FMA Regulated Forex Brokers: Every Licensed Derivatives Issuer in New Zealand

The 16 companies the Financial Markets Authority lists as licensed derivatives issuers in New Zealand, with each one's registration number, licence status, date granted and what it offers retail clients.

Legal entity	Trading brand	Registration number	Licence status	Date granted	What it offers retail clients	Register page
ACE Markets Limited	ACE Markets	FSP703051	Active	18 January 2016	Contracts for difference	FMA register
AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd	Axi	FSP518226	Active	1 June 2018	Contracts for difference. Axi’s own New Zealand legal page states the site is not intended for New Zealand residents	FMA register
Black Bull Group Limited	BlackBull Markets	FSP403326	Active	12 August 2020	Contracts for difference, on standard and prime account types	FMA register
CMC Markets NZ Limited	CMC Markets	FSP41187	Active	12 December 2014	Contracts for difference on shares, indices, currencies, commodities, treasuries and cryptocurrencies	FMA register
EC Markets Financial Limited (previously CTRL Investments Limited or MahiFX Limited)	EC Markets	FSP197465	Active	20 January 2015	Derivatives for retail clients	FMA register
IG Australia Pty Ltd	IG	FSP684191	Active	9 July 2021	Contracts for difference on shares, indices, options, currencies and futures	FMA register
Pacific Financial Derivatives Limited	Pacific Financial Derivatives	FSP28944	Active	27 February 2015	Foreign exchange and derivatives	FMA register
Plus500AU Pty Ltd	Plus500	FSP486026	Active	30 September 2016	Contracts for difference, retail clients only	FMA register
TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd	ThinkMarkets	FSP623289	Active	17 December 2021	Margin foreign exchange contracts and contracts for difference	FMA register
Zero Markets (NZ) Limited	Zero Markets	FSP569807	Active	27 August 2018	Contracts for difference	FMA register
Jarden Securities Limited	Jarden	FSP3202	Active	1 October 2016	Derivatives offered alongside a sharebroking service, not a retail CFD platform	FMA register
ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited	ANZ	FSP36405	Active	28 November 2016	A registered bank. Its derivatives licence covers products offered to bank customers, not a retail trading platform	FMA register
Convera Australia Pty Ltd.	Convera	FSP168204	Active	22 January 2015	A cross-border payments company. Its derivatives are foreign exchange forwards used to fix the cost of a payment	FMA register
StoneX Financial Pty Ltd	no brand joined	FSP1001193	Active	10 August 2026	Its only registered New Zealand offer is MILK PRICE OPTIONS (OFR15238), a dairy derivative. No foreign exchange or CFD offer is registered	FMA register
Tor FX Pty Limited	TorFX	FSP1006222	Active	1 March 2024	A money-transfer company. Its derivatives are foreign exchange forwards used to fix the cost of a transfer	FMA register
Direct FX Limited	Direct FX	FSP16781	Suspended, not active	5 December 2014	Foreign exchange derivatives. The licence is suspended	FMA register

The Financial Markets Authority's register lists 16 licensed derivatives issuers for New Zealand, of which 15 are active and 12 offer retail foreign exchange or contracts for difference. The registration number identifies the company on the Financial Service Providers Register and is not itself the licence.

Read from the FMA's licensed providers register on 19 September 2026. The licence category is "Derivatives issuers" for every row. 1 of the 16 is not active.

Every derivatives issuer the FMA licenses

The Financial Markets Authority licenses 16 derivatives issuers in total, and the register names the legal entity behind each trading brand rather than the brand alone. That distinction matters more than most readers expect: 7 of the licensees are incorporated in Australia rather than New Zealand, which shows in the “Pty Ltd” and “(Aust)” forms in their legal names, so the company a New Zealand client actually contracts with is often not a New Zealand company.

