Who Owns Trading 212?

Trading 212 is owned by its two Bulgarian founders. Companies House names them directly: Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov, each holding more than 25% but not more than 50% of the shares and voting rights. There is no listing, no private equity owner and no bank behind it. It is authorised by the FCA — but as an investment firm, not a bank, and that difference matters for your money. Ownership verified 6 September 2026.

Who owns Trading 212?

The group holding company is TRADING 212 GROUP LIMITED (10014283), incorporated 19 February 2016 and registered in the City of London.

Its two people with significant control are:

• Ivan Atanasov Ashminov — Bulgarian, more than 25% but not more than 50% of shares and voting rights
• Borislav Tzonkov Nedialkov — Bulgarian, on the same terms

Both entries date from 6 April 2016 and neither has ceased. Two founders holding roughly half each is about as simple as a controlling structure gets, and the register states it plainly.

Legal entity and parent group

The UK operating company is TRADING 212 UK LIMITED (08590005), incorporated 28 June 2013. A newer company, TRADING 212 MONEY LIMITED (15767164), was incorporated on 7 June 2024 — reflecting the firm’s move into cash and payment services alongside investing.

All sit under Trading 212 Group Limited, and above that there is nothing: no parent company, no institutional owner, no overseas group. The business began in Bulgaria in 2004 and retains substantial operations there.

Regulatory status and authorised firm

This is the part worth reading carefully, because the protections are not what many users assume.

Trading 212 UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an investment firm. It is not a bank.

The consequences differ by what you hold:

• Investments — shares and funds are held in custody and are generally covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 if the firm fails, because client assets must be segregated from the firm’s own.
• Cash — uninvested money is held with partner banks or in qualifying money market funds. How it is protected depends on where it sits, and the arrangements have changed as the product has developed.

Anyone relying on this should check Trading 212’s own terms and the FCA Financial Services Register for the current position of the specific entity they contract with. Interest paid on cash is a product feature, not evidence of a banking licence — the same distinction drawn on this site’s PayPal page.

Shareholders and controlling interests

Ashminov and Nedialkov between them hold the company. The register gives bands rather than exact percentages, so the split between them is not public, but neither reaches the 50% at which one would control it alone.

There is no outside shareholder large enough to register. Trading 212 has not taken venture capital of the kind that funded most of its competitors, and has never floated — which is unusual among the app-based brokers and is why its ownership answer is so much shorter than theirs.

Group companies and brands

The group operates Trading 212 Invest, its ISA and the cash and card products run through Trading 212 Money Limited, alongside its Bulgarian and European entities.

It has no connection to Freetrade, eToro, Robinhood or Revolut, all separately owned — Freetrade was acquired by IG Group, eToro and Robinhood are listed, and Revolut is privately held with a large investor base. Competing app-based platforms are routinely assumed to share owners and do not.

Sources and verification

All three company numbers, the incorporation dates and both PSC entries with their bands are from the Companies House register and can be checked directly.

Regulatory permissions are not on that register. The FCA Financial Services Register is authoritative for what each entity is authorised to do, and it is the right place to confirm the position before depositing money. Client money and custody arrangements are set out in the firm’s terms rather than in any public filing, and they change; this page describes the general framework and not the current detail of any particular product. Companies House does not verify most filed information.