Reviewed by Shaun David 
Shaun David
Regulation • Trading Algorithms • Market Analysis
I’m extremely passionate about the financial markets and working with innovative technology that makes trading better and safer. Since joining the CleaRank team, my primary role is working with real-time broker performance data using the CLEAR™ technology and broker evaluation methodology. I investigate brokers by testing their platforms and uncovering hidden risks and costs. My end goal is to level the playing field for traders and With an extensive background in market analysis and algorithmic trading, I’m qualified to find what matters most to traders. using our CLEAR™ Methodology The CLEAR™ Score (Credibility, Leverage, Execution, Accessibility, Regulation) is our proprietary ranking system. The CLEAR™ Score provides you with the most accurate and transparent broker ranking after evaluating all the key factors that are crucial for trading success. .
Last fact check on August 3, 2026 by
Michelle Sofia 
Michelle Sofia
Compliance Analyst • Editorial Review
Michelle is the financial content architect and SEO market analyst at CleaRank, and the final editorial reviewer on every CleaRank publication. With a background in financial journalism and fintech reporting, she fact-checks each broker investigation for accuracy before it goes live.
Sway Markets Review 2026
Sway Markets is an offshore foreign-exchange broker that has ceased all brokerage operations. The Sway Markets brand operated through two registered entities: Sway Markets Pty Ltd, an Australian company (ABN 16 663 928 158) holding ASIC Authorised Representative number 001300469 under the Australian Financial Services Licence of Pulse Markets Pty Ltd (ABN 91 665 910 538, AFSL 468270), and a separate Saint Vincent and the Grenadines entity (registration number 1661). The ASIC Authorised Representative licence covers wholesale clients only. The SVG entity carries no retail forex authorisation anywhere. The consumer-facing brand at swaymarkets.com has zero organic traffic as of June 2026.
The regulatory ceiling for any conversation about Sway Markets is set by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s own classification system. The ASIC register shows Sway Markets Pty Ltd holds Authorised Representative number 001300469 under the AFSL of Pulse Markets Pty Ltd. The CAR designation means Sway Markets was authorised only as an agent of the licence holder and only for wholesale clients meeting the Corporations Act threshold of A$250,000 annual income or A$2.5 million net assets. No Tier-1 retail forex licence was ever granted to either the Australian entity or the SVG entity.
Our CLEAR investigation gave Sway Markets a Failed score of 0.25 / 5, placing it in the severe-risk band alongside HankoTrade and AAFX Trading. The starkest concern for former clients is the cessation of all brokerage operations combined with an ASIC structure that provided no retail investor protection during the period of operation. The prop-trading brand Sway Funded operated alongside the brokerage and also closed. Verify any broker’s current risk status using the CLEARCheck Broker Risk Scanner.
Failed CLEAR™ Score: 0.2/5
Wholesale-Only ASIC Structure Provided No Retail Protection
The critical regulatory finding for Sway Markets is what the ASIC Authorised Representative licence did and did not cover. The CAR structure authorised the entity to act as an agent of Pulse Markets for wholesale clients only. Retail clients onboarded by the brand had no ASIC retail investor-protection coverage.
ASIC CAR 001300469: Wholesale Clients Only
Sway Markets Pty Ltd appears in the ASIC Connect Online database as Authorised Representative number 001300469 under the AFSL of Pulse Markets Pty Ltd (ABN 91 665 910 538, AFSL 468270). Authorised representative status means the entity acts as an agent of the licence holder. AFSL 468270 covers wholesale clients only. The wholesale-client threshold under section 761G of the Corporations Act requires clients to certify A$250,000 in annual income for each of the last two financial years, or A$2.5 million in net assets. Retail Australians and retail international clients did not meet this threshold and were therefore outside the ASIC-protected perimeter.
SVG Entity Registration 1661: No Forex Regulation
The Sway Markets SVG entity is registered under number 1661 with the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority. The SVG FSA publicly states it does not regulate forex, CFD, or binary options brokers. IBC registration is a company incorporation formality, not a retail forex licence. The SVG entity carried the consumer-facing retail funnel with no Tier-1 authorisation backing.
Two Entities, Zero Retail Protection, One Closed Brand
The Sway Markets corporate structure placed two entities between the brand and any meaningful retail investor protection. Sway Markets Pty Ltd (ABN 16 663 928 158) was the Australian entity holding ASIC CAR 001300469, authorised as an agent of Pulse Markets Pty Ltd (AFSL 468270) for wholesale clients only. The SVG entity (registration 1661) was the offshore entity through which retail clients were onboarded, sitting in a jurisdiction where the SVG FSA does not regulate forex or CFD brokers. When the brokerage ceased operations, retail clients had no ASIC retail compensation scheme to call on, no SVG regulatory structure to complain to, and no Tier-1 warning on file that would have alerted them earlier. The Sway Funded prop-trading brand also closed alongside the brokerage.
The Sway Markets corporate structure
An ASIC Authorised Representative covering wholesale clients only under Pulse Markets AFSL 468270, an SVG IBC with no retail forex regulation, and the Sway Funded prop brand. All three entities are now ceased.
Two registered entities and one prop brand behind the Sway Markets consumer brand. All now ceased.
Sway Markets Pty Ltd
ASIC Authorised Representative 001300469 under Pulse Markets Pty Ltd AFSL 468270. Wholesale clients only under the Corporations Act A$250,000 income or A$2.5M net-assets threshold. Retail clients outside ASIC protection. Now ceased.
Wholesale only – ceasedSway Markets SVG entity
SVG Financial Services Authority registration 1661. The SVG FSA publicly states it does not regulate forex, CFD, or binary options brokers. IBC registration is a company incorporation number, not a retail forex licence. Retail clients onboarded through this entity. Now ceased.
