ASIC Regulated Brokers Australia 2026

ASIC Regulated Brokers Australia 2026: How to Check an AFSL

Q: How do I check if a broker is ASIC regulated?

Take the exact legal entity name and AFSL number from the website footer or the front page of the PDS, then search that number on ASIC’s Professional Registers. Confirm the status is current and that the authorisations cover derivatives. Verify AFCA membership separately. Do not rely on a licence number displayed on the broker’s own site alone.

Q: What leverage can an Australian retail client get?

30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities and minor indices, 5:1 on shares and 2:1 on crypto. These are ASIC product intervention caps and are identical at every AFSL holder. Higher leverage advertised to Australians comes from an offshore entity.

Q: Is my money protected if an Australian broker fails?

It is held on trust with an Australian ADI and is not available to the firm’s general creditors — but there is no compensation scheme. Australia has no equivalent of the UK’s FSCS for this. Both licensees disclose that money may be commingled and that if there is a deficiency in the trust account you may not receive all of it.

Q: Do Australian brokers publish a loss percentage?

No, and they are not required to. Unlike the FCA and CySEC, ASIC does not mandate the disclosure, and neither Pepperstone Group Limited nor International Capital Markets Pty Ltd publishes one. Figures you may see quoted — 72.9%, 79.6%, 81.69% — belong to those groups’ UK, Bahamas and other entities and are not Australian numbers.

Q: Should I become a wholesale client?

Consider it very carefully. Both licensees state that negative balance protection stops applying — Pepperstone caps it at a one-time USD 100,000, IC says it does not automatically apply. Pepperstone’s trading test is ten times easier to meet on notional value, but that makes qualifying easier rather than wiser. You would be trading up to 500:1 with the possibility of owing money you never deposited.

Q: Does an AFSL mean the broker is good?

No. It sets conduct and disclosure obligations and gives you a dispute route. It says nothing about pricing, execution quality, slippage or withdrawal reliability. Treat it as a minimum standard to filter on, then compare on cost and execution among the firms that pass.

How to verify an ASIC-regulated broker in 2026: check an AFSL on the ASIC Professional Registers and understand what a licence does and does not protect.

At a glance

An Australian Financial Services Licence means the firm must hold your money on trust, cap your leverage to ASIC’s limits, belong to AFCA and carry professional indemnity insurance. It does not come with a compensation scheme — Australia has no equivalent of the UK’s FSCS for this.

Leverage caps are law, not a feature. 30:1 majors, 20:1 gold, 2:1 crypto — identical at every AFSL holder.
Check the AFSL number on ASIC’s own registers, not on the broker’s website, and confirm the authorisations cover derivatives.
There is no Australian FSCS. If a licensee fails, you are a trust beneficiary and possibly a creditor — nothing tops you up.
Wholesale classification removes negative balance protection. Both major licensees say so in writing.
Australian entities need not publish a loss percentage — and neither of the two below does.

What does an AFSL actually give you?

And the thing it does not give you.Australia has no compensation scheme for a failed CFD licensee. There is no FSCS, no ICF, no statutory backstop. If the licensee fails and the trust account is short, your recovery depends on what is actually there. Both major licensees disclose this: money “may be commingled”, and if there is a deficiency “you may not receive all the money”.

Client money held on trust. Funds sit in a trust account with an Australian ADI, segregated from the firm’s own money and not available to its general creditors.
ASIC leverage caps. Retail leverage is fixed by product intervention order, not by the broker.
Negative balance protection for retail clients — you cannot lose more than your account value.
AFCA membership. An external dispute resolution scheme that can make binding determinations.
Professional indemnity insurance under s.912B and RG 126.

The ASIC retail leverage caps

These are identical everywhere because they are an ASIC order rather than a commercial decision. Any site advertising 1:500 or 1:5000 to an Australian retail client is showing you an offshore entity — a Seychelles, Bahamas or Vanuatu company that shares a brand name and none of the protections on this page.

Table 1 — ASIC product intervention leverage caps

Table 1 — ASIC product intervention leverage caps
Asset class	Maximum leverage — every AFSL holder
Major currency pairs	30:1
Minor currency pairs, gold, major indices	20:1
Commodities other than gold, minor indices	10:1
Shares and other underlying assets	5:1
Cryptoassets	2:1

The two major Australian licensees

Check the date on a PDS before you rely on it. Pepperstone’s Australian PDS is dated August 2023 and no longer describes the current product — it contains no account types, no commission table, no mention of the 2.5% swap charge published on the website, and no TradingView. The PDS is the legally required disclosure document. When it and the website disagree, you are relying on a web page that can change without notice.

Table 2 — The two AFSL holders compared

Table 2 — The two AFSL holders compared
	Pepperstone	IC Markets
Legal entity	Pepperstone Group Limited	International Capital Markets Pty Ltd
ACN	147 055 703	123 289 109
AFSL	414530	335692
Registered office	Level 16, Tower One, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3008	Suite 2, Level 6, 50 Carrington Street, Sydney NSW 2000
AFCA membership	28689	13527
Trust bank named?	No — “an Authorised Deposit Taking Institution”	Yes — National Australia Bank
Current PDS	August 2023	November 2025
PI insurance	Held, per RG 126 — amount not published	Held — amount not published

Ready to get started?

Save up to US$2,500 a year

Get the signals free

Open a trading account with Base Markets through our link and deposit US$400 — the capital stays in your account, yours to trade — and you unlock full signals access free, replacing a subscription worth around US$2,500 a year.

1Open a Base Markets account through our link
2Deposit US$400 — the capital stays yours to trade
3Send your proof on Telegram and every signal is free

Open a Base Markets account

Rather just subscribe?

