traded as lse cmcx industry financial services online forex trading cfds spread betting shares trading founded 1989 1989 founder peter cruddas headquarters london united kingdom area served worldwide key people peter cruddas founder chief executive simon waugh non executive chairman grant foley chief financial officer services online trading cfds and spread betting revenue 186.4 milion 2016 1 operating income 54.1 million 2016 1 net income 42.5 million 2016 1 number of employees 575 worldwide 2016 website www.cmcmarkets.com cmc markets is a uk based financial derivatives dealer . the company offers online trading in spread betting contracts for difference cfds and foreign exchange forex across world markets . 2 cmc is headquartered in london with hubs in sydney and singapore and a further 11 offices internationally . 3 it is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 1.1 1989 2000 early years 1.2 2000 introduction of cfds and spread betting 1.3 2002 2006 global expansion 1.4 2007 m & a activity 1.5 2008 2013 global financial crisis 1.6 2014 onwards 2 operations 3 market position 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit 1989 2000 early years edit the company was founded in 1989 by peter cruddas as a foreign exchange market maker under the name currency management corporation . the name was later abbreviated to cmc and then changed to cmc markets in september 2005 . in 1992 cmc markets became authorised and regulated in the uk by the afbd which later became the financial services authority fsa . in 1996 the company launched a real time fx trading platform and has made claims to have done the first fx deal on line over the internet . although not verifiable cmc markets was certainly one of the first companies to offer on line trading over the internet . the company pioneered internet trading technology with its marketmaker software platform . the software was developed by information internet limited a sister company jointly owned by peter cruddas and the two developers that designed and built the first version of the software terry johnston and ben fisher . from 1996 to 2000 information internet limited as well as supplying cmc markets sold the software to a small number of banks . in 2000 peter cruddas bought out the other owners made the software exclusive to cmc markets and the remaining parts of information internet limited became the internal it function of cmc markets . 2000 introduction of cfds and spread betting edit in 2000 cmc markets began to offer contracts for difference cfds and the following year it introduced online spread betting on financial markets . these two products would become the bulk of the business for cmc markets . 2002 2006 global expansion edit in 2002 the company began embarking on a major global expansion drive . it expanded quickly between 2002 and 2007 and opened offices in a large number of countries as well as growing the spread betting business in the uk and the cfd business internationally . this began with its first overseas office in sydney australia with a number of other offices following in next few years including beijing hong kong frankfurt in 2005 auckland in 2006 and stockholm in 2007 . the first north american office was opened in 2003 in new york . this was followed by the acquisition of canadian broker shorecan index which became its toronto office in 2005 . cmc markets subsequently pulled out of the us market and closed its new york office in 2008 which was primarily because it was unable to offer its main cfd and spread betting products there due to regulatory restrictions . from 2001 2005 cmc markets also operated the brand name deal4free.com . this brand was designed to promote the zero commission charge service used primarily for its uk based spread betting business . commissions were later re introduced and this brand was dropped as part of the re branding in september 2005 . 4 in 2006 cruddas planned to ipo the company however this was cancelled at the last minute with cruddas citing market conditions . 5 6 2007 m & a activity edit cmc markets acquired financial media and technology company digital look 7 which ran the financial information site www.digitallook.com as well as selling financial data to third party sites . the company was merged into cmc markets main operations in london but continued to run the website and data services for third parties . subsequently cmc markets bought the australian stock broker andrew west . this was merged with the cmc markets australian operation and renamed cmc markets stockbroking . this continued to offer physical share broking services in australia . later in 2007 goldman sachs bought a 10 % stake in the company for 140m effectively valuing the company at 1.4 bn . 8 2008 2013 global financial crisis edit in 2008 and 2009 cmc markets saw profits decline with the global financial crisis . in response peter cruddas changed his management team and closed seven offices as well as reducing the company headcount from a high of 1100 employees . 