Best CFD Brokers in UAE

Best CFD brokers in UAE compared

Every fact below comes from the broker's own site or a regulator. All three brokers are in our test program, but our own measured results, such as timed withdrawals, show as "Testing in progress" until our funded-account tests finish. Nothing on this page is a test result of ours.

1. Pepperstone

Pepperstone is first in our order. It is regulated by seven retail regulators: ASIC, the FCA, CySEC, BaFin, the DFSA in the DIFC (F004356), the SCB in the Bahamas and the CMA in Kenya. For UAE retail clients, the DFSA licence is the one to look at. Pepperstone also holds a UAE CMA licence (No. 20200000358), but it is Category 5, which covers arrangement and advice for professional clients, so it is not a UAE retail trading licence. The minimum deposit is $10, and you can trade on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. The main drawback for UAE traders: Pepperstone's swap-free account is only for residents of an eligible-country list, and the UAE is not on it.

• Pepperstone's full profile
• Pepperstone's swap-free account page

2. Capital.com

Capital.com is second in our order and the only one of the three licensed onshore for dealing in the UAE. Its UAE entity, Capital Com MENA Securities Trading LLC, holds a UAE Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA) Category One dealing licence, No. 20200000176. It does not hold a DFSA licence. The wider group is also regulated by the FCA, CySEC and ASIC. Capital.com offers swap-free accounts to residents of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, and it offers AED-denominated accounts. The minimum deposit is $20, with no trading commission and no deposit, withdrawal or account fees. You can trade on the Capital.com web platform and app, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 (Expert Advisors supported) and TradingView. Capital.com says it processes withdrawals within 24 hours, and the time the money takes to arrive depends on the payment method. That is the broker's own claim, not our measurement.

• Capital.com's full profile
• Capital.com's UAE "About us" page (licence details)

3. XS

XS is third in our order. It was established in Australia in 2010 and has eight entities: they are regulated by the FSA in Seychelles (SD089), ASIC (374409), CySEC (412/22), the LFSA in Labuan (MB/21/0081), the FSCA in South Africa (53199) and the FSC in Mauritius (GB25204786), plus a UAE CMA licence (20200000339) and a commercial licence in Kuwait. The UAE CMA licence is Category 5, which covers arrangement and advice; it is not a retail trading licence, and XS holds no FCA or DFSA licence. XS publishes an average EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips on its Elite account ($6 round-turn commission, $500 minimum). It offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 only, and a swap-free account that is available to UAE residents.

• XS's full profile
• XS's regulation page

How to choose a CFD broker in the UAE

A brand name tells you little. What protects you is the licence of the legal entity that holds your account. Work through these checks before you deposit.

1. Check the licence on the regulator's own register, not on the broker's website. For onshore UAE firms, that is the Capital Market Authority (formerly SCA). For firms in the DIFC, it is the DFSA's public register. Search for the legal entity's name and licence number.
2. Check what the licence covers. A Category One UAE licence covers dealing; a Category 5 licence covers arrangement and advice only, so it does not make a firm a licensed retail broker.
3. Check which legal entity your account opens under. One brand can hold several licences, and your protections and leverage limits follow the entity that holds your account.
4. If you need a swap-free account, check that the UAE is on the broker's eligible-country list and read the fee terms.
5. Compare total costs: spreads, commission, overnight fees, and any deposit, withdrawal or inactivity fees.
6. Check that the platform you want is offered: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView or the broker's own app.
7. Check deposits and withdrawals in dirhams: whether the broker offers an AED account and which local payment methods it lists.

• UAE Capital Market Authority
• DFSA public register
• How to verify a broker licence, step by step
• AED accounts and UAE bank transfers compared

What a CFD is, and the risk

A CFD (contract for difference) is a contract with a broker that pays you, or charges you, the change in an asset's price. You get exposure to the price of a currency pair, index, commodity, share or cryptocurrency without owning the asset. CFDs are traded with leverage: you put down a margin deposit and control a larger position. Leverage magnifies gains and losses in the same way, so a small price move against you can use up your margin quickly. Most retail CFD accounts lose money. Brokers publish the share of their own retail CFD accounts that lose money; read that figure on the broker's site before you open an account. The maximum leverage you can use depends on the regulator of the entity that holds your account, not on the brand.

• Leverage explained
• Margin call and stop-out explained
• Forex vs CFDs vs stocks

Islamic (swap-free) CFD accounts in the UAE

A swap-free account removes the overnight swap (interest) charge or credit on positions held past the daily cut-off. Brokers often charge a different fee instead, such as a fixed admin fee after a set number of days, so swap-free does not always mean fee-free. Capital.com and XS offer swap-free accounts to UAE residents. Pepperstone's swap-free account is only for residents of an eligible-country list, and the UAE is not on it; that is a common reason UAE traders who want a swap-free account pick Capital.com. We describe the product, not a religious ruling: ask a qualified scholar whether a particular account meets your requirements.

• Islamic (swap-free) forex brokers compared
• How Islamic swap-free accounts work