Separate tier labels from legal protections. Check registration, permissions, entity, client category and contract terms rather than relying on a group licence list.
When a website says Tier 1 regulation, ask who assigned it, using which criteria and evidence date. FXCN tiers are site classifications, not grades jointly awarded by international regulators. The label does not make different countries' rules identical.
The useful question is not how many high-tier licences a brand displays. It is which entity contracts with you, what it may provide, your client category and which protections actually cover that account. Permissions held by another group company do not automatically transfer to your agreement.
| Information | What it can establish | What it cannot establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Company registration | Existence of a legal person | Permission to provide your forex or CFD service |
| Regulatory status and permissions | The named entity's status, scope and restrictions | Authorisation of every branded site and activity |
| Agreement and client category | Counterparty, product, dispute terms and classification | Every protection applying in every circumstance |
| A review site's tier | How that site organizes regulatory information | Statutory compensation eligibility or future fund safety |
Company numbers, licence references, representative numbers and brand names may appear together. Identify the number type before matching the entity. Finding a similar name is not the end of verification. Use the official-register checklist.
Three official starting points illustrate why a tier cannot substitute for terms:
This is not a ranking of these jurisdictions or a claim that unlisted authorities are weaker. Compare equivalent products, categories and evidence dates. Do not combine an exchange-product margin rule, another regime's retail-CFD protection and a third compensation scheme into an account that does not exist.
| Check | Evidence | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Contracting entity | Full legal name, reference and official record | Does it match onboarding and the trading account? |
| Product and location | Permissions, specification, geographic restrictions | May this product be offered to my location? |
| Client category | Retail, professional or wholesale confirmation | What could change if the classification changes? |
| Client money | Fund terms and relevant rules | How is money held and used for this account? |
| Negative balance | Actual scope and exceptions | Is it trade-level or account-level, and applicable? |
| Close-out | Margin definition, threshold and execution conditions | What happens during a gap or unavailable execution? |
| Compensation and complaints | Eligibility, triggers and receiving body | Who qualifies and which losses are excluded? |
If a point cannot be established, record it as unverified rather than assuming yes or no. Keep company statements and official rules separately identified, with dates and scope.
Segregation, negative balance protection and compensation address different issues. Segregation alone does not establish full recovery in every insolvency. Negative balance protection does not prevent losses of account funds. A licence does not establish that a compensation scheme covers ordinary market losses.
One brand, two contracts. Suppose fictional North Example displays records for Companies A and B. Your agreement names B, but support supplies A's protection document. You have not established that B's account receives A's protections. Ask for B's permissions and terms. Shared branding is not the missing link; this example names no actual company.
More margin does not mean a higher tier. For the same 10,000 units of notional exposure, a hypothetical 2% margin requires 200; 5% requires 500. This arithmetic does not rank licence quality, default probability or suitability. Product restrictions can differ. See leverage and margin examples.
For [full entity], [product], [residence] and [client category], please provide the matching official record and permissions, client-money terms, negative-balance and close-out terms, and applicable compensation and complaint routes. If moving to another group company, identify changes in agreement and protections rather than supplying only the group's licence list.
Resolve important conflicts through independently located official contact details. Do not accept a category change solely for more leverage without understanding it. Do not fund first and identify the contracting entity later. Pause money movements while material discrepancies remain unresolved and keep the evidence.
Does Tier 1 mean nothing can go wrong? No. A label does not eliminate business, execution, market or impersonation risks.
Does Tier 3 prove fraud? No. Examine actual permissions and conduct; neither geography nor an internal tier is a legal finding.
Does a brand's FCA licence give me UK protection? Not automatically. Match the agreement entity, product and client category.
Which authority is best? A more useful question is whether the actual authorised account meets relevant location requirements and has verifiable terms, rather than choosing a label.