Four UK currency and payment firms have entered Special Administration in the past twelve months: Argentex, Halo Financial, Euro Exchange Securities and Monevium. Three of those failed within three weeks of each other in 2026. Currency brokers are not banks, and your money with them is not protected by the FSCS — it is protected by safeguarding, which is a different thing with different limits.
If you are about to send a large sum through a currency broker, this page explains what has actually been happening, what protects your money, and the questions worth asking before you transfer.
Four failures in twelve months
| Firm | Entered administration | Administrators | What went wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentex | 21 July 2025 | — | Liquidity — margin calls on client hedging positions outran the firm’s funding |
| Halo Financial | 29 May 2026 | BTG Begbies Traynor | Cash-flow difficulty following a margin dispute with its liquidity provider |
| Euro Exchange Securities | 11 June 2026 | Teneo | The FCA forced it into administration over what it called significant financial crime risk |
| Monevium | 18 June 2026 | S&W Partners | Could no longer fund the operations needed to return customer money |
Three of these happened inside three weeks. That is not a coincidence, but it is also not one story — the failures have three quite different causes, and the distinction matters if you are trying to judge who to trust.
The three ways a currency broker fails
1. Liquidity — the Argentex and Halo pattern
This is the failure mode that catches good firms.
A broker offering forward contracts has to post margin and collateral with its own banks and liquidity providers to support those client positions. When exchange rates move sharply, the margin required can rise faster than the firm can fund it — even though the firm has done nothing wrong and its clients’ money is intact.
Argentex ceased client trading on 17 July 2025 and entered Special Administration on 21 July, serving roughly 2,000 corporate and institutional clients. The trigger was liquidity pressure, not fraud: a sharp dollar move in the second quarter of 2025 drove margin requirements on client hedging positions beyond what the firm could meet. A £3 million rescue by IFX Payments was subsequently terminated. Our full account is in what happened to Argentex.
Halo Financial followed a similar shape. After a margin dispute with its liquidity provider over deposits held in a collateral account, it agreed a voluntary undertaking with the FCA on 30 April 2026 restricting its business, and entered Special Administration on 29 May. It had traded for around twenty years, with turnover averaging £344 million a year and close to 3,000 active customers. Our tracking page is Halo Financial: Special Administration status.
The lesson: a firm can be honest, long-established and solvent on paper, and still fail because of how it funds the hedging it offers you. Longevity is not the safeguard people assume it is.
2. Regulatory failure — the Euro Exchange Securities case
This one is different, and it is a landmark.
On 4 June 2026, the FCA required Euro Exchange Securities UK Limited to cease all regulated e-money and payment services, and applied to the Court to appoint interim managers. On 11 June, the High Court confirmed Duncan Perring and James Bennett of Teneo as joint special administrators.
The FCA has stated this is “the first of its kind case for the FCA”. In its own words, it acted “after lengthy engagement with the firm and because of serious concern with the way EES operated its business, which indicated significant financial crime risk”, citing “systemic weaknesses in the firm’s financial crime framework and safeguarding arrangements, alongside its ownership and governance.”
The risk of payment firms being used by criminals to launder cash to fund other offences is significant, which is why they must meet expected standards. Fighting financial crime is at the heart of our strategy.
Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets, Financial Conduct Authority
The lesson: note that safeguarding arrangements were among the weaknesses the FCA identified. Safeguarding is the mechanism that is supposed to protect your money. A firm that is failing at safeguarding is failing at the one thing standing between you and a total loss — and you would have no way of knowing from the outside.
3. Attrition — the Monevium case
Monevium entered Special Administration on 18 June 2026, with Adam Henry Stephens and Christopher Allen of S&W Partners appointed. It had been operating under a voluntary undertaking restricting its activities since February 2024, and eventually could not fund the operations required to return customer money after a prolonged period of not trading.
The lesson: a restricted firm can limp on for years. The restriction is public on the FCA register. Very few customers check.
The thing most people don’t know: the FSCS does not cover you
Currency brokers and payment institutions are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS protects deposits at authorised banks and building societies up to £85,000. It does not extend to payment services or e-money.
The FCA states this plainly in every one of these administrations. From its Halo Financial guidance: “No. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) only applies to certain types of activity. This does not include payment services.” You can confirm what the scheme covers at fscs.org.uk.
So if you have £400,000 sitting with a currency broker when it fails, there is no compensation scheme that pays you out. What you have instead is safeguarding.
What safeguarding actually is — and where it stops
Safeguarding is a rule requiring a payment institution to hold customer money separately from its own operating funds, so that if the firm fails, that money is ring-fenced for customers rather than available to the firm’s general creditors. It sits in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. Our explainer covers how client funds are safeguarded in full.
In principle, it works. Safeguarded money is not the firm’s money, and it is not there to pay the firm’s debts.
In practice, four things are worth understanding — and they come straight from what has happened in these administrations:
- It takes time. Administrators must reconcile every customer balance and open position before returning anything. The Halo administrators have said there is no confirmed timescale and that returning funds may need Court approval.
