How to check a broker in Ukraine: NSSMC licence, fraud signs and what to do if you have already paid

Why you need to check a broker

Many «brokers» that find people through ads on social media, messengers and video platforms have no permission to operate in Ukraine. Ukraine's National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) keeps a list of questionable investment projects and adds to it regularly: it held 460 platforms in January 2026 and 475 by August. The Commission stresses that all of them show signs of breaking the law or of fraud.

The problem with an illegal broker is not that it trades badly. You cannot verify that there is real money in your «account», nor demand it back: the company is often registered on an offshore island or nowhere at all. According to the NSSMC, if money is lost or an account is blocked, the regulator has limited ability to help.

How to check a broker in 4 steps

1. 1Find it in the registerThe NSSMC Register of Professional Participants of Capital Markets, by name or USREOU code
2. 2Match the licenceThe licence type must match the service you are offered
3. 3Match the site and bank detailsThe domain in the register letter for letter, money only to the company account
4. 4Check the blacklistThe list of questionable projects in the «Investor protection» section

1. Find the company in the NSSMC register. On the Commission's website, open the Register of Professional Participants of Capital Markets and Organised Commodity Markets and search by name or USREOU code (eight digits). Do not trust a certificate or «licence» on the company's own website: the NSSMC warns that fraudsters make fake documents.
2. Match the licence type. A licence is issued for a specific activity. Buying and selling stocks or bonds for you requires a brokerage licence; managing your money requires an asset management licence. If the company offers services it has no licence for, do not transfer money until you get clear explanations.
3. Match the website, bank details and contacts. The register lists the company's exact domain. Even a one-letter difference is a reason to stop: fraudsters copy the websites of real brokers. A legitimate company accepts money only into its own bank account, not onto a personal card, e-wallet or crypto wallet. Phone numbers and email should match the officially published ones.
4. Check the list of questionable projects. It is published in the «Investor protection» section of the NSSMC website. If a company is not in the register of licensees, that alone is enough not to give it money. If it is on the questionable list, the risk of losing your funds is very high.

Funds (unit and corporate investment funds) are checked in a separate register of collective investment institutions, also on the NSSMC website.

Signs of a fake broker

The NSSMC lists typical signs of risky projects: no licence and no transparent information about the founders, no official reporting or state supervision, aggressive advertising, promises of high returns and silence about the risk of losses. In practice it looks like this.

The last sign is the most insidious. While you keep topping up, the «profit» in your dashboard grows, but when you try to withdraw, new payments appear. The figures in such a dashboard are just a picture: paying to get your money out means losing even more.

What if the broker is foreign

Some brokers serve Ukrainians under a licence from another country, such as Cyprus or the UK. The NSSMC does not supervise these companies, so the protection of your money depends on that country's rules. Check a foreign broker's licence the same way: in the relevant regulator's register, not by a logo on the website, and always match the domain. Fraudsters often write «regulated in Europe» and quote someone else's licence number or that of a real company with a very similar name.

If you have already sent money

1. Stop and pay nothing more, whatever you are promised: a «withdrawal tax», «account unblocking» or «insurance».
2. Keep the evidence: messages, the website address, bank details, transfer receipts, phone numbers.
3. If you paid by card, contact your bank immediately. What can be done and how fast is covered in our article on money stolen from a card.
4. Report it to the police. Fraud falls under Article 190 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.
5. Report the project to the NSSMC: the Commission asks for such reports to warn other investors.
6. If you installed remote access software during the «help», remove it, change your banking and email passwords and check that no loan was taken out in your name: how to do that is explained in our article on loans taken in your name.

In short

• Look the broker up in the NSSMC register of professional capital market participants by name or USREOU code, not by the «licence» on its website.
• Match the licence type to the service, and the website domain to the register letter for letter.
• Send money only to the company's account, never to a personal card or crypto wallet.
• Check the list of questionable projects in the «Investor protection» section: in August 2026 it held 475 platforms.
• A fee to withdraw «profit» and offers to recover losses for an upfront payment are signs of fraud.
• Even with a licensed broker, leveraged trading is high risk: how to limit losses is covered in our article on risk management.

Figures in this article

• Retail CFD accounts losing money, lower bound74%
  ESMA data, 2018
• Retail CFD accounts losing money, upper bound89%
  ESMA data, 2018
• Projects on the NSSMC questionable list, January 2026460
  January 2026
• Projects on the NSSMC questionable list475
  August 2026

Checked against official sources on October 30, 2026. If a figure changes, we update the article and the «Updated» date changes automatically.

Sources

1. NSSMC - how to check a company's reliability using the Commission's registers (11.08.2026)
2. NSSMC - two new projects added to the list of SCAM projects: signs of risky projects (30.01.2026)
3. Minfin citing the NSSMC - three more projects added to the list, 475 in total (08.08.2026) (in Ukrainian)
4. ESMA - CFD restrictions for retail investors: 74-89% of accounts lose money (2018)
5. ZAXID.NET citing Ternopil police - fake investments and a fake «lawyer» promising to recover the money (09.07.2026) (in Ukrainian)

This article is for education only and is not investment advice or a call to trade. We do not recommend specific brokers. Trading forex, CFDs and other leveraged instruments carries a high risk of losing money.