Start with the number in the footer. It looks official, it has the right shape, and it is trivial to copy. A firm can put any number on any page, and the number that appears is frequently a real one belonging to a real authorised firm that has nothing to do with the site you are reading. Verification is the process of going the other way: from the regulator's own database to the firm, and checking that the two ends match.
Done properly this takes a few minutes and catches most of what it is designed to catch. Done casually it produces false confidence, which is worse than not checking.
Reach the register the long way
Never follow the link on the firm's own site. A link is a claim, and a copied register page or a lookalike domain sitting behind it is a known technique. Type the regulator's domain yourself or reach it from an independent source, then find the register from the regulator's own navigation. Regulators publish their registers under names that vary by country: a financial services register, a list of authorised or licensed entities, a public database of investment firms, a warning list of unauthorised firms. Most also maintain a separate list of firms they have warned about, and that list is worth searching by name and by domain as a second step. Where the registers live in practice is set out in broker licence registers.
Search by the legal entity name and by the licence number separately, and compare the results. If the number returns a company whose name you have never seen on the trading site, stop. That mismatch is the single clearest signal there is.
Match the entity, not the brand
Trading brands and legal entities are usually different words. The register lists the entity. The site sells the brand. Your job is to establish the link between them, and the honest way is to find the entity name in the firm's own terms of business, client agreement or legal notice, then search the register for that entity.
Two things go wrong here. A brand can be operated by a group with several entities, and the one that appears on the register may not be the one that will sign your agreement, which is the structural point behind onshore and offshore entity splits. And many regimes allow a licensed firm to register trading names, so a legitimate brand may appear on the register as an appointed name under the entity. Check whether the specific brand is listed there rather than assuming it is covered.
Read the entry, not just the fact of it
An entry answers more questions than most people ask of it.
| Field | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Status | Active, restricted, suspended, in liquidation or withdrawn. A withdrawn entry stays visible and is easy to misread as authorisation. |
| Permissions | The activities the firm may carry on. Holding client money, dealing on own account and simply transmitting orders are different permissions with different consequences. |
| Client types | Whether the firm may serve retail clients, or only professional and eligible counterparties. |
| Territories | Where the firm may operate, including passporting or cross border notifications where the regime records them. |
| Addresses and domains | Registered address, phone and any website the firm has notified. A domain absent from the entry is a reason to ask why. |
| Dates and history | Authorisation date, any variation of permission, and published disciplinary history where the regulator maintains it. |
Permission scope is where most misreadings happen. A firm authorised only to receive and transmit orders is authorised, and is not authorised to hold your money or to deal as your counterparty. Both statements are true at once, and a marketing page that says regulated by name is technically accurate while being useless. Our note on licence versus registration unpacks the related trap, where an entity registered for something narrow presents that registration as broad supervision.
A register entry describes permissions, not quality, safety or the likelihood of profit. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of losing money quickly, and authorisation does not change that.
Check the contact details against reality
The most useful field on many registers is the one nobody reads: the contact details on file. Take the phone number and the address from the register, not from the website, and use those. A firm that answers on its registered number and confirms the account you are being offered is a different proposition from one that only responds through a chat widget and a messaging app.
The same applies to domains and payment details. If the register shows one website and you are on another, if the payment instructions name an individual or an unrelated company, or if the bank account country has no connection to the entity or its licence, treat each as a separate reason to stop. Those specific mismatches are the working mechanism behind clone firm scams.
What verification cannot tell you
The register confirms permissions. It does not confirm execution quality, financial strength beyond any published accounts, how withdrawals are handled in practice, or whether the entity that appears will remain the entity facing you next year. It also lags: a suspension published today reflects a decision taken earlier, and a firm can be in difficulty for months before anything appears.
So treat the register as the first filter rather than the last word. Firms that fail it are excluded immediately, which is most of the value. Firms that pass it still need the ordinary checks on terms, fund handling and withdrawals, and the step by step version of that wider process is in how to check a broker licence.
"Half the people who tell me they checked the licence looked at the broker's own about page. That is checking that the broker can type."
— Roman Onta, Executive Director, SINGUARD
Key Takeaways
- Reach the register by typing the regulator's own domain, never through a link on the firm's website.
- Search by legal entity and by licence number separately, and treat any mismatch with the brand as disqualifying.
- Read status, permissions, client types and territories, because authorised and authorised to do this are different facts.
- Use the phone number, address and domain recorded on the register rather than the ones printed on the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if a broker is not on the regulator's register at all?
Then the claim of authorisation by that regulator is unsupported. It may be licensed elsewhere, in which case check that regulator's own register directly, but a firm that cannot be found under the authority it names should be treated as unverified.
Does an active register entry mean my money is protected?
No. An entry records permissions. Whether client money rules, negative balance protection or a compensation scheme apply depends on the specific permissions, the client category and the jurisdiction, and each has to be checked on its own terms.
Why does the register show a different company name than the website?
Often because the brand is a trading name of the licensed entity, which many regimes allow and record. It can also mean the site is operated by a different group entity, or that the site is unconnected to the licensed firm entirely. Confirm the link in the firm's own client agreement before going further.
About the Author
Roman Onta is an Executive Director at SINGUARD. He builds the Prop Firm CRM, the Broker CRM, Scalegram and CopySignals side by side with his brother Alex Onta, and he helped on the design of eTrader, the division Alex built and leads. His ground is worldwide payment processing, AML compliance and the corporate structures brokers are built on, work the two of them carry together, shaped by executive roles in the UAE and international corporates. He lives and works in Dubai for most of the year. Meet the executive duo leading Singuard's five divisions.