Guide

How to check a broker yourself

Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.

Steps

1Find the legal name, not the brandThe 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.

2Open the regulator's own registerGo 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.

3Match the company and the numberThe 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.

4Check what the licence still says todayRegisters show status and dates: withdrawn, suspended, ended.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.

RouteWindowWhat happensWhere

Offers to get your 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.cy registers.esma.europa.eu registers.esma.europa.eu bappebti.go.id registers.esma.europa.eu afsa.aifc.kz www.gov.kz registers.esma.europa.eu www.knf.gov.pl registers.esma.europa.eu fsaseychelles.sc www.vfsc.vu www.fsca.co.za

Lookup

How to check a broker yourself

Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.

Company name or website

Check

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.

Sources we read

CY-CYSECCyprus Securities and Exchange Commission

Rows: 248
Last good read: 2026-09-29
Last attempt: 2026-09-29
Result: read

CY-ESMACyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (via ESMA register)

Rows: 327
Last good read: 2026-09-29
Last attempt: 2026-09-29
Result: read

ES-ESMAComisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (via ESMA register)

Rows: 419
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

ID-BAPPEBTICommodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency

Rows: 111
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

IT-ESMACommissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (via ESMA register)

Rows: 490
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

KZ-AFSAAstana Financial Services Authority

Rows: 172
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

KZ-ARDFMAgency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market

Rows: 134
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

PL-ESMAKomisja Nadzoru Finansowego (via ESMA register)

Rows: 50
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

PL-KNFPolish Financial Supervision Authority

Rows: 665
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

RO-ESMAAutoritatea de Supraveghere Financiară (via ESMA register)

Rows: 44
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read

SC-FSAFinancial Services Authority (Seychelles)

Rows: 233
Last good read: 2026-09-29
Last attempt: 2026-09-29
Result: read

VU-VFSCVanuatu Financial Services Commission

Rows: 66
Last good read: 2026-09-29
Last attempt: 2026-09-29
Result: read

ZA-FSCA-ODPFinancial Sector Conduct Authority (OTC Derivative Providers)

Rows: 95
Last good read: 2026-09-28
Last attempt: 2026-09-28
Result: read