Is Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd a Scam?

When we at FXCanary sit down to judge whether a broker is safe, we do not rely on marketing pages or the broker's own claims. We start with the regulatory record — the single most important factor — and then layer on independent verification: does the official website match the regulated entity, are there any clone sites impersonating the name, and what do aggregated industry databases say about the firm's history and standing. For a broker with no independent user reviews yet, this regulatory and operational due diligence is even more critical, because there is no crowd-sourced track record to fall back on.

Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd, operating from pelicaneu.com, is a Cyprus-registered firm. Our records show a single CySEC licence, number 441/24, with the status 'Authorised'. That is a meaningful starting point: CySEC is a European regulator operating under the MiFID II framework, which brings with it a set of conduct and capital rules that are far more demanding than those of offshore regulators. But an authorised licence is not the end of the story — we also weigh the firm's actual footprint, its transparency, and the verifiability of its claims. In this case, our risk flag notes 'No verifiable website or social-media presence', which is unusual for a licensed firm and warrants caution.

The licence on file is a CySEC CIF licence, number 441/24, issued to Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd in Cyprus. A CIF (Cyprus Investment Firm) licence is a full MiFID II passporting licence, which means the firm is authorised to provide investment services across the European Economic Area. This is a genuine regulatory authorisation, not a registration with an offshore body. We cross-checked the licence number against the public register and it matches the entity name and jurisdiction in our records.

What does this licence actually guarantee? Under CySEC rules, client funds must be segregated from the firm's own operating capital — a basic but crucial protection. The firm is also subject to the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), which can compensate eligible clients up to €20,000 if the firm fails.

And because it operates under MiFID II, it must comply with ESMA's product intervention measures, including negative balance protection for retail clients. These are real safeguards. However, the licence does not tell you whether the firm is well-run, whether its platform is reliable, or whether its copy trading service — which appears to be its core offering — is executed fairly.

Those are operational questions that a licence alone cannot answer.

Our review of pelicaneu.com reveals a firm that is positioning itself as a B2B technology provider — specifically, a white-label copy trading platform for other brokers. The site repeatedly emphasises that Pelican has 'built technology that is reliable, easy to integrate' and that it works with 'the world's biggest brokers'. This is a legitimate business model, but it is a far cry from a typical retail forex broker. There is no obvious retail-facing trading platform, no demo account sign-up, and no clear path for an individual trader to open an account directly with Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd.

This raises an important question for a retail trader: who is the actual client of this CySEC-licensed entity? The legal documents we found, including the General Terms of Business, are addressed to 'the Client' and reference the website pelicaneu.com, but the commercial focus is clearly on broker partners. If you are a retail trader looking to copy trades, you may end up dealing with Pelican through one of its white-label partners, not directly with the CySEC-regulated entity. That distinction matters, because the regulatory protections of the CySEC licence may not extend to you in the same way if you are a client of a partner broker. We would advise any trader to clarify exactly which entity they are contracting with before depositing funds.

Our records show zero clone or impersonator sites for Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd. That is a positive sign — many well-known brokers are plagued by fake sites that use a similar name to trick traders into depositing with unregulated entities. The fact that we have not identified any clones suggests the firm is not yet a target for this type of fraud, likely because it is still relatively obscure and has a limited retail footprint.

However, the absence of clones is not a reason to let your guard down. The name 'Pelican' is not unique — there is a separate 'Pelican Trading' at pelicantrading.io, and our web search results also surfaced a 'Pelican Exchange Limited' in London with an FCA reference. These are different entities, and a trader could easily confuse them. We strongly recommend that you always verify the exact domain (pelicaneu.com) and the exact legal name (Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd) before engaging. If you are ever directed to a different domain or a different legal entity, stop and verify independently.

Despite the CySEC licence, there are significant gaps in what we can independently verify about Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd. The firm was founded in 2024 according to industry databases, which makes it a very new entrant. There are no independent user reviews anywhere — no trader has yet come forward to share their experience with this firm. That is not inherently damning, but it means there is no track record to assess. We cannot tell you whether withdrawals are processed smoothly, whether the copy trading technology performs as advertised, or whether customer support is responsive.

We also note that the firm's own website is thin on operational details. There is no published list of the 'world's biggest brokers' it claims to work with, no case studies, and no verifiable client testimonials. The site does carry the standard CFD risk warning, which is good practice, but it does not disclose the firm's own regulatory number on the homepage — a common transparency measure that we would expect from a licensed firm. In FXCanary's assessment, this combination of newness, lack of reviews, and limited transparency is why our Scam Risk score sits at 34/100, which we classify as 'Guarded' rather than 'Safe'.

If you are considering using Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd — either directly or through a white-label partner — there are concrete steps you should take. First, verify the licence yourself. Go to the CySEC public register and search for 'Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd' and confirm the licence number 441/24 is active and matches the entity you are dealing with. Do not rely on the broker's website to show you the licence; check the regulator's own database.

Second, clarify which entity you are contracting with. If you are using a white-label app that is powered by Pelican, ask the broker for a written confirmation of the legal entity that holds your funds and the regulatory protections that apply. If that entity is not the CySEC-regulated Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd, then the protections of that licence may not apply to you.

Third, start with a small deposit — an amount you can afford to lose — and test the withdrawal process early. A reliable broker will process a withdrawal without delay or excessive paperwork. If you encounter any friction, that is a red flag.

Finally, be alert to the risk of confusion with other 'Pelican' entities. Always use the official domain pelicaneu.com, and never click on links from unsolicited emails or social media messages that claim to be from Pelican. If you are ever in doubt, contact CySEC directly or consult an independent source. The absence of independent reviews means you are flying without a safety net of other traders' experiences — so your own due diligence is the most important tool you have.

In FXCanary's assessment, Pelican Exchange Europe (CY) Ltd is not an obvious scam — it holds a genuine CySEC licence, and we found no evidence of clone sites or fraudulent activity. But 'not a scam' is a low bar. The firm is new, it has no independent reviews, and its business model appears to be B2B white-label technology rather than a straightforward retail broker. That makes it difficult for a retail trader to assess the firm's reliability in practice.

We would categorise this broker as 'Guarded' — meaning you should only engage with it if you have done your own thorough due diligence and you fully understand the risks. The CySEC licence provides a baseline of regulatory protection, including segregation, compensation, and negative balance protection, but it does not guarantee a good trading experience. For most traders, especially those new to copy trading, we would recommend waiting until more independent information is available — or choosing a more established broker with a verifiable track record. The absence of reviews is not a red flag in itself, but it is a reason to proceed with caution.