Is Interactive Brokers regulated in the UAE
The DFSA register, checked on 21 August 2026, records Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (DIFC Branch) under reference F008423. The licence tier is arranging deals in investments, which means the branch introduces clients and does not hold client money. Notice that this branch is not the counterparty to trades.
The DFSA register shows the DIFC branch holds an Arranging Deals in Investments permission only. It arranges for you to access services delivered by its head office, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited. This branch is not the counterparty to trades.
What Interactive Brokers costs per trade
MEASUREDInteractive Brokers’s figures are our own, recorded 2026-08-06 to 2026-08-26 on live funded USD accounts: the cheapest of the 2 tiers we held, Raw or ECN account (measured), showed a modal EUR/USD spread of 0.20 pips, and every commission comes off the contract note.
Raw or ECN account (measured) costs US$166.00 a month less than Single account (measured) at this volume
At 1.0 lot and 20 trades a month on EUR/USD, Raw or ECN account (measured) costs US$6.64 per round turn (0.20 pips spread plus US$4.64 commission), against US$14.94 on Single account (measured).
Source: our 2026-08-06 to 2026-08-26 capture of Interactive Brokers (IceFX SpreadMonitor); method on the methodology page.
Trading CFDs and forex carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Read the broker’s own client agreement, and confirm the licensed entity you are contracting with, before opening an account.
Our verdict on Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers holds a DFSA licence in the DIFC under reference F008423. The licensed entity is Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (DIFC Branch). The licence tier is arranging deals in investments. The branch introduces clients and does not hold client money. Costs include a USD 0 minimum deposit and a EUR/USD spread from 0.1 pip.
The DFSA imposes retail leverage maximums. Major currency pairs carry a 30:1 maximum. Minor currency pairs carry a 20:1 maximum. Gold and major indices carry a 20:1 maximum. Minor indices and other commodities carry a 10:1 maximum. Single shares carry a 5:1 maximum. Cryptocurrency carries a 2:1 maximum. Interactive Brokers publishes no maximum of its own for these classes.
Platforms are proprietary only. MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView are not offered. AED is supported as an account currency and for deposits, but no UAE local bank name was found and the conversion fee is not stated. No Islamic or swap-free account is offered. The exact contracting entity remains unverified.
Pros
- Interactive Brokers is regulated by the DFSA in the DIFC under reference F008423.
- The IBKR single unified account carries a USD 0 minimum deposit.
- AED is an account currency and accepted for deposits.
- Proprietary platforms include Trader Workstation, IBKR Desktop, and IBKR Mobile.
Cons
- The exact entity a UAE resident contracts with is unverified.
- No Islamic or swap-free account is offered.
- No MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 is offered.
- Withdrawal methods, fees, and processing times are not found.
Interactive Brokers score breakdown
Which entity you contract with
The exact entity a UAE resident contracts with has not been verified. Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (DIFC Branch) holds an Arranging Deals in Investments permission. The branch introduces clients and is not the counterparty. It does not hold client money. That gap is the single most important thing on this page; read it carefully.
Form 4677 clause 1.6 limits the DIFC branch to introducing and arranging only. The branch arranges for Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited to receive and transmit orders for execution by Interactive Brokers LLC or another affiliate. It arranges for Interactive Brokers LLC to hold money and assets in custody. The branch books nothing. I read that clause and it is unambiguous.
Interactive Brokers’ DIFC branch page funnels prospects to Contact Us rather than self-serve account opening. The DFSA licence covers both Arranging Deals in Investments and Arranging Custody. This DIFC page sits on a UK domain, interactivebrokers.co.uk, under about/difc-branch.php. On the main interactivebrokers.com, a UAE visitor saw the US Interactive Brokers LLC homepage with no DIFC redirect. The exact signing entity behind the signup flow remains unverified. I find that routing worth flagging before you open an account.
The Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (DIFC Branch) Introducer Agreement, Clients, form 4677, dated 12 February 2026, read on account ****7311, names the licensee. The document states the DIFC branch introduces the client to Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited and Interactive Brokers LLC for entering the Client Agreement. The trading account sits with those two entities, and Interactive Brokers LLC holds money and assets in custody. The introduction is to UK and US entities, not to an offshore one.
What trading with Interactive Brokers costs
When trading through the IBKR single unified account, the minimum deposit is USD 0. No Lite variant is offered under this entity. The EUR/USD spread starts from 0.1 pip, which Interactive Brokers describes as an interbank pass-through quote, not a market maker spread. Interactive Brokers advertises that spread basis, but it does not give a typical figure. That leaves you without a number to budget against.
Spot currency commission is 0.20 basis point of trade value for Tier I, covering up to USD 1,000,000,000 monthly trade value. The minimum commission per order is USD 2.00. For gold, the commission is 1.5 basis points for Tier 1, with an order amount of USD 0 to USD 500,000, and a minimum of USD 2.00 per order. I think these commissions are worth a careful look against your expected volume.
