Regulator registers

Why check yourself

A broker's website can claim anything. The regulator's own register is the only reliable source. Checking takes two minutes and is the single best protection against fraud.

How to check a licence

1. Find the licence number and the exact legal name of the entity in the broker's website footer or client agreement.
2. Search the regulator's register for that number or name. Use the regulator's own site, typed in yourself: never a link from the broker or an email.
3. Check that the website address on the register matches the site you are on, and that the firm is authorised for the services you want (for example, dealing in CFDs).
4. Check which entity will hold your account. Many groups have several companies in different countries; you may be onboarded under an offshore entity with fewer protections.
5. Check the regulator's warning list as well.

Clone firms

Fraudsters copy the name, licence number and address of real regulated firms. If the register entry exists but lists different contact details or a different website, treat it as a clone. Contact the real firm using the details on the register, not the ones you were given.

Registers and warning lists

Cyprus: CySEC

• CySEC regulated entities
• CySEC warnings

United Kingdom: FCA

• FCA Financial Services Register
• FCA ScamSmart and warning list

Australia: ASIC

• ASIC professional registers
• Moneysmart investor alert list

Germany: BaFin

• BaFin company database

France: AMF

• REGAFI register of authorised firms
• AMF blacklists

Italy: CONSOB

• CONSOB investment firms
• CONSOB unauthorised financial services

EU-wide and international

• ESMA registers: EU investment firms and cross-border passports.
• IOSCO I-SCAN: warnings from regulators worldwide in one search.

If something looks wrong

Do not send money. Report it to the regulator concerned, and tell us at [email protected] so we can check any review of that firm.