Summary

The Trust Score is a composite score on a 0–100 scale that summarizes a broker’s regulatory standing, transparency, operational history, real-user reputation, trading conditions, client service, and supporting infrastructure. The score is computed from clearly defined, weighted sub-scores and is updated regularly based on verifiable public records, regulator databases, broker disclosures, and independent user feedback sources.

Methodology Overview

We evaluate brokers across seven independent categories. Each category produces a sub-score in the range 0–100. The final Trust Score is the weighted sum of those normalized sub-scores. We never use proprietary or secret signals — every metric below is explicit and reproducible.

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)

Each sub-score is computed from objective sub-factors (described below) and scaled to the 0–100 range. Weights reflect the relative importance of categories for retail trader safety and long-term reliability.

Weights and the Final Formula

We apply the following weights when composing the final score (these weights are intentionally conservative and prioritize regulation and transparency):

Final formula (0–100):

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

All intermediate variables (R, C, H, U, T, S, A) are normalized to the 0–100 range before the formula is applied. The final value is rounded to the nearest integer and published as a 0–100 score and as a 1–10 score for user-facing lists.

Detailed Factor Definitions and Scoring Rules

1. Regulation & Legality (R)

Purpose: Detect legal protection for client funds and regulatory oversight quality.

• License presence (40 points): Each verified primary license (e.g., FCA, ASIC, CySEC) contributes a base value. Tiered allocation: Major tier-1 regulator (FCA, ASIC, FINMA, BaFin) = 40 points; tier-2 reputable regulator (CySEC, IIROC, MAS equivalent) = 25 points; offshore or unregulated jurisdiction = 0–10 points depending on safeguards.
• License status & history (20 points): Active without enforcement actions = full; recent sanctions or suspended license = penalty applied (0–20).
• Client money segregation & custody (20 points): Confirmed segregation by audited custodians or bank statements = full; absence or unclear = reduced points.
• Deposit protection & insurance (10 points): Any public deposit protection scheme documented = points.
• Registration transparency (10 points): Clear legal entity, registration number and public registry links = full points.

R calculation example: If a broker holds FCA license (40), no enforcement history (20), client money segregated (20), no deposit protection (0), clear registration info (10) → R = 90/100.

2. Corporate Transparency (C)

Purpose: Measure how openly the broker discloses ownership, audited accounts, beneficial owners, and compliance contacts.

• Ownership disclosures (30): Public listing, company registry entries, or audited ownership structure = full points.
• Audited financials (25): Published audited accounts or third-party audit confirmation = full.
• Legal & compliance contacts (20): Public compliance officer contact, legal address, official policy documents (AML/KYC) = points.
• Public policies (15): Clear T&Cs, risk disclosures, AML/KYC procedures = points.
• Third-party verification (10): Independent verification such as accountant letters or public press about ownership = points.

3. History & Operational Stability (H)

Purpose: Evaluate longevity and operational incidents.

• Years in operation (30): Scaled with diminishing returns — e.g., 1 year = 10, 3 years = 25, 10+ years = 30.
• Enforcement actions & resolved disputes (30): Large unresolved disputes or repeated enforcement lowers score.
• Financial stability indicators (20): Evidence of balanced capital, solvency declarations, audited statements = points.
• Service continuity (20): Evidence of sustained uptime, no sudden closures, and credible continuity plans = points.

4. User Reputation & Feedback (U)

Purpose: Capture verified client experience and independent reputation signals.

• Independent review aggregation (40): We aggregate reviews from prominent third-party review sites and forums, normalise for bias and volume, and apply a Bayesian smoothing when sample size is low.
• Complaint density (25): Complaints per 1,000 active accounts or per year, normalized against broker size.
• Dispute resolution score (20): Evidence that the broker resolves disputes in a timely and documented manner.
• Transparency of withdrawal statistics (15): Public statements or verified tests of withdrawal speed and success rates.

5. Trading Conditions (T)

Purpose: Assess fairness of costs and execution.

• Typical spreads and commissions (40): Benchmark against market medians for the instrument type.
• Slippage & execution quality (25): Uses back-tests and verified user reports to detect frequent re-quotes, price manipulations or unacceptable slippage behaviour.
• Account types & margin rules (20): Clear and fair margin rules, realistic leverage limits, account segregation by product type.
• Funding & withdrawal options (15): Availability, fees and processing speeds for major rails (bank transfer, card, e-wallets, crypto where applicable).

6. Support & Service Quality (S)

Purpose: Verify how well the broker supports clients in everyday operations and during incidents.

• Support channels & hours (30): 24/7 multi-channel support scores higher.
• Response time & resolution (30): Measured from mystery shops, timed ticketing systems, and verified reports.
• Clarity of fees & dispute procedures (20): Clear published procedures for disputes and fee schedules.
• Customer education & onboarding (20): Quality of onboarding materials, help centre, and guides.

7. Additional Services & Infrastructure (A)

Purpose: Evaluate supporting elements that indicate professional infrastructure and commitment to clients.

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

Normalization and Statistical Smoothing

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

Bayesian smoothing example (reviews):

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

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

This prevents a broker with 3 perfect reviews from outranking a long-standing broker with thousands of mixed reviews.

Worked Example

Assume we evaluated a broker and derived sub-scores:

• R = 90
• C = 80
• H = 85
• U = 78
• T = 70
• S = 88
• A = 60

Apply the final formula:

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 the result as 81/100 (8.1/10) and include the full per-category breakdown alongside the broker profile so users and machines can validate the calculation.

Primary Data Sources and Verification

We rely on primary and verifiable sources. Examples include:

• Regulator public registers (FCA register, ASIC register, CySEC register, etc.)
• 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, support response tests)

Each broker page on ProForexBrokers links to the underlying evidence used to compute the Trust Score where possible. We retain a verifiable evidence log for every published score.

Update Policy and Versioning

Scores are reviewed on a quarterly cadence or sooner when material events occur (e.g., license revocation, major enforcement action, insolvency, or reliable evidence of repeated withdrawal failures). Each score update is versioned and archived.

SEO, Structured Data and Transparency for LLMs

To ensure maximum crawlability and machine-readability we publish:

• Per-broker JSON-LD with the published Trust Score and per-category breakdown.
• Schema.org Review and AggregateRating objects where applicable.
• Machine-friendly CSV/JSON exports of scores for research and verification requests.

Example JSON-LD snippet (inserted on each broker profile page):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FinancialService",
  "name": "Example Broker",
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "81",
    "bestRating": "100",
    "worstRating": "0",
    "ratingCount": "1"
  },
  "additionalProperty": [
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.R","value":"90"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.C","value":"80"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.H","value":"85"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.U","value":"78"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.T","value":"70"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.S","value":"88"},
    {"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"TrustScore.A","value":"60"}
  ]
}

Note: On broker profile pages we adapt ratingCount to reflect the number of independent evidence sources and review samples that contributed to U.

Limitations and Responsible Use

The Trust Score is an evidence-based indicator of relative reliability and should not be interpreted as legal or investment advice. Limitations include:

• It depends on publicly available data; undisclosed internal insolvency or private legal settlements may not be visible.
• Small brokers with limited public footprint will have lower statistical confidence; this is explicitly reflected by our smoothing priors.
• Trust Score is a point-in-time metric. Users should confirm material facts (especially regulatory status) directly with relevant authorities.

FAQ

Q: How often do you update a broker’s Trust Score?

A: Standard updates are quarterly. Critical regulatory or security events trigger immediate re-evaluation.

Q: Can a broker appeal or provide evidence to change the score?

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

Q: Do you accept paid placements or influence?

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