FCA regulation explained

What an FCA authorisation actually gives a UK retail trader, and what it does not.

Every firm listed on this site holds a live authorisation you can verify on the Financial Services Register. That single sentence does more work than any amount of marketing language about "regulated and trusted", a phrase which appears on the websites of firms with no UK permissions at all.

The rest of this page is written for the moment it matters: when you are about to deposit, when something has gone wrong, or when a broker's answer does not sound right. Each point below is a rule you can check for yourself against public sources.

The regulator authorises a firm to carry on a regulated activity. It does not vet the quality of the pricing, the platform or the support, and it never guarantees that you will make money.

In practice this is where the difference between firms shows up. Two brokers can both be authorised and still handle the same situation very differently, because the rule sets a floor rather than a standard. When we score a firm on regulation and safety, we look at how far above that floor it chooses to operate: how clearly it names its entity, how specific its disclosure is, and how it behaves when a client disputes something.

Large groups run several entities. The website you land on may be operated by an offshore company while a separate UK entity holds the FCA permission. The protections follow the entity that holds your money.

In practice this is where the difference between firms shows up. Two brokers can both be authorised and still handle the same situation very differently, because the rule sets a floor rather than a standard. When we score a firm on regulation and safety, we look at how far above that floor it chooses to operate: how clearly it names its entity, how specific its disclosure is, and how it behaves when a client disputes something.

A firm may be authorised to arrange deals but not to hold client money, or to deal as agent but not as principal. The register lists the exact permissions, and they tell you how the business is really structured.

In practice this is where the difference between firms shows up. Two brokers can both be authorised and still handle the same situation very differently, because the rule sets a floor rather than a standard. When we score a firm on regulation and safety, we look at how far above that floor it chooses to operate: how clearly it names its entity, how specific its disclosure is, and how it behaves when a client disputes something.

Some firms operate under another company's licence as an appointed representative. That is legal, but the responsibility sits with the principal firm, which is worth knowing before you deposit.

In practice this is where the difference between firms shows up. Two brokers can both be authorised and still handle the same situation very differently, because the rule sets a floor rather than a standard. When we score a firm on regulation and safety, we look at how far above that floor it chooses to operate: how clearly it names its entity, how specific its disclosure is, and how it behaves when a client disputes something.