CaspianFX is an independent guide to forex and CFD brokers for the Caucasus and Central Asia. This page explains exactly how we research and compare brokers — what we check, how we verify it, and, just as importantly, what we deliberately refuse to publish until we have tested it ourselves. We would rather show you a verified fact and an honest gap than a confident number we cannot stand behind.
The criteria we review against
Every broker we cover is assessed against a fixed set of criteria, in a deliberate order that puts your safety ahead of cost. We start with regulation and the safety of client funds, because a low spread on an unregulated broker is worth nothing if you cannot get your money back. Only after a broker clears the safety filter do we look at the practical factors that affect day-to-day trading.
- Regulation & safety of funds. Which regulators license the broker, which legal entity serves each country, and whether that entity is currently authorised.
- Swap-free account availability. Whether a genuine swap-free account (no overnight swap charge) exists, and what a reader must check in its terms — a factual product feature, never a religious selling point.
- Trading platforms. Which platforms the broker supports (MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, proprietary apps).
- Track record. The year the broker was founded and its regulatory history.
- Account types & funding. The account structure and, where the broker publishes it, deposit and withdrawal methods relevant to traders in our markets.
- Market coverage. Which of our three markets across the Caucasus and Central Asia a broker actually accepts, confirmed against the broker's own programme terms.
How we verify a licence against the register
We do not take a regulatory claim from a broker's marketing page, a press release, or another affiliate blog. For every licence we report, we identify the specific legal entity named in the broker's own documentation, then confirm that entity on the relevant regulator's official public register — the regulator's site, reached directly, never a link from an advert. We check that the entity is listed, currently authorised (not lapsed, suspended or withdrawn), and permitted for the relevant activity.
For this audit we treat a defined set of strict, well-resourced authorities as “Tier-1” regulators: FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, FSCA. That label is an editorial classification we apply consistently — it reflects the strength of the supervisory regime, not a payment or a partnership. Where a licence is reported as pending rather than granted, we say “pending” and never describe the broker as regulated by that authority until the register confirms it. The full step-by-step process a reader can follow is set out in our guide on verifying a broker.
The honest-null policy
This is the part of our methodology that most distinguishes us. A large amount of forex comparison content publishes precise-looking star ratings, “typical” spreads and minimum-deposit figures that were never independently tested — numbers copied between sites, or supplied by the broker, and presented as if they were findings. We will not do that.
Where we have not independently verified a figure, we leave it blank rather than fill it in. Concretely, until we complete a hands-on review pass — opening an account and observing the product directly — we do not publish a star rating, a specific spread, or a minimum deposit for a broker. In our downloadable dataset those fields are explicitly null. In our prose we tell you the figure varies by account and changes often, and to check the current number on the broker's own site. A blank is an honest statement that we have not measured something; a fabricated number is not.
- Star ratings — withheld until a hands-on review pass; never derived from a broker's own marketing.
- Spreads and commissions — withheld; they vary by account and change constantly, so a single quoted figure misleads.
- Minimum deposits — withheld until verified directly with the broker for the reader's country.
- Withdrawal times — never quoted as a guaranteed number; we explain what actually affects speed instead.
Affiliate disclosure & our independence
CaspianFX is funded by affiliate commissions: some links to brokers are partner links, and if you open an account through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We are transparent about this on every page. Crucially, commercial relationships never change what we report. Brokers cannot pay for inclusion, for a better write-up, or to remove an unfavourable fact. Our regulatory findings come from the registers, not from our partners, and a broker's commission rate plays no part in whether or how we cover it.
We are an independent EU-based publisher, Lead Media OOD (Bulgaria). We are not a broker, we do not hold client funds, and we do not give investment advice or trading signals. We compare brokers; the decision, and the risk, are yours. Trading is legal for residents in all three markets we cover, but the brokers are offshore and not locally supervised — we report that picture honestly rather than imply local oversight that does not exist.
Authorship & expertise
Forex and CFD trading is a peak “Your Money or Your Life” subject, so authorship matters. Our content is currently published under the CaspianFX Editorial byline while we appoint a named reviewer with verifiable forex and finance credentials. We will not attach a fabricated author or invented credentials to financial content — when a named expert is in place, their credentials and profile will be stated openly here and on each review.
Update cadence
Regulatory status changes, brokers gain and lose licences, and account terms move. We review our broker and market data on a rolling basis and re-verify regulatory facts against the registers when we refresh a page. Each page carries a visible “last updated” date so you can see how current the information is — this page was last reviewed on 23 June 2026. Our compiled regulation dataset is versioned by year and republished when the underlying facts change.
Corrections
If you believe we have a regulatory fact wrong, tell us and we will check it against the register and correct it. Accuracy on regulation is non-negotiable for us — getting it wrong is a real risk to a reader, which is the whole reason this methodology exists. You can reach the editorial desk at hello@caspianfx.com.
CaspianFX is an independent EU-based publisher comparing forex and CFD brokers for traders across the Caucasus and Central Asia — Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Our editorial desk verifies every regulatory claim against the regulator's own register and never accepts payment for a better review. Forex and CFD trading is high-risk and most retail accounts lose money.