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Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

The UK conduct regulator for retail financial services, including forex and CFD brokers, responsible for authorisation, client money rules and the retail leverage restrictions.

The FCA authorises and supervises UK financial firms for conduct, while the Prudential Regulation Authority handles capital at banks and large insurers. It runs the Financial Services Register, the UK equivalent of finra-brokercheck, where you can check whether a firm is actually authorised.

Retail traders feel it through product intervention. UK retail contracts for difference are capped at 30:1 leverage on major currency pairs and lower elsewhere, negative balance protection is mandatory, bonuses are banned, and firms must publish the percentage of retail accounts that lose money. Retail access to crypto derivatives is prohibited.

The Consumer Duty adds a general obligation to deliver good outcomes, not merely to disclose risks. Complaints that a firm will not resolve go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and eligible claims against failed firms go to the FSCS.

Related: esma, cysec, iosco

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