- You may not get all of it. The costs of the administration are deducted from the money returned. The Halo administrators have said explicitly that amounts customers receive will be reduced by the costs of returning them.
- Safeguarding can itself fail. The FCA identified weaknesses in EES’s safeguarding arrangements. Safeguarding is a rule, not a vault — it depends on the firm actually following it.
- Forward contracts do not survive. A forward is a contract with that firm. It cannot be transferred to another broker. If your broker fails, the protection you thought you had bought is gone, and replacing it means a new contract at whatever the market rate is on the day.
That last point is the one that costs people real money, and it is covered further in our guide to what to do if a currency broker stops trading.
Five questions worth asking any currency broker
Before you send a large sum to any firm — including us — these are the questions that actually distinguish between providers.
- Are you directly FCA-authorised, or do you operate through an authorised partner? Both are legitimate. They are not the same, and you are entitled to know which one you are dealing with, and the Firm Reference Number.
- Where is my money held, and in whose name? Ask which institution holds the safeguarded account. “We safeguard client funds” is not an answer; the name of the bank is.
- Do you take on margin risk to offer me forward contracts? This is the question that would have flagged Argentex and Halo. A firm’s own hedging arrangements are the mechanism by which liquidity failures reach its clients.
- Has the firm any restrictions on the FCA register? Check yourself at register.fca.org.uk. Monevium’s restriction was public for over two years.
- What happens to my open forward contract if you fail? The honest answer is: it ends, and you replace it at the market rate. Any other answer should worry you.
How Cambridge Currencies holds client money
We would be poor company to write this page and then be vague about ourselves.
Cambridge Currencies is not itself an FCA-authorised payment institution. We arrange international payments through our FCA-authorised partners, Currencycloud (The Currency Cloud Limited, FRN 900199) and ScioPay (FRN 927951). Client funds are held in segregated, safeguarded accounts at a tier-one credit institution.
The practical consequence is worth stating plainly: client money does not sit on Cambridge Currencies’ balance sheet. It sits with the authorised institution that safeguards it. That is a structural difference from a directly-authorised broker that holds client money itself — and in the specific scenario these four failures describe, it is the difference that matters.
It is not a guarantee, and we will not pretend otherwise. The FSCS does not cover us either. But it is a straight answer to question two, and you should insist on a straight answer from anyone you are about to pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is my money safe with a currency broker?
Money held by a currency broker is protected by safeguarding, not by the FSCS. Safeguarding requires the firm to hold your money separately from its own. It generally works, but recovery in an insolvency takes time, may be reduced by the costs of the administration, and depends on the firm having followed the rules correctly.
Are currency brokers covered by the FSCS?
No. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers deposits at banks and building societies. It does not cover payment services or e-money. This applies to the whole specialist currency broker sector.
What happens to my money if a currency broker goes bust?
The firm enters Special Administration. Appointed administrators take control, freeze funds, reconcile every customer balance, and return safeguarded money to customers — usually after deducting the costs of doing so. There is rarely a confirmed timescale at the outset.
What happens to my forward contract if my broker collapses?
It cannot be transferred. A forward contract is an agreement with the firm that issued it, and it forms part of the administrators’ reconciliation. Replacing the protection means a new contract with a different provider at current market rates.
How many UK currency brokers have failed recently?
Four firms have entered Special Administration in the twelve months to July 2026: Argentex (July 2025), Halo Financial (May 2026), Euro Exchange Securities (June 2026) and Monevium (June 2026).
Why are so many payment firms failing at once?
The causes differ. Argentex and Halo failed on liquidity linked to margin on client hedging. Euro Exchange Securities was forced into administration by the FCA over financial crime and safeguarding concerns. Monevium ran out of money after two years of restriction. The common thread is that payment institutions are thinly capitalised compared with banks, and have no lender of last resort.
How do I check if a currency broker is regulated?
Search the FCA Financial Services Register by firm name or Firm Reference Number. The register shows the firm’s permissions and any restrictions or requirements imposed on it. Our guide to FCA regulation for FX clients explains what to look for.
Should I use a claims company to recover money from a failed broker?
The FCA’s position is that for most customers of a failed firm, there is no benefit in involving a third party in making a claim. Contact the appointed administrators directly.
Talk to a specialist
If you are moving a large sum and want a straight answer about how your money is held before you send it, ask us. Every conversation at Cambridge Currencies is by phone with a dedicated specialist, and we will tell you exactly which authorised institution holds client funds and under what permissions.
Request a quote — or read how we work first.
Related guides
- Halo Financial: Special Administration status — updated weekly
- What happened to Argentex?
- Large international money transfers
This article reflects publicly available information as of 12 July 2026 and is updated as the situation develops. All statements about Euro Exchange Securities, Halo Financial and Monevium are drawn from published Financial Conduct Authority statements and are attributed accordingly. Cambridge Currencies has no connection with any of the firms named; affected customers should contact the appointed administrators. Cambridge Currencies arranges international payments through its FCA-authorised partners, Currencycloud (FRN 900199) and ScioPay (FRN 927951). The information in this article is general guidance and not a personal recommendation.
