FCA or AMF regulated broker: what the licence guarantees - and what it doesn't

"Regulated by the FCA", "AMF authorised", "CySEC licensed": these are the first arguments brokers use to establish their legitimacy. They are right to do so - regulation matters. What they do not say is what it does not cover.

What regulation actually guarantees

Regulation of a broker by a serious authority - FCA in the UK, AMF in France, BaFin in Germany - involves real checks: the legal structure of the entity, client fund segregation, compliance with conduct rules, minimum capital requirements, and the existence of a dispute resolution mechanism.

These protections are substantial. For a private investor, dealing with a regulated broker rather than an unregulated offshore broker represents real protection.

What regulation does not guarantee

Regulation does not guarantee the integrity of the individuals operating the broker. The authorisation process checks the structure - not the individuals with the same depth as an independent verification. A broker can be regulated with, at its helm or in its sales team, individuals whose background reveals serious reports in other countries, under other structures, or in areas the regulator did not identify as relevant.

Regulation also does not guarantee that on-the-ground commercial practices - the advisers who call you, the call scripts, the incentives to increase deposits - are consistent with what the official licence implies. Regulated platforms have faced legal action for the commercial practices of their independent sales teams operating separately from the authorised legal structure.

The distinction between the regulated entity and the people who operate it

This is the distinction most investors miss - and that fraudsters exploit. A salesperson presenting themselves as representing a regulated broker may operate under a separate, unregulated entity that has no formal link to the authorised structure whose brand it uses.

Checking the broker's regulation is not enough if you do not also verify the identity and status of the people who actually contacted you.

What we do

At YMV & Co., we verify both levels: the broker's legal structure and the individuals behind it - directors, significant shareholders, associated advisers. Our analysis covers what regulation does not check, in legally accessible sources.