Onshore vs Offshore: Which Broker Entity Holds Your Account?
Big forex brands run several companies under different regulators. How to tell which one you signed up with and why it matters.
Most well-known forex brands are groups of companies. A typical structure is an Australian or UK company with a tier-1 licence, an EU company in Cyprus, Ireland or Germany, and one or more offshore companies — Seychelles, Mauritius, Bahamas, Vanuatu, BVI — that serve "the rest of the world". The website, logo and app are the same. The protections are not.
How onboarding decides your entity
Brokers assign you to an entity based mainly on your country of residence. EU residents are normally placed with the EU entity because EU rules restrict solicitation by non-EU firms; UK residents go to the FCA entity; Australian residents to the ASIC entity. Residents of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are commonly placed with offshore entities, unless the brand holds a local licence (for example FSCA in South Africa or CMA in Kenya).
Signs you are with an offshore entity
- Leverage above 30:1 (or 50:1 in the US) is available to you as a retail client
- Deposit bonuses are offered — they are banned for retail clients in the UK, EU and Australia
- Your client agreement names a company in Seychelles, Mauritius, Vanuatu, Belize, the Bahamas, BVI or St. Vincent
- No mention of a compensation scheme or ombudsman in your documents
Can you choose?
Sometimes. Some brokers let non-EU residents opt for an ASIC or FCA entity; others restrict each entity by residence. If protection matters more to you than leverage, ask the broker in writing which entity you can open with, and get the answer before you deposit.
How we show it
Every broker profile on ForexLicenses.com groups licences by tier, so you can see at a glance whether a brand's strongest and weakest entities are far apart.