Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) imposed a 20 million zloty fine on XTB. The decision was issued on March 30, 2026 and made public on April 13. The regulator reproached the company for failing to adequately assess between 2022 and 2023 whether clients truly understood the risks of investment services and financial instruments, incorrectly defining target product groups, insufficiently describing potential conflicts of interest associated with the publication of the HOT list, and providing clients and potential clients with incomplete or misleading information about instruments and the risks of contracts for difference, i.e., CFDs.
Article Contents – XTB Faces Problems:
- New Fine from Polish Regulator
- XTB Faces Problems – Not the First Sanction in Poland
- France: Fine for Advertising, Client Questionnaires, and Technical Incident
- XTB Faces Problems – Action Taken Beyond Europe
- Polish Consumer Protection Authority Also Addressed the Issue
- Further Inspections Continuing in Several Countries
- XTB Faces Problems – Company Continues to Handle Client Lawsuits
New Fine from Polish Regulator
The KNF stated in its reasoning that the MiFID questionnaire methodology used did not allow for reliable assessment of whether a client possessed sufficient knowledge and experience to trade in riskier and more complex products. According to the regulator, this meant that even people without actual CFD experience could receive information that these instruments were adequate for them.
Another criticism targeted the method of setting target groups. XTB formally distinguished multiple investor categories, but applied the same criteria to them in practice without sufficiently accounting for product complexity and associated risks.
Polish supervision also pointed out potential conflicts of interest regarding the HOT list, which consists of instruments specially highlighted to clients. According to the KNF, the company’s internal policy did not enable investors to adequately understand how the algorithm selecting these instruments functioned and whether products with higher spreads—and thus potentially higher returns for the company itself—were being favored. The regulator simultaneously criticized XTB for insufficiently detailed information about all risks associated with CFDs, which could have limited clients’ ability to make informed investment decisions.
The company itself, in a statement sent to PAP agency, indicated it is analyzing the decision and considering further legal steps. It also stated that the dispute primarily concerns the process of determining target groups and onboarding new clients, including the registration form used from January 2022 to September 2023.
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XTB Faces Problems – Not the First Sanction in Poland
The current fine is not the first significant sanction XTB has received in Poland. Back in September 2018, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that the KNF had imposed a fine of 9.9 million zloty for breaching brokerage service rules. The company stated at the time that it disagreed with the decision and would appeal.
However, the dispute did not end in its favor. The KNF later informed that Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court dismissed XTB’s cassation appeal on February 28, 2023, and the original sanction thus withstood judicial review. According to the regulator, the company failed to act in clients’ best interests in 2014 and 2015.
France: Fine for Advertising, Client Questionnaires, and Technical Incident
Another confirmed monetary sanction came from France. France’s Financial Markets Authority (AMF) announced in November 2021 that its disciplinary body issued a warning and a 300,000 euro fine to X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski for breaching professional obligations related to its French branch’s activities.
The AMF stated that the company violated prohibitions on certain promotional messages regarding CFDs, some advertisements lacked sufficiently visible warnings about the risk of capital loss, the questionnaire for assessing client knowledge and experience was inadequate, and the company incorrectly changed client categorization. The regulator also reproached it for failing to inform clients of a technical incident on the platform, despite the incident potentially being significant for proper execution of instructions.
XTB Faces Problems – Action Taken Beyond Europe
Beyond Europe, a publicly documented intervention is, for example, the action by Brazil’s Securities Commission CVM. In May 2023, in a declaratory act, it stated that XTB International Limited is not authorized to acquire clients residing in Brazil or to act as a broker for securities transactions.
The regulator simultaneously ordered the immediate cessation of any direct or indirect public offering of investment opportunities to Brazilian residents. For breach of this order, it warned of the possibility of daily penalties of 1,000 Brazilian reals, without prejudice to possible liability for prior conduct.
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Polish Consumer Protection Authority Also Addressed the Issue
Besides fines and capital market regulator actions, XTB also dealt with a dispute with the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). According to the company’s annual report for 2023, the office challenged two provisions of the terms and conditions as potentially prohibited contract clauses. The December 2023 decision required the company to modify these provisions, publish the decision’s contents, contact the affected client group, and provide compensation with interest to those whose complaints were rejected based on the disputed provisions. No fine was imposed in this case, and the company stated it would not appeal the decision.
Further Inspections Continuing in Several Countries
Public XTB reports also indicate that the company’s problems are not limited to final sanctions. In its first quarter 2025 report, the company stated that its Czech branch was inspected by the Czech National Bank and the company received a non-final fine decision of 2 million crowns, against which it filed an appeal.
It also described other regulatory investigations – an inspection by Polish supervision, following which it is implementing recommendations, an audit of its Belizean subsidiary XTB International Limited by the local IFSC, an audit of its Spanish branch for AML compliance, an ongoing tax inspection in Poland, and also an inspection of its Portuguese branch by the local securities market authority.
XTB Faces Problems – Company Continues to Handle Client Lawsuits
Beyond regulatory proceedings, civil disputes remain in play. In its first quarter 2025 report, XTB stated that the total value of claims raised against the company and group firms amounted to approximately 16.3 million zloty. Of this, eight proceedings concerned client claims totaling approximately 13.4 million zloty.
Already in its 2023 annual report, the company described, among other things, a dispute over alleged insufficient implementation of security measures, due to which a client allegedly suffered damage. The company rejected these allegations and stated that the trial court dismissed the lawsuit, while the plaintiff appealed.
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