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Verify Everything Yourself: A 20-Minute Due Diligence Checklist
Every claim on this site is second-hand by the time you read it. The checks below take about twenty minutes, use only primary sources, and work on any broker anyone ever pitches you — including this one.
1. Verify the licence (5 minutes)
Go to the FSC Mauritius public register — typing the address yourself, not clicking a link from a promoter. Search T.M. Financials Ltd. You should get one row: licensed 21/02/2022, type SEC-2.1B Investment Dealer (Full Service Dealer excluding Underwriting), annotations blank. Check the Annotations column — that is where the FSC flags problems — and check the entity is not instead sitting in the register’s separate Surrendered Licences list. Then confirm the entity named in the client agreement you are asked to sign is the same entity. Detailed walkthrough.
2. Read the insurance certificate, not the summary (3 minutes)
Open the certificate on the broker’s own site. Find the named insured, the policy period, and whether the limit is per claimant or in the aggregate — TAG’s page says "up to US$1,000,000 for all claimants", which is aggregate. Confirm it triggers on insolvency only. What that means in practice.
Checked what you needed? Start with the $10 minimum, watch it trade, and test a withdrawal before you scale up.
Start Now3. Audit the track record on the tracker itself (5 minutes)
Open the myfxbook page. Confirm: account type Real not Demo, broker shown as Tag Markets, "Updated" within hours, and then read the worst month and the tracking start date. Multiply the maximum drawdown by your intended leverage. Caveats here.
4. Search for the complaints (3 minutes)
Search the broker name with "withdrawal problem", "complaint" and "review" and read the negative results properly. You are looking for a pattern of blocked withdrawals, not isolated angry posts — every broker has those, and many "scam review" sites are themselves affiliate-run in both directions. Check whether your own national regulator has published a warning about the firm.
Checked what you needed? Start with the $10 minimum, watch it trade, and test a withdrawal before you scale up.
Start Now5. Ask the questions in writing (3 minutes)
Message the broker’s support and keep the replies: Is the insurance limit per claimant or aggregate? Can my balance go negative on an amplified account? What is the liquidation level? What are the current spread and swap rates on the instruments the strategy trades? What is the current performance fee and minimum deposit? A firm that answers these plainly in writing is telling you something; one that deflects is telling you more.
6. Test with the minimum before scaling
Deposit the minimum. Watch trades appear in your own account. Then withdraw some of it and time how long it takes. Do this before any meaningful deposit. It is the only test that checks the thing that actually matters — whether money comes back out — and no amount of documentation substitutes for it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a broker is really regulated?
Search the regulator’s own public register for the legal entity name, confirm the licence number and status, and confirm the entity on the register is the same entity named in your client agreement. Never rely on a licence number shown only on the broker’s marketing pages or in a chat message.
What is the single most useful test before depositing?
Deposit the minimum and complete a withdrawal. Blocked or endlessly delayed withdrawals are the defining symptom of a fraudulent broker, and the test costs you almost nothing.
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Ask me anythingIndependent information only — this site is not operated by, endorsed by, or affiliated with TAG Markets / T.M. Financials Ltd. Nothing here is financial advice. Opening an account through links on this site may earn the author a referral commission. Trading CFDs with leverage carries a high risk of loss; TAG Markets states that 85% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs with them. Only risk money you can afford to lose entirely, and verify all figures at the primary sources linked in each article.