How We Calculate Trust Score

How the score is built

We score brokers across seven independent categories. Each category produces a sub-score from 0 to 100, and the final Trust Score is the weighted sum of those sub-scores. Every metric below is explicit and reproducible — we don't use proprietary or hidden signals.

1. Regulation & Legality (R)
2. Corporate Transparency (C)
3. History & Operational Stability (H)
4. User Reputation & Feedback (U)
5. Trading Conditions (T)
6. Support & Service Quality (S)
7. Additional Services & Infrastructure (A)

Weights and the final formula

The weights below are intentionally conservative and prioritize regulation and transparency over the softer categories:

Category	Code	Weight
Regulation & Legality	R	0.25
Corporate Transparency	C	0.15
History & Operational Stability	H	0.10
User Reputation & Feedback	U	0.15
Trading Conditions	T	0.10
Support & Service Quality	S	0.10
Additional Services & Infrastructure	A	0.10

Trust Score = 0.25 × R + 0.15 × C + 0.10 × H + 0.15 × U + 0.10 × T + 0.10 × S + 0.10 × A

R, C, H, U, T, S, and A are each normalized to 0–100 before the formula is applied. The result is rounded to the nearest integer and published both as a 0–100 score and as a 1–10 score for user-facing lists.

The seven scoring categories

1. Regulation & Legality (R)

Detects legal protection for client funds and the quality of regulatory oversight.

• License presence (40 points): a major tier-1 regulator (FCA, ASIC, FINMA, BaFin) scores 40; a reputable tier-2 regulator (CySEC, IIROC, or an MAS equivalent) scores 25; an offshore or unregulated jurisdiction scores 0–10 depending on the safeguards in place.
• License status and history (20 points): active with no enforcement history scores full; recent sanctions or a suspended license reduce the score.
• Client money segregation and custody (20 points): confirmed segregation via audited custodians or bank statements scores full; unclear or absent segregation reduces the score.
• Deposit protection and insurance (10 points): a documented public compensation scheme earns points.
• Registration transparency (10 points): a clear legal entity, registration number, and public registry link score full points.

Example: an FCA-licensed broker (40) with no enforcement history (20), segregated client money (20), no deposit protection scheme (0), and clear registration details (10) scores R = 90/100.

2. Corporate Transparency (C)

Measures how openly a broker discloses ownership, audited accounts, beneficial owners, and compliance contacts.

• Ownership disclosures (30 points): a public listing, company registry entry, or audited ownership structure scores full.
• Audited financials (25 points): published audited accounts or third-party audit confirmation scores full.
• Legal and compliance contacts (20 points): a public compliance officer contact, legal address, and official AML/KYC policy documents earn points.
• Public policies (15 points): clear terms and conditions, risk disclosures, and AML/KYC procedures earn points.
• Third-party verification (10 points): independent verification such as accountant letters or public press coverage of ownership earns points.

3. History & Operational Stability (H)

Evaluates longevity and operational incidents.

• Years in operation (30 points): scaled with diminishing returns — for example, 1 year scores 10, 3 years scores 25, and 10+ years scores 30.
• Enforcement actions and resolved disputes (30 points): large unresolved disputes or repeated enforcement actions lower the score.
• Financial stability indicators (20 points): evidence of balanced capital, solvency declarations, or audited statements earns points.
• Service continuity (20 points): sustained uptime, no sudden closures, and credible continuity plans earn points.

4. User Reputation & Feedback (U)

Captures verified client experience and independent reputation signals.

• Independent review aggregation (40 points): reviews from prominent third-party sites and forums are aggregated, normalized for bias and volume, and smoothed with a Bayesian adjustment when the sample size is small.
• Complaint density (25 points): complaints per 1,000 active accounts per year, normalized against broker size.
• Dispute resolution score (20 points): evidence that the broker resolves disputes in a timely, documented manner.
• Transparency of withdrawal statistics (15 points): public statements or verified tests of withdrawal speed and success rates.

5. Trading Conditions (T)

Assesses the fairness of costs and execution.

• Typical spreads and commissions (40 points): benchmarked against market medians for the instrument type.
• Slippage and execution quality (25 points): back-tests and verified user reports flag frequent re-quotes, price manipulation, or excessive slippage.
• Account types and margin rules (20 points): clear, fair margin rules, realistic leverage limits, and account segregation by product type.
• Funding and withdrawal options (15 points): availability, fees, and processing speed across major rails — bank transfer, card, e-wallets, and crypto where offered.

