UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): December 12, 2012

BGC Partners, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

499 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 610-2200

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

The information required by this Item 1.01 is set forth under Item 8.01 below and is hereby incorporated by reference in response to this Item.

Item 8.01. Other Events.

On December 12, 2012, BGC Partners, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Controlled Equity Offering^SM Sales Agreement, dated December 12, 2012 (the “Sales Agreement”), with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., pursuant to which the Company may issue and sell up to 20,000,000 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), under the Company’s shelf Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-185110), from time to time through Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., as the Company’s sales agent under the Sales Agreement. Under the Sales Agreement, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. will be entitled to compensation equal to 2.0% of the gross proceeds of any of the shares of Class A Common Stock that are sold by it as the Company’s sales agent. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and an affiliate of the Company. The Sales Agreement follows the Company’s prior Controlled Equity Offering^SM Sales Agreement, dated February 15, 2012 (the “February 2012 Sales Agreement”), with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. under the Company’s shelf Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-176523). Of the 10,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock covered by the February 2012 Sales Agreement, 9,909,910 shares have been sold as of December 12, 2012, and 90,090 shares remain to be sold as of such date.

Sales of shares of Class A Common Stock, if any, pursuant to the Sales Agreement may be made in privately negotiated transactions or by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at-the-market” equity offering as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including, without limitation, sales made directly on or through the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the existing market for the Class A Common Stock, sales on any other existing trading market for the Class A Common Stock, or sales made to or through a market maker other than on an exchange, at market prices prevailing at the time of sale or at prices related to such prevailing market prices.

The foregoing description of the Sales Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Sales Agreement, a copy of which is included as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated by reference herein.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

[Signature Page to Form 8-K of BGC Partners, Inc., dated December 12, 2012, regarding the Controlled Equity Offering^SM Sales Agreement entered into between BGC Partners, Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., dated December 12, 2012]

Exhibit List