Safeguarding Client Funds

Jcom never holds client money, so it cannot protect it. Here is who does, what to demand from them, and what no safeguard can remove.

Start with who is holding the money

This page is the one most likely to be read as a promise, so it is written to avoid making one.

Money in a trading account moves between the client and the broker, through the broker's payment providers and the broker's bank. Jcom Technologies is not in that path at any point. We build the software the broker runs.

The practical consequence is that the safeguards that matter to you are your broker's safeguards, not ours. Below is what to look for from a broker, what the platform genuinely contributes, and the risks that no control removes.

Jcom does not hold, receive or transfer client money

We never take custody of a client's funds, at any stage. Deposits go to the broker, withdrawals come from the broker, and the accounts that hold the money are the broker's. Because of that, Jcom cannot and does not guarantee, insure, protect or compensate anyone's funds, and any page or salesperson who tells you otherwise is wrong. If your money is at issue, the only firm that can act is the one you sent it to.

What to look for from your broker

These are concepts you should understand and then verify with your own broker. They are described here as things that exist in this industry, not as commitments made by Jcom or by any firm using our software.

Ask about it

Segregation of client money

The idea that client funds are held in accounts separate from the firm's own operating money, so the firm cannot spend them on its own costs and they are more clearly identifiable if the firm fails. Ask whether the entity you contract with segregates, where, and whether it is required to.

Ask about it

Regulated banking and payment partners

Which banks and payment institutions actually hold and move the money, and how they are supervised. A broker that will not name the type of institution holding client funds has told you something.

Often absent

Compensation or investor-protection schemes

Some jurisdictions run a statutory scheme that pays out, up to a limit, if an authorised firm fails. It applies to the specific authorised entity, not to a brand and not to a platform. Many offshore entities are covered by no scheme at all. Assume none applies until you have confirmed it does.

Policy, not physics

Negative-balance protection

A policy under which a client cannot end up owing the broker more than the account held after a violent move. Where it exists it is a contractual or regulatory commitment by the broker, with conditions. Read the conditions.

Read it first

Withdrawal policy

Most firms return funds by the same method and to the same name that sent them, which is an anti-money-laundering requirement rather than an obstruction. Check the processing times, the fees, and any conditions attached to bonuses or promotions before you deposit, not after you ask to leave.

Check it

The entity on the agreement

Everything above attaches to a specific legal entity. Confirm which one you are contracting with and what authorisation it holds. See Compliance and Oversight.

What the platform does contribute

Narrowly and accurately: these are integrity, security and control features. They protect the correctness of the record and the security of the system. They are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of the money itself.

System of record. Balances, positions, orders and transaction history are recorded in one place, so what the client sees and what the broker's staff see is the same set of facts.
Audit trails. Financial operations and account changes are logged with who did them and when, which makes a disputed movement something you can reconstruct rather than argue about.
Role-based staff permissions. The broker's staff only get the rights their role needs. A support agent should not be able to move money.
Approval flows on financial operations. Deposit and withdrawal requests go through a review step by a person with the right role, rather than being executed by whoever clicked first.
Engineering controls. Encryption in transit, access control, backups, and separation of each licensee's environment from every other.
What none of this does. It does not put money anywhere safe, because we are not holding it. A perfectly accurate ledger of funds a broker has mishandled is still just an accurate ledger.

The risks no control removes

Market risk. Trading CFDs with leverage can lose you money, quickly, and can lose you all of the money in the account. If a position moves against you and is closed at a loss, or your account is liquidated on a margin call, nothing has failed: that is the product working exactly as designed. It is not a security incident and there is nothing to compensate. Understand the leverage you are using before you use it.

Counterparty risk. When you deposit with a broker you become exposed to that broker. If it fails, becomes insolvent, or its own banking arrangements fail, you are a creditor of that firm. Segregation and compensation schemes exist to soften that outcome where they apply, but they do not make it disappear, and where no scheme applies there may be nothing between you and the loss. This risk is the price of dealing with any counterparty, and it is why the identity of the counterparty matters more than the design of the platform.

Your own security. Credentials, devices and email accounts are where most individual losses actually begin. Use a unique password, turn on whatever second factor your broker offers, and never let anyone else operate the account "on your behalf", including anyone who calls you claiming to be from support.

Questions to ask a broker before you deposit

Send these in one message, in writing, and keep the reply. A firm that answers them cleanly has earned some trust. A firm that will not answer them has answered them.

Which legal entity am I contracting with, and what is its registered address and company number?
What authorisation does that entity hold, from which authority, and under what reference so I can find it in the public register myself?
Are client funds held separately from the firm's own money? Where, and with what kind of institution?
Does any statutory compensation or investor-protection scheme cover this entity? If not, say so plainly.
Do you offer negative-balance protection, and what are its conditions and exclusions?
What are the withdrawal methods, the processing times and the fees, and are there conditions that could delay or block a withdrawal?
Do you take the other side of client trades, and how do you manage the conflict of interest that creates?
Where are your fee schedule, your execution policy and your complaints procedure published, and can you send me the current versions?

One sentence to remember

The safety of your money depends on the broker you chose and the entity you signed with, not on the platform it runs. Do the checking before the deposit, because afterwards your leverage in the conversation is gone. The Policy Library lists the documents to ask for.