Source check: 6 September 2026. By FXPEDIA360 Editorial Team.
Key answer: An Antigua and Barbuda company number can help identify a company, but it does not by itself prove that the company is authorised to provide the trading product in your account. Match the exact entity and activity to the official record and your agreement.
Next step: If the company in your agreement is not the same as the broker brand, compare how that brand routes different legal entities before deciding which regulator or protection claim applies to your account.
You find a company number in a forex broker’s footer. The address says Antigua and Barbuda. There is even a certificate. That looks like progress, until you try to answer a more useful question: who supervises the trading account you are about to open?
The Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) gives a clear answer about contracts for difference, or CFDs. Its public notice says the Commission does not regulate or authorise CFD trading. An international business corporation can include CFDs in its corporate purpose without receiving permission from the FSRC to conduct regulated CFD business. Read the FSRC’s CFD notice.
If you are checking an Antigua and Barbuda forex broker, start by identifying the product in your agreement. The notice specifically addresses CFDs. Avoid stretching that statement into a conclusion about every service advertised under the word “forex”.
A certificate can answer the wrong question
The FSRC’s IBC incorporation procedure describes the documents used to form an international business corporation. They include the approved company name, registered office, resident agent and corporate-purpose clause. The process ends with a certificate of incorporation.
Those details help you identify a company. When assessing a trading account, you also need evidence about the service that company provides. Write these as separate questions in your notes: “Does this company exist?” and “What authority covers this account and product?” A document that answers the first question leaves the second open.
| Evidence you find | What to check | Question still to answer |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of incorporation | Exact company name, number and issuing office | Which authority, if any, supervises this trading service? |
| Corporate purpose mentioning CFDs | Whether this is part of the company’s formation documents | Where is the separate evidence of product authorisation? |
| A licence belonging to the broker group | The legal name of the licence holder | Is that company named in your client agreement? |
| Claimed client-money or compensation protection | The scheme or rule and its eligibility terms | Does it cover your entity, account and circumstances? |
The detail in the FSRC notice worth checking yourself
The notice goes beyond saying that incorporation and regulation differ. It expressly addresses companies whose corporate purpose includes CFD trading. It also tells incorporated entities that they must not present themselves as FSRC-regulated or authorised for that activity.
Keep that scope in mind when reading a broker’s reply. A copy of its formation documents does not resolve a claim about FSRC oversight of CFDs. Ask for the specific authority and permission being claimed, then check them independently.
Check your account in this order
- Open the client agreement offered to you. Copy the full contracting company name, company number and agreement version. If the agreement is unavailable, request it before making a deposit.
- Find the product description. Record whether the account provides CFDs or another service. Ask support to explain an unclear description in writing.
- Compare the agreement with the website footer. Save both URLs and the date. If the names differ, ask which company will hold your account and why.
- Identify the document behind the claimed number. Is it a company-registration number or a financial permission? Record the issuer and document title rather than calling every number a licence.
- Check any claimed regulator through its own website. Match the legal entity and permitted activity. If the broker claims FSRC authorisation for CFDs, ask it to reconcile that claim with the Commission’s notice.
- Read the complaint and protection terms before accepting the account. Note the responsible company, the named external body, and any eligibility conditions. Leave a field unresolved when you cannot verify it.
For help locating the contracting name, follow our broker legal-entity check. If a brand lists several companies, the country and legal-entity comparison explains why the account offered to you deserves its own check. To compare two or three stored records for one country, use the Broker Evidence Comparison Tool before relying on a brand-level shortcut.
The official registry has a practical limitation
Have a company number but no clear way to check it? Our Antigua broker company-number walkthrough explains how to compare the number with your agreement, choose the registry route and record any gaps you cannot resolve.
The FSRC IBC e-Registry showed a login entry on the public page we accessed. We did not obtain an individual company’s record through it. This guide therefore does not certify any broker’s incorporation status.
If you cannot retrieve a record, ask the issuing office how to verify the certificate. Use contact details reached from the official site. A broker-supplied screenshot can help identify the document, but keep the status marked “not independently confirmed” until the issuer or official record resolves it.
A message you can send before depositing
Please confirm the full legal name of the company that would contract with me and provide its client agreement. Is the number displayed on your website a company-registration number or a financial-services permission? Please name the authority and the exact activity covered, with an official verification link. If this account offers CFDs, please explain which supervision and external complaint arrangements apply to this entity and to a resident of my country.
Keep the reply alongside the agreement. If support sends you a different group company’s licence, ask the question again using the name on your contract. If the explanation remains unclear, you have an unresolved account check, not a completed one.
What this finding does not tell you
The CFD notice does not, by itself, establish fraud by a particular company, determine a customer’s legal claim, or settle the rules in the customer’s home country. We have not assessed a named broker in this article.
Nor should you read it as a statement that Antigua and Barbuda has no financial licensing. For example, the FSRC’s international banking overview describes a corporation established under the IBC Act and separately licensed for international banking. The activity covered by a permission matters.
Already facing an account problem? Our Complaint Route Finder can help organise the next check. Confirm its suggested route against your agreement and the external body’s own eligibility rules before submitting a complaint.
Sources and how we checked them
This guide compares official FSRC documents and the accessible registry landing page. It was prepared with AI assistance and source checking. No test deposit, individual registry verification or regulator correspondence was conducted. The check steps are FXPEDIA360’s editorial guidance. This is general education, not personal legal or investment advice.
| Official source | Used for | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| FSRC: regulatory status of CFD trading | Commission’s stated position and the scope of its notice | 6 September 2026 |
| FSRC: IBC incorporation procedure | Formation documents and certificate | 6 September 2026 |
| FSRC: IBC e-Registry | Public landing-page access only | 6 September 2026 |
| FSRC: international banking overview | Example of activity-specific licensing | 6 September 2026 |