How to Check a Forex Broker’s Licence
To check a forex broker’s licence, search the regulator’s official register, confirm the firm’s current status and permissions, then match its details to the company opening your account. Finding a licence number is only part of the job. You also need to establish that the website and people handling your application belong to that licensed business.
The FCA’s firm-checking guidance makes the distinction clear: check both authorisation and permission for the service being offered. Use the process below before submitting identity documents or transferring money. For the broader purpose of supervision, see our guide to forex broker regulation.
1. Identify the Legal Company Behind Your Account
Start with the client agreement, account application and regulatory disclosures. Write down the full legal company name, claimed regulator, licence or registration number, registered address and website address. Keep the legal name separate from the trading brand.
The company named in your agreement deserves more attention than the logos in the website footer. The FCA’s guidance for CFD and rolling spot forex customers warns that overseas businesses may share trading names with UK firms. It advises customers to check the terms and conditions to establish which entity they are contracting with and where it is incorporated.
Ask for written clarification if the application names a different company from the regulatory page. Do not let a statement about the group’s licences substitute for identifying your own account provider.
Also distinguish a financial services licence from ordinary company registration. A certificate of incorporation does not establish permission to offer forex trading. ASIC’s Moneysmart verification guidance expressly distinguishes registration of a company from authorisation to provide financial services. A company number answers one question; it does not answer every question.
2. Open the Official Regulatory Register Independently
Find the regulator’s official website independently, then follow its link to the public register. Do not rely on a screenshot, downloadable certificate or a verification page supplied through a sales message. The FCA’s warning about clone firms explains that fraudsters copy genuine firms’ details and may direct customers to convincing websites.
Search by the licence number and repeat the search using the full legal name. Open the detailed record rather than stopping at the search result. The following are examples of official verification routes, not an exhaustive list of jurisdictions.
| Jurisdiction | Official resource | What to examine |
|---|---|---|
| United States | NFA BASIC database | CFTC registration, NFA membership, registration categories and regulatory history. |
| United Kingdom | FCA Firm Checker and Financial Services Register | Authorisation, permissions, contact details and the detailed regulatory record. |
| Australia | ASIC Professional Registers Search | The relevant Australian financial services licence or representative record, status and conditions. |
| Kenya | Capital Markets Authority licensee directory | The legal entity and licence number under the appropriate online foreign exchange category. |
If the name search returns nothing, try the licence number, check spelling and examine any trading names shown in the official record. Treat a close match as a lead to investigate, not confirmation.
If the register is unavailable or the result remains unclear, pause the application and contact the regulator through its independently located website. A broken search page is not a reason to accept the broker’s certificate instead.
Where Third-Party Licence Checkers Fit
For a Kenya-focused search, a resource such as Forex.ke’s Live CMA Kenya Broker License Checker provides another starting point. Treat third-party tools as supporting resources, not substitutes for the CMA’s own records.
Take any company name or licence number from a checker back to the official directory. Compare the category and company details yourself. If the two sources disagree, ask the regulator to resolve the discrepancy before funding an account. The same approach applies to broker comparison sites and regulatory ratings.
3. Read the Current Status, Not Just the Registration Date
A record can exist without showing current permission to conduct business. The FCA explains that its register includes firms with current and former authorisation, as well as details of some unauthorised businesses. Search visibility is not approval.
Read the status field, its effective date and any accompanying notices. Do not proceed with a new account where the required permission is cancelled, revoked or suspended. If the status is conditional or unclear, establish whether the firm may accept new customers for the service you want.
For UK checks, the FCA’s explanation of authorisation statuses says that “No longer authorised” and “Revoked” mean authorisation has been cancelled. The reason may differ, so read the regulatory history rather than assuming every cancellation means fraud.
In the United States, an NFA identification number alone does not demonstrate membership. NFA’s investor advisory on verification notes that former members, pending applicants and certain exempt firms also have identification numbers and appear in BASIC. Confirm the current membership status, not just the existence of the number.
4. Check Permission for the Product and the Firm’s Role
Next, establish what the company is allowed to do. The FCA Firm Checker is designed to check permission for the product or service, not simply whether a firm appears in its records. Apply that same distinction wherever you are checking.
Describe the proposed arrangement plainly: you want a retail trading account, you will place forex or forex CFD trades, and a named company will provide the account. Compare that arrangement with the permissions and restrictions shown by the regulator. Do not assume permission for an unrelated financial service covers trading.
