6 Best Forex Brokers in Dubai for 2024

List of Top Brokers and Trading Platforms in Dubai

Forex and CFD Trading in Dubai

With over 3 million residents, Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Tax benefits, modern infrastructure, and world-class amenities have made Dubai a magnet for traders. It is a leading luxury travel destination, and several major trading industry conferences take place in the city, such as Forex Expo Dubai and Forex Traders Summit Dubai.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) are key regulatory bodies that oversee forex and CFD brokers in Dubai and the broader UAE, ensuring the integrity and stability of the financial markets in their respective jurisdictions. The Central Bank of the UAE also plays a role in overseeing Forex activities in the country as a whole, as well as setting standards and regulations for the financial industry in the UAE. In

How Did FX Empire Select the Best Brokers for Dubai Residents?

We carefully considered the needs of traders in Dubai and focused on the points that benefit this group the most.

• We looked for brokers regulated by the DFSA, SCA, or other top-tier regulators.
• We made sure that a swap-free Islamic account is available.
• We prioritized brokers providing UAE dirham (AED) as a base currency.
• We searched for brokers that offer an Arabic version of their website.
• We checked for brokers with customer service in Arabic.
• We reviewed trust factors beyond regulation, such as transparency and stability of the broker.
• We looked for brokers with headquarters situated in Dubai.
• We assessed the competitiveness of brokers’ trading fees.
• We used hands-on testing of each broker’s platform, looking for the most user-friendly and feature-reach on the market.

Our team of experts has identified each broker’s strengths and weaknesses using FX Empire’s comprehensive methodology. Here’s how we test.

Now let’s go through the selected brokers.

How to Choose a Forex Broker in Dubai?

Consider the following questions when searching for a suitable broker to work with in Dubai.

Can I trust the broker?

Take into account the regulatory status of the broker. Forex brokers regulated by top-tier financial authorities must undergo audits, meet capital requirements, and provide segregated accounts and negative balance protection.

The UAE SCA requires brokers to segregate company and client funds and to provide negative balance protection. The UAE DFSA upholds high ethical standards by not allowing brokers to accept credit cards for funding trading accounts and by ensuring that all marketing and educational material is not misleading. A compensation fund is sometimes available in the event of broker insolvency.

You can search the regulator’s website to confirm the broker’s status and check for any disciplinary action. The broker’s size and operating history are also worth considering. You can usually find these on the company’s LinkedIn page.

Read more about Best regulated forex brokers.

Is the platform user-friendly?

An intuitive, easy-to-navigate platform will allow you to launch into the trading world with minimal hitches. The most user-friendly platforms are typically browser-based platforms created by the broker. Look for easy-to-implement features such as watchlists, trading from the chart, search, news, and a customizable interface.

Here are our picks of Best forex trading platforms.

The MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms have advanced features like backtesting, automated trading, and a wide range of order types – but are less user-friendly. Also, check on the availability of a good, broker-designed (proprietary) mobile app.

The popular MetaTrader platform is available in Arabic, making it easier to navigate for non-English speakers in Dubai.

Read more about Best MetaTrader 4 brokers and Best MetaTrader 5 brokers.

Are the spreads competitive?

Working with a broker that keeps costs such as the spread to a minimum can make the difference between profit and loss at the end of the day. For example, a spread of 1 pip or less in EUR/USD is competitive and makes it much less expensive to enter and exit positions in the market.

This low cost of entering trades is a crucial point for day traders. Inactivity fees and fees for withdrawing funds are other areas to keep an eye on when considering a broker. Traders in Dubai can select from the world’s most competitive brokers in terms of fees, such as FP Markets, which offers better-than-average spreads.

Check out our guide on Best lowest spread forex brokers.

What fees are associated with an Islamic account?

Dubai residents also have the opportunity to trade on Islamic, or swap-free accounts that are designed to align with the principles of Islamic finance, particularly the prohibition of interest (‘Riba’).

In regular forex accounts, traders are typically charged or credited with swap fees (or interest) for positions held overnight. However, in Islamic forex accounts, swap fees are not applicable due to the prohibition of interest.

Instead, Islamic accounts commonly employ other types of fees. One such fee is the administration or financing fee, which is a fixed fee charged on trades held overnight. There may be a grace period where these fees are not applied, but it varies between brokers.

Additionally, Islamic accounts may charge slightly wider spreads to compensate for the absence of swap fees. A spread is the difference between the buy and sell price of a currency pair or other trading instrument.

Read more about best Islamic (swap free) forex accounts.

What is the minimum deposit?

