Start with the legal and regulatory paper trail
A legitimate brokerage operates through identifiable legal entities with published registration details. Find the entity names, company numbers and claimed regulatory reference numbers in the broker's terms of service and website disclosures, then verify each one against the relevant regulator's official public register. Mismatched names, missing reference numbers, or claims that cannot be traced to a register entry are reasons to slow down and investigate before funding an account.
- Locate the full legal entity names and registration numbers in the broker's own documents.
- Verify each claimed authorisation on the relevant regulator's official register.
- Confirm which entity would hold your account based on your country of residence.
- Check for clone-firm warnings, since fraudsters sometimes imitate genuine firms' details.

