CFDs are complex, leveraged products and carry a high risk of rapid capital loss. Most retail investors lose money trading CFDs. You should not trade CFDs unless you understand how they work and can afford to lose the money you invest.
Trading 212 AU offers a CFD (Contract for Difference) account for Australian retail clients. A CFD lets you trade on the price movement of an asset without owning it directly. You can go long (buy) if you think the price will rise, or short (sell) if you think it will fall.
Trading 212 AU is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the CFD account is subject to ASIC’s mandatory retail client protections.
💡 Tip
All legal and disclosure documents - including the FSG, Terms, PDS, and TMD - are available in the app under Menu → Legal documents and on the Trading 212 AU website.
What can I trade?
You can trade CFDs on a wide range of global instruments:
- Shares: individual company stocks from major global exchanges
- Indices: major and minor stock-market indices
- Commodities: gold, oil, silver and more
- FX pairs: major and minor currency pairs
- Crypto: cryptocurrency CFDs
- ETFs: exchange-traded funds, including leveraged and inverse ETPs
The available instruments and their trading conditions (spread, leverage, trading hours) are shown on each instrument page in the app.
📄 Note
ASX-listed equity CFDs are not available at launch but may be added in the future.
What are the key features of the AU CFD account?
- AUD account currency: Your AU CFD account operates exclusively in Australian dollars (AUD). All deposits, withdrawals, margin calculations and results are in AUD.
- Segregated client money: Your funds are held in a designated client money trust account with an Australian bank, separate from Trading 212’s own assets, in line with Australian client money rules.
- Retail clients only: The AU CFD account is available to Australian retail clients only. Professional or wholesale account upgrades are not available.
- Australia only: You must be an Australian resident to open an AU CFD account. The account is geo-locked - if you try to access it from outside Australia, you will be blocked.
- Trading 212 Social and in-app news: Both are available on your AU CFD account. The Social page contains community-generated content for which Trading 212 is not responsible. Always conduct your own research. Trading 212 provides an execution-only service and does not offer investment advice or portfolio management.
What protections do I get?
As an Australian retail client, your account is covered by three mandatory protections under ASIC’s Product Intervention Order (PIO) for CFDs. These apply automatically - there is nothing you need to enable:
- Leverage caps: The maximum leverage you can use is set per asset class by ASIC - from 30:1 on major FX pairs down to 2:1 on crypto CFDs. These limits cannot be increased.
- 50% margin close-out: If the equity in your account falls to 50% of the total margin required, your positions will start closing automatically until your equity recovers above the threshold.
- Negative balance protection: Your losses can never exceed the funds in your CFD account. If a fast market move pushes your balance below zero, it is restored to zero.
For full details, see: What protections do I get when trading CFDs with Trading 212 AU?
How do I get started?
Trading in CFDs is not suitable for all investors due to the significant risks involved. Prior to opening a CFD account with Trading 212, you should review and consider our Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) to ensure the product is right for you.
To open an AU CFD account:
- Download the Trading 212 app or log in to your existing account.
- Navigate to the CFD account option and follow the onboarding steps.
- Review and accept the Terms, Policies, and client agreement.
- Complete the identity verification (KYC) using a valid Australian ID document.
- Fund your account in AUD and start trading.
📄 Note
If you already have a Trading 212 AU Invest account, your CFD account will be associated with the same profile. You can transfer funds between the two accounts from Menu → Manage funds → Transfer between accounts.
What is not available on the AU CFD account?
Some features available on other Trading 212 entities do not apply to the AU CFD account:
- Trading 212 Card
- Multi-currency wallets
- Portfolio transfers
- Invite-a-friend, referral bonuses, and promo codes