Choose the account relationship before comparing a stock or futures headline
Tickmill's UK site offers CFDs, exchange-traded futures and an IBKR Multi-Asset route. They use different platforms and contractual arrangements. Establish who holds the account, who executes the order and which schedule applies before comparing prices or interpreting a protection claim.
Checked scope: UK public product and partnership pages, IBKR's published commission and market-data schedules, selected UK futures terms, official FSCS rules and a limited FCA identity check. Personal Tickmill/IBKR agreements and live account behaviour were not obtained. No account was opened, linked, funded or traded.
A familiar symbol can belong to a different account route
The checked UK homepage identifies Tickmill UK Ltd. The actual FCA record shows reference 717270, company 09592225, an Authorised status since 29 July 2016 and www.tickmill.com/uk/ as the website. The record warns that authorisation and protection depend on specific activities. This is a limited identity check, not a review of every permission or personal account.
| Route | Presented platform | Document to identify |
|---|---|---|
| Tickmill CFD account | MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. | The applicable Tickmill company agreement and CFD specification. |
| Tickmill futures/options route | CQG or Trading Technologies. | The futures/options agreement, clearing arrangement and contract deadlines. |
| IBKR Multi-Asset through Tickmill | Interactive Brokers platforms, including TWS. | The introducing agreement, actual IBKR company contract and pricing plan. |
A software name or a stock ticker does not identify the legal instrument. Retain the account number, company, platform/server, exact symbol and product type. Do not treat a CFD position as a stock holding or move a futures specification to a differently contracted account.
Support, execution and custody are distinct responsibilities
The IBKR Multi-Asset page describes Tickmill UK as introducing broker and support contact, while Interactive Brokers provides the account infrastructure, execution and custody. It discloses that Tickmill may receive part of IBKR commissions or fees. The businesses remain separate; the page expressly says IBKR does not endorse Tickmill's products or advice.
Its relationship FAQ names Interactive Brokers LLC, while the account-management link points to an interactivebrokers.ie address. A portal domain alone does not settle the contracting company. The complete personal IBKR agreement was not obtained in this review; the public wording and link are not enough to assign a compensation scheme to an individual account.
The page also says eligible existing IBKR clients may appoint Tickmill as introducer. That is not proof of automatic eligibility or a completed asset transfer. Before changing the relationship, obtain the signed role allocation, effective date, applicable fee plan, support and complaint responsibilities, and any termination or access conditions. Preserve the statement identifying the company holding your funds and assets.
For a custody or execution question, name both parties and the specific responsibility in dispute. A support reply from an introducer does not itself prove that the carrying firm changed an order or moved an asset. This review has not linked an existing account or tested either party's workflow.
A “from” rate is not a complete small-order price
Tickmill's partnership page advertises no added markup and stock pricing from US$0.0005 per share. Obtain the actual introduced-account schedule before treating that headline as a personal rate.
The IBKR stock schedule shows the US tiered rate starting at US$0.0035 for monthly volume up to 300,000 shares, with US$0.0005 in its highest displayed volume band. The table also has a US$0.35 tiered order minimum and third-party fees. Its disclosures say broker-account volumes may be aggregated and introduced clients should confirm their applicable rates. This public direct-client table does not determine the arrangement offered through Tickmill.
Illustration, not a quote: for 100 whole shares at an assumed US$25 each, multiplying the advertised US$0.0005 rate gives US$0.05. If the accepted plan applied a US$0.35 minimum, that commission component would instead be US$0.35, before other applicable charges. Neither assumption has been verified for a personal Tickmill-introduced account.
Request the market, currency, volume tier and aggregation rule, minimum/cap, routing and third-party charges. Check financing, currency conversion and subscriptions separately. Keep the trade confirmation and itemised debits alongside the accepted schedule; do not use a low headline rate as evidence of total cost or a discrepancy as proof of an improper charge.
