Swapforex Limited: FCA regulated?

Authorised by the FCA

This firm is on the FCA register and authorised to carry out regulated activities.

Authorised for 5 years
Your funds are safeguarded
No FCA actions
Active company since 2011
Accounts filed up to 31 December 2025
On its latest accounts it owed £86.4k more than it owned

Website, phone number and address

Compare these against whatever you were given. Scammers clone real firm names and reference numbers but use their own phone number and website, so a detail that does not match the register is the clearest warning sign there is.

Website

certios.com (opens in a new tab)
Phone number

020 8064 1510
Address

Henry Wood house, 4-5 Langham Place, London, W1B 3DG, United Kingdom

In the full report: 3 background checks

When certios.com first appeared online, and whether it can receive email
What kind of line 020 8064 1510 is
Who else gives the postcode W1B 3DG

Other names (1)

If you were contacted under any of these names, it is this firm.

Certios Trading name: A name it trades under now.

FCA permissions and consumer protection

Handle payments & transfers Funds safeguarded
Your money must be kept in a separate safeguarded account. If the firm fails, all safeguarded funds should be returned to you. With no upper limit, unlike the capped amounts under FSCS. Safeguarding works differently from FSCS, but protects your full balance when the rules are followed correctly.
Complaints Ombudsman, free
You can refer a complaint about this firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, whichever activity it relates to.

Show FCA detail (1 permission)

6. Money remittance.

FCA disciplinary action and complaints

No FCA disciplinary action.

The Financial Ombudsman Service only publishes complaint figures for firms with 30 or more new complaints in six months, so there are none here for this firm.

Companies House record

The company behind the firm: its status, age, registered office and directors.

Company number: 07481403 (opens Companies House in a new tab)
Company status: Active
Company type: Private limited company
Incorporated: 4 January 2011 (15 years old)
Registered office: Henry Wood House, 4-5 Langham Place, London, W1B 3DG, England
Nature of business: Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation not elsewhere classified (SIC 66190)

Directors and company secretaries

Name	Role	Born	Appointed	Other companies
Steven John Barker	Director	Jul 1970	4 Jan 2011	8 other companies
Jeremy Gifford Pearce	Director	Jun 1968	21 Feb 2024	3 other companies
Gregory Finbarr Vincent	Director	Oct 1973	3 Jul 2024	1 other company
Babak Motavalli	Director	Sep 1989	20 Jul 2026	3 other companies
Frederick Richard Leadsom	Director	Dec 1995	6 Aug 2026	3 other companies
Dominic Richard John Burton	Secretary	Not published	20 Jul 2026	–

Other companies run by these 5 directors

A firm is run by people, and their other companies are their track record: what they built, what closed, and anything that failed. It is the check most people never think to make.

other companies: 18
closed down: 8
still active: 10

In the full report: all 18 companies, named

What each company does, and whether it is still trading
Which of these 5 directors sit on each board, and since when
Any that went into liquidation or administration
All 6 people who have ever been directors, with their dates

Filed accounts and finances

Year to 31 December 2025Full accountsAudited

Net assets

−£86.4k

Down £72.3k from −£14.2k

Cash at bank

£213k

−62% from £555k

Employees (average)

6

+20% from 5

Owed within a year

£423k

−48% from £818k

Net assets are negative: on its last balance sheet the company owed £86.4k more than it owned.

* Cash at bank usually includes customers’ money.

Net assets

In the full report: all 6 years of accounts

Every year from 2020 to 2025
The chart, over every year
Every filed figure, year by year

About these figures

Turnover: Money taken from sales in the year, before any costs.
Profit before tax: What was left after the year’s costs, before corporation tax. A minus figure is a loss.
Net assets, or total equity: Everything the company owns minus everything it owes. A minus figure means it owes more than it owns.
Total assets and total liabilities: Everything the company owns, and everything it owes, on the last day of the year. The gap between them is its net assets.
Cash at bank: Money in the company’s accounts on the last day of the year.
Owed within a year, owed after a year: Debts and bills due in the next twelve months, and those due later.

Accounts filed at Companies House for company 07481403. Every figure is as filed, apart from total assets and total liabilities, which are added up from filed figures. Nothing is estimated.

Key dates in its history

Swapforex’s history from the FCA register and Companies House, newest first.

Key events (5) All events (15)

2020

22 December 2020

Regulated by the FCA from this date
Supervised by HMRC under the money laundering rules from this date
Became an authorised payment institution

FCA register

2016

6 April 2016

Steven Barker took control (75–100% of shares)

Companies House

2011

4 January 2011

Incorporated at Companies House

Companies House

In the full report: all 15 events

All 15 events in its history (5 shown here)
Every director appointment and resignation: 9

Firms like Swapforex

Other firms of the same type (payment or money transfer firm), nearest first.

In London

StoneX Financial LtdLondonAuthorised Real Transfer LimitedLondonAuthorised Onafriq UK LimitedLondonAuthorised Daytona Capital Management LimitedLondonAuthorised Sable International FX LimitedLondonAuthorised Trolley Payments UK LtdLondonAuthorised

Firms are listed by type and location, best known first. Being listed is not a recommendation: check any firm before you deal with it.

Get the full report on Swapforex

Everything on this page, plus everything locked above, in one dated PDF you can keep, file or send on.

18 other companies its directors have run, named
3 background checks on its contact details
6 years of accounts, charted
All 15 events in its history

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Frequently asked questions about this firm

Is Swapforex Limited FCA authorised?

Yes, Swapforex Limited (FRN 920921) is authorised by the FCA to carry out regulated activities. It has held its current authorisation since December 2020 and works as a payment or money transfer firm. The FCA has placed no limits on its permissions.

What is Swapforex’s phone number and website?

The FCA register lists the phone number 020 8064 1510 and the website certios.com for Swapforex. If you were given different contact details, use these to check with the firm before going any further.

Is Swapforex a scam or clone?

Swapforex is a genuine FCA-listed firm, and the FCA has published no warnings about fake versions of it. Scammers do copy real firms, though, so check that any contact details you were given match the ones on the register.

Is my money safe with Swapforex?

It depends on the product, but payment and e-money balances should be safeguarded in a separate account, with no upper limit on the protected amount. You can also refer complaints about Swapforex to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

Who owns Swapforex?

Companies House lists one person with significant control of Swapforex: Mr Steven Barker (75–100% of shares).

Who runs Swapforex?

Companies House lists 5 directors of Swapforex: Steven John Barker, Jeremy Gifford Pearce, Gregory Finbarr Vincent, Babak Motavalli and Frederick Richard Leadsom.

How long has Swapforex been in business?

The company was formed on 4 January 2011, and has held its current FCA authorisation since December 2020.

What do Swapforex’s latest accounts show?

Its latest accounts, to 31 December 2025, show net assets of −£86.4k (down £72.3k from −£14.2k) and cash at bank of £213k (−62% from £555k).

Does Swapforex use any other names?

It trades as Certios.