Circle Markets Review · 2026

What is Circle Markets?

Circle Markets was a New Zealand forex broker associated with its New Zealand company and a former Warkworth operation. The earlier business model used ECN (Electronic Communication Network) and STP (Straight Through Processing) execution language. The New Zealand entity appeared under financial service provider number FSP460986. Current public evidence does not show an operating brokerage, and the former official domain redirects to a domain-for-sale page as of 19 September 2026.

The corporate record matters because a financial service provider registration is not the same as a derivatives issuer license. New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA) described the company as a non-licensed derivatives issuer and forex provider in 2019. The New Zealand Gazette later recorded the company in liquidation. The liquidation process began on 28 February 2020, with notice 2020-al957 published on 2 March 2020 (source: New Zealand Gazette, 2 March 2020).

Is Circle Markets regulated? Verification check

Circle Markets does not have a current forex license verified for this review. The FMA formally warned the New Zealand company in October 2019. It identified the firm as a non-licensed derivatives issuer and forex provider (source: Financial Markets Authority, 18 October 2019). The warning concerned anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance under New Zealand's 2009 Act. It identified customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, politically exposed person checks, and ongoing account monitoring as deficient areas.

The New Zealand registration number FSP460986 therefore should not be read as an FMA derivatives license. A Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) entry records a financial service provider, while licensing depends on the regulated activity and applicable legal regime. Archived VFSC (Vanuatu Financial Services Commission) licensee lists from 2017 and 2018 included Circle Markets VU Limited as active at that time. FXSharp's historical research identifies license number 40389, but a current 2026 direct register confirmation was not verified.

Trading platforms

Trading platforms historically included MT4 (MetaTrader 4), cTrader, and FIX API. A FIX API is a Financial Information eXchange connection used for direct electronic order messaging. Historical material also associated the broker with automated trading and professional connectivity. These platforms should be treated as former offerings, not current services, because no active broker website is operating at the former domain.

Platform availability also differs from platform verification. Historical broker information lists MT4, cTrader, and FIX API, but the MetaQuotes server was not independently verified in the current check. The MetaTrader license status is therefore recorded as Not Available. A historical platform list does not establish that client accounts or trading servers remain accessible today.

Red flags and warning signs

Red flags are concentrated in licensing, compliance history, corporate status, and current website availability. Each point is tied to a public record rather than an unsupported label. The combination is more informative than any single historical trading feature.

• The FMA formal warning identified the New Zealand company as a non-licensed derivatives issuer and forex provider in 2019.
• The FMA warning documented failures in customer due diligence and ongoing account monitoring.
• The New Zealand company entered liquidation in 2020, according to the New Zealand Gazette record.
• The former broker domain now redirects to a domain-for-sale page, not a live trading service.
• No active forex license was verified in the 2026 scan.

Minimum deposit

Minimum deposit information is not current because the broker is no longer operating through its former website. Earlier third-party pages preserve historical deposit figures, but those values are not suitable as present account terms. Current account data is therefore recorded as N/A for the minimum deposit. The same treatment applies to current leverage and spread-from figures.

This distinction prevents obsolete commercial terms from being mistaken for an available product. A deposit threshold only matters when an account-opening channel, client agreement, payment route, and operating entity can be verified together. None of those elements is currently available from the former official domain.

Is the broker on any regulator warning lists?

The regulator warning record includes a formal action by New Zealand's FMA. On 18 October 2019, the authority publicized a formal AML/CFT warning concerning the company (source: Financial Markets Authority, 18 October 2019). The FMA said its onsite review found shortcomings in identity verification, enhanced due diligence, politically exposed person checks, and ongoing customer monitoring.

The warning is a compliance finding, not a generic internet complaint. It also predates the company's liquidation record by only a few months. The Financial Markets Authority later repeated the matter in its 2019/20 annual report. The report again described the firm as a non-licensed derivatives issuer and forex provider that received a formal warning for AML/CFT compliance failures.

