Can a Forex Broker Change Your Legal Entity After You Open an Account?

Last reviewed: 20 August 2026. A broker may ask existing customers to accept updated terms, move an account to another group company, or open a replacement account under a different legal entity. Those situations can look similar in an email, but they do not have the same meaning. Before clicking “accept,” identify exactly what is changing and what happens to your existing positions, money and complaint rights.

This article is educational information, not legal or financial advice. The effect of an entity change depends on the country, product, client classification, contract and applicable rules. Use the official register and the documents for your own account.

What can “we are changing your entity” actually mean?

There are at least four different scenarios:

1. Terms update: the same company remains your counterparty but changes a policy, fee schedule or operating term.
2. Business transfer: another company becomes the provider of the service and new terms are issued.
3. New account route: the broker asks you to open a new account with a different subsidiary, often because of residence, product or regulatory requirements.
4. Brand or website change: the public name changes, but the legal entity may or may not change.

Do not treat those descriptions as interchangeable. A new logo does not automatically mean a new counterparty, and a new counterparty should not be treated as a cosmetic website update.

The FCA specifically tells consumers to read a firm’s terms and conditions to establish the actual entity they are contracting with and where it is incorporated. Our country-specific legal entity comparison explains why the same brand can offer different protections and complaint routes.

Check 1: Compare the old and new legal names

Write the names side by side. Include the company number, registered address, regulator, licence or reference number, website domain and the name shown in the client agreement. Do not rely on a group name, trading name or familiar logo.

Then compare the payment recipient. If the deposit or withdrawal beneficiary changes, save the new written instructions and verify them through an official channel. A payment destination that does not match the named entity needs an explanation before you proceed.

If you have not verified the original counterparty yet, use our forex broker legal-entity checklist. A regulator record for one group company does not automatically cover another company.

Check 2: Confirm the new entity’s permission for your exact product

“Authorised” is not a universal permission. Check whether the new entity is authorised for the service you use, whether it may serve customers in your country and whether your product is treated as retail forex, rolling spot FX, CFD or another category.

For UK consumers, the FCA’s CFD guidance covers CFDs, spread betting and rolling spot foreign exchange, and warns consumers to check the actual contracting entity. It also explains that retail protections depend on the applicable rules and client classification. Do not assume that the protections attached to the old entity follow automatically to the new one.

Check 3: Ask what happens to open positions and account balances

Request a written answer to these questions:

• Will open positions remain open, be closed, or be transferred?
• Will the entry price, swap, margin, stop-out level and trade history remain unchanged?
• Will the account number, wallet, base currency or payment method change?
• Which entity is responsible for money already deposited?
• Which entity is responsible for a transaction or complaint that began before the change?
• Will a new risk disclosure, fee schedule or client classification apply?

Do not infer the answer from a dashboard. Download account statements and transaction history before the proposed date. A clean record gives you a reference if the platform later displays a different balance or trade history.

Check 4: Read the change clause and the new agreement

Find the clauses covering amendments, transfer, termination, governing law, client money, complaints, costs and withdrawals. Compare the documents instead of accepting a “summary of key changes” alone.

For UK investment services, FCA Handbook COBS 8A describes the written client agreement and the information firms must provide in good time before the client is bound. The FCA also explains that when investment business is transferred, the receiving firm should provide new terms and obtain evidence of the client’s consent in the situations covered by its guidance. These are not a universal rule for every broker, country or product, so check which framework applies to your account.

Our guide to broker agreement clauses can help you locate the sections most likely to affect your money.

Check 5: Look for a change in complaint and compensation routes

The entity can determine where you complain, which ombudsman may be available and which compensation arrangement—if any—could apply. A familiar brand does not guarantee that the new company is covered by the same scheme.

Before accepting, record:

1. the firm’s internal complaints address;
2. the regulator’s official register entry;
3. the external ombudsman or dispute body named in the agreement;
4. the governing law and jurisdiction clause; and
5. the deadline or process for rejecting the transfer.

If the change has already caused a withdrawal problem, use our withdrawal dispute route guide. It explains how to identify the responsible entity, build an evidence packet and approach the right jurisdiction-specific channel.

Check 6: Watch for pressure to move offshore or become “professional”

A change request deserves extra scrutiny if it is combined with higher leverage, fewer warnings, a request to become a professional client, or a move to a third-country company. Those changes may affect the protections and complaint options available to a retail customer.

ESMA has warned CFD providers not to incentivise or pressure retail clients to request professional-client treatment and has cautioned against using intra-group firms outside the EU to circumvent retail protections. That warning does not prove that every international entity is unsafe; it shows why the new entity, permissions and client classification must be checked separately.

A simple before-and-after comparison table

When should you pause?

Pause the change and request written clarification when:

• the new legal name does not appear on the relevant official register;
• the firm cannot explain which entity holds existing client money;
• the email asks you to send money to a new beneficiary without independent confirmation;
• the firm will not provide the new agreement or a version date;
• your complaint or withdrawal route disappears from the new terms; or
• you are pressured to accept immediately, deposit more or waive protections.

A pause is not a finding of fraud. It is a risk-control step while the evidence is incomplete.

A five-minute entity-change test

1. Have I saved the old agreement and the proposed new agreement?
2. Can I verify the new legal entity on the official register?
3. Do the new permissions cover my country, client type and product?
4. Is there a written plan for open positions, balances and withdrawals?
5. Do I know the new complaint and dispute route before accepting?

If any answer is “no,” do not use the broker’s urgency as a substitute for evidence. The free Broker Safety Checklist and FXPEDIA360’s Verified Start workflow can help you record the entity, source and date checked. Neither resource guarantees that a broker is safe or that a dispute will succeed.

An entity change should trigger a fresh safety review, even when the brand and platform stay the same. Follow the complete broker safety checklist to compare the old and new licence, protections, terms and complaint route.

Official sources

• FCA: Contract for differences
• FCA: Client agreements for transferring investment business
• FCA Handbook: COBS 8A.1 Client agreements
• ESMA: Existing retail CFD contracts and changes to terms
• ESMA: Warning on professional-client pressure and third-country entities
• CFTC: Eight things to know before trading forex

Continue the migration audit

An entity move can also change the contractual execution terms and evidence available for disputed fills. Recheck the full fee schedule under the proposed entity rather than assuming group-wide pricing.

Action steps before accepting a move

1. Save the old agreement, new agreement and migration notice.
2. Match both legal entities to their official register records.
3. Compare permissions, complaint routes, client-money wording, fees and execution terms.
4. Ask what happens if you decline, and keep the written answer.