How broker regulation changes depending on your country
Clarytrade analysed 20 brokers and 100 licence records to show why the legal entity behind your account matters before depositing.
The broker brand you see is not always the legal entity that opens your account. Many brokers operate several entities, and which one onboards you can depend on your country. That changes the regulator, the licence, the complaint route, the leverage limits and the investor-protection scheme that apply to you.
Across our dataset, 17 of 20 brokers use two or more legal entities, and 15 have at least one offshore (tier-3) entity. This is why we resolve the specific entity per country before anything else — and why you should verify it directly with the broker and the regulator before depositing.
Informational only — not financial advice, not a recommendation. Broker availability and entities can change; always verify directly with the broker and the regulator before depositing.
What the data shows (as of September 2026)
Every figure is computed from our broker records and licence-evidence log. Affiliate commission has 0% weighting; unverified records are labelled pending, not guessed.
The headline finding: 14 of the 100 licence records in our log (14%) required correction after checking the official regulator register — wrong licence numbers, withdrawn licences still listed, and in several cases a number that belonged to an entirely different firm. Counting only the 58 records where a register check has been completed, 24% of published licence claims needed correcting. Every correction is logged publicly in our corrections log.
Same brand, different entity by country
Real entity maps from our records. Where a mapping isn't confirmed we mark it likely or requires verification — never guessed.
Why it matters: the entity on your client agreement — not the brand — determines your regulator, complaint route and any compensation cover. Two clients of the same brand in different countries can hold accounts under different entities. Confirm yours at signup.
How the onboarding entity resolves per market
Our 15 hand-written markets. 'Requires verification' means we have entity data but no confirmed country mapping — treated as unresolved, not assumed.
| Country | Local regulator | Available | Confirmed entity | Requires verification | Notable caution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | KNF, CySEC (passported) | 17 | 10 | 2 | 4 may route Polish clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Germany | BaFin, CySEC (passported) | 17 | 9 | 2 | 5 may route German clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Ireland | Central Bank of Ireland, CySEC (passported) | 17 | 9 | 2 | 5 may route Irish clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Netherlands | AFM, CySEC (passported) | 17 | 9 | 2 | 5 may route Dutch clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Australia | ASIC | 18 | 7 | 2 | 4 may route Australian clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Kenya | CMA | 20 | 5 | 5 | 9 may route Kenyan clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| United Kingdom | FCA | 16 | 5 | 2 | 7 may route UK clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| United Arab Emirates | SCA, DFSA (DIFC) | 20 | 2 | 6 | 9 may route UAE clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Singapore | MAS | 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 may route Singaporean clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Nigeria | SEC Nigeria (limited) | 20 | 0 | 7 | 13 may route Nigerian clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Malaysia | SC Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia | 20 | 0 | 6 | 14 may route Malaysian clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| South Africa | FSCA | 19 | 0 | 3 | 8 may route South African clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| Brazil | CVM | 18 | 0 | 6 | 12 may route Brazilian clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| India | SEBI | 17 | 0 | 5 | 12 may route Indian clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
| New Zealand | FMA | 17 | 0 | 6 | 11 may route New Zealand clients through an offshore (tier-3) entity — protection differs. |
Register-checked licence records
Highlighted from 100 records: 44 verified on register, 14 corrected, 42 pending manual verification. See the methodology for how each was checked.
| Broker | Entity | Regulator | Licence | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axi | AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd | ASIC | 318232 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| Axi | Axi Financial Services (UK) Limited | FCA | 466201 · register | Verified on register | Sept 2026 |
| Axi | Solaris EMEA Limited | CySEC | 433/23 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| Axi | AxiTrader LLC | FSA | 4303 LLC 2025 | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| Eightcap | Eightcap Group Ltd | FCA | 921296 · register | Verified on register | Sept 2026 |
| Eightcap | Eightcap EU Ltd | CySEC | 246/14 · register | Verified on register | Jun 2026 |
| Exness | Exness KE Limited | CMA | 162 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| Exness | Exness (UK) Ltd | FCA | 730729 · register | Verified on register | Sept 2026 |
| Exness | Exness (Cy) Ltd | CySEC | 178/12 · register | Verified on register | Jun 2026 |
| FP Markets | FP Markets Limited | CMA | 193 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| FP Markets | First Prudential Markets Ltd | CySEC | 371/18 | Verified on register | Jun 2026 |
| Fusion Markets | Fusion Markets EU Ltd | CySEC | 444/24 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| Fusion Markets | Gleneagle Securities Pty Limited | VFSC | 40256 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| IC Markets | IC Markets (KE) Limited | CMA | 199 · register | Verified on register | Aug 2026 |
| IC Markets | IC Markets (EU) Ltd | CySEC | 362/18 | Verified on register | Jun 2026 |
| IG | IG Markets Limited | FCA | 195355 · register | Verified on register | Sept 2026 |
How this study was produced
- • Built from Clarytrade broker records, the licence-evidence log and the entity-decoder data — no external claims and no scraped sources.
- • Each licence record references a regulator authority + licence number; where available we link the official register entry.
- • Country entity mapping resolves the entity whose stated served-countries include your country; rest-of-world defaults are labelled likely.
- • Commission weighting: 0%. Affiliate relationships never change a score, a rank or a verification status.
- • Unverified records are marked pending or unknown rather than guessed. Corrections we've made are labelled corrected.
What this study does not claim
- • Broker entities, licences and country availability can change — figures are a point-in-time snapshot (September 2026).
- • Which entity onboards you can depend on residency, product, client classification and the broker's own policy at signup.
- • Some records are still pending manual verification and are labelled as such.
- • This is informational only — not financial advice, not a recommendation, and not a claim about any broker's safety or suitability. Always verify directly with the broker and the regulator before depositing.
Verify it yourself
Cite this study
Clarytrade, a broker-research database, checked 100 broker licence records across 20 brokers and 74 legal entities against official regulator registers (22 regulators). 14 records (14%) required correction — including licence numbers registered to entirely different firms. 17 of 20 brokers onboard clients through two or more legal entities, and 15 operate at least one offshore (tier-3) entity. Snapshot: 2026-09-09. Method & corrections log: clarytrade.com/methodology · clarytrade.com/editorial-policy#corrections. Verification queries: hello@clarytrade.com.
“Same broker brand, different legal entity. Clarytrade analysed broker licence records to show why account entity matters before depositing.”
“Broker comparison should not stop at spreads. Entity, licence, jurisdiction and withdrawal rules can change by country.”
“Affiliate commission has 0% weighting in Clarytrade's broker scores. Unverified records are labelled pending instead of guessed.”
Please link to clarytrade.com/research/broker-entity-study when citing. Data snapshot: 2026-09-09 — figures recompute as records are re-checked, so quote the snapshot date alongside any number.