List of FCA-regulated Forex Brokers in the UK

Many traders look for forex brokers that are regulated by the UK's FCA due to their bona fide standards. Although their trading regulations may not be as strict as the United States' NFA/CFTC, the FCA-regulated forex brokers are required to undergo an inspection process and regular monitoring to uphold their standards.

What Is FCA?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body tasked with supervising and regulating companies providing financial services and preserving the integrity of the UK financial markets. The FCA was founded in 2013 to replace the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which previously acted as the UK's financial regulator but was undergoing restructuring at that time. The FCA was formed under English law, specifically the Financial Services Act 2012, but operates independently from the government system.

Based on the Financial Services Act 2012 which became effective on April 1, 2013, the FSA's authority was split into the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Based on its division of duties, the FCA has the authority to regulate the marketing of financial products, define minimum service standards and requirements in product marketing, as well as investigate, prohibit, or give special instructions to organizations and individuals providing financial products/services in the country.

Forex brokers regulated by the UK's FCA need to meet many requirements, including:

• Guarantee the quality of the bank where client funds are deposited, and continuously monitor the conformity of the bank's quality with the regulatory requirements, in which the banks are also required to be regulated.
• Storing client funds in a separate account from the company's depository (Segregated Account), where client funds must be treated separately from company assets.
• Provide regular financial reports to the FCA and undergo annual audits.
• Insuring client funds in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which can provide compensation for client funds in case of liquidation or bankruptcy.

Here are some examples of forex brokers that are regulated by the UK's FCA:

• Admiral Markets
• eToro
• FXOpen
• FxPro
• ThinkMarkets
• Vantage FX
• OANDA
• ActivTrades
• ADS Prime (ADS Securities)
• ATC Brokers
• Axi
• City Index (a subsidiary of Gain Capital)
• CMC Markets
• XTB Broker
• Swissquote
• Plus500
• Interactive Brokers
• IG Markets
• Darwinex
• Forex.com
• FXCM
• FXGiants - Formerly IronFX UK, a Cyprus-based broker who has been involved in many scandals since 2014-2015.
• Hantec Markets
• Hirose UK
• HY Markets (HYCM - Henyep Capital Markets)
• ICM Capital
• LMAX - Serves institutional clients
• Phillip Capital UK
• Valutrades
• LCG
• VARIANSE
• One ​​Financial Markets
• Tradenext
• InterTrader
• Spread Co
• YCM Invest
• CPT Markets

Disclaimer: This list was updated on March 8, 2024 so it may not actually include all UK's FCA-regulated forex brokers. To find the latest information about FCA forex brokers, you can search on Google with the keyword "FCA-regulated brokers".

For forex brokers in general, this regulation will guarantee the legality of their operations in the UK and the European Union (as long as the UK is still part of the EU). Meanwhile, for forex traders, having a forex broker regulated by the FCA verifies the company's existence (not a scam), fund security, and service quality standards.

How to Confirm FCA Regulatory Status?

If you want to check the regulatory status of a forex broker, you should check directly on the register FCA link by entering the name of the company that oversees the forex broker in the "Search" column provided.

One thing you need to pay attention to when checking the regulatory status of forex brokers in Europe, especially the UK, is that there are two types of regulatory status. The first status is authorized and regulated, while the second is only registered.

Authorized and regulated status means that the forex broker is truly under the auspices and authority of the UK's FCA. However, registered status, which is also often disguised as "regulated", actually refers to forex brokers who are regulated under other regulatory bodies in the European Union, but are permitted to operate in the UK.

In terms of this second status, the FCA does not have any authority over it because operational standards would follow the regulations from which the forex broker comes; it can be either Cyprus' CySEC, German BaFIN, etc. All of which may have varying degrees of quality in their regulations.