Planning for retirement isn’t something most people like to delay, yet for many Trading 212 users, that’s exactly what happened. The platform had been talking about launching personal pensions for years, and as far back as 2020, a staff member told users on its community forum to expect it in early 2021.
But that timeline slipped. Then it slipped again. Some users openly complained that their retirement plans were ageing faster than the product itself. Others said they gave up and transferred their money elsewhere.
Now, after a long wait, the breakthrough has finally come. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted Trading 212 permission to offer self-invested personal pensions, also known as SIPPs. The approval appeared on the FCA’s Financial Services Register earlier this year, confirming that the company has cleared a major regulatory hurdle.
Jemi Motesho
UK SIPP Market and Crypto Pension Expansion
This approval does more than just allow traditional pension investing. It also opens the door for Trading 212 to offer cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes inside pension accounts, very similar to what some competitors already provide. For a business that built its reputation on commission-free trading and rapid growth, entering the pension market has been one of its most anticipated next steps.
Plus, SIPPs aren’t a small niche product. According to the Financial Times, around £600 billion is estimated to be held in these accounts across the UK, spreading among roughly 6.5 million savers. That means millions of people actively choose where and how their retirement money is invested.
Over the past few years, rivals such as Freetrade, InvestEngine, AJ Bell, and Interactive Investor have moved ahead with their own pension products. While they were rolling out features and attracting retirement savings, Trading 212 customers were still waiting.
Crypto ETNs Inside Pensions
Diego Ballon Ossio, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, explained the distinction: “If you are already an authorised firm and you don’t have permission to provide a certain product that is a breach of FCA rules, but it is much less serious than if you were not a regulated entity at all, which would be a criminal offence.”
This helps frame why Trading 212’s prior activity raised concern but did not cross into criminal territory—it was a regulatory issue, not a legal one. With this new approval, the firm appears to have addressed those concerns and aligned its permissions properly. It is a reset moment of sorts, especially as regulators in the UK continue to take a cautious stance toward crypto-related products.
A Platform That Grew Fast and Faced Scrutiny
Trading 212 was founded in 2004 by Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov and received its FCA licence in 2014. The platform gained huge popularity during the meme stock boom in 2021, when retail investors flooded into markets. At one point, the company paused onboarding new customers for more than a year due to rapid growth and operational pressures.
That period showed both the strength and the strain of its business model. On one hand, it proved there was a massive demand for simple, low-cost investing. On the other hand, it highlighted how quickly things can become complicated under regulatory pressure.
In 2024, the company reportedly hired several pension specialists from firms including Vanguard and Fidelity to strengthen its SIPP team. Reports also suggested that it had been seeking FCA approval for around 18 months before finally securing it.
The FCA has declined to comment publicly on individual firms, and Trading 212 has not yet made a formal launch announcement. Still, the register update speaks for itself.
Jemi Motesho