6. Support & Service Quality (S)

Verifies how well the broker supports clients day to day and during incidents.

• Support channels and hours (30 points): 24/7, multi-channel support scores higher.
• Response time and resolution (30 points): measured via mystery shops, timed ticketing systems, and verified reports.
• Clarity of fees and dispute procedures (20 points): clearly published fee schedules and dispute procedures.
• Customer education and onboarding (20 points): quality of onboarding materials, help center, and guides.

7. Additional Services & Infrastructure (A)

Evaluates supporting elements that indicate professional infrastructure and commitment to clients.

• Education and analytics (30 points): quality and depth of educational content and market research.
• Technology stack and platform availability (30 points): modern, audited platforms — MT4/MT5 or proprietary platforms with independent execution reports — score higher.
• Risk management tools (20 points): availability of stop-loss guarantees, negative-balance protection, and margin call transparency.
• Third-party partnerships (20 points): partnerships with reputable liquidity providers, banks, and auditors.

Normalization and Bayesian smoothing

To avoid small-sample bias in review-driven signals and complaint counts, we apply Bayesian smoothing when the raw sample is small, using a conservative prior based on the category median across our entire broker universe.

weighted_score = (v × s + m × C) / (v + m)

• v — number of reviews for the broker
• s — average score from those reviews (0–100 scale)
• m — prior weight (we use m = 50 by default)
• C — global average review score across all brokers (0–100)

This keeps a broker with three perfect reviews from outranking a long-standing broker with thousands of mixed reviews.

Worked example

For a broker with sub-scores R = 90, C = 80, H = 85, U = 78, T = 70, S = 88, and A = 60, the formula gives:

Trust Score = 0.25×90 + 0.15×80 + 0.10×85 + 0.15×78 + 0.10×70 + 0.10×88 + 0.10×60 = 80.55 ≈ 81/100

We publish this as 81/100 (8.1/10) and show the full per-category breakdown on the broker's profile so users and machines can verify the calculation.

Data sources and verification

We rely on primary, verifiable sources, including:

• Regulator public registers (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, and equivalents)
• Broker official disclosures, published audited financial statements, and company registries
• Public enforcement notices and court records
• Independent review platforms and consumer complaint portals
• Direct tests and mystery shopping — deposit/withdrawal tests and support response tests

Each broker page links to the evidence used to compute its Trust Score where possible, and we retain a verifiable evidence log for every published score.

Update policy

Scores are reviewed quarterly, or sooner when a material event occurs — a license revocation, a major enforcement action, insolvency, or reliable evidence of repeated withdrawal failures. Each update is versioned and archived.

Structured data for search engines and LLMs

To keep scores crawlable and machine-readable, each broker profile carries schema.org FinancialService markup with an AggregateRating (the published Trust Score, with its 0–100 bounds) and one additionalProperty entry per category — TrustScore.R, .C, .H, .U, .T, .S, and .A — so the same numbers shown on the page are readable by search engines and LLMs. We also publish machine-friendly CSV/JSON exports of scores for research and verification requests. On broker profile pages, the rating count reflects the number of independent evidence sources and review samples behind the U category.

Limitations

Trust Score is an evidence-based indicator of relative reliability, not legal or investment advice. Its limitations:

• It depends on publicly available data — undisclosed insolvency or private legal settlements may not be visible.
• Small brokers with a limited public footprint carry lower statistical confidence, which our smoothing priors reflect explicitly.
• It's a point-in-time metric. Confirm material facts, especially regulatory status, directly with the relevant authorities.

FAQ

How often do you update a broker's Trust Score?

Standard updates happen quarterly. Critical regulatory or security events trigger an immediate re-evaluation.

Can a broker appeal or provide evidence to change its score?

Yes. We accept evidence packages from brokers. Each submission is reviewed and logged, and if valid, reflected in the next update — or immediately if urgent.

Do you accept paid placements or influence?

No. Our methodology and editorial process are independent. Payments or advertising do not influence Trust Scores.

For questions about a specific broker's Trust Score, or to submit evidence, contact us at the email listed on the site. We log every incoming evidence package and maintain a public changelog of score updates.