Best forex brokers UK 2026: FCA entity and FSCS cover checked
IG ranks first for UK clients at 8.3 out of 10, then CMC Markets at 8.2 and Saxo at 8.1. All six ranked brokers contract UK clients through an FCA-authorised entity permitted to hold client money, with FSCS cover at GBP 85,000 per eligible person. Interactive Brokers is excluded here despite scoring 8.1, and the reason is below.
| # | Broker | Score | Contracting entity | Regulator and licence | Compensation | All-in cost | Minimum deposit | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IG Trusted | 8.3 | IG Markets Limited, FCA 195355 (CFDs); IG Index Limited, FCA 114059 (spread betting) | FCA 195355 (IG Markets) and 114059 (IG Index); BaFin 148759; FINMA bank and securities dealer; MAS CMS licence; AFSL 515106; FSCA FSP 41393 plus ODP approved; NFA 0509630 (tastyfx); BMA investment business and digital assets 54814 | FSCS, GBP 85,000 | EUR/USD from 0.6 pips, no forex commission | Not published | 30:1 on major pairs for UK and EU retail clients |
| 2 | CMC Markets Trusted | 8.2 | CMC Markets UK plc, FCA 173730 | FCA 173730 (CMC Markets UK plc), 948126 (CMC Markets Investments), 170627 (CMC Spreadbet, applied to cancel 5 Feb 2026); BaFin, EdW member 139; AFSL 238054 and 246381; MAS Capital Markets Services licence; CIRO Investment Dealer | FSCS, GBP 85,000 | EUR/USD 0.50, EUR/GBP 0.70, USD/JPY 0.70, GBP/USD 0.90 | Not published | 30:1 on major FX pairs for UK and EU retail clients; tier-1 margin 3.34% on the majors |
| 3 | Saxo Trusted | 8.1 | Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd, FCA 551422 | FCA 551422; Finanstilsynet-supervised Danish bank, designated SIFI 25 June 2026; FINMA-supervised Swiss bank on the esisuisse list; MAS Capital Markets Services licence | FSCS, GBP 85,000 | EUR/USD 0.7, GBP/USD 0.8, USD/JPY 0.9 | Not published | 30:1 on major FX pairs for UK retail clients. Saxo requires 4% margin on GBPUSD and USDJPY, more than the 3.33% the FCA demands |
| 4 | Capital.com Trusted | 8.0 | Capital Com (UK) Limited, FCA 793714 | CySEC 463/25; also CySEC 319/17, FCA 793714, ASIC AFSL 513393, SCB Bahamas SIA-F245, and FSCA ODP approval for Capital.com South Africa (Pty) Ltd | FSCS, GBP 85,000 | EUR/USD 0.6 pips | €20, or €50 by wire transfer | 30:1 on major FX pairs for EU retail clients |
| 5 | FOREX.com Trusted | 7.9 | StoneX Financial Ltd, FCA 446717 | FCA 446717; NFA 0339826; CySEC 400/21; CIRO Investment Dealer; Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Kinsho) 291; AFSL 345646; MAS Capital Markets Services licence; CIMA 25033 | FSCS, GBP 85,000 | 1.2 pips spread-only, or 0.1 pips plus 7 dollars per 100,000 traded on RAW | $100 per transaction by bank transfer or debit card (US); firm recommends $2,500 | Set by the regulator of the contracting entity; 30:1 majors for UK retail clients, 50:1 majors under CFTC rules |
| 6 | eToro Trusted | 7.5 | eToro (UK) Ltd, FCA 583263 | FCA 583263; CySEC 109/10; ASIC AFSL 491139 | FSCS, GBP 85,000, for clients of the UK entity only | 0.005 per cent of trade value on EUR/USD, quoted as a percentage rather than in pips | $10 to $10,000 on the first deposit, depending on country | 30:1 on major FX pairs for UK and EU retail clients |
Why this list is shorter than our main one
Our head comparison ranks seven brokers. This one ranks six, and the broker missing from it scores 8.1.
The test for a UK page cannot be the same as the test for a global one. To rank here a broker has to do three things: contract UK clients through an entity on the FCA register, hold a permission on that entity to hold and control client money, and leave those clients covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Interactive Brokers holds the FCA authorisation and fails the third, which is exactly the kind of detail a global ranking hides and a country ranking exists to surface.
What FSCS actually covers, and what it does not
FSCS investment cover is GBP 85,000 per eligible person per firm. That figure has not moved. The deposit limit rose to GBP 120,000 on 1 December 2025 and it is widely quoted in broker marketing, but it applies to bank deposits and does not cover a trading account, so the number that matters to a UK broker client is still 85,000.
Compensation is also not segregation, and the two get conflated constantly. Segregation means your money is held apart from the firm’s own funds while the firm is solvent. Compensation is what pays out when it is not. A broker can segregate properly and still leave you with nothing if it has no scheme, which is what happens to clients routed to an offshore entity by a brand with a UK licence. We set the distinction out in full in a separate guide.
