Global Prime regulation: what happens if the firm fails

What this means

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.

Global Prime holds a tier-one authorisation from ASIC. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

It also operates an offshore entity (VFSC). Which one you are onboarded to depends on where you live, and the two carry very different protections - worth confirming before you deposit.

ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.

Vanuatu's VFSC is an offshore licence with limited oversight and no compensation scheme. It is often the entity that offers the highest leverage.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at National Australia Bank (NAB); HSBC also used for Tier-1 client-money banking. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by No statutory deposit/investor compensation scheme for international VFSC clients, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Regulation at brokers under the same regulator

• Fusion Markets regulation also licensed by ASIC
• MultiBank Group regulation also licensed by ASIC
• TMGM regulation also licensed by ASIC
• Blueberry Markets regulation also licensed by ASIC
• Vantage regulation also licensed by ASIC

More about Global Prime

• The full Global Prime review
• Global Prime fees and spreads
• Global Prime account types
• Global Prime deposits and withdrawals
• Global Prime trading platforms