Risk warnings
Leveraged trading and crypto carry a high risk of losing money. This page sets out the risk warnings UK rules require and how we use them. It's general information, not financial or legal advice.
CFDs (contracts for difference)
UK firms that market CFDs, spread bets or rolling spot forex to retail clients on a website must show this warning, with their own percentage (COBS 22.5.6R(1A) in the FCA Handbook):
"CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. [x]% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money."
The percentage is the firm's own figure for its retail accounts. A firm that hasn't traded these products with a retail client in the previous 12 months uses different wording ("The vast majority of retail client accounts lose money…", COBS 22.5.7R).
Our CFD loss-rate series collects these percentages from each firm's own website. Each firm's figure is the firm's own number, copied as published. The medians we show across firms are our own calculation, labelled as such; they aren't any firm's warning. See the method.
Crypto assets
A promotion of qualifying cryptoassets to UK consumers must carry this warning (COBS 4.12A.11R(1)(d) in the FCA Handbook):
"Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong."
On a website or app it must also carry a "Take 2 mins to learn more" link to a risk summary (COBS 4.12A.11R(3)). Our crypto pages, such as the UK crypto licence tracker, are data pages: they don't invite anyone to buy or trade, carry no affiliate links and name no offer, so we judge they aren't promotions and don't carry this warning. If we ever promote a crypto platform to UK readers, that page will carry it.
Firm-approved copy only
- A page that promotes a broker or crypto exchange to UK readers is a financial promotion. It must use copy approved by an FCA-authorised firm and carry the required risk warning.
- TradingLookup isn't authorised by the FCA, so we can't approve our own promotions. We don't write promotional copy for a firm and call it approved.
- If we don't have approved copy for a firm, we don't promote that firm to UK readers.
- Our data pages, such as the CFD loss-rate series, carry no affiliate links and don't promote any firm. See how we make money.