Start with the legal entity, not the brand
A platform’s brand and website are not the regulated entity. The entity’s legal name, registration number, address and regulator are usually given in the website’s footer, its terms of business or its client agreement. Search the register by that number, not by the brand. A platform that does not name the entity behind it cannot be checked on a register.
Platforms often serve customers through an entity in another country. An authorisation there does not necessarily cover customers elsewhere. Check the register of the country where the service is provided to you or, for a firm authorised in the EU or EEA, the countries its home register says it has passported into.
Match the service to the register
Each service needs its own authorisation. A payment licence does not cover investments, and an investment licence does not cover crypto-asset services.
Investments, CFDs and forex
- EU and EEA. An investment firm or a bank authorised under MiFID II by a national authority. The authority’s register shows the services the firm may provide.
- United Kingdom. The FCA Financial Services Register.
- United States. FINRA BrokerCheck for broker-dealers, the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure for advisers, and NFA BASIC for futures and retail forex firms registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Crypto-assets
- EU and EEA. A crypto-asset service provider authorised under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), listed in ESMA’s interim MiCA register. National registrations held before MiCA could be used only during a transitional period, which ended on 1 July 2026 at the latest.
- United Kingdom. Cryptoasset businesses register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Money Laundering Regulations. The FCA says this regime covers anti-money-laundering registration, supervision and enforcement only, and that registration does not mean customers benefit from the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
- United States. Crypto exchanges register with FinCEN as money services businesses. Money transmission is licensed by the states; NMLS Consumer Access lists the licences issued through its system.
Payments and e-money
See how to check a payment firm’s licence or registration.
A registration is not an authorisation
Some registers record that a business exists, or that it has notified an authority. They do not show that a regulator has assessed it.
- Company registers. A company number from Companies House or a US state shows that the company was incorporated. It is not a financial licence.
- FinCEN’s register of money services businesses. FinCEN does not license or vet the information that registrants provide. In its words, inclusion in the register “is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy, or endorsement” of the business by any government agency.
- Anti-money-laundering registrations. A registration with an anti-money-laundering supervisor, such as the FCA’s cryptoasset register, covers anti-money-laundering supervision. It is not an authorisation to offer investments.
The directory shows each register entry with its level: prudential licence, small-firm registration or anti-money-laundering registration only. See what each level means.
Check the warning lists
Regulators publish warnings about firms they find operating without authorisation. Search for the brand, the legal name and the website address.
| List | What it holds |
|---|---|
| I-SCAN, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) | Warnings from securities regulators around the world, in one search. Launched in March 2025. |
| Warning List, FCA, United Kingdom | Firms the FCA warns are operating without its authorisation or registration, including clones of authorised firms. |
| PAUSE list, SEC, United States | Entities that falsely claim to be registered, licensed or located in the United States, impersonators of registered firms, and fictitious regulators. |
| RED List, CFTC, United States | Foreign firms that appear to solicit US residents for products such as forex without the registration they need. |
Absence is not evidence
A platform that is not on a warning list has not been cleared. A list holds only what regulators have reviewed and published, and new websites appear faster than warnings.
Check the regulator and the contact details
Some unauthorised firms copy an authorised firm’s name, register number and documents, and add their own website, email address or phone number. The FCA calls them clone firms. Contact a firm only through the details shown on the regulator’s register.
Some cite a regulator that does not exist: the SEC’s PAUSE list includes fictitious regulators. Reach the regulator through an address you already know, such as IOSCO’s list of its members, not through a link the platform provides.
What an authorisation does not tell you
- That the firm will behave well. An authorisation means a regulator admitted the firm and supervises it. It does not guarantee its conduct, its solvency or any return.
- That you are protected. Compensation schemes and ombudsmen cover some services and countries, not others. The register or the firm’s terms say which apply.
- That an unlisted firm is unauthorised. A firm missing from one register may be authorised by another authority, or under another name.
Search the tracked registers in one place. The directory shows each firm’s register entries, their level and status, and the date each register was retrieved.
Search firmsSources
- MSB Registrant Search. US Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
- International Securities & Commodities Alerts Network (I-SCAN). International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
- Warning List of unauthorised firms and Cryptoassets: AML/CTF regime. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA), Article 143. EUR-Lex.
- Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities (PAUSE). US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- Learn and Protect, including the Registration Deficient (RED) List. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
- The registers linked above, as published by each authority.
- Registers tracked by the directory, with the date each was retrieved. Elucidate.
Reviewed 2 November 2026. Rules, registers and warning lists change: the regulator’s own register is always the authority.
Cite this page
Use this reference to cite the guide. Add the date you read it if your citation style asks for one.
Elucidate. “Check whether a trading or crypto platform is authorised”. Guides to identifiers, payments and due diligence, reviewed 2 November 2026. https://elucidate.co/guides/check-trading-crypto-platform
