WhichBrokerThe short answer
XM is a real, long-established broker, regulated by CySEC in the EU and by offshore regulators elsewhere. As of October 2026, EU clients are covered by the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000 and capped at 30:1 leverage, while clients of the offshore XM Global entity get leverage up to 1000:1 and no compensation scheme at all. XM no longer operates an FCA-authorised entity under its own brand, so a UK resident with an XM account has no FSCS cover.
So “is XM safe” has two honest answers. The company itself has been around since 2009, is not a scam and runs at scale. Whether your money is well protected depends almost entirely on which XM entity signed your client agreement, and most people never check.
Which XM entities exist and who regulates them?
XM is a trading name of Trading Point Holdings Ltd, a Cyprus-based group. The footer of XM’s sites lists the entities that operate under the brand, and they are not interchangeable.
| Entity | Regulator | Licence | Who it serves | Max retail leverage | Compensation scheme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd | CySEC (Cyprus) | 120/10 | Residents of the EEA | 30:1 | Investor Compensation Fund, up to €20,000 |
| XM Global Limited | Financial Services Commission (Belize) | Registered under the Securities Industry Act 2021 | Most non-EU countries | Up to 1000:1 | None |
| XM International MU Limited | Financial Services Commission (Mauritius) | GB23202700 | Selected non-EU countries | Not published separately | None |
| XM (SC) Limited | Financial Services Authority (Seychelles) | SD190 | Selected non-EU countries | Not published separately | None |
| Trading Point MENA Limited | DFSA (Dubai) | F003484 | Clients in the DIFC and region | Set by DFSA rules | None comparable |
The CySEC, Mauritius and Seychelles licence numbers are those printed on XM’s own sites as of 2026; the DFSA entry is on the DFSA public register, which shows the firm authorised since 10 September 2019. XM Global’s Belize registration number has appeared in different forms on XM’s site over the past year, so check the current figure on the Belize FSC register rather than relying on a number copied from a review.
The CySEC entity also passports its licence into other EU countries, and XM’s regulation page lists registrations with BaFin, CONSOB, France’s ACPR, Poland’s KNF, the AFM and others. Passporting means those regulators know XM is operating in their market; the licence and the compensation scheme are still Cypriot.
Is XM regulated by the FCA in the UK?
Not any more, under the XM name. This is the point most “is XM safe” pages get wrong, so it is worth setting out what the records show.
The group did have an FCA-authorised UK company, Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Limited, firm reference 705428. In 2019 the group moved its UK clients from XM to a new brand, Trading.com, as reported by Finance Magnates at the time. According to Companies House, the company was renamed Trading.com Markets UK Limited on 7 January 2025, and its website footer states it is authorised and regulated by the FCA under FRN 705428. That firm trades as Trading.com, not XM, and it publishes its own CFD risk figure: 72.6% of retail accounts lose money.
The Australian licence has followed the same path. AFSL 443670, which XM’s Australian site attributed to Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd as recently as December 2024, is now shown on Trading.com’s Australian site as held by Trading.com Markets Pty Ltd. If you see a review describing XM as “ASIC-regulated”, it is describing a licence that is now used under a different brand.
For a UK resident, the practical consequence is this. None of the entities XM lists on its current sites is authorised by the FCA. XM Global’s published list of restricted countries names the United States, Canada, Israel and Iran, and does not name the UK; we could not confirm from XM’s own documents whether it will open an account for a UK resident today. If it does, that account is with an offshore firm: no Financial Services Compensation Scheme cover, no Financial Ombudsman Service, and none of the FCA’s CFD rules on leverage or bonuses. If you want a CFD broker with an FCA licence, the best trading platforms in the UK list starts from that requirement.
How do you check which XM entity your account is with?
Do this before depositing, not after a dispute. Four places tell you:
- The client agreement. The first page names the legal entity you are contracting with. This is the document that counts.
- The website you signed up on. XM.com, when shown to EEA visitors, is operated by Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd and says so in the footer. XMGlobal.com is run by the offshore entities. If the site advertised a deposit bonus, you were not signing up with the CySEC entity, because EU rules ban bonuses for retail CFD clients.
- The leverage you were offered. If your account allows more than 30:1 on major currency pairs as a retail client, it is not the EU entity.
- The register. Take the entity name from your agreement and look it up on the regulator’s own register (CySEC, Belize FSC, DFSA). A licence badge on a website is not evidence; a register entry is.
Also check the domain. The FCA has published warnings about unauthorised firms trading on the XM name, including “XM Market Limited” (warning issued 25 January 2024) and “New World XM”. Neither is part of XM. A broker contacting you on WhatsApp under an XM-like name is far more likely to be one of these than the real firm.
What does the €20,000 compensation actually cover?
Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund, as XM’s regulation page states. If the firm failed and could not return client money, the fund pays retail clients the lower of €20,000 or 90% of their covered claim, across all their accounts with that firm. It does not cover trading losses, and it does not cover professional clients.