Check which company the account is with, not which brand is on the app
Five of the six below run several companies. The FCA entity is the one that matters for a UK client, and it is not always the one the marketing names. eToro is the clearest case on this list: a UK client contracts with eToro (UK) Ltd and gets FSCS cover, while a client outside the UK, the EU and Australia contracts with eToro (Seychelles) Ltd and gets no scheme at all, from the same brand and the same app. Our guide covers how to check which entity you are signing with before you deposit.
Why each one is on the list
1. IG Trusted 8.3 out of 10
Two separate FCA entities, one for CFDs and one for spread betting, both permitted to hold and control client money. IG Markets Limited carries forty previous names on the FCA register, which sounds alarming and is not: it is the footprint of a long-established firm that has absorbed brands, and every current permission checks out. No fine appeared on any register we searched.
2. CMC Markets Trusted 8.2 out of 10
The cheapest UK option on the majors, tighter than IG on EUR/USD and EUR/GBP and never wider on the four we checked. All three of its FCA entities can hold and control client money. Note that CMC Spreadbet plc, FCA 170627, applied to cancel on 5 February 2026, so if spread betting is what you are after, check which entity is offering it to you now.
3. Saxo Trusted 8.1 out of 10
Authorised since 5 October 2011, permitted to hold and control client money, and behind it a Danish bank that Finanstilsynet designated systemically important on 25 June 2026. Only one previous name on the FCA record, a cosmetic Limited to Ltd change, and no white-label history at all. The advertised from 0.6 pips is not met by any of the three majors Saxo’s own page lists, which is why it sits third on cost rather than first.
4. Capital.com Trusted 8.0 out of 10
Authorised since 26 October 2018, permitted to hold and control client money, registered at 4 Orchard Place, London. capital.com has been a declared trading name on that FCA record since 4 December 2018, which is the check that separates a brand attached to a licence from one merely advertised next to it. The lowest entry point here at 20 euros, or 50 by wire transfer.
Visit Capital.com Paid link. It cannot change the rating.
5. FOREX.com Trusted 7.9 out of 10
A listed US parent and a properly authorised UK entity, which is what puts it in the Trusted band. Cost is where it loses ground: 1.2 pips on the standard account is double IG and more than double CMC on EUR/USD, and the RAW account only wins above a certain trade size. The 100 dollar minimum by bank transfer is also the highest of the six.
6. eToro Trusted 7.5 out of 10
Ranked sixth, and the one where checking the entity matters most. A UK client gets the FCA company and FSCS cover. The same brand routes clients outside the UK, EU and Australia to eToro (Seychelles) Ltd, which has no compensation scheme. The FCA issued a clone-firm warning about eToro on 26 May 2022, so if you are following a link rather than typing the domain, check it. Its cost is a percentage of trade value and its own fee page does not say whether that is per side or per round turn, so we have not converted it to pips.
Visit eToro Paid link. It cannot change the rating.
Who we left off, and why
Every comparison page on the internet publishes its winners. Almost none publishes the brokers it considered and rejected, which is the half that tells you whether the list was assembled or sold.
| Broker | Our verdict | Why it is not ranked |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | Trusted 8.1 | Scores 8.1 and would rank fourth on our global list, and it is excluded here on one specific point. Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited holds FCA 208159, but UK client accounts are cleared and carried by Interactive Brokers LLC in the United States, and IBKR’s own wording is that its products are covered by the FSCS in limited circumstances only. SIPC applies instead. For a UK reader choosing on compensation cover, that is a materially different position from the six above, and averaging it away inside a score would hide it. |
| AvaTrade | Neutral 6.0 | No UK FCA entity at all. AvaTrade serves EU clients through AVA Trade EU Ltd and everyone else through Ava Trade Markets Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, so a UK client has neither an FCA counterparty nor FSCS cover. It also declines to publish a per-instrument spread without a login, which fails the rule that a broker cannot hold a ranked position unless we hold published cost data for it. |
| XTB | Neutral 6.8 | Scores 6.8, our Neutral band, so it is not ranked on a best-of page. The UK position is actually sound: XTB Limited is an FCA entity permitted to hold and control client money, and it publishes EUR/USD at 0.8 pips with no forex commission. What holds the score down is the wider group, including an XTB International entity in Belize. Worth reading the review rather than dismissing it. |
How this list was ordered
Ranked on the published six-pillar score, which weights regulation at 30 per cent and fund safety at 25 per cent. Nothing on this page is ordered by commission, and a broker cannot hold a ranked position unless we hold published cost data for it. The full weighting is in our methodology.
Every entry re-checked at source on 27 September 2026.
Some links on this page are partner links and we may be paid a commission if you open an account through one. They appear only on brokers we rate Trusted or Neutral, they are never on a broker we rate High Risk or Scam, and they cannot change a rating or a position on this list.