Skip to content
CompareForexBrokers

IG Review for New Zealand Traders

IG Group is licensed in New Zealand, with a derivatives issuer licence from the Financial Markets Authority granted on 9 July 2021 and active status, held by IG Australia Pty Ltd. The brand has a published global score of 68.2 out of 100, covering its worldwide offering, as there is no New Zealand score. Its New Zealand product disclosure statement, dated 3 February 2025, states on page 13 that negative balance protection applies to retail clients, with a debit balance adjusted back to zero at no cost. This means a retail client cannot lose more than the money in their account.

Justin Grossbard, Co-Founder of CompareForexBrokers Written by Justin Grossbard Fact-checked by David Levy Last updated:

Why trust Compare Forex Brokers. Our reviews are reader-supported. We may receive payment when you click a link to a partner site. Learn how we make money.

Trading Forex and CFDs with leverage poses significant risk of loss to your capital.

Regulators named in full: a broker regulated by ASIC is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; by FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority; by DFSA, the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

New Zealand licence: IG

Legal entity
IG Australia Pty Ltd
Licence category
Derivatives issuers
Licence status
Active
Financial service provider number
FSP684191
Date granted
9 July 2021
Date we checked
2026-09-19

The Financial Markets Authority lists IG Australia Pty Ltd as a licensed derivatives issuer in New Zealand, and IG Australia Pty Ltd is registered on the Financial Service Providers Register as FSP684191. The registration is not the licence.

Check this entry on the FMA register

See every licensed derivatives issuer in New Zealand

The Financial Markets Authority register page for IG Australia Pty Ltd, showing licence category derivatives issuers, FSP684191, licence granted 9 July 2021 and licence status active.
IG’s New Zealand licence on the FMA register: IG Australia Pty Ltd, FSP684191, derivatives issuer licence granted 9 July 2021, status active. Checked 19 September 2026. Source: Financial Markets Authority. The FSP number is a registration identifying the company, not the licence.
Where a complaint goes, and how long each firm says it takes first
Broker External dispute scheme Before it can be escalated, as the disclosure statement puts it
Axi the external dispute resolution scheme is the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS), and it charges a complainant no fee Axi seeks to resolve a complaint within 21 calendar days, and if it cannot resolve one within 2 months it must give reasons, updates and an expected decision date
BlackBull Markets Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), an approved scheme under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 30 working days is the firm's own target before FSCL
CMC Markets Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), an independent scheme approved by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs 20 business days to respond before the complaint may go to FSCL
IG Group Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), IG's New Zealand external scheme 40 working days must elapse after the complaint is made before it may go to FSCL
Plus500 Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), approved under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 20 working days before the complaint may go to FSCL
ThinkMarkets the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO), not FSCL 21 days from the initial complaint is the firm's own target
4 of the 6 send a complaint to FSCL, and Axi to the external dispute resolution scheme is the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS), and it charges a complainant no fee, ThinkMarkets to the IFSO Scheme. The waiting periods are quoted as each disclosure statement writes them, because they are not the same measurement: some are a target the firm sets itself and some are a period that must elapse before the scheme will look at the complaint.

Visit IG GroupWe may be paid if you open an account through this link. It does not change what this review says.

Is IG Group licensed in New Zealand?

Yes, the company behind the IG Group brand in New Zealand holds a derivatives issuer licence from the Financial Markets Authority. Anyone offering contracts linked to an exchange rate in New Zealand must hold such a licence, and the FMA classes retail forex trading as derivatives trading rather than currency dealing. The register entry for IG Australia Pty Ltd showed the licence as active when read on 19 September 2026.

IG Australia Pty Ltd is licensed by the FMA to issue derivatives under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013, and is separately regulated by ASIC in Australia, as its Product Disclosure Statement dated 3 February 2025 states on page 12.

IG Australia Pty Ltd on the FMA register

The Financial Markets Authority’s register lists the licence holder as IG Australia Pty Ltd, licence category derivatives issuers, status active.

The registration number, FSP684191, identifies the company on the Financial Service Providers Register. That number is a registration, not a licence; the licence itself is the derivatives issuer licence. A licensed derivatives provider must give a client a product disclosure statement before they trade, and IG Australia Pty Ltd’s statement is registered on the Disclose Register under offer Margin Trading, OFR13249.

Who a New Zealand client contracts with

The issuer behind the brand is IG Australia Pty Ltd, a company incorporated in Australia and registered in New Zealand as a foreign company, with Company No. 7639257 and NZBN 9429047618251, as the statement states on page 12. The same document gives the company’s address as Level 32, Queen & Collins, 376-390 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, and IG Australia Pty Ltd operates business for New Zealand investors through that office based in Australia, with no New Zealand office of its own.

