How to read a Trading Trust Index assessment

Every firm in our directory has a profile. Some carry a score, some do not, and the reasons matter as much as the number. This guide walks through a profile from top to bottom. The full rules are in our methodology.

Four states, never confused

A profile shows one of four states:

• A score from 0 to 100. We verified enough evidence to meet our minimum threshold, and the score was calculated from it.
• A limited-evidence score. We could not verify enough of the firm’s record to meet the threshold, so we scored what we could verify and gave no credit for the rest. The profile lists exactly which parts of the threshold were not met. Firms that publish clear, checkable information are easier to verify and can score higher.
• Not scored. We published what we checked, but there was too little verifiable evidence to give any score.
• Not yet assessed. The firm is listed but our research is incomplete or has not started.

Neither “not scored” nor “not yet assessed” is a low score, and neither is ever shown as zero. A firm with no score may be excellent or may be dangerous; we simply have not verified enough to say.

The score and its band

The score is a weighted average of nine dimensions, from regulatory status, which carries the most weight, to public disclosures and our on-site assessment. Each score has a band, such as Strong or Mixed, so the number is never read alone.

Two dimensions give points for what we verify in person. The first is what our visit confirms about the firm’s office: a real office at the stated address and not a ghost address, used by the assessed entity, staffed and operating. The second is the outcomes of our on-site checks and 30-day platform testing. A firm we have not checked in person scores zero for the office visit. Testing that has not taken place is left out, and its weight is shared among the other dimensions.

The score describes the evidence on the review date shown beside it. It is not a prediction, a guarantee that a firm is safe, or a recommendation to open an account. Firms change, and so can their scores.

Confidence

Beside every score is a confidence level: high, moderate or low. It answers a different question: how much weight can this score bear?

Confidence multiplies two things. The first is completeness, the share of our methodology we could answer with evidence. The second is evidence strength, which reflects how good the sources are (a regulator’s register outweighs a firm’s marketing) and how recently we checked them. A score built on 70% of the methodology can never have more than 70% confidence, however good the sources. How confidence is calculated.

The breakdown

Open any dimension to see each criterion, our answer, our reasoning and the sources. Answers are met, partly met or not met, and each one must cite evidence. Two other answers are not findings against a firm: not applicable, with a reason, and not determined, when the evidence was not available. In a full score, not determined lowers our confidence, not the score. In a limited-evidence score, it earns no credit.

The enforcement dimension works differently. It starts at 100 and loses points for each substantiated adverse finding, by severity and age. It is only scored once we have searched the relevant warning lists and enforcement records.

Findings and their labels

Findings are dated and labelled for what they are: a regulator warning, an enforcement action, a legal finding (final, under appeal or overturned), an allegation, a complaint record or a clone warning. Allegations, complaint records and clone warnings are shown for context and never change the score. What each label means.

“No findings recorded” means none are on our record. It does not mean none exist.

Sources and dates

Every source shows what kind of evidence it is, who published it, when we checked it and what it supports. Profiles flag an assessment that is more than a year old, and any source we last checked more than a year ago. Sources sent to us by members of the public are kept private, and are only ever counted, never shown or relied on alone.

Responses, history and corrections

Firms can respond to their profile, and we publish their responses. A response does not change a score unless it leads us to new evidence and a new assessment. Earlier assessments stay available, exactly as published, from the assessment history, and every correction is logged with its date.

What a score is not

• Not a rating of prices. Platforms and customer service count only through our on-site testing points, for firms we have assessed on site.
• Not a prediction that a firm will or will not fail.
• Not for sale: no firm can buy a score or the removal of a substantiated finding. Points for on-site verification come only from what we confirm in person, and every company-funded report says who paid.
• Not advice. Whether trading, or a particular firm, suits you depends on your own circumstances.