Academy
Consumer
How to Check Whether a Broker Is Regulated
Using official registers to verify authorisation claims.
This guide explains how a market or product works, including its material risks. It is educational only and is not investment advice. Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains, education does not remove financial risk, and trading is not a reliable source of income.
A broker’s claim to be regulated should always be checked on the regulator’s own website, not on the broker’s website.
Steps
- Find the legal entity name and licence number in the broker’s legal documents.
- Search the official register of the named regulator, for example CySEC, the FCA or BaFin.
- Confirm that the entity name, website domain and permitted services match.
- Check the regulator’s warning lists for clone firms using similar names.
Why the entity matters
Many brands operate several entities in different countries. Client protections depend on the entity that holds the account, not the brand name.
Sources and data
- ESMA, register of investment firms
- IOSCO, Investor Alerts Portal
Corrections and updates
No corrections recorded. See our Corrections Policy.