A licence record is the starting point for a product-permission question
A familiar company can appear in the results while the service offered to you remains unverified. Use the saved row to identify an entity and an original source; then check whether that entity is permitted to provide the actual service in your proposed contract.
Write down what the offer asks the firm to do
Before searching, record the legal party in the proposed agreement and the service being offered. A brand name, an app name and the party accepting contractual obligations are different fields. Preserve the wording of the product and the firm's role rather than reducing everything to “investing”. Do not enter an account number or identity document into this public search.
The FCA distinguishes authorisation from registration and directs consumers to its Firm Checker for a firm and its product or service permissions. It also explains that an authorised firm can offer unregulated products. These are UK distinctions: apply the relevant official terminology when examining another jurisdiction.
For your own record, describe the transaction in one sentence: “The agreement names this entity to provide this service, to me in this capacity.” If the agreement only names a group or brand, that sentence is incomplete. Ask for the contracting entity before attaching a licence row to it.
A fictional offer with three unresolved questions
Imagine a document naming “Example Entity” and describing “Service A”. The following worksheet shows three independent gaps. These labels are placeholders, not real regulated activities, licence numbers or a legal classification of a product.
| Observation | What it establishes | What is still missing | Next evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| A saved row names Example Entity | FXCN has a relationship under that name. | Whether it is the legal party in the proposed agreement. | The full contractual name and matching official entry. |
| The row's saved status is active | The stored status has that classification. | Whether the official permission covers Service A and any relevant limits. | The current official activity and restriction information. |
| A source page concerns the same entity | You have located a document to examine. | Whether its content answers the service question at the relevant time. | A dated reading of the exact permission or a clarification through independently verified contact details. |
None of the three observations completes the next one. Copying an active badge into a product comparison would hide the missing permission evidence. Equally, a gap in this worksheet does not establish misconduct: record it as unresolved until an appropriate source answers it.
Keep the offer and the permission evidence side by side. If they describe different services, identify the difference explicitly instead of treating the licence number as a universal approval.
Read the fields the search actually provides
- Entity, regulator and number
- These identify a saved relationship. This result table does not display a complete, current permission schedule, client category or restriction list. Its regulator link opens an FXCN regulator introduction; it is not itself a live official permission decision.
- Saved status and review date
- The badge describes the stored status. The date is a saved check date, not today's automatic regulator response. Where a source link exists, the age warning uses a missing or unusable date, or more than 365 days since that date. A row without a source is an evidence gap; absence of an age warning is not a fresh verification.
- Source and multiple relationships
- Use the source link to examine the actual evidence. A repeated regulator and number across broker profiles is flagged for human review. Shared names or relationships require explanation; the flag alone is not an impersonation verdict.
The search accepts a licence number, entity or broker name and saved aliases. It searches text with the supplied spacing and punctuation, although it collapses repeated whitespace. Keep the original number when available. Each page contains up to 25 rows; the displayed count concerns that page, not every entity in an official register.
If a search is empty, return to page one and check the selected regulator and original spelling. An unavailable filter or an input shorter than two characters is an input problem. This database's empty result cannot answer whether an entity has a licence elsewhere.
Resolve the service gap before relying on the row
- Identify the contracting entity from the proposed agreement. Search its original number or name and keep the regulator attached to that number.
- Open the relevant official source independently. Read the current activity, restrictions and entity identity against the specific offered service. Save the page address, reading date and relevant wording for your own comparison.
- Separate present permission from the date of an earlier event. The FCA's Financial Services Register can provide historical regulatory information, including whether a firm was authorised when a product was bought; a current FXCN badge does not reconstruct that history.
- If the service or entity remains unclear, ask a precise question through independently verified contact details: which permission and which entity cover the service named in the agreement? An unexplained screenshot or brand logo does not fill that gap.
The FCA states that the right authorisation and permissions reduce risk without removing it. A verified permission is not evidence of a future return, the financial quality of the offer or guaranteed compensation. This guide makes no protection determination for a particular customer or product.
If the uncertainty concerns the website or message sender, use the domain comparison guide as a separate task. A website-field match does not extend a firm's permissions to a product.
Questions about a permission gap
Can I treat the green badge as approval of the offer?
No. It is a saved status classification. Match the contractual party and examine the official permission for the actual service, including relevant limits.
Does a link to a regulator introduction settle the service question?
No. That link explains the regulator. The particular entity's official record and relevant permission evidence must answer the question about your offer.
What if the saved row exists but its source does not answer my question?
Keep the service permission unresolved. Locate the appropriate official evidence or obtain a clear explanation through independently verified contacts; do not fill the gap with the saved badge.
Source and scope
FCA: How to check a firm or individual is authorised — UK authorisation and registration, product permissions, unregulated services and historical records. The page shows an update of 22 September 2026. It is guidance for reading an offer, not evidence about our fictional entity.
Descriptions of search fields, paging, stored dates and links come from the FXCN behaviour examined on the review date. No licence or entity status was added for this guide. See the editorial and verification policy for our evidence approach.