That is a modest limit compared with the UK’s £85,000 FSCS investment cover, but it is a real backstop. On XM Global and the other offshore entities there is no equivalent. Your protection there rests on two things the firm itself describes: keeping client money in segregated accounts at banks, and staying solvent. Segregation is meaningful, but an offshore regulator’s ability to enforce it in an insolvency is untested compared with Cyprus.
How different is the leverage?
Very. On the EU entity, XM’s leverage page states “up to 30:1 leverage available dependent on instrument”, which is the ESMA cap for major currency pairs; minor pairs, indices and commodities are capped lower. On XM Global, the leverage page advertises “flexible leverage up to 1000:1”.
At 30:1, a €1,000 deposit controls €30,000 of currency. At 1000:1, the same deposit can control €1,000,000, and a price move of 0.1% against you wipes out the account. High leverage is not a safety feature dressed up as choice; it is the main reason offshore CFD accounts are emptied faster. XM Global’s bonus programmes, covered on our deposit bonus and no-deposit bonus pages, run only on the offshore side for the same regulatory reason.
Does XM have negative balance protection?
Yes, on both main entities, but for different reasons. For EEA retail clients it is required by the EU’s CFD rules, and XM’s regulation page describes automated monitoring “for the sake of no negative balance”, so you cannot lose more than you deposited. XM Global’s leverage page also lists negative balance protection. On the offshore side it is a company policy rather than a regulatory obligation, which means its terms are whatever the client agreement says. Read that section before trading at high leverage, particularly around weekend gaps and news events.
How many XM clients lose money?
XM’s EU site, operated by the CySEC entity, stated in mid-October 2026 that 76.15% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with it. The figure is recalculated periodically; in September 2026 it read 75.12%. That is in the normal range for EU CFD brokers, and it measures the product, not the broker’s honesty.
XM Global does not publish a comparable figure, because the disclosure requirement does not apply offshore. There is no reason to assume offshore clients, trading at many times the leverage, do better. If you are deciding whether CFDs are the right product at all, spread betting vs CFDs explains the mechanics.
Has XM been in trouble with regulators?
The record we could verify from primary sources is short. In April 2012 a US federal court entered a consent order requiring Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd to pay a $140,000 civil penalty, after the CFTC found it had solicited US customers for leveraged forex without registering as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer. The firm was ordered to stop soliciting US customers, which is why the US remains on XM’s restricted list.
Our searches of public enforcement notices turned up no recent FCA, CySEC or ASIC action against an XM entity; if you find one we missed, the regulator’s own notice is the source to trust. The FCA warnings that appear when you search “XM FCA” are about clone firms using the name, not about XM.
Verdict
XM is a legitimate broker, and its EU entity is regulated in a way that gives retail clients real protection: segregated money, a 30:1 leverage cap, negative balance protection and a €20,000 compensation backstop. Our trust score of 8.0 reflects that, and also what pulls it down: most of XM’s business runs through offshore entities where the leverage is extreme, the bonuses are aggressive and there is no compensation scheme. The brand’s FCA and ASIC licences have moved to Trading.com, so UK readers should treat any XM account as offshore.
If you are in the EEA, XM is a reasonable choice and the entity question answers itself. If you are anywhere else, find the entity name in your agreement before you deposit, and decide whether 1000:1 is something you want rather than something you were sold. The data summary is on the XM review page, and Exness vs XM compares it with the other large offshore-heavy broker.
Frequently asked questions
Is XM regulated?
Yes, but by different regulators depending on where you live. Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd is licensed by CySEC in Cyprus (licence 120/10) and serves EEA residents. Clients elsewhere are usually placed with XM Global Limited, registered with the Financial Services Commission of Belize, or with sister entities in Mauritius and Seychelles. Trading Point MENA Limited is authorised by the DFSA in Dubai. The protection you get depends on which of these entities holds your account.
Is XM regulated by the FCA?
Not under the XM brand today. The group's FCA-authorised UK company, firm reference 705428, moved its clients to the Trading.com brand in 2019 and was renamed Trading.com Markets UK Limited in January 2025, according to Companies House. None of the XM entities listed on XM's own websites is authorised by the FCA, so an XM account opened by a UK resident would not come with FSCS cover or access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Is my money protected if XM goes bust?
Only if you are a retail client of the CySEC entity. Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd is a member of the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund, which pays up to €20,000 or 90% of your covered claim, whichever is lower. XM Global and the other offshore entities are not members of any comparable scheme, so their clients rely on segregation of client money and the firm's own solvency.
Does XM have negative balance protection?
Yes, on both main entities. For EEA retail clients of the CySEC entity it is a legal requirement under EU rules on CFDs, and XM's regulation page describes automated monitoring that stops losses exceeding your deposit. XM Global's leverage page also lists negative balance protection. On the offshore entity it is a company policy rather than a regulatory requirement, so read the client agreement for the exact terms.
What percentage of XM clients lose money?
XM's EU website, run by the CySEC-licensed entity, stated in October 2026 that 76.15% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. The figure is updated periodically; a month earlier it was 75.12%. XM Global, the offshore entity, does not publish an equivalent percentage because the EU disclosure rule does not apply to it.
