A licence badge on a broker's homepage is a claim, not proof. Anyone can put an "FCA regulated" logo on a website. The five-minute check below confirms whether it's real — and it catches most clone-firm and offshore tricks. Our regulation guide lists the official registers.
Step 1 — Find the licence number and the legal entity
Look in the website footer or a "Legal / Regulation" page, and in the client agreement you'd actually sign. Write down two things: the exact company name (not the brand) and the licence/registration number.
Brands and legal entities often differ. "BrandX" might really be "BrandX (Seychelles) Ltd" — and that's the entity that matters.
Step 2 — Go to the regulator's own register
Open the official register directly — type the regulator's name into a search engine yourself. Never use a link the broker provides; clone scammers send you to fake "register" pages.
- FCA (UK): register.fca.org.uk
- ASIC (Australia): connectonline.asic.gov.au
- CySEC (Cyprus/EU): cysec.gov.cy
- FSCA (South Africa): fsca.co.za
Step 3 — Match entity, status and permissions
Search the number or company name and confirm:
- The company name matches exactly — a near-match is a red flag for a clone firm.
- The status is active/authorised, not lapsed or withdrawn.
- The firm is permitted to deal in investments or derivatives — not merely "registered" for something unrelated.
Step 4 — Check the warning lists
Regulators publish lists of clone firms and unauthorised companies. Search the broker's name there too. The FCA's Warning List and ASIC's Moneysmart "investor alert" list are good places to start.
What the answers mean
If the number resolves to the right entity with the right permissions and no warnings — good, that protection is real. If the number doesn't resolve, the entity name is off, or the firm appears on a warning list — stop and walk away. No spread is worth an unverified broker.
A passed licence check confirms who's regulated, not that trading is safe — it never is. Educational content, not financial or legal advice.