This page explains exactly how the information in our broker register is gathered and how the Protection Score is calculated, so that you can judge how much weight to give it.
Scope of the register
We include firms that offer trading or investment services to people living in Europe: forex and CFD brokers, share and ETF brokers, multi-asset brokers, banks with share dealing, robo-advisers and fund platforms, crypto-asset platforms and futures brokers. We also list well-known brands that market to Europeans without a European licence, so that people searching for them can see that fact.
Inclusion is not an endorsement, and firms cannot pay to be included or to change their data.
What we record for each firm
- Headquarters, year founded, website and type of firm.
- Licences on record at group level. A brand's group may hold licences in several countries through different legal entities. We record the regulators, and – for reviewed profiles – the entity that serves EU clients and licence numbers where confirmed.
- Platforms, products and features such as savings plans, copy trading, banking licence or stock-market listing.
- A short factual note written by our editors.
Sources and verification
Licence data comes from our research of regulators' public registers, firms' legal documentation and regulatory announcements. Every profile shows either the date on which the licence data was last checked against official registers or a notice that it has not yet been re-verified. Where information changes – a licence is withdrawn, a firm is sold or renamed – we update the record when we become aware of it. We welcome corrections through the form on each profile.
Our register is a starting point. The regulator's register is always authoritative, and every profile links to it.
Profile types
- Reviewed profiles include an editorial review, strengths and watch-outs, and who the firm suits. They are indexed by search engines.
- Register listings show the data above. Short listings are kept out of search-engine indexes (noindex) because they do not yet contain enough unique information to be useful as a search result, but they remain fully visible on the site.
The Protection Score
The Protection Score is a transparent 0–100 measure of structural protection – the safeguards around your money that come from a firm's licences and corporate characteristics. It is calculated automatically from the recorded data, the same way for every firm:
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Best licence: European (EU/EEA, UK or Swiss) | 40 |
| …or major non-European regulator (e.g. ASIC, MAS, FSA Japan, CFTC/NFA) | 25 |
| …or mid-tier non-European regulator | 15 |
| …or offshore only | 5 |
| ESMA/FCA retail protections available through an EU/EEA or UK entity | 15 (Swiss entity: 12) |
| Each additional strong jurisdiction (max. three) | +4 each |
| Group holds a banking licence | 8 |
| Publicly listed group (audited public accounts) | 8 |
| Operating 10+ years (5–9 years) | 7 (4) |
| Cap if only offshore licences are on record | max. 20 |
| Firm no longer operating | 0 |
Bands: 80–100 Strong, 60–79 Good, 40–59 Moderate, below 40 Limited. Every profile shows its own breakdown.
What the score does not measure
Costs, platform quality, customer service, execution quality, product range and whether a firm suits you. A bank with a high score may be an expensive or clumsy place to trade; a newer, smaller firm with a lower score may serve you well. Use the score to filter out firms that don't offer European protection, then compare the rest on what matters to you.
Why commercial relationships cannot change it
The score is computed from licence and corporate data by code. The only commercial settings we control – whether a firm is a partner, featured on the home page, or boosted in the default "recommended" sort order – are stored separately and never enter the calculation. Sorting by Protection Score ignores them entirely.
Reviews
Reviews are written by our editorial team from public information, firms' documentation and, where possible, hands-on testing. We do not accept payment for reviews and firms do not see them before publication. See our editorial policy.
Trader experiences
Readers can submit experiences with a firm. We moderate them before publishing and remove promotional content, personal data and unverifiable allegations. We do not edit ratings. They are shown separately from our own assessment.