What a Saint Lucia company registration covers, what a securities regulator would add, and six things you can check yourself before you deposit with any offshore broker.
Search "Saint Lucia forex broker" and you will find contradictory answers. Many of them come from affiliate review sites or from brokers, and this guide is written by a broker too. So check what you read here against the public record and the broker's own documents.
At the end we answer each point for NAMH Global Ltd.
What a Saint Lucia company registration is
A company registered in Saint Lucia exists in law. It can open bank accounts, sign contracts, employ staff and be taken to court. The registration number lets you confirm that the company is real and that its name matches the one on your client agreement.
A company registration is not a licence to provide investment services. It does not mean anyone checks how the company holds client money, how much capital it keeps, or how it prices and executes trades. It does not give clients access to an investor compensation scheme.
NAMH Global Ltd is a company registered in Saint Lucia (No. 2024-00372). It is not licensed by a securities regulator or subject to a regulator's client-money rules, and no investor compensation scheme applies to accounts with it.
What a securities regulator adds
A broker licensed by a financial regulator has to meet conditions that a company registration does not impose. The detail differs by country, but a licence usually brings:
- minimum capital the firm must hold
- client-money rules that say where client money is kept and how it is reconciled
- regular reports to the regulator, and inspections
- a complaints route outside the firm
- a regulator that can restrict or close the firm
Some countries also run a compensation scheme that pays eligible clients when a licensed firm fails and cannot return their money. In the UK, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers eligible investment claims up to £85,000 per person per firm. In Cyprus, the Investor Compensation Fund covers up to €20,000 per client. These schemes pay out when a firm fails. They do not cover trading losses.
Regulators in the UK and the EU also cap leverage for retail clients, at 1:30 on major currency pairs. Our ECN account offers leverage up to 1:500 and our Cent account up to 1:1000. Higher leverage means a smaller price move can use up your margin. At 1:500, $1,000 of margin controls a $500,000 position. A price move of a fifth of one per cent against you loses $1,000, which is all of that margin.
Why many brokers are registered offshore
A licence in the UK or the EU takes time and capital, and it only lets a broker serve clients in that market under that market's rules. Many brokers that serve clients in other countries register in a smaller jurisdiction instead.
Some offshore brokers pay out reliably for years. Others do not. The place of registration tells you how much outside oversight there is. It does not tell you how a particular broker handles your money. Without a regulator doing that checking, more of it falls to you.
Six things you can check yourself
1. The company record
Find the broker's full company name, registration number and registered address. They should be the same on every page of the website, in the client agreement and on the company register. If they differ between pages, or the number cannot be found, treat that as a warning sign.
2. The client agreement
Read the terms before you deposit. Look for the name of the company you are contracting with, the law that governs the agreement, how complaints and disputes are handled, the fees, and what the broker can do to your account in a fast market. If the company in the agreement is not the company on the website, ask why.
3. Where client money is held
Ask which bank holds client money, in whose name the account is, and whether client money is kept apart from the company's own money. Ask whether an outside accountant has examined the firm's accounts or its client-money records, and whether that report is public.
Where client-money law applies, money kept apart in this way is usually out of reach of the broker's other creditors. Where it does not apply, insolvency law decides how client money is treated, and the outcome is less certain.
4. Negative balance protection
Negative balance protection means the broker resets your balance to zero if a fast market takes it below zero, so you do not owe the broker money. Check that it is written into the client agreement, and which accounts it covers. It limits your loss to what you deposited. You can still lose all of that.
5. A withdrawal with a small amount
The most useful test is your own. Deposit a small amount, then ask to withdraw it. Note how long the review took, how long the money took to arrive, what fees were taken and whether it came back to the method you paid in with. Do this before you deposit more.
Read independent forums and review sites as well. One complaint tells you little. A pattern of unanswered withdrawal complaints over months tells you a lot more.
6. The list of countries the broker does not serve
A broker should publish the countries whose residents it does not accept, and apply that list when people sign up. A broker that markets to people in countries where it is not allowed to operate is a warning sign about how it treats other rules.
A checklist before you deposit
Check | Where to look | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
Company record | The website footer, the client agreement, the company register | The name or number differs between pages, or cannot be found |
Client agreement | The terms on the website | No terms published before sign-up, or a different company named |
Client money | Ask support in writing | No answer, or a vague answer that names no bank |
Negative balance protection | The client agreement | Only in marketing copy, not in the terms |
Withdrawals | Your own small test, and independent forums | Repeated delays, new conditions or unanswered complaints |
Restricted countries | The legal pages and the sign-up form | No list, or ads aimed at countries the broker says it does not serve |
Risk warnings | Account pages and the risk warning | Leverage described only as an advantage |
Support | Email and phone | No phone number, or emails that go unanswered |
Where NAMH Global Ltd stands on each point
Check | NAMH Global Ltd |
|---|---|
Company record | NAMH Global Ltd, a company registered in Saint Lucia (No. 2024-00372). Not licensed by a securities regulator. |
Client agreement | Our Terms are published on the site, so you can read them before you open an account. |
Client money | Client deposits are held by NAMH Global Ltd. We are not subject to a regulator's client-money rules. Our site does not name the bank that holds client money, and we have not published an accountant's report on client money. If NAMH Global Ltd became insolvent, Saint Lucia insolvency law would decide how client money is treated, and there is no investor compensation scheme to fall back on. |
Negative balance protection | Under our Terms, negative balance protection applies to all retail accounts, so you cannot lose more than you deposit. You can still lose all of it. |
Withdrawals | We review withdrawal requests on business days. Card deposits go back to the same card, up to the amount deposited, and profits can be paid by bank wire or to a verified crypto address. We do not charge withdrawal fees; your bank or payment provider may. Times by method are on the funding page. |
Restricted countries | We do not accept clients who live in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, India, Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea or Sudan. |
Support | 24/7 at support@namhglobal.com and +1-758-461-4088. |
More detail is on the Trust & Safety page and the Client funds page. If you want the protections that come with a licensed firm and a compensation scheme, those are only available from a broker licensed in your own country or region, and that is a reasonable reason to choose one.
Registration and client money questions
What does it mean when a forex broker is registered in Saint Lucia?
It means the broker is a company that exists in Saint Lucia law and can hold bank accounts and sign contracts. Company registration is not a licence to provide investment services. No securities regulator checks how the company handles client money, and no investor compensation scheme applies to its clients.
Is NAMH Global Ltd licensed by a financial regulator?
No. NAMH Global Ltd is a company registered in Saint Lucia (No. 2024-00372). It holds no licence from a securities regulator, no regulator's client-money rules apply to it, and no investor compensation scheme applies to accounts with it.
What is the difference between company registration and a financial licence?
Company registration means the broker exists in law; a financial licence means a regulator has also authorised it to provide investment services. The licence brings capital requirements, client-money rules, regular reporting and a regulator that can act if the firm fails. In some countries, such as the UK and Cyprus, it also brings a compensation scheme for eligible clients.
What happens to client money if a Saint Lucia broker becomes insolvent?
Saint Lucia insolvency law would decide how client money is treated. There are no regulator's client-money rules to set how it is returned, and there is no compensation scheme to fall back on. You could lose all of the money in your account.
What should I check before depositing with any offshore broker?
Check the company record, read the client agreement, ask where client money is held, confirm negative balance protection in the terms, test a withdrawal with a small amount, and check that the broker publishes and applies a list of countries it does not serve. None of these checks makes a deposit safe. They tell you what you are relying on.