The Financial Commission, a leading independent, non-governmental self-regulatory organization and external dispute resolution (EDR) forum, today announces the recent release of a wide-ranging interview with its Chief Operating Officer, Nikolai Isayev, on Finance Magnates’ Industry Talks. In the conversation, Isayev explains how the forum is bringing the fast-growing retail proprietary trading industry into its remit — and why its recently launched Prop Firm Certification brings transparent rules, fair enforcement, and clear payouts to a sector that, until now, has grown without a common standard.
Watch the full conversation, “Financial Commission Takes on Prop Disputes: Are Traders Protected?”, on Finance Magnates’ Industry Talks:
Thirteen years as an independent, neutral forum
Since 2013, the Financial Commission has operated as an independent, non-governmental EDR forum for the foreign exchange and CFD markets, and today counts more than 50 broker members worldwide. Over that time it has independently handled more than 12,800 trader complaints and reviewed over US$88 million in trader claims. In the interview, Isayev returned to the principle that sets the forum apart: its rulings are binding on the member firm, but never on the trader. When the Commission issues a final decision, he explained, “it is binding on the broker — whatever the committee decides, the firm has to honour it,” but that same decision “is not binding on the trader.” A trader who is not satisfied, he added, remains “absolutely free to go and pursue other avenues,” whether that means a court of law or the relevant regulator.
Why prop trading, and why now
Isayev told Finance Magnates that the forum had watched the proprietary trading segment mature over several years, and that some of the industry’s founding firms had approached the Commission themselves. The decisive factor, he said, is where the real risk in prop trading sits — not in market structure, but with the consumer. “If there is going to be any kind of regulation in this space, I think it should be focused on the consumer side,” he said, noting that “there’s no live market here to monitor — the risk is consumer risk.” When a prop firm “disappears overnight,” he added, the harm to customers is “akin to a retail forex or CFD broker going dark.”
What certification verifies
Prop Firm Certification is a voluntary framework that independently verifies a firm operates with transparent rules, fair enforcement and clear payouts, backed by a code of conduct, ongoing monitoring and an expert review committee. Rather than a badge that can simply be bought, Isayev framed it as an inspection: the value, he said, is “to have an independent party like ourselves go in, take a deep dive under the hood of these firms,” and confirm that “the way things are set up on the back end” is honest and meets well-established standards.
Protection that works both ways
A recurring theme was that certification is designed to protect two parties at once — genuine traders and the firms themselves. It gives traders an independent escalation path when a firm falls short, while also shielding firms from bad-faith conduct that threatens market integrity. “The certification protects genuine traders, but it also protects the firms,” Isayev said, pointing out that “not everyone is doing this legitimately — there are abusive traders and syndicates” who, increasingly with the help of AI, “are finding ways to cheat.” That, he stressed, “is a serious problem for the firms as well.”
Not just a certificate
Isayev was emphatic that certification is an obligation rather than a marketing sticker — one that begins with due diligence and is enforced after the fact. “We’re not in the business of selling anyone a certificate or a PDF that says they’re a member,” he said; a certified firm “is bound by all of our rules,” and the Commission does “a certain amount of due diligence” before it ever approves an application. Where a firm ignores a ruling, the response is direct: the firm is given 28 days to comply, after which, Isayev said, “the first thing we do is expel it from membership — and in our industry, that news travels fast.”
A clear path for traders
The forum can adjudicate complaints with a notional value of up to US$1 million, and even where a firm has not yet been certified, traders are not without recourse. A trader with a serious issue, Isayev noted, can ask that firm to “bring us in as an independent, neutral third party to mediate the dispute,” with both sides agreeing to the Commission’s rules for that one-off engagement.
Proprietary trading firms interested in certification can learn more and apply on the Prop Firm Certification page. Traders who need to raise a dispute with a member firm can do so through the Financial Commission’s complaint process.
About the Financial Commission
The Financial Commission is an independent external dispute resolution (EDR) forum for consumers/traders who are unable to resolve disputes directly with their financial services providers who are members of the Financial Commission. The Financial Commission initially set out to provide a new approach for traders and brokers alike to resolve any issues that arise in the course of trading electronic markets such as Foreign Exchange, and then expanded into CFDs and related derivatives, in addition to certifying technology platforms used for trading.
For more information, please contact us at info@financialcommission.org.