Chapter 4 How to Verify Your Broker's CySEC License?
1. A Brief introduction to CySEC
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission(CySEC) was launched in 2001 as part of section 5 of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (Establishment and Responsibilities) Law of 2001 as the financial regulatory agency of Cyprus.
When Cyprus became a member of the European Union in 2004, CySEC simultaneously became a part of the European MiFID regulation, giving firms registered in Cyprus access to all European markets.
However, joining the EU and adopting the Euro significantly changed the financial regulatory framework that CySEC policed for what had been previously considered a tax haven.
To obtain registration from CySEC, a retail forex broker has to be licensed as a Cypriot Investment Firm(CIF), and any Forex brokers regulated by CySEC are required to state their five-digit licence number on their website.
2. Steps to Verify a CySEC License
To verify your broker’s CySEC license, please follow this step by step guide.
Step 1
Go to the CySEC register website:
https://www.cysec.gov.cy/en-GB/entities/investment-firms/cypriot/
and type the company name or license number in the search bar.
Step 2
Confirm the regulatory status.
If you can’t find any information about the broker you searched, it can mean your broker didn’t register itself as a CIF or its license has been canceled,which means it is not qualified to provide financial services.
An example would be like this:
An example of qualified CIF would be like this:
Step 3
There are a number of detailed information listed, including the broker’s name, address, licence number, telephone and e-mial, check these to see if it is regulated and is the same broker you are trading with.
Step 4
Next you need to verify if your broker is qualified to deal with retail Forex, by check the Investment Services module to see if there is a 9 in the services it provide, which means it is qualified to provide financial contract for differences.
Or you can find the key word “Foreign exchange service” in the Ancillary Services module listed below and make sure it is ticked.
Here is another example:
This is the most important step, for not all CIFs are licensed to operate Forex except for the one satisfied the above requirements.