What do user complaints say?

User complaint evidence is not quantified because current user-aggregate data was not verified. Individual forum posts and isolated reviews are not used as substitutes for a reliable aggregate. The public liquidation record is stronger evidence for corporate status than anecdotal complaints. This review therefore does not assign a complaint rate, withdrawal-failure percentage, or user-rating score.

The absence of a quantified complaint metric should not be confused with a clean operating record. The FMA warning and liquidation are independently documented public events. They are sufficient to establish material historical risk findings without relying on unverifiable individual claims.

How to verify the broker yourself

Broker verification starts with the legal entity, registration number, regulator, and current website. Search the New Zealand FMA material for Circle Markets Limited and FSP460986. The result should be read alongside the FMA's 2019 warning, because FSPR registration alone does not establish a derivatives issuer license. Then check the New Zealand Companies Register and Gazette for the company's liquidation history.

1. Match the exact entity name, not only the trading brand.
2. Confirm whether a registration is a license for the activity being offered.
3. Check the regulator's current status field and any warning or enforcement record.
4. Verify the website domain against the legal entity's own disclosure.
5. For Vanuatu claims, search the current VFSC register for Circle Markets VU Limited and license number 40389.

Where was the broker actually based?

The broker's New Zealand base was associated with Warkworth, New Zealand. The New Zealand entity was tied to FSP460986 and the FMA warning. A separate offshore entity, Circle Markets VU Limited, appeared in archived Vanuatu licensee lists. That structure means readers must distinguish the New Zealand company from the Vanuatu entity when checking legal status.

The location question is also operational, not merely geographic. A brand can use one website while contracts sit with another entity. The current former domain no longer presents an account agreement identifying any contracting company. As a result, no present client-facing jurisdiction can be verified from an active official broker site.

Recovery options if you already deposited

Recovery options depend on the payment route, contracting entity, transaction date, and any liquidation claim already filed. The company's liquidation is a corporate process, so creditor claims belong within the liquidator's formal procedure where applicable. Card payments can also have issuer dispute processes, while bank transfers follow different recovery rules. Time limits vary by provider and jurisdiction.

Records are the practical starting point for any recovery review. Useful documents include account statements, payment confirmations, withdrawal requests, identity checks, broker emails, and the client agreement. A regulator complaint can document conduct, but it does not automatically recover funds. Liquidation distributions also depend on available assets, creditor ranking, costs, and court outcomes.

Account types and historical terms

Historical account types were Standard, ECN, and ECN Plus. ECN accounts generally separate raw market pricing from a commission. Standard accounts commonly embed more cost in the spread (the gap between bid and ask prices). Those labels describe the historical product structure only. Current spreads, commissions, leverage, deposit methods, and swap-free status are not verified.

The historical instrument range included forex, CFD (Contract for Difference) products, metals, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. A CFD is a derivative that tracks price changes without transferring ownership of the underlying asset. Current instrument availability is not stated because the brokerage website is inactive. No present payment method, customer support channel, or Islamic account term is treated as active.

Should you avoid Circle Markets?

Circle Markets has no current forex license verified, and its New Zealand company entered liquidation in 2020. The FMA's 2019 formal warning documented AML/CFT compliance failures and described the firm as a non-licensed derivatives issuer. The former official domain is now parked for sale rather than operating as a broker. Current account opening, funding, trading, and withdrawal services therefore cannot be verified.

The historical Vanuatu record does not change that present-status finding. Archived VFSC lists show the Vanuatu entity in earlier years, while a current 2026 license confirmation remains unverified. The practical distinction is between historical existence and present authorization. Any current solicitation using the brand name requires fresh entity, domain, and regulator verification before its claims can be treated as genuine.

Forex and derivative products carry high leverage; some or all invested capital may be lost. This content is for information only, not investment advice. Verify the broker's current regulation status with the relevant authority's official site before any investment decision.