The offering column separates the register into two groups. Ten licensees offer retail forex or contracts for difference, and each offering is described in the issuer’s own product disclosure statement, covering plain contracts for difference, margin foreign exchange contracts and CFDs spanning shares, indices, currencies, commodities, treasuries and cryptocurrencies. One row carries a note worth reading closely: AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd holds an active derivatives issuer licence, granted 1 June 2018, and issues its own New Zealand product disclosure statement under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

Of those licensees, five make up the brokers this site rates for New Zealand traders.

When each licence was granted

The grant dates span 11.7 years, and the spread is the finding. The earliest licence on the register, granted on 5 December 2014, belongs to Direct FX Limited, while the most recent was granted to StoneX Financial Pty Ltd on 10 August 2026.

Read from the grant dates rather than the register’s listing column, the picture is one of an old register, not a recent expansion. Nine of the licences were granted by the end of 2016, and only four have been granted since 2021. The earliest of the retail issuers still on the register include CMC Markets NZ Limited, licensed on 12 December 2014, and Plus500AU Pty Ltd, licensed on 30 September 2016. Zero Markets (NZ) Limited was granted its licence in 2018, not September 2024.

Whenever a licence was granted, the issuers on the register serve clients during the trading windows set out on the New Zealand market hours page.

What a derivatives issuer licence covers

The FMA classes retail forex trading as derivatives trading, not currency dealing: forex trading using contracts linked to the exchange rate between two currencies is classed as trading a derivative financial product. Anyone offering those contracts in New Zealand must hold a derivatives issuer licence from the FMA, and the regulator recommends New Zealanders avoid overseas forex services it has not licensed, even where an overseas regulator appears to cover them.

The licence also carries obligations the provider owes the client. A licensed derivatives provider must give a client a product disclosure statement before they trade, and the FMA names insolvency of the provider as a risk to read the PDS for, warning that if a provider became insolvent the client may be an unsecured creditor with difficulty getting their money back. On leverage, the FMA describes leveraged forex trading as borrowing money to place a bet, with the full borrowed amount repayable on a loss, and its opening line on the subject is that forex trading for profit is very risky, with regular complaints from consumers who have lost money.

An FSP number is a registration, not a licence

Every licensee on the register carries an FSP number, such as FSP403326 for Black Bull Group Limited, and that number is a registration on the Financial Service Providers Register. It is not a licence and is not evidence of regulation. The licence is the derivatives issuer licence, and the FSP number identifies which registered entity holds it.

This is why the legal entity matters when checking a broker. A brand can display its registration number on its website while the licence itself belongs to a specific company, and only the register entry for that company shows the licence status and what it permits. Each licensee’s entry on the Financial Service Providers Register is reachable through its number.

Which licensees are not retail forex or CFD brokers

Four licensees hold a derivatives issuer licence without being retail forex or CFD brokers, and the register’s own descriptions explain why. ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited is a registered bank, and its derivatives licence covers products offered to bank customers rather than a retail trading platform.

Convera Australia Pty Ltd is a cross-border payments company whose derivatives are foreign exchange forwards used to fix the cost of a payment, and Tor FX Pty Limited is a money-transfer company whose derivatives serve the same purpose for transfers. StoneX Financial Pty Ltd has no brand joined to its New Zealand entry at all: its only registered New Zealand offer is Milk Price Options (OFR15238), a dairy derivative, and no foreign exchange or CFD offer is registered.

The licence that is not active

Direct FX Limited, registration FSP16781, is the one licensee on the register whose status is not active: its licence is suspended. The register lists its offering as foreign exchange derivatives, but a suspended licence means the company cannot lawfully operate under it while the suspension stands. It is the only suspended entry among the sixteen.

How to check a licence yourself

The FMA publishes a searchable register of licensed and reporting entities, and the check takes under a minute once you know the route. Start with the brand name the broker advertises, then find the legal entity behind it, because the licence is held by the company, not the brand. Search that entity name on the FMA’s register page and confirm three things: that it holds a derivatives issuer licence, that the status is active, and that what it is licensed to offer matches what you are being sold. The Financial Service Providers Register, searchable by FSP number, confirms the registration behind the licence.