Guide
How to check a broker yourself
Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.
What to do now
Find the legal name, not the brand
The website sells a brand; the register holds a company. The legal name is usually in the footer, in the terms, or on the payment page — look for a form like Ltd, S.A., Pty, PT. If the site never names a company, that is itself the answer.
Open the regulator's own register
Go to the regulator's website directly, by typing its address — not through a link on the broker's site. A licence page that lives on the broker's own domain proves nothing.
Match the company and the number
The name on the licence must be the company you are signing with, and the number must match exactly. A licence held by a sister company in another country is that company's licence, not the one you are about to trade under.
Check what the licence still says today
Registers show status and dates: withdrawn, suspended, ended. A screenshot on the broker's site can be years old; the register is current, and the date you read it is the only date that matters.
Getting money back
Keep these
- the exact legal name and licence number you found
- the address of the register page, and the date you opened it
- a copy of the broker's own licence claim, in case it changes later
Sourceswww.cysec.gov.cyregisters.esma.europa.euregisters.esma.europa.eubappebti.go.idregisters.esma.europa.euafsa.aifc.kzwww.gov.kzregisters.esma.europa.euwww.knf.gov.plregisters.esma.europa.eufsaseychelles.scwww.vfsc.vuwww.fsca.co.za
How to check a broker yourself
Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.
Check a broker
Paste the link you were sent, or type the company name.
The register holds the legal company, the site advertises the brand. We match on both, so a trading name finds the company that actually holds the licence.