In Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan there is no local retail-forex regulator watching the offshore broker you deposit with. Your safety net is verification: find the specific entity name the broker uses to serve your country, search that name on the regulator's own public register (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, Seychelles FSA, Belize FSC), and confirm it is currently authorised. A licence held by a different group entity is irrelevant to your account.
Why does the entity — not the brand — determine your protection?
Large broker groups such as Exness, XM, IC Markets and Pepperstone are not single companies — they are networks of legal entities, each licensed in a different jurisdiction and offering different levels of protection. The FCA entity that a UK trader uses may sit alongside a Seychelles FSA entity and a Belize FSC entity. The entity that opens an account for a resident of Tbilisi, Almaty or Baku is usually the offshore arm, because strict-tier entities (FCA, ASIC, CySEC) restrict services to the regions they are licensed to serve. That offshore entity may offer fewer protections — often no compensation scheme, and potentially no hard negative-balance guarantee.
There is no NBG, ARDFM, AFSA or CBAR safety net standing behind the offshore broker you choose. The Caucasus and Central Asia have no developed domestic retail-forex supervision regime for these brokers. That makes verification the decisive safety step, because no local authority does it for you. A brand that looks credible on its homepage offers nothing until you confirm the specific entity and licence number on the relevant register.
Step 1 — Locate the serving entity on the broker's own site
On the broker's website, scroll to the footer and look for a legal notice or disclaimer — it typically names the licensed entity and the jurisdiction. Also check the broker's dedicated regulation or legal page, and if you have reached account-opening, the client agreement names the counterparty. You want three pieces of information: the precise legal entity name (usually ending in Ltd, Limited, LLC or Pty Ltd), the jurisdiction (e.g. Seychelles, Belize, Cyprus), and the licence or registration number shown alongside.
Brokers commonly serve residents of Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan through a Seychelles FSA entity, a Belize FSC entity, or a CySEC entity depending on their structure — not through their FCA or ASIC arm. If the footer only names one entity but implies global coverage, read the small print: a note saying "For clients outside the EEA…" or "For clients not covered by the above…" often redirects you to the offshore entity. Take a screenshot of the entity name and licence number before you proceed.
Step 2 — Search the official regulator register
Navigate directly to the regulator's official website — type the domain manually or use a known bookmark, never a link from an advertisement or comparison page you do not trust. Each authority publishes a searchable public register: the FCA publishes the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk; ASIC publishes the Australian Financial Services Register via Moneysmart; CySEC lists regulated entities at cysec.gov.cy; the Seychelles FSA lists licensees at fsaseychelles.sc; the Belize FSC at ifsc.gov.bz. Use the register that matches the jurisdiction named in your serving entity.
Search the exact entity name — not the brand name. Search the licence number too. Confirm that the entity is listed and currently authorised (not lapsed, suspended or withdrawn), that the licence covers the relevant activity (dealing in investments or CFDs, not an unrelated permission such as money services), and that the contact details on the register are consistent with the site you are using. A partial name match is not a match.
- FCA (United Kingdom): register.fca.org.uk — also check the ScamSmart warning list.
- ASIC (Australia): moneysmart.gov.au — Professional Registers search.
- CySEC (Cyprus): cysec.gov.cy — regulated-entities register.
- Seychelles FSA: fsaseychelles.sc — licensee search.
- Belize FSC (IFSC): ifsc.gov.bz — licenced entities search.
- FSCA (South Africa): fsca.co.za — financial services provider register.
Step 3 — Cross-check for clone firms and lapsed licences
Clone firms are one of the more common scams in this region. A fraudster copies the exact name, licence number and address of a genuinely regulated broker and builds a near-identical website. The register check defeats this: if the contact details, phone number or email domain on the register differ from the site you are using, stop. Several regulators publish dedicated clone-firm alert lists — the FCA's ScamSmart tool is the most comprehensive. If you are using a broker whose main licensed entity is offshore (Seychelles, Belize), those authorities also flag fraudulent clones on their enforcement pages.
Also check that the licence has not lapsed. Authorisation statuses change: a licence that was valid when a broker was first reviewed may have since been withdrawn, suspended or allowed to expire without renewal. The register shows the current status, not a historical snapshot — check it immediately before depositing, not six months ago when you researched the broker. When in doubt, contact the regulator directly using the contact details on its own website, not those supplied by the broker.
Step 4 — Assess what the verified licence actually gives you
Verification tells you the entity is real and currently authorised. It does not tell you the protection is strong. Read the regulator's website to understand what the licence requires: does it mandate client-money segregation? Is there a negative-balance protection rule? Is there a compensation scheme, and if so, up to what limit? Strict-tier licences (FCA, ASIC, CySEC) typically require all three; offshore licences (Seychelles FSA, Belize FSC) often require less and compensate less. Many traders in the Caucasus and Central Asia trade through offshore entities because that is what the serving broker makes available — that is workable, but go in understanding the protection differential.
Once you have completed all four steps, you know: the exact entity, its current status, that it is not a clone, and what its licence actually protects. That is the honest safety floor for a region where no local authority covers these offshore brokers. After verification, turn to the practical fit — platforms (MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView), funding methods for Georgian lari, Kazakhstani tenge or Azerbaijani manat, and account types — confident that at least the regulatory basics have been checked.
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify a forex broker's licence from Georgia, Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan?
Find the exact entity name and licence number that the broker uses to serve your country (check the footer and legal page), then search both on the relevant regulator's official public register — Seychelles FSA, Belize FSC, FCA, ASIC or CySEC depending on the entity's jurisdiction. Confirm the entity is currently authorised and the licence covers CFD or investment dealing. There is no local NBG, ARDFM or CBAR register for these offshore brokers — the offshore regulator's register is the only source.
Why does it matter which entity holds my account — isn't the brand enough?
No. Large broker groups run multiple legal entities across different jurisdictions; the protections (segregated funds, leverage caps, compensation) attach to each entity separately. The entity that serves residents of Georgia, Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan is usually an offshore arm (Seychelles FSA, Belize FSC, or similar), not the FCA or ASIC entity shown prominently in marketing. Verify the specific entity your client agreement names.
What is the difference between the Seychelles FSA and the FCA in terms of protection?
The FCA (UK) is a strict-tier regulator that mandates client-money segregation, retail leverage caps, negative-balance protection and access to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Seychelles FSA is a legitimate offshore regulator with a lighter framework — fewer mandatory protections, no equivalent compensation scheme. Many brokers in our cluster serve residents through a Seychelles FSA entity; that is legal and common, but the protection gap is real.
What is a clone firm and how do I spot one?
A clone firm copies the exact name and licence number of a real, regulated broker but operates a fraudulent website. To spot one: compare the contact details (phone, email domain, address) on the regulator's register against those on the site you are using — any discrepancy is a red flag. The FCA's ScamSmart list and offshore regulators' enforcement pages both flag known clones. Always navigate to the regulator's site manually, never via a link from the broker.
What if the broker's website does not say which entity serves my country?
Treat that opacity as a warning sign. A trustworthy broker is explicit about which entity your client agreement names, either in the footer, the legal/regulation page, or on request. If you can only discover the entity after you have started opening an account, read the client agreement carefully before submitting any funds — and consider whether the unwillingness to disclose up front reflects the level of transparency you want from a broker that will hold your money.
Sources & further reading
CaspianFX is an independent editorial desk for resident traders in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan — markets where no strong local retail forex regime exists and offshore licensing is the practical reality. We verify every licence against the issuing authority's register, state candidly what that offshore regulation does and does not protect, and cover the funding and withdrawal routes that actually work for lari, tenge and manat. No payment is accepted for coverage.