FM Intelligence reviewed every retail FX and CFD complaint adjudicated by the Finance Commission in 2025. Of 1,468 disputes, an independent panel of 18 experts found the broker not at fault in 94.8% of cases.
This outcome rarely reaches the places where these conflicts begin. A delayed withdrawal from Reddit or a one-star “they stole my money” review can circulate for weeks, while the decision that follows attracts little attention.
Read the full FM Intelligence analysis on the DataLab portal.
What 1,468 resolved disputes reveal
the Finance Committee It is an external dispute resolution body for online trading, a voluntary route to which a growing list of brokers have signed up over the past year. FM Intelligence based its study on the body’s full caseload for 2025.
Money refers the same way. The traders sought a total of $21.4 million across all filings, and the commission awarded $496,304, according to FM Intelligence. The average amount disputed was $397.50, so more than half of all complaints are for less than $400.
Withdrawal delays, a complaint that is likely to be widespread, was the largest single category at 558 cases. The committee decided 92.8% of them in favor of the mediator, and attributed most of them to… compliance Checks, bank processing or reward terms in lieu of misconduct.
Accountability goes both ways
The numbers are not a clean bill of health, and Intelligence FM does not present them as such. In 76 cases, the Commission found genuine fault with the broker and awarded traders $414,189, findings that prevent 94.8% from appearing unilateral.
The data also reveals abuse moving in the other direction. The Finance Commission blacklisted 87 clients in 2025 on charges of willful misconduct, most of which were based on exploitation. Negative balance protectiona safeguard measure imposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) so that retail traders do not lose more than their deposits.
One discovery contradicts the obvious. Brokers who hold FCA Tier 1 licences, or ASIC recorded a higher error rate than its offshore counterparts, not lower. The full piece explains why.
The complaint curve is shaped like gold
The volume of complaints built during the second half of the year and peaked in December, tracking the flow goldwhich hit record levels in the fourth quarter due to central bank buying and safe haven demand.
As deposits reached their annual peak, the brokers’ error rate fell to its lowest levels, one case out of 201 in December.
The full study explains the source of complaints, of which India leads in a quarter of all applications, shows how quickly cases are closed, and outlines the methodology and its limitations, including that these figures cover finance committee members who volunteer to arbitrate, not the entire market.
The data does not prove that brokers behave well. It appears that, under independent review, most complaints did not prove wrongdoing, a smaller share did, and the Commission paid traders when the evidence supported them.
See full data, graphs and case studies on the FM Intelligence DataLab portal.
This article was written by Damian Schmael, Ramzi Ahmed at www.financemagnates.com.
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