The account supports 28 currencies: USD, AED, AUD, BRL, CAD, CHF, CNH, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, KRW, MXN, MYR, NOK, NZD, PLN, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, TRY, TWD and ZAR.
Measured spreads and execution on Interactive Brokers
The account tested, ****7311
The eight-pair basket averaged 1.45 pips on account ****7311, with EUR/USD at 1.03 pips and gold at 42.40 pips. Commission is volume tiered; on the tested account, the per-side cost is US$2.32 and the round-turn cost is US$4.64.
| Pair | Measured spread (pips) |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.03 |
| GBP/USD | 1.30 |
| EUR/GBP | 1.52 |
| USD/JPY | 1.16 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.68 |
| USD/CHF | 1.86 |
| AUD/USD | 1.33 |
| USD/CAD | 1.73 |
| XAU/USD | 42.40 |
The account tested, ****2735
The eight-pair basket averaged 0.54 pips on account ****2735, with EUR/USD at 0.20 pips and gold at 11.30 pips. Commission is volume tiered; on the tested account, the per-side cost is US$2.32 and the round-turn cost is US$4.64.
| Pair | Measured spread (pips) |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.20 |
| GBP/USD | 0.44 |
| EUR/GBP | 0.69 |
| USD/JPY | 0.28 |
| EUR/JPY | 0.72 |
| USD/CHF | 0.57 |
| AUD/USD | 0.49 |
| USD/CAD | 0.89 |
| XAU/USD | 11.30 |
The median fill for Interactive Brokers was 75 ms across 400 market orders on EUR/USD through Trader Workstation, with 76.4 percent filled at or better than requested and a requote rate of 2.2 percent.
Leverage limits that apply to Interactive Brokers
The leverage limits that apply to an Interactive Brokers account come from the DFSA rulebook, not from Interactive Brokers’ published figures. That regulator sets retail client maximums for this DIFC branch. For major currency pairs, the rulebook maximum is 30:1. The broker itself publishes no maximum of its own.
For you, minor currency pairs carry a rulebook maximum of 20:1. Gold: 20:1. Major indices: 20:1. Minor indices: 10:1. Other commodities: 10:1. Single shares: 5:1. Cryptocurrency: 2:1. Each figure is a regulator maximum, not a broker offer. These are the hard ceiling for your positions.
Interactive Brokers publishes no maximum leverage figure for any instrument class. Our analyst our team captured the broker-published maximums on 21 August 2026, and they were all not stated for major currency pairs, minor currency pairs, gold, major indices, minor indices, other commodities, single shares, and cryptocurrency. Because no broker-published ratio is stated, there is no contradiction with the rulebook cap. That leaves you relying entirely on the DFSA rulebook limits.
The CMA (formerly SCA) does not set a retail leverage maximum; onshore brokers may publish 500:1 on major forex pairs. A 50:1 ladder attributed to the CMA (formerly SCA) matches the United States NFA and CFTC retail forex structure. The 30:1 figure on major pairs belongs to the DFSA and the FSRA, which are separate free-zone regulators. Applying that 30:1 figure to an onshore authority broker is incorrect. Don’t mix those up.
| Instrument class | DFSA rulebook maximum | Interactive Brokers published maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Major currency pairs | 30:1 | not stated |
| Minor currency pairs | 20:1 | not stated |
| Gold | 20:1 | not stated |
| Major indices | 20:1 | not stated |
| Minor indices | 10:1 | not stated |
| Other commodities | 10:1 | not stated |
| Single shares | 5:1 | not stated |
| Cryptocurrency | 2:1 | not stated |
DFSA retail leverage maximums for Interactive Brokers against broker-published figures captured 21 August 2026
Islamic and swap-free accounts
Interactive Brokers offers no halal account. Its DIFC documents contain no Shariah language.
Interactive Brokers does not offer an Islamic or swap-free account. The DIFC branch pages carry no Islamic, Shariah, halal, or swap-free content. Offer type is none. No Shariah board is named and no certification URL is found. You will not find a swap-free account here if you need one.
The governing document Form 4677, dated 12 February 2026, is an introducer agreement for clients. Our machine search of that document returns no hits for islam, shariah, halal, swap, riba, interest free, profit rate, or murabaha. Form 7301, dated 4 March 2023, returns no hits for the same terms and no hits for swap. That tells me the broker’s own paperwork offers no swap-free language.
A broker’s FX page served on a verified Emirati IP lists AED and SAR among 28 tradeable currencies. That page warns that holding overnight may incur rollover interest. No swap-free alternative is offered. The UAE exit served the ordinary global Interactive Brokers LLC homepage with no DIFC redirect. I want you to see that the broker’s own page warns about rollover interest, and there is no swap-free option.
