Agile Digital

About CMC Markets

CMC Markets is a global leader in online trading, offering access to shares, FX, commodities, and indices through its award-winning digital platforms. With a strong presence in Australia and offices across Asia-Pacific and Europe, CMC is known for its innovation, regulatory compliance, and client service. As the company expands its partner ecosystem, it has prioritised robust identity architecture and secure federated authentication. Agile Digital was engaged to provide strategic advisory and technical expertise across ForgeRock Identity Cloud and OpenID Connect federation.

The Challenge

As CMC Markets expanded its service offerings and partner integrations, its existing identity infrastructure needed to accommodate more complex use cases without compromising security or user experience.

Specifically, the firm required support to:

• Federate identity with a new banking partner using secure, standards-based protocols 
• Evaluate the health of its current ForgeRock Identity Cloud implementation across mobile and web platforms
• Identify risks and bottlenecks in user journeys, governance, and technical architecture

These challenges were compounded by the need for high assurance in a regulated financial environment and the desire to establish a scalable foundation for future partner and service expansion.

Mission

CMC Markets engaged Agile Digital to strengthen the identity foundation by enabling secure federated authentication with external banking partners and uplifting the performance and governance of its existing ForgeRock Identity Cloud platform. Agile Digital was tasked with delivering expert advisory, practical implementation support, and strategic recommendations to help CMC Markets meet evolving integration, security, and compliance demands, while positioning the business for future scalability and innovation.

Approach

Agile Digital applied a structured, two-stage advisory approach to help CMC Markets assess and enhance its Identity and Access Management (IdAM) capabilities. Our method focused on establishing clarity and delivering strategic, actionable recommendations.

Stage 1: Establish Clarity

We began by reviewing the current state of identity implementation across CMC Markets’ mobile and web platforms. This included an in-depth analysis of CIAM journeys, token usage, existing integrations, and IdAM configuration. Our team examined the flow of authentication tokens, the role of downstream APIs, and the broader system architecture to assess scalability and performance implications.

A concise current-state report was prepared to summarise key observations and confirm findings with stakeholders, forming the foundation for the second phase.

Stage 2: Strategic Recommendations

Building on the current-state insights, we identified architectural and operational gaps, then proposed tailored solutions to uplift platform security, resilience, and integration readiness. Each solution was prioritised based on potential impact and cost-to-implement, using a custom rubric to assist CMC Markets with investment planning.

Finally, we delivered a detailed advisory report and executive presentation outlining remediation actions, future-state capabilities, and a roadmap for secure federation and scalable partner onboarding.

Outcomes

• Delivered expert support for secure, standards-based federation to enable seamless integration with new partner banks.
• Identified key architectural and operational improvements to CMC Markets’ ForgeRock Identity Cloud environment, ensuring alignment with best practices in financial services.
• Equipped CMC Markets with a clear and actionable roadmap to enhance identity governance, reduce risk, and improve customer experience.