In the UK, what a bureau de change shows on its rate board has been governed since 1992 by regulations written for bureaux, and today also by the consumer protection part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. This guide goes through both, says plainly where the law is unclear, and ends with a checklist.
It was checked against legislation.gov.uk and gov.uk in October 2026. It is not legal advice: confirm what applies to your business with your local trading standards service or a lawyer.
Which rules apply, and the one open question
The specific rules are the Price Indications (Bureaux de Change) (No. 2) Regulations 1992, with a near-identical version for Northern Ireland. Their status is not settled:
- legislation.gov.uk marks them as lapsed in 2008, when the power they were made under was repealed.
- But the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 said they “shall continue in force” (Schedule 3, paragraph 5).
- In April 2025 the 2024 Act revoked the 2008 regulations, including that saving, and does not mention bureaux de change.
- The government’s guidance for foreign exchange providers is still published, and regulators and trading standards services still refer to the 1992 rules.
Our advice is to follow the 1992 rules anyway. They are short, they are what trading standards officers know, and almost everything in them is also required, in more general words, by the 2024 Act’s rules on prices.
What the 1992 regulations ask of a rate board
The regulations apply to a business that offers to buy or sell foreign currency for sterling to consumers. Showing rates is not compulsory, but every rate you do show must follow them:
- Each rate comes with what goes with it: the denominations it does or does not apply to, the rate or amount of any commission or charge not included in the rate, and any conditions (regulation 4(1)(a)).
- Buy and sell rates as a pair. If you show a buying rate, you show the corresponding selling rate, and the other way round. If a currency is only available to order, say so (regulation 4(1)(b)).
- Visible as customers approach or as soon as they enter. Rates must be shown “clearly and prominently” so that each consumer can see them as they approach the premises, or as soon as they come in (regulation 5(1)).
- Commission as prominent as the rates. Any commission or charge has to be shown as clearly, legibly and prominently as the rates. The government guidance accepts a separate panel next to the board for this.
- Clear and unambiguous, with each rate easy to identify as belonging to its currency (regulation 5(2)).
- No “not to be relied upon”. The information has to be accurate, and nothing may say that a rate shown is not to be relied on (regulation 8).
- A receipt for each exchange, showing the date the rate was set, the amounts in foreign currency and in sterling, the rate, any commission or charge, the net amount paid and the bureau’s name and address (regulation 6).
Breaking the regulations is a criminal offence, enforced by local trading standards.
“0% commission” and other claims
The government guidance warns that “0% commission” can be an offence when conditions, such as a minimum amount, are not made clear, and that claims like “best rates” need evidence that your rates really beat your competitors’. It also warns that listing currencies on the board that you do not actually deal in can be a misleading action, and that buy-back offers need their terms, limits and time limit made clear before the customer buys.
The 2024 Act now covers the same ground with heavier penalties. Its misleading actions and omissions apply to buying from consumers as well as selling to them. A rate board is very likely an invitation to purchase, which has to give the total price including any fees the customer cannot avoid, or explain how the price is worked out with as much prominence as the price itself (section 230). Calling something “free” when the customer pays for it in another way is banned outright. The Competition and Markets Authority can now fine a business directly, up to £300,000 or 10% of turnover, whichever is higher, and its unfair commercial practices guidance explains how it reads the Act.
In practice: if your margin is in the rate, do not call it commission-free. Say the commission is included in the rates shown.
Registration and identity checks
A bureau de change is a money service business and has to be registered with HMRC under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 before it trades (HMRC registration guidance). There is no rule that the registration number must be displayed, though many bureaux show it.
Since 30 June 2026 the thresholds for customer checks are in sterling: £12,000 or more for an occasional exchange, single or linked, and any amount when money laundering is suspected (HMRC guidance for currency exchange). Cash-for-cash exchange is not a payment service, so it needs no licence from the Financial Conduct Authority; sending money abroad does.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
The same rules apply in Scotland, where prosecutions go through the Procurator Fiscal rather than trading standards. Northern Ireland has its own version of the 1992 regulations, and the 2024 Act is enforced there by the Department for the Economy.
A checklist for a UK bureau de change
- The board is visible as customers approach, or as soon as they come in.
- Every currency has a buy rate and a sell rate, shown together, or a clear note that it is to order only.
- Each rate is clearly tied to its currency, and the units are clear (per £1, or 100 JPY).
- Commission, fixed fees and minimum charges are as clear and prominent as the rates.
- Conditions are stated: denominations, minimum amounts, rates that apply only online or only to cards.
- No “0% commission” or “commission free” if your margin is in the rate.
- No “best rates” without evidence, and no “rates not guaranteed”.
- Only currencies you actually deal in are on the board, and the rates are current.
- Buy-back terms are shown before the customer buys.
- Every customer gets a receipt with the date, the amounts, the rate, the charges and your name and address.
How easyCMS helps
The easyCMS currency board shows every currency with its buy and sell rates side by side, buy first, the unit next to the code and the date of the rates on the board. A commission line under the rates is printed as large as the rates themselves, and Studio warns you if you type “0% commission”. Rates follow the daily reference rates with your own margins, or stay locked at what you type; a currency you stop dealing in can be hidden from every board at once. The portrait window design is made to be read from the pavement.
For the rules in other countries, see the exchange rate display rules by country, with full guides for Spain and France.
The texts
- Price Indications (Bureaux de Change) (No. 2) Regulations 1992, regulations 3 to 9
- Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Schedule 3 (the saving of the 1992 regulations)
- Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4, Chapter 1
- Guidance for foreign exchange providers on consumer protection law
- HMRC: money service business registration