No retail forex licenceSway Funded
Proprietary trading brand operated alongside the Sway Markets brokerage. Funded traders received allocations and profit-split arrangements. Closed alongside the brokerage. Funded traders lost access to allocations and profit-split balances at the time of closure.
Closed – funds at riskRetail brokerage clients and funded traders
Retail clients onboarded through the SVG entity sat outside the ASIC wholesale-client protection perimeter. Funded traders lost allocations and profit-split balances at closure. No Tier-1 retail compensation scheme applies to either group.
Ahrefs Audit: Domain Rating 26, Zero Organic Traffic – Site Inactive
Live data from the Ahrefs API for swaymarkets.com on 08 June 2026: Domain Rating 26, Ahrefs Rank 5,368,305, zero ranking organic keywords, zero organic monthly visits, zero paid traffic. DR 26 reflects a historic backlink profile accumulated during the period when the brand was active. Zero organic traffic confirms the site is no longer serving search traffic. The profile is consistent with a domain whose operator has ceased publishing content and wound down the consumer-facing business.
Ahrefs records zero organic traffic and zero ranking keywords for swaymarkets.com as of June 2026, returning no country-level breakdown. During its active period, the Sway Markets brand had documented traffic from Australia, the United States, and European markets according to competitor discovery data. All of those markets sat outside the wholesale-client perimeter that the ASIC CAR licence covered, and outside any regulatory protection provided by the SVG entity.
The Smoking Gun: A Wholesale Licence Sold to a Retail Audience
The Sway Markets ASIC CAR 001300469 under Pulse Markets Pty Ltd AFSL 468270 is authorised for wholesale clients only. The Corporations Act wholesale threshold – A$250,000 annual income or A$2.5 million net assets – excluded the overwhelming majority of retail traders who formed the brand’s documented customer base. The gap between the licence structure and the retail onboarding funnel means that while the brand displayed an Australian ASIC reference in its regulatory disclosure, the retail clients being onboarded had no ASIC retail investor protection. The brand has now ceased operations.
Payment Rails: No Longer Accessible
The swaymarkets.com domain returns no accessible payment information as of June 2026. During the period of operation, Sway Markets accepted deposits via bank wire transfer and debit or credit card rails consistent with its Australian entity structure. Retail clients who deposited via Visa or Mastercard had the Visa or Mastercard chargeback window as their primary recovery mechanism. The chargeback window for card transactions is typically 120 to 180 days from the deposit date. Clients whose deposit date falls outside that window have limited functional recourse once the brokerage has ceased operating.
Customer Complaints: Closure Impact on Funded Traders and Brokerage Clients
The Sway Markets closure has generated complaint records across broker-review forums and the prop-trading community. The combined wind-down of the Sway Funded prop-trading brand and the Sway Markets brokerage left funded traders without access to their allocations and any associated profit-split balances. Brokerage clients who held open positions at the time of closure faced an uncontrolled close-out. The absence of a Tier-1 retail regulatory structure meant no formal compensation scheme applied to either client category. Third-party financial media documented the closure’s impact on both the brokerage and prop-trading client bases.
Action Steps If You Are Already a Sway Markets Customer
Stop depositing immediately. Do not add another cent regardless of any bonus or recovery promise.
Preserve every record. Save deposit transaction hashes, MetaTrader account statements, chat logs, KYC submissions, every email and every screenshot.
File a chargeback fast if you deposited by Visa or Mastercard. The dispute window is typically 120 to 180 days from the deposit date.
Report the firm. UK: FCA Report an unauthorised firm. US: CFTC SmartCheck. Canada: Ontario Securities Commission. EU: your national regulator and ESMA.
Avoid recovery offers. Anyone offering guaranteed fund recovery for an up-front fee is a second-layer concern. Legitimate chargeback and regulator-complaint paths do not require an up-front fee.
Our Verdict for Sway Markets
Sway Markets’ 0.25 / 5 CLEAR Score reflects an operator that presented an ASIC Authorised Representative status to a retail audience while the licence covered wholesale clients only, and whose SVG entity carried no retail forex regulation. ASIC CAR 001300469 under Pulse Markets Pty Ltd AFSL 468270 – wholesale clients only. SVG registration 1661 – no forex regulation. Domain DR 26 with zero organic traffic as of June 2026 confirming operational cessation. Prop-trading brand Sway Funded closed alongside the brokerage. No retail compensation scheme applicable to either client category.
Avoid Sway Markets. For real ECN execution under a Tier-1 regulator, use a CLEAR-certified broker such as IC Markets (ASIC), Fusion Markets (ASIC), or Darwinex (FCA). Verify any broker through the CleaRank Broker Risk Scanner before depositing.
Sway Markets FAQs
Disclaimer: This review documents the regulatory and compliance risks of an unregulated broker and is not financial advice. Always verify a broker’s licenses and seek professional guidance before trading.
Shaun David
I’ve spent majority of my life studying finance and building a successful career from analyzing market trends to spotting successful early adoptions in the crypto industry, and I’ve come to realize I’m not purely analyzing numbers, but the psychology and sentiment of the crowd. As one of CleaRank’s earliest team members I take a hands on approach and personally test brokers by opening real money accounts, executing trades, and stress testing their customer service. Throughout my career I’ve built trading algorithms, managed long term investment portfolios, and helped traders avoid shady brokers before they even knew they were at risk. Whether it’s uncovering hidden fees, evaluating regulatory loopholes, or optimizing trading strategies, I live and breathe the financial markets.