Disclaimer and risk disclosure

Risk warning

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trading foreign exchange, contracts for difference (CFDs), spread bets, cryptocurrency CFDs and other leveraged products carries a high level of risk and is not suitable for everyone. The majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs: brokers regulated in the UK and the EU must publish the share of their own retail accounts that lose money, and you can find that figure on each broker’s website. You could lose all of the money you deposit. Do not trade with money you cannot afford to lose, and seek advice from an independent financial adviser if you have any doubt.

How losses happen with leveraged products

  • Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains. A small price move against you can wipe out the margin you deposited, and your positions can be closed automatically at a loss when your margin falls below the broker’s stop-out level.
  • Losses can exceed your deposit. Retail clients in the UK, the EU and Australia must be given negative balance protection, but many companies outside those regions do not offer it, or offer it only at their discretion. Professional clients usually have no such protection.
  • Prices can gap. Markets can jump over weekends, around news or in thin trading, so stop orders may be filled at a worse price than you set.
  • Costs add up. Spreads, commissions, overnight financing, currency conversion and inactivity fees reduce returns, especially on positions held for a long time.
  • You deal with the broker, not an exchange. CFDs and spread bets are over-the-counter contracts, so you depend on the broker’s solvency and on how it holds your money. Protections such as client money segregation and compensation schemes differ between the companies of the same brand.
  • Cryptocurrency CFDs are especially volatile and are restricted for retail clients in some countries.
  • Past performance, including the past performance of any trader, signal or copy-trading strategy, is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Information, not advice

Everything on Trading Trust Index is general information and research. It is not investment, financial, legal or tax advice, not a personalised recommendation, and not an offer or solicitation to open an account with any firm, to buy any product or to trade at all. It does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making any decision, consider whether it is right for you and do your own research.

We are not a broker, a financial adviser or a regulator, and we do not hold or manage anyone’s money.

What an assessment is

A trust assessment is our opinion of the evidence we reviewed, calculated under a published methodology and stated as at its review date. It is not a guarantee that a firm is safe, solvent, honest or properly regulated, and it is not a prediction of a firm’s future conduct or of what will happen to money held with it. A high score does not mean a firm is safe, and a low score does not mean a firm has acted unlawfully. Firms change, and evidence can be incomplete or out of date. Always check a firm’s licence on its regulator’s own register before opening an account.

Scores combine verified facts with our judgement, under a published methodology. The methodology may change as we learn; each assessment states the version it was scored under, and earlier versions stay published.

“Not yet assessed” and “Not scored” mean we have not verified enough to publish a score. They are not ratings, good or bad. A limited-evidence score means we could not verify enough of a firm’s record for a full assessment, so anything we could not verify earned no credit; it is not a finding that the firm did anything wrong.

Independence and how we are paid

No firm can pay to be listed, to buy a score, or to remove or soften a substantiated finding. The only payments we accept from firms are fees for on-site verification assessments. A company that funds one is named as having done so on its profile and in the published report; the points for what we verify in person follow only what we find, and the fee itself earns nothing. Our links to firms are not affiliate links and pay us nothing. Our editorial standards set out the full policy.

No one who owns or runs Trading Trust Index has a stake in, works for or is paid by a firm we cover or an affiliate business. If that ever changed, we would say so here and on the firm’s profile.

Scams and impersonation

We never ask readers for money. We never offer to recover money lost to a broker, never recommend a broker by phone, message or social media, and never ask for passwords, card details or trading account logins. Anyone who does any of this in our name is not us. “Fund recovery” offers are a common second scam aimed at people who have already lost money. If someone contacts you claiming to be from Trading Trust Index, tell us through our contact form, and check that the address in your browser is tradingtrustindex.com before you send us anything.

Accuracy and timeliness

We work hard to make what we publish accurate, cite our sources and correct errors promptly. We cannot guarantee that every item is complete, accurate or current. Registers, warnings and company documents change after we check them; each source shows the date we last checked it. We use AI tools to help with research; a person on our team reviews everything against its sources before we publish it, as our editorial standards explain. Errors and omissions excepted. If you find a mistake, please report it.

Availability and local laws

The firms and products we cover may not be authorised or available in your country. Nothing on this site is directed at, or intended for use by, anyone in a country or jurisdiction where its distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation. It is your responsibility to check that you may use a firm’s services where you live.

Third-party websites and trademarks

We link to regulators, firms and other sources so that you can check our work. We are not responsible for the content of other websites. Firm names, logos and trademarks belong to their owners and are used for identification only.

Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss or damage, including any loss of profit, arising directly or indirectly from the use of, or reliance on, information published on this site. Nothing in this disclaimer limits liability that cannot be limited under the law of Cyprus, or any rights you have as a consumer that cannot be waived. Our terms of use set out the law and courts that apply.