For a US firm claiming to be a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer, NFA’s RFED registration requirements state that registered RFEDs must be NFA members and designated Forex Dealer Members. NFA also requires registered firms conducting forex activities to hold the relevant forex firm approval. Check the category appropriate to the business’s actual role.
In Australia, examine the services and conditions attached to the relevant licence. ASIC’s register guidance notes that one organisation can have more than one registration or licence, so check that you are viewing the correct record.
If a UK business is an appointed representative, identify its principal firm. The FCA’s explanation of appointed representatives advises checking with the principal which activities the representative may undertake. Do not mistake a representative relationship for unrestricted authorisation.
5. Match the Website and Contact Details
A genuine licence number can still appear on a fraudulent website. The FCA describes clone firms as fraudsters impersonating authorised businesses, sometimes copying their names, addresses and firm reference numbers while changing the contact details.
Compare the website domain, telephone number, email address and business address with the official record wherever those fields are available. Inspect the whole domain, including its ending. Do not overlook an extra word or a different spelling because the branding looks familiar.
Use contact details from the register to confirm that the application website and any person approaching you belong to the licensed firm. Do not ask the same unverified salesperson to authenticate their own telephone number. That is verification going round in circles.
Where a contact field is missing, ask the regulator how to verify it. If someone claims the official details are outdated, resolve that claim through the regulator rather than accepting the replacement details they provide. This follows the FCA’s advice on dealing with missing or disputed contact information.
Pay attention to the exact legal name too. NFA advises matching the name, main business address and telephone number against BASIC. A similar name is not the same legal entity.
6. Confirm That the Authorisation Applies to Your Account
Return to the account agreement after completing the register checks. The authorised company you found should be the company responsible for the service you are accepting, not simply another business under the same brand.
Consider a hypothetical application that advertises UK authorisation but presents an agreement with a separately incorporated overseas company. Finding the UK company on the FCA register does not verify the overseas company. The FCA’s guidance on checking the contracting entity addresses this risk and warns customers to consider the protections they could lose.
Check your country of residence and proposed client classification as part of that review. Ask which company will serve you, what permission it relies on and which complaints arrangements apply. If a firm proposes changing you from retail to professional status, investigate the consequences before accepting; the FCA warns that this can remove retail protections.
For US residents, overseas registration is not a substitute for checking US requirements. The CFTC’s registration guidance says foreign entities soliciting US customers to trade generally must register, although exemptions exist. Refer claimed exemptions to the relevant authority rather than interpreting them from a sales explanation.
Our comparison of offshore and locally regulated forex brokers covers the broader jurisdiction decision. Here, the immediate task is to verify the account actually being offered.
7. Search Warnings and Regulatory History
Check the regulator’s warning notices and the firm’s disciplinary history alongside its current status. The CFTC recommends checking registration and disciplinary history before considering a trading offer’s potential returns. BASIC provides access to both registration information and regulatory history.
Search the legal name, trading name and website address. Read any warning carefully to establish whether it concerns the authorised company, an impersonator or a different entity with a similar name.
Do not interpret an empty warning search as approval. The FCA Warning List explicitly cautions that an unlisted firm may still be unauthorised or fraudulent. Regulators may not yet know about a new operation or name.
If you find an unresolved warning, a mismatched domain or a restriction affecting new accounts, stop the funding process. Record the discrepancy and ask the regulator for clarification. For warning signs beyond the licence check, see our guide to identifying forex broker scams.
8. Save the Evidence and Recheck Before Funding
Keep a dated verification file rather than relying on memory. Save the detailed register entry, relevant conditions and the agreement naming your account provider. ASIC’s professional register, for example, provides an option to export an entry to PDF.
Your file should contain:
- The legal company name, regulator and licence or registration number.
- The status, permitted activities and restrictions you checked.
- The website and contact details you matched.
- The client agreement and any clarification received through verified channels.
- The date of the check and the official record’s address.
Repeat the check before funding if time has passed since your application. Also repeat it if the provider changes your contracting company, website or account classification. An earlier check should not become a permanent assumption.
Proceed to the next stage of choosing a forex broker only when the identity, status, permissions and account arrangements align. If a material point remains unresolved, leave the account unfunded.
A completed licence check reduces uncertainty about who you are dealing with. It does not guarantee honest conduct or a successful investment: the CFTC cautions that registration and a clean disciplinary record do not eliminate fraud risk. Treat verification as the minimum entry requirement, not the whole decision.