A to Z of financial terms

Rare earth metals or elements are chemical elements used to manufacture products like mobile phones, batteries, and wind turbines. Scammers may contact you and claim that rare earth metals are the 'new big thing' in alternative investments and will lead to attractive returns. It's difficult to find and track prices of rare earth metals as they're sold on private markets rather than traded on an exchange, like precious metals such as gold and silver. This makes it very hard to check if you're paying the right price for an investment, and may lead to you making a substantial loss. Most firms promoting and selling investments in rare earth metals are not authorised by us. Find out how to protect yourself from scams.

Recovery room scams are where fraudsters approach investors who have been scammed or had failed investments, offering to help them get their money back for an upfront fee. There is usually no explanation on how money will be recovered or, if an explanation is given, it is likely to be false or implausible. Recovery rooms usually insist on being paid a fee or transaction charge before carrying out any services to recover any losses. See more about how to protect yourself from scams.

If there has been a breach in our rules, redress is the act of putting you in the position you would have been had the offence not taken place. For example, if you have been given inappropriate advice about transferring out of a pension.

In the UK, firms must be authorised and have permission to carry out financial activities. These activities are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Read more about how the FCA regulates financial services.

Financial advice can be either independent or restricted. If firms only give advice on certain types of products, or on products from a limited number of providers, they must describe their advice as restricted (see also independent advice). Learn more about financial advice on MoneyHelper.

Firms in America can sell stocks that don’t meet listings standards to non-US investors. These are known as restricted US shares. If you buy these shares, you'll have to keep them for a set period. After which, you'll have to pay a US lawyer to remove the legal restriction before selling the shares. The sale of restricted or controlled US shares isn’t always a scam, but investors are often targeted by fraudsters offering to get the restriction removed or saying they can minimise the loss on the investment. Find out how to protect yourself from scams.

Ring-fencing rules require large UK banks to separate retail banking services from the rest of their business. This is to protect customers, and the day-to-day services they rely on, from risks elsewhere in the bank and the wider financial system. Visit the Bank of England to find out more.