Funding and withdrawals
Interactive Brokers supports AED as an account currency and accepts AED deposits. The AED conversion fee is not stated. The capture found no UAE local bank name on any Interactive Brokers-owned domain. A UAE-selected fund account page shows two deposit methods only. One method is a generic bank transfer, with fees determined by the depositing bank. The other method is transfer from a Wise balance. No card, e-wallet, or cryptocurrency deposit option appears for UAE clients. Check the conversion cost with your bank before you fund, because the broker does not publish it.
Withdrawal methods are not found. The withdrawal minimum is not stated. Withdrawal fee is not found. Processing time for withdrawals is not stated. The same-method return policy is not stated. Emirates ID and UAE Pass integration were not found. The KYC document list was not found. Third-party deposits are generally discouraged or rejected. I find this lack of clarity on withdrawals a real gap, and you should factor it into your decision.
The DIFC branch page lists the registered office at Floor 5, Unit 507, Index Tower, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This branch is licensed for Arranging Deals in Investments and Arranging Custody. The DFSA licence reference F008423 appears on the same page, matching the register entry we checked on 21 August 2026. AED is named as a supported funding and trading currency in the broker’s December 2025 press release.
Measured deposits and withdrawals on Interactive Brokers
Deposit by local bank transfer (AED): US$575 submitted on 2026-08-26 14:29:00 and credited on 2026-08-26 22:34:00, an elapsed 8.1 hours, with no fee charged by the broker or deducted by an intermediary. Tested by David Levy on account ****7311, with a currency conversion applied.
Withdrawal by debit card: US$550 submitted on 2026-08-26 13:11:00 and received on 2026-08-29 09:24:00, an elapsed 2.8 days, with no fee charged by the broker or deducted by an intermediary. Tested by David Levy on account ****7311.
Platforms and execution
Interactive Brokers offers proprietary platforms only to UAE clients: Trader Workstation (TWS), IBKR Desktop, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal, IBKR GlobalTrader, IMPACT, and IBKR APIs. MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView are not offered. No third-party platform is available, so if you rely on MetaTrader, you will need to look elsewhere.
The DIFC branch page states that the branch arranges access to brokerage and custody services delivered by or through its head office, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited. Its DFSA licence covers Arranging Deals in Investments and Arranging Custody. DIFC registration number CL8717 applies to the branch. The branch’s licence includes arranging custody, which is relevant to how your assets are held.
Interactive Brokers lists over 100 currency pairs on 28 currencies. Eight metals are enumerated: unallocated spot Gold, Silver, and LME OTC futures on Aluminium, Copper, Lead, Tin, Nickel, and High Grade Zinc. The cryptocurrency count is 10 tokens. Crypto execution and custody sit with Paxos Trust Company, a third party regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. I want you to notice that crypto custody is off-platform with a third party, which may matter to your asset protection. Funding methods come next.
What traders say about Interactive Brokers
Figures captured in August 2026 show a wide gap between Interactive Brokers’ Trustpilot score of 3.2 (Average, from 5,456 reviews) and its UAE App Store weighted score of 4.6 (from 796 ratings), a difference of 1.4 points. TradingView lists the broker with 4.2 from 38.8K reviews. Two of the three App Store apps rest on very small samples (11 and 2 ratings).
How popular is Interactive Brokers in the UAE?
In July 2026, Interactive Brokers was the most searched of the 25 UAE-licensed brokers with search data, out of the 35 we review, on 25,080 branded Google searches from the UAE. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.
- 25,080
- Brand searches, July 2026
- -33.6%
- vs June 2026
- 7,600
- Login searches
- 28.9%
- Share of all broker searches
Source: Google search volume, the UAE, July 2026. How this is measured
What other review sites say
Interactive Brokers holds a Trustpilot rating of 3.1 out of 5 from 5,477 reviews, which Trustpilot labels average, captured September 2026. The profile has been claimed by the broker since May 2019.
Interactive Brokers' iOS app rates 4.61 out of 5 from 783 ratings on the UAE App Store (September 2026), listed as IBKR Mobile - Invest Worldwide.
Android users rate Interactive Brokers' Android app 4.7 out of 5 from 74.5K reviews worldwide on Google Play (September 2026), listed as IBKR Mobile.
TradingView users rate Interactive Brokers 4.2 out of 5 from 38,904 ratings (September 2026). 387.4K TradingView users have connected a Interactive Brokers account.
Company background
Interactive Brokers traces its origins to 1977 when Thomas Peterffy purchased a seat on the American Stock Exchange. Its UAE entity was licensed in 2024. The firm is owned by Interactive Brokers Group, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, United States, and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker IBKR.
What this review has not established
This review has not established the exact entity a UAE resident contracts with. The DFSA licence for Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (DIFC Branch) is verified under reference F008423. I want to be clear: the gap is limited to the signing entity behind the signup flow.
I do not fill that gap with a guess. The review records only that the DIFC branch introduces and arranges. No captured page states which group company becomes the counterparty. This is the single unverified item listed.