The minimum deposit to trade live can vary from less than $100 to more considerable sums of over $1000.

Is AED available as a base currency?

Typically forex accounts are denominated in a currency like USD, EUR, GBP, or JPY. This currency (the base currency) shows your account balance. Some brokers offer AED as a base currency, making it a more familiar reference point for residents of the UAE.

Check out our guide to Best forex brokers in UAE.

What is the available leverage?

DFSA-regulated brokers can offer leverage of up to 1:30. SCA-regulated brokers can offer 1:500. If you decide to work with a UK (FCA) or EU (CySEC) based broker, the maximum is 1:30. While most offshore brokers offer 1:500 leverage or even higher in some cases.

Leverage is one of the most appealing features of CFD trading and can work in your favor when used wisely. Beware of using excessive leverage, even if it is tempting. It’s an enthralling feeling to control a large position in the market. But when markets are moving fast, and you hold a highly leveraged position, there is a high risk of losing money. Accounts can get wiped out in seconds.

Check out our guide on Best high leverage forex brokers.

Is customer support reliable?

As a forex trader in Dubai, it’s convenient to have customer support in your native language of Arabic, which is offered by some but not all brokers. Check the hours of availability, for example, whether help is on hand 24/7 or only during business hours. Chat support is the most convenient, so look for an easy-to-access chat window built into the broker platform. In the case of a platform outage, it is also helpful to be able to contact support via phone.

How to Avoid Forex and CFD Scams?

A common scam in the forex and CFD industry involves vendors offering a trading strategy that guarantees an outlandishly high return in little time. These may involve automated trading using bots or a signal service sharing trades via chat or social media. Nobody can guarantee returns with certainty, and it is more likely that such strategies will lose money. When assessing strategy or signal providers, you should look for a live track record audited by a third party, but remember that past performance does not guarantee future results.

Traders should also be highly cautious about opening an account with an unregulated offshore broker. Such brokers may offer a straightforward account opening process, bonuses, and high leverage levels, but client funds are not protected. Meanwhile, brokers regulated by top-tier authorities must undergo regular audits and are held accountable for misconduct. Traders can also benefit from having their funds held in segregated accounts, negative balance protection, and a compensation fund in the event of broker insolvency.

Our Methodology

In selecting the best forex brokers for Dubai residents, we used the results of our advanced proprietary methodology. All of the brokers listed were among the leaders in our tests.

FXEmpire has been reviewing brokers since 2010 and has pioneered the in-depth evaluation of CFD brokers. Our process has taken years to refine and involved hundreds of reviews. We’ve gone to a granular level—with over 250 data points in our analysis of each broker—so you can feel confident selecting the right platform. To provide the most comprehensive view, we break down the brokers into nine categories: trust, fees, platform and tools, tradable instruments, customer service, deposit and withdrawal, account types, research, and education.

In our broker reviews, we explain complex areas like regulatory status, so you can easily understand the safety of your funds and other benefits. All our winning brokers listed above have at least one entity licensed by a top-tier regulator.

We gather data through live testing, research, detailed questionnaires, and in-person broker demonstrations. An account is opened with each broker, focusing primarily on the services of one entity and testing using the most standard account type and platform. We conduct live tests of spreads and measure overnight swap fees and account-related costs.

Our side-by-side analysis reveals whether a broker is competitive compared to its rivals. Trading platforms take time to master, but we have already done the legwork for you, and our evaluations highlight their essential features and usability.

FX Empire abides by strict guidelines for editorial integrity. We base our scoring on objective criteria and mostly measurable data, so individual preferences or biases cannot sway our reviews. The review process is independent and follows a strict protocol. In addition, we carefully check and recheck facts, as broker reviews are continually updated. Learn more about our methodology here.

For this guide, we sought out brokers regulated by DFSA and SCA or other top-tier authorities that hold a license to provide financial services in Dubai. We also thoroughly reviewed trust factors that go beyond regulation, including the transparency and stability of each broker.

We ensured the availability of a swap-free Islamic account and prioritized brokers who provide UAE dirham (AED) as a base currency. We favored brokers offering an Arabic version of their website and customer service in Arabic and also checked if the companies have offices in Dubai. In addition, we scrutinized the competitiveness of each broker’s trading fees to ensure value for traders and tested each broker’s trading platform to identify the most user-friendly and feature-rich options on the market.

Meet Our Writers

The team of forex and CFD writers and editors at FX Empire comprises trading industry professionals and seasoned financial journalists. Our writers have been published on leading financial websites such as Investopedia and Forbes. In addition, they all have extensive trading experience.

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