Who is regulated here, and who is not
This is the first question every brokerage asks us and the first question every careful trader asks their broker, so it deserves a direct answer rather than a page of reassurance.
Jcom Technologies is a technology vendor. We license software. We are not authorised or regulated as a financial-services firm, we do not hold client money, we do not execute trades on our own account, and we do not offer financial services to the public. Writing and licensing software is not, in itself, a regulated activity.
The brokerage that licenses the platform is the entity that carries the regulatory position. It contracts with the client, it takes the money, and it is responsible for holding whatever authorisation its jurisdictions require. Whether it holds one, and from whom, is a fact about that firm and not about the software it runs.
A platform is not a licence
The fact that a broker runs good software tells you nothing about its authorisation. Any firm can license a professional-looking platform, and a professional-looking platform is exactly what an unregulated firm would want. Judge the broker on the entity and the authorisation, never on the screen.
Who is responsible for what
The division is not a matter of preference. It follows from who holds the client relationship and the money.
| Duty | Whose duty it is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Holding the required authorisation | The brokerage | It is the firm providing the financial service to the client, in its own name. |
| AML, counter-terrorist financing and KYC | The brokerage | It onboards the client, takes the deposit and must know who its client is. |
| Client-money rules and safeguarding | The brokerage | It receives and holds the money. We never touch it. |
| Marketing and financial-promotion rules | The brokerage | It is the firm promoting a financial product to the public, under its own brand. |
| Suitability, appropriateness and leverage limits | The brokerage | Where they apply, they attach to the firm serving the client in that jurisdiction. |
| Regulatory and transaction reporting | The brokerage | The reporting obligation belongs to the authorised entity, not to its software supplier. |
| Handling client complaints and escalation | The brokerage | The client contracted with it. We are not a party to that contract. |
| Building, running and securing the platform | Jcom | That is the service we sell, and it is where our accountability sits. |
If a broker tells you that "the platform is regulated", it has answered a question you did not ask. Software is not authorised. Firms are.
What the platform gives a broker to work with
We cannot do a licensee's compliance for it, and we do not claim to. What we can do is make the broker's own compliance work possible to carry out and possible to evidence. These are tools. Using them correctly is the broker's job.
Leverage caps and instrument permissions
Maximum leverage and the tradable instrument set are configuration, per account type and per client. A broker that must respect a leverage limit in a market can enforce it in the system rather than in a policy document nobody reads.
Identity and document capture
Clients submit identity and address documents into the CRM, where the broker's staff review them against the broker's own KYC procedure. We store and route the documents. The decision to approve a client is the broker's, always.
Audit trails
Account changes, financial operations and staff actions are recorded with who did what and when. If the broker has to reconstruct a decision months later, the record exists.
Staff permissioning
Role-based access so that support, finance and administration are separated, and approval on a financial operation is not the same person who requested it.
Records and reporting exports
Client, account and transaction data can be exported so the broker can feed its own regulatory reporting, its auditors and its accountants. We do not file anything on anyone's behalf.
Environment separation
Each licensee runs in its own environment with its own data. A broker's client records are not commingled with another broker's.
Tooling is not compliance
Everything above supports a broker's compliance programme. None of it constitutes compliance, and none of it is guaranteed by us to satisfy any particular rule in any particular jurisdiction. A licensee must take its own legal advice, run its own AML and KYC procedures, and hold its own authorisation. We supply the machinery. Operating it lawfully is the licensee's responsibility.
If you are a trader: verify your broker before you deposit
This takes about five minutes and it is the single highest-value thing an intending client can do. Do it before the money moves, not after.
- 1
Find the legal entity, not the brand
A brand name is marketing. Somewhere in the footer, the client agreement or the terms of business there is a company name, a company number and a registered address. That entity is who you are actually contracting with. If you cannot find it, that is already a finding.
- 2
Establish what authorisation it claims
The firm should state plainly whether it is authorised, by which authority, and under what reference. "Regulated" on its own is not a claim, it is a word. A claim has an authority and a number attached to it.
- 3
Check the claim in the authority's own public register
Go to the regulator's own website and search the register there. Do not use a link the firm gives you, and do not accept a certificate image. A licence either appears in the official register or it does not exist.
- 4
Check that the entity in the register is the entity you are signing with
This is the step most people skip. A group can hold an authorisation in one country and onboard you through an entirely different entity somewhere else. The name on the register must match the name on your client agreement.
- 5
Read what the authorisation actually covers
Scope matters. An entry can be limited to certain activities, certain clients or certain products. Confirm that it covers the service being offered to you.
- 6
Keep a copy of everything
Save the client agreement, the terms, the fee schedule and the register entry as you saw it on the day you signed. If there is ever a dispute, this is the file you will wish you had.
If they will not tell you plainly, that is the answer
A legitimate firm can tell you in one sentence which legal entity you are dealing with and under what authorisation, and will not be offended that you asked. Evasion, a name that keeps changing, a certificate image instead of a register entry, or pressure to deposit before your questions are answered: treat any of these as the answer to your question, and walk away.
What we will and will not say about a licensee
We do not certify, endorse or vouch for any broker that uses the platform. Licensing our software is a commercial arrangement, not a seal of approval, and it says nothing about a broker's authorisation, its finances or its conduct.
We also cannot answer regulatory questions about a broker on its behalf. Ask the broker, in writing, and expect a written answer. A firm that will not put its regulatory status in writing has told you something important.
For questions to us about our own position as a vendor, write to support@jcomtechnologies.com, or by post to Jcom Technologies, 23 Stasinou Street, 3rd Floor, Engomi, Nicosia, 2404, Cyprus.
Where to next
Safeguarding Client Funds
Who holds the money, what protections exist and which of them are not ours to promise.
Policy Library
The documents to ask your broker for before you deposit, and what to check inside each one.
Opening an Account
What onboarding and verification involve, and why your broker asks for what it asks for.