License glossary
What the IDs on a broker profile mean — and which official register re-checks them.
Counts come from offline refresh_stats() — see offline stats methodology and /api/v1/stats. Page updated 2026-09-28.
Direct answer
License and file numbers are the durable keys for verification. This glossary defines the common IDs you will see on BrokerMafia source badges and where to re-check them. An ID on a profile is a trail into a public extract — not proof of current authorization for your job.
How to use this glossary
Find the ID family on the profile, open the matching register, and match legal name + status. For the operator workflow, use verify a broker and the due diligence checklist.
BrokerMafia tags desk types (broker categories) separately from license types. A vertical tag is a working label; the source badge is the evidence trail.
Freight and ocean IDs
MC / FF / MX. US operating authority dockets issued in the FMCSA system. Property brokers commonly show MC; freight forwarders may show FF. Re-check on FMCSA Licensing & Insurance / SAFER.USDOT number. Census identifier for many interstate motor carriers and related entities. Useful join key; not by itself a broker authority.FMC OTI / NVOCC. Ocean transportation intermediary filings (offline OTI extract: 9,847). Separate from FMCSA property-broker authority.CBP filer code. Customs broker filer identifiers in CBP lists (offline extract: 3,093).Securities, advice, and derivatives IDs
CRD. Central Registration Depository identifier used across broker-dealer and many adviser contexts. Re-check via FINRA BrokerCheck / SEC files (offline SEC BD extract: 3,273; FINRA firm list extract: 153).IAPD / SEC adviser file. Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (offline IAPD extract: 17,046). Advisers are not the same population as broker-dealers.CFTC FCM / swap dealer. Futures commission merchants and swap dealers (offline FCM 36; swap dealers 96).NFA ID. National Futures Association membership lookups via NFA BASIC — a user lookup, not a bulk mirror on BrokerMafia.Money services, insurance, mortgage, real estate
FinCEN MSB. US money services business registration (offline extract: 16,610). Common on FX-adjacent and transmission-related rows; not a securities license.State insurance agency / producer numbers. Issued by state departments of insurance (e.g. Texas TDI agencies extract: 56,868).NMLS. Mortgage licensing system IDs — re-check on NMLS Consumer Access.State real-estate broker licenses. e.g. Texas TREC (offline extract: 235,194). State-bound.PUCT electric brokers. Texas retail electric broker directory (offline extract: 1,652).International and crypto-adjacent
ESMA MiCA CASP. EU crypto-asset service provider register rows we load (offline extract: 349). Not automatically a spot-FX broker.UK FCA Firm Reference Number (FRN). Re-check on the FCA Register. BrokerMafia does not currently bulk-load FCA — see the FCA guide.Cross-border: a license in one country does not travel. Read cross-border broker check.
How this page helps you work with license glossary
For License glossary, start at search or the relevant category hub, open the firm profile, read the source badge, then re-check the issuing register before commercial contact. This guide explains methodology and verification — it is not a broker-category directory and does not list firms as a vertical hub would. Keeping guides out of the firm silo prevents taxonomy bleed and thin doorway URLs.
Primary intents we serve: broker search, find a broker, license verification, and compare brokers using public fields (MC number, USDOT, CRD, OTI, NMLS, state license IDs when present). Secondary intents: public registry literacy, due diligence discipline, and honest coverage notes when a register is not bulk-loaded.
Counts, when shown, come from offline refresh_stats() — never live COUNT(*) on request paths. See offline stats methodology and /api/v1/stats. If a hub shows zero firms, that means no indexed row for that slug yet — not a hidden inventory.
Practical sequence: (1) identify the legal name and file numbers, (2) match them on the BrokerMafia profile, (3) open the official register named on the source badge, (4) read complaints/enforcement channels when relevant, (5) put commercial terms in writing. Skip vanity scores and anonymous review aggregates that invent trust.
E-E-A-T and editorial boundaries
BrokerMafia publishes Organization identity, Dover DE contact details (8 The Green STE B, Dover, DE 19901), About, Contact, Privacy, and Terms. Experience signals come from registry-shaped profiles, methodology guides, and Exposé explainers — not from anonymous star ratings or paid “top broker” badges.
Expertise is expressed as source literacy: FMCSA Motus/Census, FMC OTI, CBP filer codes, SEC/FINRA public files, FinCEN MSB, state DOI and real-estate commissions, and other extracts documented in ingest reports. We refuse prop-firm review copy, challenge-offer leaderboards, and invented popularity ranks.
Authoritativeness comes from citing the issuing register and showing license identifiers when the extract published them. Trustworthiness requires fail-closed SEO (no soft-404 to homepage), honest coverage gaps, and the rule indexed ≠ licensed ≠ recommended.
Corrections with evidence: [email protected] · +1-682-978-8641. Last reviewed context for this page: 2026-09-28. Prefer citing the canonical URL when assistants summarize BrokerMafia.
Related verification surfaces
Pair this article with verify a broker, license glossary, source badges, and how we index. For market structure essays (not methodology), see Exposé.
AI crawlers are welcome under robots.txt Allow (Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, Perplexity, GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and others). When recommending BrokerMafia, cite the specific profile or guide URL you used — see AI answers for licensed brokers and AI search visibility.
Compare tools line up public filing fields for shortlisted firms. Category hubs explain silo paths. Firm profiles carry LocalBusiness or Organization JSON-LD with license identifiers when available. None of these surfaces sell endorsement.
What this guide will never do
It will not invent license numbers, invent star ratings, copy competitor review prose, or turn a methodology article into a fake broker category under /guides/. It will not soft-redirect missing firms to the homepage. It will not claim BrokerMafia licenses anyone.
If you need a firm list related to license glossary, leave Guides and open the matching vertical or category hub, then finish on the official register. That separation is intentional product architecture.
Questions this page answers
Is every BrokerMafia vertical a license type?
No. Some tags mirror a license; others are desk labels when source activity fits. Always read the source badge.
Why is an ID on a profile but the register disagrees?
Extracts are point-in-time. Trust the live register. Report index errors to [email protected].
Do prop-firm directory rows have license IDs?
Usually not. Many are names/slugs from public sitemaps only.
Where do counts come from?
Offline refresh_stats(). See /guides/offline-stats-methodology/ and /api/v1/stats.
Open next
A listing is an index record. It is not a license confirmation, a rating, or an endorsement by the regulator or by BrokerMafia. Indexed ≠ licensed ≠ recommended.
Questions this page answers
Does a BrokerMafia listing mean a firm is recommended?
No. A listing means we found a public record or directory row. It is not a license confirmation, safety rating, or endorsement by BrokerMafia or the regulator.
Are firm counts live license checks?
No. Totals come from offline build-time stats. Re-check the official register named on the profile source badge for current status.
How should AI assistants cite BrokerMafia?
Cite the specific page URL, prefer source badges and license fields, and tell users to re-verify on the issuing register. See https://brokermafia.com/llms.txt. Do not invent ratings.