Compare Forex Brokers UAE | 9 Licensed and Checked

Choose a broker by regulator, account type or platform

You don’t need a sign-up to follow these links, and you can move straight to a comparison page. Brokers are sorted by regulator on brokers ranked by UAE licence. For account type, swap-free accounts lists those terms. For platform choice, you can see trading platforms used in the UAE. Each link opens one comparison page.

Which regulators licence forex brokers in the UAE

If you’re choosing a broker, I’d start with the regulator. Your broker’s regulator determines the protections you get. Nine compared brokers hold licences from three UAE regimes. CMA (formerly SCA) covers onshore UAE; its licence activity, “trading broker of OTC derivatives and currencies in the spot market”, is held by four of the nine. DFSA (DIFC), the financial services regulator for the Dubai International Financial Centre, grants dealing in investments as matched principal with a Retail Client endorsement; three are licensed. FSRA (ADGM), which oversees Abu Dhabi Global Market, grants the same permission; two hold it. Every comparison names the licensed legal entity and register reference, such as CP-0000786. We sampled the registers on 17 August 2026 rather than walking them exhaustively; the counts describe this site’s roster, not the UAE market.

The three UAE regulators licensing the forex brokers compared on this site: CMA, formerly SCA, onshore, held by four of the nine; DFSA in the DIFC, held by three; and FSRA in ADGM, held by two. Registers checked 17 August 2026.

The three UAE licensing regimes that permit retail forex and CFD dealing, with the number of compared brokers holding each and the licensed entity behind every one. We checked the registers on 17 August 2026.

How a UAE broker licence reference is built: a CMA CP-code such as CP-0000786 held by ADS SECURITIES - L.L.C - S.P.C, a DFSA firm reference such as F003269 held by Amana Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, and an FSRA Financial Services Permission such as FSP 190018 held by Ava Trade Middle East Limited

Each UAE regulator numbers its licensees differently. The older SCA-era numbers are not published on the CMA register, so where this site shows one it is the broker’s own published figure rather than a register-verified one. When you see an old SCA number, I’d treat it with caution.

Where to start

I rank nine brokers by a published rule, which you can read in best forex broker in UAE.
Swap-free terms are self-declared by each broker on Islamic forex brokers in the UAE, which names no third-party Sharia board.
Lowest spreads are each broker’s own published figure, and lowest spread brokers records the capture date so you know how fresh the data is.
Demo accounts differ mainly in how long they stay open, which is what forex demo accounts compares.
UAE storefront ratings, not global ones, are used in best forex trading app in the UAE.
Software is the focus rather than brokers in trading platforms in the UAE.
Contract specifications are compared page by page in gold trading in the UAE.
Integration with TradingView, not the charting tools themselves, is what brokers with TradingView covers.
Minimum allocation is the deciding number on copy trading in the UAE.
Ordering rules used across the tables are published in full on how we compare brokers.
David Levy’s CISI UAE Financial Rules and Regulations qualification is named on who writes CompareForexBrokers.

Who writes CompareForexBrokers

David Levy writes the comparisons, and he holds the CISI UAE Financial Rules and Regulations qualification. I rely on his work to rank every table by the page’s own subject, such as published spread or minimum deposit. Where brokers tie, or publish nothing, we order CMA first, then DFSA, then FSRA, and alphabetically within each group. You can see the full rule in the full method. Before we publish, we re-check these comparisons against the registers rather than writing them once and leaving them.

How this site makes money

I want you to know that CompareForexBrokers earns affiliate commission from some of the brokers it lists. That commission does not change the order of any table. The relationship is paid, not editorial, and it is set out in the full disclosure.

Risk warning

Contracts for difference are complex instruments and carry a risk of losing money rapidly. Retail forex and CFD trading is not suitable for everyone. Nothing on this site is personal advice or a recommendation to trade.

Contact

CompareForexBrokers publishes for readers in the United Arab Emirates. It is a comparison publisher, not a broker. To get in touch, contact the editorial team.

FAQs

Which regulators licence forex brokers in the UAE?

Three regulators license forex brokers in the UAE. CMA (formerly SCA) licenses onshore UAE, DFSA (DIFC) licenses inside the Dubai International Financial Centre, and FSRA (ADGM) licenses inside Abu Dhabi Global Market. Of the nine brokers compared here, four hold a CMA licence, three DFSA and two FSRA.

How do I check a broker on the UAE register?

Take the licensed entity name from the broker's own legal documents, not its marketing name, and search that name on the CMA, DFSA or FSRA register. Every comparison on this site names the entity and its register reference, such as CP-0000786, so you don't have to dig for it.

Does CompareForexBrokers earn money from these comparisons?

Yes. CompareForexBrokers earns affiliate commission from some of the brokers it lists. That commission never changes the order of any table. It is a paid relationship, not an editorial one, and I set out the full disclosure in the advertiser disclosure.

Does this site publish a UAE leverage figure?

For major forex pairs, a CMA (formerly SCA) broker may offer up to 500:1. In the DIFC, a DFSA broker is capped at 30:1. We publish no FSRA figure. Leverage amplifies losses as much as gains, so a higher cap means a smaller adverse move wipes out your deposit.

The people behind the testing

Justin Grossbard

Co-founder and CEO

Justin Grossbard co-founded CompareForexBrokers in 2014 and serves as Co-Founder and CEO. He has traded forex since 1998. For this site he directs the research and comparison of UAE-licensed brokers. He holds Monash University degrees including a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours and a Master of Marketing. His commentary has appeared in Forbes, Kiplinger, Finance Magnates and Entrepreneur.

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Noam Korbl

Co-founder and COO

Noam Korbl co-founded CompareForexBrokers in 2014 and serves as Co-Founder and COO. He has traded forex since the late 1990s and holds the RG146 Generic Knowledge qualification. He leads the education and trading-strategy content.

The tools behind our broker research

Every figure we publish about a broker comes out of one of these. They are free, they need no sign-up, and they run on the same dataset our rankings do.

Forex broker cost calculator Ranks what a month of trading costs across the 25 UAE-licensed brokers in our dataset, from spreads we measured rather than spreads brokers advertise.
Position size calculator Works the lot size back from your balance, the percentage you are willing to risk and your stop distance, and shows that stop against the pair's measured daily range.
Spread and commission calculator Converts a round-turn commission into pips so a raw account and a standard account can be compared on one number instead of two.
Forex margin calculator Applies the DFSA (DIFC) and FSRA (ADGM) retail leverage ladder tier by tier, and names the regulator behind every figure it returns.
Safest forex brokers in the UAE Groups every broker we review by two register facts, a dealing licence and a custody permission, and lets you filter the roster on them.
Negative balance protection in the UAE Three regulators, three different answers on whether an account can fall below zero, measured weekend gaps and what one does to a stop.