South AfricaRegisters read 2026-09-29
Scam Watch
Guide

How to check a broker yourself

Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.

Step 1

Find the legal name, not the brand

The website sells a brand; the register holds a company. The legal name is usually in the footer, in the terms, or on the payment page — look for a form like Ltd, S.A., Pty, PT. If the site never names a company, that is itself the answer.

Step 2

Open the regulator's own register

Go to the regulator's website directly, by typing its address — not through a link on the broker's site. A licence page that lives on the broker's own domain proves nothing.

Step 3

Match the company and the number

The name on the licence must be the company you are signing with, and the number must match exactly. A licence held by a sister company in another country is that company's licence, not the one you are about to trade under.

Step 4

Check what the licence still says today

Registers show status and dates: withdrawn, suspended, ended. A screenshot on the broker's site can be years old; the register is current, and the date you read it is the only date that matters.

Keep these

  • —the exact legal name and licence number you found
  • —the address of the register page, and the date you opened it
  • —a copy of the broker's own licence claim, in case it changes later
Lookup

How to check a broker yourself

Four steps, ten minutes, and you never have to take our word for it — or theirs.

Broker name or site
Check

The register holds the legal company, the site advertises the brand. We match on both, so a trading name finds the company that actually holds the licence.

Sources we read

CY-CYSECCyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
Rows
248
Last good read
2026-09-29
Last attempt
2026-09-29
Result
read
CY-ESMACyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (via ESMA register)
Rows
327
Last good read
2026-09-29
Last attempt
2026-09-29
Result
read
ES-ESMAComisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (via ESMA register)
Rows
419
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
ID-BAPPEBTICommodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency
Rows
111
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
IT-ESMACommissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (via ESMA register)
Rows
490
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
KZ-AFSAAstana Financial Services Authority
Rows
172
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
KZ-ARDFMAgency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market
Rows
134
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
PL-ESMAKomisja Nadzoru Finansowego (via ESMA register)
Rows
50
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
PL-KNFPolish Financial Supervision Authority
Rows
665
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
RO-ESMAAutoritatea de Supraveghere Financiară (via ESMA register)
Rows
44
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read
SC-FSAFinancial Services Authority (Seychelles)
Rows
233
Last good read
2026-09-29
Last attempt
2026-09-29
Result
read
VU-VFSCVanuatu Financial Services Commission
Rows
66
Last good read
2026-09-29
Last attempt
2026-09-29
Result
read
ZA-FSCA-ODPFinancial Sector Conduct Authority (OTC Derivative Providers)
Rows
95
Last good read
2026-09-28
Last attempt
2026-09-28
Result
read