9 in 2010 cmc markets launched its next generation trading platform 10 to the uk market . the new trading software improved on previous marketmaker software ; amongst other things being able to quote market prices to additional decimal points and provide trade execution without re quotes . in 2011 the digital look business unit was sold to the spanish based web financial group . 11 2014 onwards edit after a return to profits in 2014 speculation emerged that cmc markets was again looking at an ipo . 12 13 on 5 february 2016 cmc markets listed on the main market of the london stock exchange at 240p equating to an initial market capitalisation of 691 million . 14 on 25 april 2016 cmc markets launched a range of binary products specifically designed for mobile tablet and desktop . 15 on 2 june 2016 it was confirmed that from 20 june 2016 cmc markets would be included as a constituent of the ftse 250 index . 16 operations edit cmc markets operates and has offices in the uk australia germany new zealand singapore spain italy sweden norway france poland austria and canada . most operations are run from its head office in london and runs a trading desk in london and in sydney . market position edit cmc markets is one of the companies that launched cfd products to the retail market in 2000 and is one of the major cfd providers . no reliable data exists for the over the counter cfd and spread betting industry . however in 2009 some industry participants commissioned a survey to look at the uk market and results indicated that cmc markets market share in 2008 was lower than its main competitor . 17 see also edit list of foreign exchange companies references edit a b c preliminary results 2016 pdf . 2016 annual report . cmc markets . retrieved 11 june 2016 . cmc markets . investing . retrieved 28 july 2015 . 2015 annual report pdf . cmc group announces rebranding . internet business news . 16 september 2005 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . volatile market conditions force cmc to pull float . 24 may 2006 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . editor by james quinn us business . peter cruddas prepares for cmc flotation . retrieved 11 june 2016 . correspondent by james quinn wall street . cruddas appointments bolster cmc board . retrieved 11 june 2016 . goldman takes 10 % stake in cmc . ft. 22 november 2007 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . editor by james quinn us business . peter cruddas has taken cmc markets back to basics . retrieved 11 june 2016 . cmc markets announces revamped trading platform . financial spread betting . 12 august 2010 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . digital look acquired by web financial group . web financial group . 10 february 2011 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . peter cruddas eyes 1bn float for cmc markets . the telegraph . 5 september 2014 . retrieved 5 september 2014 . peter cruddas flags up 1bn float after cmc storms into profit . retrieved 5 september 2014 . cmc markets defies volatility with 691 million listing . london stock exchange . retrieved 11 june 2016 . the new era for binary trading has arrived as cmc markets launches new product . cmc markets group site . cmc markets confirmed in ftse 250 index . inclusion in ftse 250 index from 20 june 2016 . retrieved 11 june 2016 . ross alice 10 november 2009 . investors switch between spread betting providers . financial times . retrieved 11 june 2016 . external links edit official site official corporate site v t e ftse 100 ftse 250 companies of the united kingdom 3i infrastructure aa aberdeen asset management aberforth smaller companies trust acacia mining aggreko aldermore group alliance trust allied minds amec foster wheeler ao world ascential ashmore group assura atkins auto trader group aveva balfour beatty bankers investment trust barr a.g. bba aviation beazley group bellway berendsen berkeley group holdings bank of georgia bh macro big yellow group b & m european retail value bodycote booker group bovis homes group brewin dolphin holdings british empire trust britvic brown n. btg plc cairn energy caledonia investments capital & counties properties card factory carillion centamin cineworld city of london investment trust clarkson close brothers group cls holdings cmc markets cobham computacenter countryside properties countrywide cranswick crest nicholson cybg daejan holdings dairy crest debenhams dechra pharmaceuticals derwent london dfs dignity diploma domino s pizza drax group dunelm group edinburgh investment trust electra private equity electrocomponents elementis entertainment one essentra esure euromoney institutional investor evraz f & c commercial property trust fidelity china special situations fidelity european values fidessa group finsbury growth & income trust firstgroup fisher james & sons foreign & colonial investment trust g4s galliford try gcp infrastructure investments genesis emerging markets fund genus go ahead group grafton 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