debit/credit card, bank transfer, or e-wallet – with the minimum account balance standing at just $100. Finally, Skilling is authorized by the FCA and regulated by CySEC.
Your capital is at risk when trading CFDs with this provider.
4. FinmaxFX
As we have discussed thus far – if you’re based in the UK and are a retail client, then you will be capped to a maximum leverage limit of 1:30. =
This means that a small account balance of £200 would allow you to enter a position worth £40,000. This is available on forex, indices, and gold trading markets, so you’ll get lower limits of other assets. With that said, FinmaxFX will still offer you up to 1:100 on non-gold commodities like oil and natural gas, as well as bonds.
If you’re looking to trade stock CFDs, then you will get leverage of up to 1:20. This is five times more than the 1:5 limit that you will get with FCA regulated platforms. When it comes to commissions, FinmaxFX builds all trading fees into the spread. The amount you pay will ultimately depend on your chosen account type and the asset you are trading.
But, to give you an idea – the Micro Account at FinmaxFX – which requires a minimum deposit of $250, offers spreads from 3 pips upwards. This is also the case with its Mini, Standard, and Premium Accounts. The only way to get your minimum spread down to 1 pip is to opt for the VIP Account, which requires a huge minimum deposit of $100,000.
In terms of payment methods, FinmaxFX supports debit/credit cards, bank transfers, and an assortment of e-wallets. The broker also supports Bitcoin payments, albeit, withdrawals are charged at a whopping 7%. As such, you may want to cash your trading funds with another payment method
Once you are set up with an account at FinmaxFX, you will be able to trade via the popular third-party platform MT5. If you haven’t previously used an MT5 broker UK, the platform offers heaps of advanced order types, technical indicators, chart drawing tools, and even the ability to install a trading robot. You can access MT5 via the FinmaxFX website, desktop software, or the mobile app.
Finally – and perhaps most importantly, FinmaxFX is authorized and regulated by the Vanuatu Securities and Exchange Commission. As a UK trader, this offers little in the way of investor protection. On the flip side, FinmaxFX does demand verification documents from all traders. So, at the very least, it takes its anti-money laundering responsibilities seriously.
6. Plus500
Another highest leverage broker in the UK is Plus500. Plus500 has been around since 2008 and is regulated by the FCA and ASIC. This trading platform has a high reputation due to its safety and is even listed on the London Stock Exchange. Due to this, investors are offered the highest levels of investor protection possible.
As Plus500 focuses on CFD trading, all of the platform’s fees are incorporated into the spread. This spread will vary from asset to asset, although ranges around 0.7% for ETFs and equities. In terms of leverage, Plus500 allows traders to use up to 1:20 leverage on stocks indices, 1:5 on individual stocks, and 1:30 on currencies.
The account opening process is very easy and requires a minimum deposit of $100 (£74). Users can fund their accounts with 16 different base currencies and are able to use credit/debit card, bank transfer, or e-wallet. Notably, deposits and withdrawals at Plus500 are completely free of charge. Finally, Plus500 really excels when it comes to its trading platform, featuring a clean and clear interface along with two-step login, price alerts, and a multitude of order types.
High Leverage Brokers Fees & Leverage Comparison
| Max Leverage (Retail) | Max Leverage (Professional) | Commission | Minimum Deposit | |
| eToro | 1:30 | Case-by-Case Basis | 0% | $50 |
| Libertex | 1:30 | 1:600 | 0%-0.5% | £100 |
| Plus500 | 1:30 | 1:300 | 0% | $100 |
| FinmaxFX | 1:200 | 1:200 | From 3 pips | $250 |
| Skilling | 1:30 | 1:500 | 0% | $100 |
| Capital.com | 1:30 | 1:500 | 0% | £20 |
High Leverage Explained
The online trading arena in the UK is very heavily regulated. In turn, the FCA has certain protections in place for retail clients with respect to leverage.
What is Leverage?
In its most basic form, leverage allows you to trade with more money than you have in your brokerage account. In effect, you are essentially borrowing the additional capital from your chosen trading platform.
Leverage can be viewed as a multiple (like x2, x3) or a ratio (like 1:2, 1:3), albeit, most brokers opt for the latter. For example, let’s suppose that you stake £100 on a forex trading position with leverage of 1:10. In turn, this means that you are trading with 10 times your stake. So, in this example, you’ve turned a £100 stake into £1,000.
Here’s a quick example of how this trade would work when using the popular high leverage brokers.
- You stake £100 on GBP/USD – opting for a buy order as you think the exchange rate will rise
- You apply leverage of 1:10
- A few hours later, your GBP/USD position is worth 4% more
- Happy with your profits, you close the trade with a sell order
- Without leverage, your 4% gains on a £100 stake would have made you just £4
- However, as you applied leverage of 1:10, this £4 profit is amplified to £40
UK Leverage Limits
As we have noted through this guide, the FCA is very strict where it comes to leverage limits available to retail clients – meaning there are no 1:500 leverage brokers UK for casual investors.
Overnight Financing on Leverage
Before embarking on a leveraged trading strategy on the most traded stocks (or any other asset), it is important to understand that there are certain fees involved. More specifically, you will need to pay an ‘overnight financing fee’ for each day that you keep your leveraged position open.
After all, you are trading with more money than you have in your account – meaning that you are borrowing the balance from the broker in question. In turn, the broker will want a financial return on the capital it lends out, which comes in the form of interest.
Difference Between Margin and Leverage
When searching for popular high-leverage brokers in the UK, you can be certain that you will come across the term ‘margin’. Both leverage and margin are often used interchangeably, but they do differ slightly.
In simple terms:
- Leverage refers to the amount that you wish to boost your stake by. For example, leverage of 1:5 will turn a £100 stake into £500.
- Margin, however, refers to the amount of capital you need to put up to obtain your desired leverage amount. In the example above, your margin is £100, as this is required to obtain £500 in trading capital at 1:5
Understanding how margin requirement is really important when using the popular high leverage forex brokers – as this will determine your ‘liquidation’ point.
Being liquidated by your high leverage broker means that the platform will close your trade automatically when it goes down by a certain amount.
Conclusion
If you are based in the UK and looking for high leverage traadng brokerages, you may want to review and analyse the various platforms that may provide these features. Most FCA brokers in the UK will allow users to obtain leverage up to 1:30, however the non-FCA brokers may provide more leverage.
It is important to note that trading with a non-FCA regulated broker may be riskier for traders. Make sure to conduct your own research and properly examine the amount of leverage you choose to trade with since there is a lot of risk involved in such investments.
