FMA-Regulated Forex Brokers in New Zealand

Which FMA licensees offer retail forex and CFD trading?

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. Seven of the licensed companies carry an Australian company form, “Pty Ltd” or “(Aust)”, in their legal name.

The offering column separates the register into two groups. Eleven 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. We rate all of the retail licensees: six on a global score (BlackBull Markets, ThinkMarkets, IG Group, CMC Markets, Axi, and Plus500) and five on a desk score, scored from published information, not tested (Zero Markets, EC Markets, Pacific Financial Derivatives, ACE Markets, and Jarden). Our ranked New Zealand list is Best Forex Brokers in New Zealand (2026), and CFD Trading in New Zealand (2026) compares what each issuer’s PDS states about CFD accounts.

How do I check a forex broker's FMA licence?

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.

Once the licence checks out, your next read is Forex Market Hours in New Zealand (NZST/NZDT), which sets out when the forex sessions run in New Zealand time.

Has the FMA taken action against a licensed derivatives issuer?

Yes, the FMA censured Jarden Securities Limited in October 2021 for OM Financial Limited’s breaches of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013, involving payments into the trust account for derivative investor money. It censured Western Union Business Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd, now Convera Australia Pty Ltd., in July 2022 over net tangible assets. CTRL Investments Limited, now EC Markets Financial Limited, was censured in March 2022 over outsourcing arrangements and clients who did not understand derivatives, and in July 2024 over minimum net tangible assets. The FMA issued CTRL an infringement notice in November 2023 for late financial statements. Our 21 September 2026 search of fma.govt.nz found these cases.

The FMA suspended AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd’s derivatives issuer licence, effective 29 July 2019 (FMA media release, 1 August 2019). The FMA described the grounds as material breaches of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013: making a regulated offer to retail clients in New Zealand without a compliant product disclosure statement or Disclose Register entry, failing to lodge audited financial statements, and failing to obtain an assurance engagement with a qualified auditor within 4 months of its balance date. The FMA lifted the suspension effective 2 December 2021, after the company demonstrated it had taken adequate steps to address the breaches (FMA media release, 9 December 2021), and the licence is active today.

Which FMA derivatives issuer licence is suspended?

Direct FX Limited, registration FSP16781, is the one licensee on the register whose status is not active: its licence is suspended. The licensed providers listing shows the licence as suspended by the FMA, on a line dated 14 October 2021. No FMA media release or enforcement case page about the suspension was found (the same fma.govt.nz search as the enforcement cases above). It is the only suspended entry among the sixteen.

Which FMA licensees are not retail forex brokers?

Four licensees hold a derivatives issuer licence without being retail forex or CFD brokers (the register entry for each says only that the company is a licensed derivatives issuer). 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. The only New Zealand offer registered to StoneX Financial Pty Ltd is Milk Price Options (OFR15238), a dairy derivative registered on 21 August 2026, and no foreign exchange or CFD offer is registered to the entity (New Zealand Disclose Register searched by entity name, 20 September 2026).

What does an FMA derivatives issuer licence cover?

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.

Source: Financial Markets Authority, Foreign exchange trading, page last updated 4 March 2020, read on the same day as the Disclose Register search above.

How does an FSP number differ from an FMA licence?

Every licensee on the register carries an FSP number, such as the number shown in Black Bull Group Limited’s register entry above, 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.

When did the FMA grant each derivatives issuer licence?

Licence grant dates on the FMA register, read 19 September 2026, span 11.7 years. The earliest was granted to Direct FX Limited on 5 December 2014. The most recent was granted to StoneX Financial Pty Ltd on 10 August 2026.

Of the derivatives issuer licences, nine were granted by the end of 2016, and four have been granted since 2021. Among the retail issuers, the earliest licence belongs to CMC Markets NZ Limited, granted on 12 December 2014. EC Markets Financial Limited’s licence was granted on 20 January 2015. Pacific Financial Derivatives Limited’s licence was granted on 27 February 2015. Zero Markets (NZ) Limited’s licence was granted on 27 August 2018 (licence granted date from the licensee’s own FMA register page). The FMA’s licensed providers listing prints 3 September 2024 beside that entry.