FCA Regulated Forex Brokers

Compare Forex and CFD brokers regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, and understand the steps they take to protect your funds.


4.1 / 5 Plus500
81% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Trade CFDs on 2,000+ instruments spanning Forex, shares, indices, commodities and ETFs. Plus500.com is a regulated broker listed on the London Stock Exchange.

  • Likes
  • CFDs on over 2,000 instruments including US and international stocks.
  • Advanced charting tools.
  • Market sentiment tools.
  • Dislikes
  • No support for MetaTrader 4, 5 or cTrader.
  • No support for automated trading.
  • No PAMM accounts.
Our take on Plus500

Plus500's trading platform makes it easy to stay on top of market developments, by showing the biggest risers and fallers. It also provides unique insights into market sentiment, for example by showing the percentage of buyers and sellers of a given instrument at any point in time. This could be of interest if you're a contrarian investor.

However, those accustomed to the MetaTrader 4, 5 or cTrader platforms may miss the ability to create automated trading strategies or custom indicators. And whilst we were surprised by the quality of Plus500's charting tools, it isn't on par with TradingView yet.

Plus500 charges no fees on deposits or withdrawals. You can also open a trading account in your own currency. However, currency conversion fees up to 0.7% will apply later, on any realised profits or losses on instruments in other currencies.

Read review ▷

Opening an account with a broker regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) offers 2 levels of protection: 1) FCA rules and requirements and 2) access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Protection under FCA Rules

Under FCA rules, brokers have an obligation to protect their clients' money and assets.

  • FCA regulated brokers must place all money paid and owed to traders into separate bank accounts. These accounts should only contain client money and cannot co-mingle with the brokers' own funds. This process, known as segregation, must happen on a daily basis.
  • The FCA requires that brokers establish a trust over these accounts. This prevents the bank from using funds in client money accounts to set off debts owed by the broker. In other words, the trusteeship protects your money in the event of bankruptcy.

However, account segregation alone cannot protect against fraud or criminal behaviour. In March 2012, WorldSpreads, a London-listed spread betting operator was wound down after the discovery of an alleged accounting fraud that left £13m missing from its clients' accounts. And in 2011, MF Global, a 228-year-old US brokerage firm, filed for bankruptcy after losing US$ 1.6 billion of its customers' money.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

The FSCS provides another level of protection for customers of FCA regulated brokers. The FSCS is the UK's compensation fund of last resort and is the institution you can turn to for compensation if your broker is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it. This typically happens when it has stopped trading or has been declared in default.

Limits apply to how much compensation FSCS may be able to pay, and those limits vary between different types of financial products. The maximum levels of compensation for investments is £50,000 per person per firm.

Share this article:

Author

About the author

I'm Stéphane, a trader and an entrepreneur. My mission with TrustedBrokers is to help you find the right broker for you, whether you're a beginner or a pro. I've personally used and tested the brokers on our service, opening and funding real-money accounts, contacting customer service and placing trades. I started my career in investment banking in London.

Leave a comment

Your email will not be published. Required fields are marked with *