Platforms · Software · Providers · Markets
UK forex, CFD and spread betting firms received twice as many complaints in H1 2026 as in H1 2025, according to figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Across the financial sector, the regulator recorded 1.88 million opened complaints, an increase of 6.3%.
Investment products drew more complaints
Investment products generated nearly 68,000 complaints in H1 2026, 25.2% more than in H2 2025. Individual Savings Account complaints remained the largest investment category, with firms receiving over 23,500, up 28.7% on the previous reporting period.
CFD and forex firms logged 2,043 complaints; the reported growth rate was 53.5%. Investment platform complaints rose from 8,845 to 12,874, a 45.6% increase.
Broker figures need account context
Among the selected retail brokers and investment platforms, Trading 212 UK recorded the most investment complaints. Its complaint rate relative to accounts was 0.56, the lowest in the group. Interactive Brokers had fewer complaints but recorded 3.23 complaints per 1,000 investment accounts, illustrating why totals alone do not show how complaint levels compare across firms.
The FCA's account-based measure uses the relevant investment accounts each firm reported at the end of its reporting period, whether or not they were active. The upheld rate, the share of closed complaints accepted by a firm as fully or partly justified, ranged from 2.3% at eToro and 6.7% at Trading 212 to 41.4% at Freetrade and 50.7% at IG Index, in figures first reported by Finance Magnates.
How the FCA counts complaints
The FCA treats dissatisfaction about a regulated firm's financial product or service as a complaint when it comes from retail customers, professional clients or other eligible complainants. UK firms or their representatives submit the figures, which the regulator aggregates. Firm-level breakdowns are available when a company reports 1,000 or more complaints in a year, or 500 or more in a 6-month reporting period.
What this means on the desk
For operations teams, the figures make complaint classification and denominator controls important when comparing internal totals with regulatory reporting. Check whether FX, CFD and spread betting cases are grouped consistently, and whether account counts use the same period-end basis as the FCA measure.
Complaint totals and upheld rates describe different parts of the process: one counts reports, while the other covers closed complaints a firm accepts as justified in full or in part. Operators should check how open cases, closure timing and outcomes feed into submissions, and whether internal dashboards can reproduce the account denominator used in reporting.
