Do Online Currency Exchanges' registration with the government guarantee safety and reliability?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: user10763 Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/67020 License: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. My aunt works in Hong Kong, and must send HKD back home to Canada monthly, and convert it to CDN. She hopes to avert HSBC's Wire Transfer Fee and the Foreign Exchange Spread, and ordering and mailing a Money Order because this can be costly. She knows of online currency exchanges ( CBC ), but have never before heard of, and so do not trust them . How can she guarantee their reliability and safety? For example, Canadian Forex 'is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC)', Midpoint is 'a Registered Money Service Business based in the United Kingdom and 'is authorised & regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'. But do these registrations suffice as guarantees of reliability and safety?