Official registers
Is it licensed in United Kingdom?
How to check an investment platform, forex or crypto broker, loan app, bank or insurer in United Kingdom — and the red flags of unlicensed operators.
Check a company now
Investment or trading platform
FCA Financial Services Register
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
Forex, CFD or crypto broker
FCA Financial Services Register
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
Loan app or lender
FCA Financial Services Register
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
The firm must be "Authorised". Use only the phone and website listed on the register — clone firms copy real names.FCA Warning List
Firms the FCA has warned about, including clones of real firms.Companies House
Being a registered company is NOT a licence to handle your money.
Bank, wallet or payment app
Red flags of unlicensed firms
- !It promises guaranteed or fixed high returns (e.g. "2% daily")
Real investments never guarantee returns. This alone is enough to walk away.
- !Withdrawals need a fee, tax or "unlock" deposit first
The classic final stage of investment and loan-app scams. You will never see the money.
- !You found it through social media, a dating match or a WhatsApp/Telegram group
Licensed firms do not recruit through strangers in group chats.
- !An "account manager" pressures you to deposit more
Pressure to top up is how losses grow.
- !Deposits are only accepted in crypto or to personal bank accounts
Licensed firms take payments in their own company name.
- !You cannot find the exact company name on the official register
If it is not on the register, it is not licensed — whatever its website says.
- !It sells an "AI trading bot" or "arbitrage" system with steady profits
Automated-profit promises are a favourite crypto scam wrapper.