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Forex and CFD brokers
A forex or CFD broker has collapsed. We identify the applicable compensation mechanism and set out its real limits
The broker's licence has been revoked, the platform is unresponsive, withdrawals are frozen. This does not mean your money is gone for good: depending on the jurisdiction of the broker's licence, a statutory route may exist — a compensation fund, a complaint to the regulator, or a civil action. We determine which mechanism applies to your particular case and set out its limits — the payout ceiling and the realistic timeframes — as early as the first conversation.
EdWFSCSCySEC / ICFFCACivil restitution
Manchester Law SocietyCertified Specialist in Banking and Capital Markets LawPractice before BaFin, the FCA, and CySECNetwork of partner lawyers in the UK, Cyprus, and ItalyMember of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA)The Law Society of England and WalesAdviser to Citizens Advice ManchesterThird-party litigation fundingProfessional liability insurance: HDI, cover up to €10 million
Areas of work
What exactly we help with
The compensation mechanism depends on the jurisdiction of the broker's licence and on what actually happened — insolvency, licence revocation, or deliberate stalling of your withdrawals. Here are the most common scenarios.
EdW compensation fund (Germany)
Claims to the Entschädigungseinrichtung der Wertpapierhandelsunternehmen once BaFin has recognised a compensation event. The statutory ceiling is fixed: 90% of the claim, up to a maximum of EUR 20,000 per investor — we quote that figure before you file, not after.
FSCS compensation scheme (United Kingdom)
Claims filed after a broker enters special administration: confirming your retail-client status and separating client money from trading bonuses. The limit is up to GBP 85,000 per person for firms declared in default on or after 1 April 2019.
Cypriot Investor Compensation Fund (ICF)
Claims to the Investor Compensation Fund where a CySEC-licensed CFD broker becomes insolvent. The payout is the lesser of two amounts: 90% of the covered claim or EUR 20,000. Professional clients are excluded — which is why we verify your status first.
Complaint to CySEC and claim support
Complaints to the Cypriot regulator for breaches of capital requirements and client-money handling rules. CySEC findings on their own recover no money — but they become the evidential basis for an individual claim for compensation, which we pursue in parallel.
Complaint to the FCA and claim support
Complaints to the UK regulator over unauthorised advice and improper reclassification of a client. An FCA Final Notice becomes a public document and evidence in your claim — investigations take months, so we file the complaint as early as possible, while payment records and correspondence are still available.
Civil restitution against the broker
Civil actions for hidden commissions, abnormal spread widening, order-execution manipulation and forced reclassification — depending on the facts, under § 823 Abs. 2 BGB in conjunction with § 263 StGB, or under § 826 BGB, supported by independent technical expert evidence.
How we work
How a typical case unfolds
Whether the matter concerns a claim to a compensation fund or an action before the courts, we follow the same step-by-step approach.
Securing the evidence
We immediately preserve statements, order history, correspondence and screenshots of your account dashboard — before the platform is switched off. In parallel, we establish the status of the broker's licence and its jurisdiction of registration.
Diagnosing the mechanism and an honest assessment of the limits
We identify the applicable route — EdW, FSCS, ICF, a complaint to the regulator, or litigation. We do not promise full recovery: we set out the statutory payout ceiling and the realistic timeframes within which the chosen mechanism operates.
Filing the claim, complaint or action
We prepare the claim to the fund within the applicable deadlines, the complaint to the regulator, or the court action — where needed, supported by independent technical expert evidence on order execution.
Seeing it through to a decision
Compensation proceedings run for years, and a regulator or fund may stay silent for months. We report on progress regularly — even when there is no news of substance — and see the matter through to the final decision of the fund, regulator or court, including an appeal where there are grounds for one.
From practice
A case by which we calibrate expectations
Our approach is precise diagnosis, not a promise: a regulator's findings confirm the broker's misconduct, but on their own they do not amount to compensation — the mechanism and the limits of recovery we establish separately.
Forex TB Limited (FRN 729874) · FCA Final Notice, 2024The UK regulator fined the CFD broker Forex TB Limited (FXTB) GBP 276,100 for unfair treatment of clients, providing investment advice without authorisation, and pushing clients towards giving false answers in order to reclassify them as "professional clients". The fine went to the state, not to clients — which is why we pursue an affected investor's individual claim as separate proceedings, for which the FCA's findings serve as evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about forex and CFD brokers
No. Compensation funds protect only the clients of licensed firms within their own jurisdiction. Against an unlicensed broker, what remains are tort claims, chargeback mechanisms and claims against the payment intermediaries your money passed through.
Not necessarily. Reclassification does exclude you from ICF protection and removes leverage caps — but it can be challenged if the broker itself pushed you towards giving false answers on the questionnaire. The FXTB case shows that regulators treat this practice as a violation.
Nothing. The first 30 minutes are free and are used to realistically assess your situation and your chances.
Usually within 12 hours on business days — faster in urgent cases.
Yes, by phone or video call — an in-person meeting at our Manchester office is also possible.
Under the German Lawyers' Remuneration Act (RVG), at an individually agreed rate, or through state-funded legal aid — always set out in writing before any work begins. When we recover your money, a success fee of 10% of the sum recovered is added to our fee. Full details are on our fees page.
Yes. Our practice covers clients across Europe: we correspond with BaFin, CySEC, the FCA, and other regulators regardless of the client's country, and bring claims in German courts against foreign brokers where EU consumer-protection law allows it. For proceedings that require representation before courts in other countries, we coordinate with vetted local lawyers.
Fill in the form below or call us — we'll get back to you within 12 hours, and you can walk us through the situation then.
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