Who is your contract actually with?
Behind the sign stands your real counterparty.
Even a company whose name you know well may not be the company named in your contract. Separate the sign over the door from the firm behind it that makes you a promise.
In 30 seconds
- Financial firms that operate across borders may contract with you through a different company depending on where you live and how you apply.
- Regulators in the United Kingdom and Australia urge people to check a firm’s name and number on the official register, and to use the contact details listed there.
- As an example, one foreign exchange firm’s official pages show five companies under a single brand. Which one is your counterparty is decided by the agreement at the point of application.
A name is only a sign.
What we remember is the name on the sign. The promise is made by the company behind it.
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The sign and the company
Banks, money transfer apps, brokers, foreign exchange firms: financial companies that operate across borders sometimes set up separate companies country by country or region by region while keeping the same name.
The sign may be the same, but the company named in the agreement, the country where it is registered and the rules it follows can differ. So “who am I making this promise with?” is answered by the documents, not the sign.
Check it on the official register.
Regulators ask that the name and number be checked on the official register.
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In the United Kingdom
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asks people to check that the firm reference number and contact details they have been given match the official register (the Firm Checker).[1]
In Australia
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) asks people to verify the licence holder’s name and number on its official registers and to check that they match the business being promoted. It also notes that a licence is not a guarantee of safety.[2]
A face that looks very similar.
Some impostors borrow the name or number of a genuine firm.
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Clones
The FCA warns that some firms pretend to be authorised firms, so contact details should always be taken from the official register.[1]
ASIC also describes scams that use another entity’s licence number or impersonate a licensed business.[2] Even when the name matches, check that the number and contact details match too.
An example: five companies under one name.
One foreign exchange firm’s official pages show five companies under a single brand.
Group companies shown on the official pages of the example firm (HFM), as recorded on 22 September 2026
Which company you contract with is decided by the agreement on the application screen.
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Five companies
HFM’s official pages show companies in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Seychelles and Kenya (recorded on 22 September 2026).[3]
This shows the group has several companies, but not which one a given person will contract with. The deciding evidence is the company name and number shown in the agreement at the time of application.
As an example
This firm is used as an example to see the mechanism concretely, not to recommend or compare it.
A scale to read before you apply.
A scale for reading who your counterparty is.
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The name in the agreement
Which company name and number appear on the application screen and in the agreement.[3]
The official register
Whether that name and number match the register of the regulator where you live.[1][2]
Contact details
Whether the contact details and website match those on the register.[1][2]
This is not advice
This edition explains how to check who your counterparty is. It does not recommend or compare any company.
Next question
NEXT QUESTIONThere is more than one vault.NEXT QUESTIONLook at the exit before the entrance.See the Field Notes shelf →What this edition cannot tell you
- A list of official registers by country. Check your own regulator’s website.
- Which of the example firm’s companies a person in a given country contracts with. Only the application agreement can decide that.