A Forex Bank Is Not the Same as a CFD Broker

Conclusion: A bank licence and a broker licence answer different risk questions, so the legal entity matters more than the brand label. The hook is protection: custody, deposits and leveraged CFDs may sit under separate rulebooks.

Swissquote illustrates the distinction. FINMA's authorised-institutions list identifies Swissquote Bank SA as a bank, while its EU forex page says CFDs are offered by Swissquote Capital Markets Ltd under CySEC licence 422/22.

Map the service before the logo

Due-diligence rule

◆ Identify the contracting company.

◆ Confirm the approved domain.

◆ Check which compensation or complaints scheme applies.

A group can contain both bank and non-bank entities; one licence should never be assumed to cover every product worldwide.

YouTube cross-check

Swissquote's Q2 2026 market outlook discusses currencies and commodities. It is house research, not evidence of the legal protection attached to an account.

Sources

• FINMA authorised banks and securities firms
• Swissquote EU currency-pair disclosure

Checked September 3, 2026. X and Google News were screened; register data controls the entity analysis.