Market-data access has its own classification and billing
The IBKR market-data schedule distinguishes professional and non-professional subscribers using usage and registration criteria. This exchange-data classification is separate from a brokerage's retail/professional client category. Do not infer the subscription price solely from the label on a CFD account.
It also distinguishes a requested, static snapshot from continuously streaming quotes and separates top-of-book data from market depth. A chart being visible is not evidence that it provides the exact live feed needed for an order decision. Check the venue, entitlement, data type, timestamp and any delayed-data label.
Some listed services have commission-based waivers. The schedule says those calculations are not cumulative and are applied to the highest-priced service first. A waiver for one bundle does not prove that all subscriptions are free. This review did not verify an individual's classification, entitlement, subscription activation or bill.
Before subscribing, retain the selected service, professional-status declaration, billing period, current charge, waiver rule and cancellation terms. After billing, reconcile the invoice and qualifying commissions service by service. A trading permission, a data entitlement and a paid subscription are separate records.
Bank failure and investment-firm failure have different limits
The checked UK homepage displays a group-level “€120,000 FSCS” claim; the UK safety page describes up to £120,000 on insolvency. Those statements do not establish a universal investment-account entitlement.
The FSCS investment rules state up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm for relevant firm failures after 1 April 2019, subject to the investment and claim meeting the rules. Separately, FSCS bank-deposit rules use £120,000 for eligible deposits at a failed UK-authorised bank from 1 December 2025, with shared banking licences affecting aggregation. These are different failure scenarios; the deposit increase does not automatically increase the investment limit.
Identify the failed firm, the obligation owed to you, the legal account holder and the relevant scheme before calculating a claim. Segregated client money, a group insurance headline and personal compensation eligibility answer different questions. This review did not verify a policy certificate, exclusions or a personal payment entitlement, and did not assign UK FSCS cover to the unresolved IBKR company relationship.
The safety page separately makes professional-client negative-balance protection conditional and potentially withdrawable. Obtain the applicable product and classification terms; do not transfer a retail CFD statement to exchange-traded futures or another company.
Record the broker's deadline as well as the exchange date
The currently linked UK futures/options terms display November 2025. Clause 18.20 disallows taking or making physical delivery and requires non-cash-settled positions to be closed or rolled before the first-notice period or the company's specified deadline. It reserves liquidation rights and describes potential delivery-related costs if a position remains unresolved. This selected clause is not a personal contract review or an IBKR expiry rule.
Schedule C, clause 2.4, says company option-exercise cutoffs may be earlier than exchange cutoffs. Clause 18.19 also says automatic liquidation is not a risk-management guarantee or a guaranteed closing price. A calendar expiry date alone does not identify the last time your broker accepts an instruction.
- For each expiring contract: retain its exchange, month, settlement type, first-notice date, last trading date and the account-specific close/roll or exercise deadline with time zone.
- For an instruction: preserve submission time, accepted status and order identifier. Distinguish an attempted cancellation or roll from confirmation that the old position and related orders are closed.
- Afterwards: reconcile the remaining position, exercise or settlement entries, fees and resulting cash or margin. Obtain the responsible firm's explanation and formal case reference for any mismatch.
The UK legal catalogue contains separate business and futures terms. Use the agreement accepted for the actual route and its complaint procedure. No roll, exercise, transfer or complaint was submitted in this review.
Questions before choosing a new route
Does Tickmill hold every IBKR Multi-Asset client's assets?
The public partnership page assigns infrastructure and custody to Interactive Brokers. The exact IBKR company and personal rights still require the accepted agreements.
Does the £120,000 bank-deposit limit cover every trading loss?
No. Deposit protection and eligible investment-firm claims have different rules. The official investment limit is not a guarantee against market losses.
Can I rely only on the exchange's expiry date?
The checked UK futures terms allow earlier company deadlines for relevant close/roll and option instructions. Obtain the exact deadline for your account and contract.
