City Traders Imperium New Zealand Review (2026): Evaluation Rules, Drawdown & Payouts

The Verdict: Is City Traders Imperium Worth It for New Zealand Traders?

Founded in 2018 by professional traders in London, City Traders Imperium (CTI) is one of the longest-running prop firms alongside FTMO and is best known for its Instant Funding programmes (which bypass evaluation phases entirely) and performance scaling plans that reach a 100% profit split. However, Instant Funding and 1-Step tiers rely on strict trailing drawdown rules and require 5 'profitable trading days' (defined as at least 0.5% closed gain per day) rather than merely opening micro-lot trades.

Contractual snapshot for City Traders Imperium (City Traders Imperium (CTI) (London founded / Dubai, UAE operations)): account sizes range from $2,500 to $100,000 USD (with scaling up to $4,000,000) with profit splits of 80% up to 100% (via performance scaling milestones). Evaluation targets are 10% / 5% (2-Step); 8%–10% (1-Step); or 0% evaluation target on Instant Funding under a drawdown framework of Trailing or Static Maximum Loss depending on 2-Step vs 1-Step/Instant tier / 5% Daily Loss (2-Step), with a minimum requirement of 5 minimum profitable trading days (0.5%+ gain per day).

Onboarding, KYC & NZD Billing Audit

CTI's KYC and funded contractor onboarding are processed via Rise and internal compliance checks. New Zealand residents can register with a passport or driver licence and proof of address. All challenge and instant-funding packages are priced in USD.

Illustrative prop evaluation dashboard tracking daily loss limits, maximum drawdown floor, and phase profit targets.

Platform Architecture, Server Routing & Rollover Rules

CTI provides execution via MT5 and Match-Trader. Unlike firms that count a 0.01-lot scratch trade as an active day, CTI requires minimum 'profitable days' where net closed profit reaches at least 0.5% of starting balance—encouraging genuine swing and intraday setups rather than gaming minimum-day counters.

Because New Zealand sits in the UTC+12 (NZST) / UTC+13 (NZDT) time zone, the daily interbank market rollover (5:00 PM New York close) occurs at 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM NZT. During this 60-minute window, liquidity thins and simulated spreads on forex cross pairs (especially AUD/NZD, GBP/NZD, and EUR/NZD) widen substantially. Holding open positions with tight stops or heavy floating drawdown into the 9:00 AM NZT rollover can trigger an automated daily loss breach even without a genuine trend move.

Challenge Fees, Spreads & Drawdown Math

CTI's 2-Step evaluation starts at $39 USD ($2.5K account) up to $509 USD ($100K account), while Instant Funding Pro/Standard accounts charge a higher non-refundable upfront fee to trade for profit splits from Day 1. Spreads on EUR/USD average 0.5–1.0 pips with competitive institutional-style commissions.

FMA Jurisdiction & IRD Tax Rules in New Zealand

City Traders Imperium (City Traders Imperium (CTI) (London founded / Dubai, UAE operations)) operates offshore and is not registered on the New Zealand Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) or licensed by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) as a Derivatives Issuer. Because prop evaluations are commercial contractor assessments conducted on simulated demo accounts, New Zealand residents have no statutory client-money segregation rights or access to local dispute schemes (FSCL, IFSO, or FDRS). Compare how regulated derivatives brokers are supervised in our Is Forex Trading Legal in New Zealand? and Forex Trading New Zealand guides.

For New Zealand tax purposes, profit splits received from City Traders Imperium via Rise, Deel, bank wire, or cryptocurrency are classified by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) as assessable contractor service income—not tax-free capital gains. You must declare gross payouts converted into NZD on your annual IR3 return at your personal marginal tax rate (10.5% to 39%).

Who City Traders Imperium Suits (and Who Should Avoid It)

CTI is ideal for experienced New Zealand swing traders who want a long-established firm (since 2018), Instant Funding options, or a clear scaling pathway to 100% profit splits. Traders who dislike trailing drawdown or profitable-day minimums should choose CTI's 2-Step static tier or FTMO.

Pros & Cons