Regulated Brokers



Below you will find a list of regulated brokers we have found to be reliable and trustworthy, and who also participate in our Broker Sponsorship project. We encourage you to share your feedback by email and on this page by voting.

Broker Name
Minimum
Deposit
Regulation
Instruments
Rating
Notes

What’s a Regulated Broker?

Regulated brokers are investment brokerages that are registered with a financial regulatory body for their country, for example, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is a financial regulator for the United Kingdom.

Brokers that are registered and regulated by financial regulators are bound by quality control standards set forth by financial regulators, these strict rules are imposed to help safeguard investors against fraudulent activities.

Depending upon the jurisdiction that you reside in, trading online with a brokerage that is unregulated may be illegal, therefore, we advise traders to invest only with regulated brokerages.

Why You Should Only Invest with Regulated Brokers

Regulated brokers must operate within strict guidelines set down by regulators and are ultimately for your protection, so you would be doing yourself a disservice by considering trading with an unregulated brokerage.

If you live in a region where forex, contracts-for-difference or online trading is prohibited we recommend that you adhere to the laws set forth by your country.

If you are attempting to deposit with an unregulated broker because you know that day trading or certain styles of trading are banned where you reside you may be doing yourself more harm than you know.

Scammers have long since plagued the online investment arena with shady investment “brokers” that may look professional and legitimate to you but deep down are only there to fleece you out of your hard-earned money.

For those of you who have been in the online trading arena for the past half-decade, you will undoubtedly remember the notoriousness and large volume of binary option broker scams that plagued the online trading community.

These unregulated brokers reigned freely and fleeced thousands of investors out of their money and while binary options may be extinct you never know which forex, contracts-for-difference or options brokers are legitimate if they fail to be regulated or make any mention of regulation.

Additionally, just because a brokerage states that they are regulated does not mean that they are.

Many scam brokerages fabricate falsified regulation documents in the attempt to appear more legitimate when in a reality they were nothing but scams, therefore, make sure you always double-check brokers disclosed regulatory numbers to verify authenticity.

Regulators to Know in 2020

It is important to remember that the foreign exchange market is decentralized, therefore, there is no centralized exchange that is designated with the responsibility of handling forex transactions.

As a whole, the forex markets operate as an over-the-counter (OTC) market that is unregulated while the foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world generating a turn over well over $5.1 trillion per day.

To put that into perspective, that is a little over 20x times the trading volume of the stock market!

As a result of the unregulated nature of the foreign exchange market, governmental and independent bodies have been established to help monitor, supervise, and enforce regulations to help safeguard traders against fraudulent activities.

Recently we’ve compiled The Definitive Guide for Forex Regulations in 2020 where we go over a list of regulators for over 60 countries.

You may better familiarize yourself with regulators within your country through the guide while some of the main regulators that you should become familiar would be:

How do Regulations Protect Traders?

Regulations protect traders by enforcing quality services and products, fair prices, and requiring brokers to operate in a more transparent capacity. Additionally, the enforcement of regulations on fair pricing allows traders to receive better services and deals with brokers through increased competition between rivaling brokers.
  • Transparency - Financial audits are a regular occurrence with regulated brokers which will help prevent your account from potentially being fleeced by scams or involved in fraudulent schemes.
  • Risk Warnings - Regulated brokers are required to disclose transparent risk warnings when opening an account therefore customers are well-aware of the risks before trading live.
  • Compensation - If a broker should declare bankruptcy, you are expected to receive a portion of your funds back. An example would be how CySec regulated brokers are required to sign up for an Investor Compensation Fund.
  • Anti-Money Laundering & Credit Card Fraud - Part of a KYC Policy (Know-Your-Client), traders are required to provide a photo ID along with Proof of Address. While this process may seem time-consuming it is essential and helps prevent credit card fraud and money laundering.

7 Questions to Ask Before Investing with a Broker

  1. What are the minimum deposit, payment methods, and trading terms?
  2. Does this broker offer mobile, desktop, and web-based trading?
  3. Does the style of trading offer suit my investment style?
  4. Does the broker offer a free demo account for practicing?
  5. How helpful and relevant are answers given by customer support?
  6. What are other traders saying about the broker, are they highly rated?
  7. Is this broker regulated, and if so, does the regulation number match the subsidiary disclosed on the site?

Regulated Broker for US, UK, and Australian Traders

Forex.com is one of the longest operating foreign exchange and contracts-for-difference brokers within the day trading arena. Among supported assets are Forex, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, Bonds, ETFs, and Commodities. Forex is known as an industry-leading FX broker, supports over 180 global markets and has an excellent customer support team.

Forex.com

Regulated Brokers for Europe Traders

AvaTrade is a top-rated broker that has been in the investment arena since 2006. Regulated by 7 financial authorities, AvaTrade is a versatile and popular FX and CFD broker best known for its extensive array of forex, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. You may learn more regarding this broker in our recent AvaTrade Review - (2020).

AvaTrade

ActivTrades is a renowned global CFD broker established in 2001. It provides more than 1000 CFDs on Forex, Indices, Commodities, Financials, Shares, ETFs and Spread Betting. ActivTrades offers a wide range of financial products and services, competitively priced, with fast and accurate execution available through ActivTrader, its own proprietary platform, as well as through other popular trading platforms.

How to Get a Free Demo Account

Many regulated brokers offer free demo accounts when registering with their platform. You should not be forced to deposit fiat currency into the brokerage to receive access to a broker’s demo account. Depending upon where you reside will dictate which regulated brokers are available to you along with whether or not they support a demo account. You can learn more regarding which regulated brokers are offering demo accounts where you reside by visiting our Ultimate Guide to Free Demo Accounts in 2020.

What is an Islamic Broker Account?

A broker that offers an Islamic Forex trading account does not charge or pay interest, as per the laws of the Islamic faith.

What Editorial Standards are Used to Rank Brokers?

We have strict editorial standards that we use to rank brokers. Given the many changes that have occurred throughout online trading, the financial markets, and the effects of global crisis’s we’ve been forced to adept a more thorough standard upon which we gauge an investment broker’s authenticity. Among the 5 Chief standards upon which we rate brokers would be:
  1. Licensing, Regulation & Investor Safe Guards
  2. Usability, Research & Educational Resources, and Technology
  3. Corporate Transparency, Longevity, and Broker Security
  4. Trading Platform, Order Types, and Range of Offers
  5. Client Reviews, Cost-Points, and Customer Service

Additional Resources You May Find Helpful

You may also benefit from visiting our Performance Page where we document the success of our trading systems and strategies on a day-to-day basis.