In December 2024, EBC Financial Group launched US stock CFDs, giving global traders access to single-stock exposure on major American companies — including Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), and Amazon (AMZN) — without needing a US brokerage account.
What EBC Offers
EBC provides CFD trading on 150+ carefully selected US-listed stocks. Key features include:
- Zero commission: No per-trade fees. Costs are limited to the spread
- 1:5 leverage: Control $5,000 of Apple stock with $1,000 margin
- No stamp duty: CFD trades are exempt from UK stamp duty and equivalent taxes
- Two-way trading: Go long or short on any stock
- Dividend adjustments: Positions held through ex-dividend dates receive equivalent dividend payments
- Fractional trading: Trade portions of high-value stocks like Nvidia with smaller capital
Platform and Execution
US stock CFDs are available on MT5 (the platform supports share CFDs naturally). EBC's 20ms execution and 36+ liquidity provider pool ensure competitive pricing and fast fills on liquid US stocks. Trading hours align with the US cash equity market (9:30AM–4PM EST), with potential for extended trading during after-hours news events.
Why Trade Stock CFDs Instead of Direct Shares?
The main advantage is capital efficiency. Instead of buying $10,000 worth of Nvidia shares on a traditional brokerage, you can control the same exposure for approximately $2,000 margin on EBC (at 1:5 leverage). The short-selling capability means you can profit from stock declines without locating shares to borrow — a significant advantage during bear market conditions.
For international traders, EBC's stock CFD product eliminates the administrative burden of opening a US brokerage account, dealing with W-8BEN forms, and managing USD settlement accounts. A single EBC account provides access to US equities alongside forex, commodities, and indices.
Which Stocks on EBC?
EBC's stock CFD selection focuses on high-liquidity US names across sectors:
- Technology: Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), NVIDIA (NVDA), AMD (AMD)
- Consumer: Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META)
- Finance: JPMorgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Visa (V)
- Healthcare: UnitedHealth (UNH), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Selection criteria include market capitalisation, daily trading volume, and sector representation — ensuring the available stocks have sufficient liquidity for CFD trading.
Dividend Adjustments
When a stock goes ex-dividend, the CFD position is adjusted to reflect the dividend. Long positions receive a credit equal to the dividend amount; short positions are debited. This ensures that the CFD price action mirrors the underlying stock after dividend adjustments.
Regulatory Protection
EBC's FCA entity provides FSCS protection up to £85,000 — a level of protection that direct crypto or offshore stock trading cannot match. The ASIC entity provides strict client money segregation in Australia. For traders outside the US, this regulatory framework offers meaningful protection compared to direct US market access through unregulated introducers.
Minimum deposit to start trading US stock CFDs on EBC is $50 (Standard) or $500 (PRO). MT5 is recommended for the best stock CFD trading experience due to its share-optimised infrastructure.