There were 74 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated companies with permission to offer contracts for difference (CFD) products to retail traders in the United Kingdom as of 1 December 2025, FinanceMagnates.coom learned through a Freedom of Information request. There were a total of 105 firms in the FCA’s CFD portfolio.
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Notably, a few of those firms might have surrendered their FCA licences as well.
FinanceMagnates.com recently reported that FXTM is also going to surrender its FCA licence while, on the other hand, becoming a full brokerage in the UAE and expanding in Indonesia.
Dozens of CFD Brokers Are Still Regulated in the UK
The British regulator also revealed that there were 2,547 firms authorised to act as principals and/or agents, with permission for investment types ‘contracts for difference’ and/or ‘rolling spot forex’ and/or ‘spread bets’, for clients.
Further granular data shows that 936 firms are authorised for CFD products with ‘provider’ (dealing as principal) permission, 2,560 firms are authorised for CFD products with dealing as agent and principal permissions, and 152 firms have matched principal limitations and permissions to provide CFD products.
However, how many of those firms are actively offering CFDs remains unknown.
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The ‘Halo Effect’ Is an Issue
At the end of 2024, the British regulator revealed that around 20 per cent of local CFD brokers, including spread betting and rolling forex providers, were conducting little or no activity, labelling them as 'halo firms'.
It then justified the ‘halo’ label as the firms existed “purely to provide an FCA ‘halo’ to wider ‘groups’,” thus giving “false comfort to global retail clients who see the FCA association but contract with an offshore ‘group’ entity rather than the UK-authorised firm, without UK regulatory protection.”
An FCA licence is considered one of the toughest regulatory regimes for CFD brokers. The strict requirements might have pushed many companies away, as several exited the country over the past few years.
However, a handful have also entered the FCA licensing regime.
Last November, the British regulator also issued a warning against CFD providers after its review found that some firms had not met the standards set under consumer duty.
