FCA regulated forex brokers: the UK list and the rules

Is forex trading legal or illegal in the UK?

Legal. No UK law stops a resident from trading currencies, CFDs or spread bets. What is illegal is offering them without permission: under section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, a person may not carry on a regulated activity in the UK, or claim to, unless authorised or exempt.

Spread betting is regulated by the same rules as CFDs. The FCA’s 2019 restrictions say references to CFDs include financial spread bets and rolling spot forex, so a spread betting account at an FCA firm carries the same leverage caps, close-out and negative balance protection.

General information about the rules, not legal or tax advice.

FCA regulated forex brokers list: 17 companies, 14 brands

Generated from our broker data (up to 19 Oct 2026). Some brands run more than one FCA company, for example one for CFDs and one for spread betting or share dealing. The FRN is the number to search on the FCA Register; where the last column shows a date, we found that company and number there on that day.

Leverage and compensation columns repeat the broker’s own wording, including its caveats. The FSCS decides every claim; a figure on a broker’s page is not a promise of cover. Vantage: A third-party report, not verified with the regulator, mentions a Securities Commission Malaysia investor alert (2021). A 2022 VFSC notice of intention to revoke the licence of Vantage Global Limited is not reflected in the current VFSC list: on 20 Oct 2026 the licence was shown as active, dated 22 Aug 2023.

FCA licences that do not take retail clients

An FCA licence on a brand’s website does not mean its UK company will open an account for you. These companies are in our data but are left off the list above:

• Exness: Exness (UK) Ltd (730729). B2B/institutional only — no retail permissions (FCA Firm Checker, 19 Oct 2026).
• FXCM: Stratos Markets Limited (217689). Client book being sold to Trade Nation (announced 6 Oct 2026, completion expected late Nov 2026); fxcm.com/uk says new accounts are provided through Trade Nation. FCA register (20 Oct 2026): "Authorised - applied to cancel".
• IC Markets has no UK (FCA) entity, so UK residents cannot get FCA protection with it.
• The XM brand runs on an offshore entity (FSC Belize, leverage up to 1:1000) and a CySEC entity for the EEA; the group’s FCA, ASIC and US licences belong to the sister brand Trading.com, not to XM.

What an FCA regulated broker must give a retail client

FCA rules for CFDs, rolling spot forex and spread bets (in force since 1 August 2019) require a firm to: limit leverage by asset, close out positions when the account’s funds fall to 50% of the margin needed to keep them open, make sure a client cannot lose more than the funds in the CFD account, show a standard risk warning with the share of its retail accounts that lose money, and stop offering cash or other incentives to trade.

Crypto derivatives are off the table altogether: since 6 January 2021 firms may not sell CFDs, options or futures on cryptoassets such as Bitcoin to retail consumers.

Opting up to professional client status removes these limits; that is how some FCA firms advertise higher leverage.

FSCS compensation and the Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme may pay out if an investment firm goes out of business: up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, for firms that failed after 1 April 2019. It does not pay for poor investment performance, so a losing trade is never an FSCS claim.

If you have a dispute with a live firm, complain to the firm first. It has up to 8 weeks for most complaints. After its final response you have 6 months to take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service; if the firm misses its deadline, you can go to the Ombudsman without waiting.

How to check a forex broker on the FCA Register

Clone firms copy a real firm’s name, address or FRN and a near-identical website. The FCA says scammers may claim the Register is out of date; it updates the Register and Firm Checker on average every 24 hours.

• Find the company name and FRN in the footer of the broker’s UK website.
• Search the FRN on the FCA Register and check the status is authorised and the permissions cover the product.
• Compare the phone, email and web address on the Register with the ones you were given; if they differ, contact the firm only through the Register details.
• Search the name on the FCA Warning List of unauthorised firms; if you cannot find the firm, the FCA’s consumer line is 0800 111 6768.

Who this list is not for

Traders outside the UK: the FCA companies here serve UK residents, and your country of residence decides which company of a brand opens your account. Traders looking for leverage above 30:1 on majors: retail clients get it only from offshore companies, and we do not rank by leverage.