Regulators
Look up broker licenses, regulators and risk tier.
Top-tier authorities (FCA, ASIC, etc.) conduct active supervision and offer statutory investor compensation schemes.
The FCA is the conduct regulator for financial services firms and financial markets in the United Kingdom. It supervises more than 50,000 firms and is one of the most-respected regulators in retail trading.
ASIC is Australia's integrated corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator. Australian regulation requires client money to be kept in segregated trust accounts at AA-rated banks.
CySEC regulates investment services in Cyprus and is widely seen as the gateway to the EU under MiFID II passporting. Many large retail brokers hold a CySEC license plus one or more "passported" authorisations across EEA.
The FSA is the Japanese integrated financial regulator. It supervises banks, insurance companies, securities firms and FX margin brokers. Maximum leverage is capped at 1:25 for retail FX.
MAS regulates financial services in Singapore and is widely considered the gold standard for Asia-Pacific retail broker oversight. Retail leverage capped at 1:20 for major FX pairs.
BaFin supervises banks, insurance, securities and asset management in Germany. German regulation is widely respected in the EU.
Adequate regulation but typically without statutory compensation; client funds must be segregated at top-rated banks.
FSCA regulates South African financial services. Leverage capped at 1:500 for major FX; client funds segregated.
Limited regulatory supervision. Investor recourse is limited. We recommend caution.
The IFSC in Belize is a light-touch regulator. It licenses FX brokers but with limited oversight, no capital adequacy checks comparable to FCA/ASIC, and no investor compensation scheme.
Offshore jurisdictions do not regulate FX trading and offer no investor protection.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines does NOT regulate FX trading. The "SVG FSA" registration is a company registry listing, not a financial regulator. Brokers using this designation are not subject to conduct or capital rules.
