FBS

The CySEC licence of Tradestone Ltd and the Belize licence of FBS Markets Inc. were confirmed on the regulators’ registers. The international business runs through the Belize company, outside the main retail protection regimes.

• StrengthTradestone Ltd holds CySEC licence 331/17, issued 7 August 2017; the register lists fbs.eu as the approved domain.
• MediumFBS Markets Inc. holds licence 4077102 from the Financial Services Commission of Belize, listed as active for trading in securities as agent and as principal, and operates fbs.com for clients outside the EU, the UK, the USA and other excluded countries.
• ObservationFBS states FBS Markets Inc.’s certificate of incorporation number as 000001317, while the global LEI system records the company under number 119717. The reason for the difference is not stated.
• ObservationRegisters also show companies using the FBS name that fbs.com does not mention: Trade Stone SA (Pty) Ltd, an FSCA-authorised financial services provider trading as FBS (FSP 50885); FBS Trading (Seychelles) Ltd, a securities dealer listed by the FSA Seychelles; and Intelligent Financial Markets Pty Ltd, holder of Australian financial services licence 426359, which has held the business name “FBS Oceania” since August 2020.

The contracting companies are identifiable on registers, but the owners are not disclosed. The Cyprus company publishes audited prudential disclosures, which show a loss for 2025; no accounts were found for FBS Markets Inc.

• StrengthTradestone Ltd publishes annual Pillar III disclosures verified by its external auditor; the 2025 report shows own funds of €2.8 million, an own funds ratio of 372.66% and a loss for the year of €3.94 million.
• MediumNo owner is disclosed. FBS Markets Inc. reports to the global LEI system that it is controlled by natural persons, who are not named, and Tradestone Ltd reports no parent.

EU clients of Tradestone Ltd are covered by CySEC’s Investor Compensation Fund and their money is held in segregated accounts. Clients of FBS Markets Inc. have no compensation scheme, its terms contain no client money segregation clause that we could find, and its negative balance protection has an exception.

• StrengthTradestone Ltd states that its retail clients are covered by the Investor Compensation Fund, up to €20,000, and that client funds are held in segregated accounts.
• HighClients of FBS Markets Inc. fall outside any investor compensation scheme, and we found no clause on the segregation of client money in its terms and conditions.
• MediumFBS Markets Inc. resets negative balances to zero after a forced close-out, but its trading conditions reserve the right to claim the debt from the client “in exceptional cases (when the Company considers the Client’s actions intentional)”.

Not assessed in a desk audit. Spreads, slippage and fill quality can only be measured with live accounts.

No CySEC action against Tradestone Ltd was found. Brazil’s CVM opened a sanctions case against FBS Markets Inc. in September 2025 for offering securities and intermediation services without authorisation; the case is awaiting judgment.

• MediumOn 30 September 2025 the CVM opened sanctions case 19957.012863/2025-15 against FBS Markets Inc. and Mitsui Markets Ltd over the offer of securities and intermediation services by unauthorised persons. The CVM records that neither company submitted a defence, and the case has moved to judgment. These are charges, not findings.
• ObservationThe CVM ordered FBS Markets Inc. and Mitsui Markets Ltd on 21 February 2025 to stop offering intermediation services to Brazilian residents through fbs.com/pt and ptfbs.com; CVM warnings about FBS Markets Inc. date back to 2017. FBS has also been named as unauthorised by regulators in India (RBI Alert List), Singapore (MAS, February 2025), Ukraine (NSSMC, 2024) and Malaysia (Securities Commission, 2024). Under our methodology these warnings are recorded but not scored.
• ObservationFBS Markets Inc. offers leverage of up to 1:3000 on forex for accounts with equity below $200. Under our methodology offshore incentives are recorded but not scored where lawful.

Not assessed in a desk audit. Uptime, incident history and security controls require evidence from the firm or live monitoring.

No Great Place to Work certification was found. FBS reports a charity programme with named partners in Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, and says it has given $1.3 million to more than 30 organisations.

• ObservationNo Great Place to Work certification was found in public sources.
• ObservationThe charity programme and its totals are reported by FBS itself; we did not establish whether the media coverage it cites is independent. Its sponsorship of Leicester City is commercial and is not counted.