No broker account needed — subscribe through our Telegram bot and get every signal with a clear entry, take-profit and stop-loss, straight to your phone.

Subscribe on Telegram

Trading forex and CFDs carries a real risk of losing money. Our signals are general market analysis, not personal financial advice.

How do you verify an AFSL?

The check that catches most problems is comparing the entity name on the website you are actually signing up through against the entity on the licence. Global brands run several entities; the Australian one is a different company from the offshore one, and the sign-up flow does not always make clear which you are joining.

Verify the licence, then test the platform

Pepperstone Group Limited holds AFSL 414530 and is AFCA member 28689 — check both on the ASIC registers, then try the platform on a free demo before funding anything.

Open a free demo account

Pepperstone Group Limited, ACN 147 055 703, AFSL 414530

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Australian licensees are not required to publish a retail loss percentage and neither AFSL holder on this page does. Read the Product Disclosure Statement and Financial Services Guide before deciding.

Pepperstone Group Limited holds ASIC AFSL 414530. ASIC does not mandate a retail-loss percentage, so none is quoted here rather than borrowing another entity's figure. This is a paid affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you open an account. It does not change our ranking or what we publish.

Find the exact legal entity name and AFSL number — they are in the website footer and on the front of the PDS. A brand name is not a licensee.
Search that number on ASIC’s Professional Registers, not on the broker’s own site.
Check the authorisations. A licence lists specific financial products. Confirm it covers derivatives and, if relevant, foreign exchange contracts — a licence for one product is not a licence for another.
Check the status is current and note any conditions or variations attached to it.
Confirm AFCA membership separately, using the membership number.

Wholesale classification — read this before you apply

Both licensees offer a route out of the retail category, and both are clear that you lose protections when you take it.

This is not an upgrade. You are trading up to 500:1 without guaranteed negative balance protection, which means a gap through your stop can leave you owing money you never deposited. The retail protections exist because most people who give them up regret it. Note also the trading test differs tenfold between the two — AUD 50,000 notional against AUD 500,000 — so qualifying at one is far easier than at the other. Ease of qualifying is not a reason to qualify.

Table 3 — Wholesale client classification

Table 3 — Wholesale client classification
	Pepperstone Pro	IC Markets Professional
Wealth test	Net assets ≥ AUD 2.5m or gross income ≥ AUD 250,000 for two years, accountant-certified	Same, re-certified every two years
Trading test	20 trades a quarter for four quarters, each notional ≥ AUD 50,000	20 trades a quarter for four quarters, notional ≥ AUD 500,000
Leverage once approved	Up to 1:500	Up to 500:1
Negative balance protection	Not guaranteed — one-time cover to USD 100,000	Does not automatically apply
Margin close-out	Drops from 50% to 20%	—

Ready to get started?

Save up to US$2,500 a year

Get the signals free

1Open a Base Markets account through our link
2Deposit US$400 — the capital stays yours to trade
3Send your proof on Telegram and every signal is free

Open a Base Markets account

Rather just subscribe?

No broker account needed — subscribe through our Telegram bot and get every signal with a clear entry, take-profit and stop-loss, straight to your phone.

Subscribe on Telegram

Trading forex and CFDs carries a real risk of losing money. Our signals are general market analysis, not personal financial advice.

Written and reviewed by

Best Trading Signal — editorial & analysis team

We review brokers on licensing, cost and withdrawals — and state the cons, not just the pros. How our signals are produced · Risk Disclosure · Last updated 12 September 2026

Frequently asked questions

Take the exact legal entity name and AFSL number from the website footer or the front page of the PDS, then search that number on ASIC’s Professional Registers. Confirm the status is current and that the authorisations cover derivatives. Verify AFCA membership separately. Do not rely on a licence number displayed on the broker’s own site alone.

30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities and minor indices, 5:1 on shares and 2:1 on crypto. These are ASIC product intervention caps and are identical at every AFSL holder. Higher leverage advertised to Australians comes from an offshore entity.

It is held on trust with an Australian ADI and is not available to the firm’s general creditors — but there is no compensation scheme. Australia has no equivalent of the UK’s FSCS for this. Both licensees disclose that money may be commingled and that if there is a deficiency in the trust account you may not receive all of it.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is the external dispute resolution scheme every AFSL holder must join. It considers complaints free of charge to consumers and can make determinations binding on the firm. Pepperstone is member 28689; IC Markets is 13527. It handles disputes about conduct — it does not compensate you for a losing trade.

No, and they are not required to. Unlike the FCA and CySEC, ASIC does not mandate the disclosure, and neither Pepperstone Group Limited nor International Capital Markets Pty Ltd publishes one. Figures you may see quoted — 72.9%, 79.6%, 81.69% — belong to those groups’ UK, Bahamas and other entities and are not Australian numbers.

Consider it very carefully. Both licensees state that negative balance protection stops applying — Pepperstone caps it at a one-time USD 100,000, IC says it does not automatically apply. Pepperstone’s trading test is ten times easier to meet on notional value, but that makes qualifying easier rather than wiser. You would be trading up to 500:1 with the possibility of owing money you never deposited.

Everything that matters. The Australian entity holds an AFSL, caps leverage at 30:1, holds money on trust under the Corporations Act and belongs to AFCA. The offshore entities — Seychelles, Bahamas and others — offer far higher leverage and none of those protections. Same brand, different company, different law. Check which one your account is with.

No. It sets conduct and disclosure obligations and gives you a dispute route. It says nothing about pricing, execution quality, slippage or withdrawal reliability. Treat it as a minimum standard to filter on, then compare on cost and execution among the firms that pass.

Related guides

Trading forex, CFDs and crypto carries a real risk of losing money and isn't suitable for everyone — our signals are analyst opinions and general information, not personal financial advice, and past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Last updated 12 September 2026