The statement also discloses that the FMA holds no responsibility for the contents of the PDS or for any other materials provided to a client. Bell Gully Solicitors, 21st Floor, 171 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011, has been appointed to accept service of documents in New Zealand. Clients can reach the company toll free from New Zealand on 0800 442 150. The IG Group was founded in 1974 and employs approximately 1,600 staff worldwide, and every page of the PDS carries a running footer identifying the derivatives issuer licence holder in New Zealand and the company’s registration particulars.

Where a New Zealand client’s money is held

Client money goes into trust accounts with a registered bank in New Zealand and, as the legislation permits, trust accounts outside New Zealand, according to the statement on page 11. A client’s money may be commingled into one or more trust accounts with other customers’ money.

IG Australia Pty Ltd does not use client money to meet obligations it incurs when hedging with other counterparties, funding those from its own money. Money held on trust may be invested in term deposit investments, and the company accepts no liability for the solvency or any act or omission of a bank holding the trust accounts.

What IG Group charges a New Zealand account

The statement sets out the holding costs on its page 11. Interest adjustment formulas use a 360-day divisor for Australian, US and European shares and indices, and a 365-day divisor for UK, Singapore and South African ones. The interest rate charged includes the market cost between days plus an IG administration cost.

Live exchange data is available by monthly subscription, with the fee varying by account classification and exchange and charged until cancelled.

Funding and withdrawing in New Zealand dollars

The statement lists the accepted funding routes on page 11: New Zealand Visa debit, New Zealand credit card, AUD, HKD, USD and EUR cards, PayPal, RTGS and telegraphic transfer.

On currency, the statement notes on page 2 that many CFDs are traded in Australian dollars, while some are denominated in the instrument’s home currency. A New Zealand client should therefore expect conversions on positions quoted outside their own currency.

Which markets and platforms the New Zealand entity offers

The statement states on page 2 that IG Australia Pty Ltd offers CFDs on individual shares, indices, options, currencies and futures contracts. Trading is over the counter, with IG as the counterparty to every trade, and all trades must be closed with IG. IG accepts money only and holds no other client property.

Where a client does not subscribe to live exchange data, free derived prices are displayed instead of exchange prices for US, UK, European and Australian shares, while execution is always against the underlying exchange price. The FMA names insolvency of the provider as a risk to read the product disclosure statement for, noting that a client may be an unsecured creditor and have difficulty getting their money back. The FMA also describes leveraged forex trading as borrowing money to place a bet, with the full borrowed amount repayable on a loss, and its own opening line on the subject is that forex trading for profit is very risky and that it regularly receives complaints from consumers who have lost money.

How to complain, and who hears it

Complaints are first investigated by IG’s Trading Services Department in Melbourne, then by its Compliance Department, as the statement states on page 12. After 40 working days have elapsed since the complaint was made, the client may refer the matter to the company’s New Zealand independent external dispute resolution scheme, operated by Financial Services Complaints Limited.

FSCL can be contacted at PO Box 5967, Wellington 6145, by toll free phone. The FSCL will not charge a fee to any complainant to investigate or resolve a complaint.

How IG Group scores against every broker we rate

IG Group’s published score is 68.2, and this is the global score, scored on the broker’s global offering. There is no New Zealand score, because there is no New Zealand test. IG is a market maker, with regulators including ASIC, the FCA in the United Kingdom, BaFin in Germany, the NFA, the CFTC, MAS, FINMA, the FMA in New Zealand, the JFSA, the DFSA in Dubai, the BMA and the FSCA in South Africa.

IG is one of six FMA-licensed derivatives issuers we rate, and the other five licensed issuers are compared on the main New Zealand page.

IG Group in New Zealand, in one line

IG Group reaches New Zealand through IG Australia Pty Ltd, an FMA-licensed derivatives issuer with no local office, whose New Zealand disclosure is set out in the Product Disclosure Statement registered under offer Margin Trading. The full assessment of the global offering is at /reviews/ig-group/.

Visit IG GroupWe may be paid if you open an account through this link. It does not change what this review says.

About the author

Justin Grossbard, Co-Founder of CompareForexBrokers

Justin Grossbard

Justin Grossbard is the CEO & Co-Founder of CompareForexBrokers established in 2014, along with Noam Korbl and works as Strategic Head Of Research.

LinkedIn · X / Twitter

Our reviews are reader-supported. We may receive payment when you click a link to a partner site. Learn how we make money.