We thoroughly check the background of any brokers, software, or service providers we recommend. We only recommend reputable, trustworthy brokers with a good third-party rating from consumers.
However, sometimes brokers are investigated by the regulatory authorities and may have charges bought against them.
7 Steps To Perform a Forex, CFD or Stock Broker Background Check
- Understand which broker you are interested in using.
- Decide where you want to open an account. Even if you reside in the U.K., some brokers allow you to open accounts in other regions, for example, Australia.
- If you want an Australian account, you can check is that the broker is regulated in Australia using the table below.
- Perform a search on the company name.
- If you cannot find the name that is usually a red flag.
- Check the warning list; each authority provides a list of scam brokers or unregulated entities.
- If you are being approached by a company claiming to be regulated and you find it that it isn’t, please flag it to the relevant authority, using the links below.
Table 1: List of Main Financial Regulators Globally
| Regulator | Country |
| NFA – National Futures Association | U.S.A. |
| CFTC – Commodities Futures Trading Commission | U.S.A. |
| CySEC – Cyprus Security & Exchange Commission | Cyprus – Europe |
| F.C.A – Financial Conduct Authority | U.K. |
| IFSC – International Financial Services Commission | Belize |
| DFSA – Dubai Financial Services Authority | U.A.E. |
| ASIC – Australian Securities & Investments Commission | Australia |
| FSCA – Financial Sector Conduct Authority | South Africa |
| ESMA and MiFID – European Securities & Markets Authority | E.U. |
Tips For Testing A Broker You Want To Use.
- After opening an account, you must verify your identification. If they do not ask for a copy of your I.D. / Passport and a recent utility bill, this is a red flag.
- Do not transfer your life savings to the broker; start with a small cash transfer to fund your account, a few hundred or a thousand dollars or euros.
- Make a few test trades understand how the commissions/spread, leverage works.
- Try to withdraw your money to test the process. You must use the same account or card as you used in depositing the money, they cannot refund to another location; this is against anti-money laundering legislation.
- Call customer support or your account representative and ask them some questions to see if they are responsive.
If you are very happy with the service, leave them a positive rating.
Following any recommendation, from any website or person is at your own risk, ensure to do your research before signing up with a broker.
LiberatedStockTrader.com accepts no responsibility for your experience with any broker.
