Risk Disclaimers

CFDs and forex carry a high risk of losing money quickly, and most retail accounts lose money trading them. This page sets out that risk in full: leverage limits, the crypto retail ban, tax treatment, and the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS complaints routes.

Master risk warning

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. The information on this page is general information about trading risk, not financial advice or a personal recommendation.

CFD and forex trading risk

Forex and CFD trading carries a real risk of losing more than you expect, and often quickly. Prices move in both directions, leverage magnifies the effect, and a position can lose value faster than you can react. These products suit some traders and not others, and nothing on this site assumes they suit you.

Price is not the only risk. A market can gap through your intended exit during a news release or an overnight session, so the price you are filled at can be worse than the level you set. Holding a position overnight incurs a financing charge that adds up over time. Trading on a non-GBP account adds currency-conversion cost on top. None of these is hidden or unusual, but each one is a way a position costs more than the headline spread suggests, and all of them matter more once leverage is involved.

Leverage and amplified losses

Leverage lets you control a position larger than your deposit, which magnifies gains and losses by the same multiple. A 30:1 position moves 30 times as fast against your margin as an unleveraged one. Worked through: on £1,000 of margin at 30:1, you control a £30,000 position, and a 3.3% move against you wipes out the £1,000. Because the multiple applies to losses exactly as it does to gains, a deposit that looks safe can disappear on a move that would barely register without leverage.

FCA retail leverage caps (PS19/18 summary)

The FCA caps the leverage a UK retail client can use at the point a position is opened. These limits come from policy statement PS19/18, in force since 1 August 2019.

Two further protections apply to every UK retail account. Margin close-out begins when account equity falls to 50% of the margin required to keep positions open. Negative balance protection means your account cannot fall below zero, so a sharp move cannot leave you owing the broker. Higher figures such as 100:1 or 500:1 are offshore or professional-client levels that a UK retail account cannot access, and they are not presented here as available.

Crypto derivatives banned for UK retail

Crypto derivatives, including crypto CFDs and crypto options, are banned for UK retail consumers under FCA policy statement PS20/10, in force since 6 January 2021. Where a broker offers crypto products, those are not available to you as a UK retail client, and this site carries no crypto-CFD call to action.

No advice, general information only

Compare Forex Brokers provides general information to help you compare brokers and understand how trading works. It does not provide financial advice, personal recommendations or a regulated service, and it is not authorised by the FCA. For advice on whether a product suits your circumstances, consult an FCA-authorised financial adviser.

Tax treatment

Profits from CFD trading are generally subject to Capital Gains Tax for UK residents, and CFDs carry no stamp duty because you do not own the underlying asset. How much tax you pay, and whether any allowance applies, depends on your personal circumstances and the rules in force at the time. This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your position with HMRC or a qualified tax adviser before relying on it.

Past performance disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. A broker’s historical spreads, a strategy’s historical returns, or any figure showing how something performed before, none of it predicts how it will perform next. Treat historical data as context, not as a forecast.

No liability for content accuracy

We check figures against primary sources and update them when they change, but broker costs, leverage and permissions can change without notice. Liability for losses arising from reliance on information that has since changed, or that contains an error, is not something we accept, and we encourage you to verify any critical figure with the broker and the FCA register before acting on it.

Complaints and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

If you have a complaint about a broker, raise it with the broker first. Once its internal complaints process is exhausted, the Financial Ombudsman Service can review the dispute independently for eligible complainants. If an FCA-authorised broker becomes insolvent, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme may cover eligible claims up to £85,000 per person, per firm. Note that these routes concern the broker, not this site; Compare Forex Brokers is not the firm holding your money.

Hyperlinks and external content

This site links to brokers, the FCA register and other third-party sources. We do not control external sites and are not responsible for their content, accuracy or availability. A link is not an endorsement of everything on the destination page.

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The content on this site, including the reviews, comparisons and testing data, is our work and is protected by copyright. You may quote short extracts with attribution and a link. Reproducing pages or data sets wholesale without permission is not permitted.

Updates to this disclaimer

We revise this disclaimer when the law, FCA rules or our practices change. The current version is the one published here. Material changes are reflected on the page rather than announced separately. David Levy, head of content at CompareForexBrokers, fact-checks and signs off the site’s content, including this page.