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Use our comparison tables to compare the best United Arab Emirates CFD brokers. Choose or switch to a CFD broker that offers the most markets, best pricing and client security.

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The UAE has been trying to establish itself as a financial trading centre for much of the last decade, it is now generating some traction, as the collective of small middle eastern states evolves into more than just a holiday destination or long haul stopover.

The UAE or the United Arab Emirates is composed of seven emirates, the two largest and most well-known being Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

There are approximately 1.40 million emiratees and some 7.80 million ex-pats, spread across the seven micro-states, which occupy an area of 32,300 square miles.

Top CFD Brokers in the UAE & Dubai

In recent years many well-known CFD brokers have established a presence in the UAE. You can use our trading platform comparison tables to compare pricing on the most popular traded instruments in Dubai and Abu Dhabi like Gold and Oil. You can also rank, brokers by what account types they offer and how many markets they offer access to. These include IG Group, Pepperstone, CMC Markets and City Index, all of which have offices that are based and regulated in the UK.

IG

One of the largest global brokers operating in the UAE with a vast selection of markets to trade with great liquidity. UAE address: IG Limited – Level 27, Currency House – Tower 2, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, 506968, United Arab Emirates

IG Review
IG

Name: IG

Description: IG pioneered financial spread betting when it was founded in 1974 and is now own of the largest CFD and forex brokers in the world. IG is listed on the London Stock Exchange and offers access to 18,000 markets to 313,000 active clients. IG also recently introduce physical share dealing and smart portfolios for longer-term investors.

Why we like it

IG pioneered online trading and financial spread betting for private clients and remains not only one of the largest online trading platforms, but also one of the best. IG stands out through deep liquidity, high market range and excellent added value such as trading tools and analysis.

Pros

  • Wide market range
  • Excellent liquidity & DMA equities
  • Listed on the London Stock Exchange

Cons

  • Customer service can be slow
  • No DMA futures trading
  • Pricing
    (4.5)
  • Market Access
    (5)
  • Online Platform
    (5)
  • Customer Service
    (4)
  • Research & Analysis
    (5)
Overall
4.7
Comments Rating 3.9 (523 reviews)

CMC Markets 

Good CFD sentiment tools and over 388 forex pairs to trade.  UAE Address: CMC Markets Middle East Limited. Unit 2903, Level 29, ICD Brookfield Place, DIFC, PO Box 507183, Dubai, UAE

CMC Markets Review
CMC Markets

Name: CMC Markets

Description: CMC Markets is one of the original spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They have been providing forex trading services since 1989 and are now listed on the London Stock Exchange. The broker has over 300,000 active clients trading online and is operated from 13 global offices, with headquarters in The City of London.

Summary

CMC Markets has always offered, and still does one of the best trading platforms for high-frequency and active traders. It’s a good choice for those that want to trade on tight spreads, with a platform built on exceptional tech.

77% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.’

Pros

  • Excellent trading platform
  • Good liquidity
  • Unique sentiment tools

Cons

  • Trading only, no investing account
  • Limited smaller cap stocks
  • Pricing
    (5)
  • Market Access
    (4)
  • Online Platform
    (5)
  • Customer Service
    (4)
  • Research & Analysis
    (5)
Overall
4.6
Comments Rating 3.64 (107 reviews)

Pepperstone

Has a very comprehensive package of automated trading tools on MT4. UAE Address: Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited – Office 1502, Al Fattan Currency House, Tower 2 – Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Pepperstone Review
Pepperstone

Name: Pepperstone

Description: Pepperstone were founded in 2010 in Australia and have since then grown to be a global brokerage with international offices and around 110,000 active clients. They offer Spread betting and CFDs on the major market instruments, which means they focus on the most heavily traded assets, mainly forex and indices trading, although they are building out their share trading offering and have the major stocks on international exchanges.

[ More ]

Why we like them

Pepperstone is a good choice for traders that want to automate their trading strategies through MT4. As far as MT4 brokers they are one of the biggest and best and offers so good EA packages.

Pros

  • Tight pricing
  • Wide range of MT4 markets
  • Pre-built MT4 indicator packages

Cons

  • Limited market access
  • Only third-party platforms
  • Pricing
    (5)
  • Market Access
    (3.5)
  • Online Platform
    (4)
  • Customer Service
    (4)
  • Research & Analysis
    (4)
Overall
4.1
Comments Rating 4.55 (61 reviews)

Saxo Markets

Provides OTC & DMA (direct market access) trading for gold and oil. UAE address: Saxo Bank (Dubai) Ltd. Boulevard Plaza – Tower 1 30th floor, office 3002 Dubai Downtown, Burj Khalifa area Dubai, UAE

Saxo Markets Review
Saxo Markets

Name: Saxo Markets

Description: Saxo Markets is one of the largest CFD brokers worldwide and provides direct market access to equities, bonds, forex, futures and options as well as being a major liquidity and infrastructure provider to wealth managers, banks and smaller brokers.

Why we like them

Saxo Markets is a good choice for more sophisticated traders. The platform, analysis, and direct market access may be too complicated for beginners. But, for experienced traders its coverage, commissions and research are unrivaled.

Pros

  • Direct market access
  • Low commissions
  • Robust trading platform

Cons

  • Too complicated for beginners
  • Pricing
    (4.5)
  • Market Access
    (4.5)
  • Online Platform
    (5)
  • Customer Service
    (4.5)
  • Research & Analysis
    (4.5)
Overall
4.6
Comments Rating 3.6 (52 reviews)

City Index

An excellent CFD trading platform with 12,000 markets 25 commodities, with spreads as low as 0.8 for gold trading and 0.3 for crude oil. UAE Address: City Index (StoneX): Office 48D Almas Tower Jumeirah Lakes Towers PO Box 125942 Dubai, UAE

City Index Review
City Index

Name: City Index

Description: City Index is one of the oldest spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They were founded in 1983 and offer trading in over 13,500 financial markets, to around 126,000 active clients. City Index is currently owned by StoneX, a US brokerage listed on the NASDAQ valued at $1.75bn.

Why we like them:

City Index offers some of the best trading tools and analysis to help traders perform better. Their unique post-trade analytics and voice brokerage service make it an excellent choice for large and frequent traders.

Pros

  • Excellent trading tools
  • Voice brokerage
  • Publically listed

Cons

  • Trading only, no investment account
  • Pricing
    (4)
  • Market Access
    (4.5)
  • Online Platform
    (4)
  • Customer Service
    (4.5)
  • Research & Analysis
    (4.5)
Overall
4.3
Comments Rating 3.71 (62 reviews)

Who regulated CFD brokers in the UAE and Dubai?

The principal regulator is the DFSA, the Dubai Financial Services Authority which regulates financial businesses, based in Dubai’s special economic zone.

Which is centred around the Dubai International Finacial Centre or DIFC. This special economic zone consists of 272 acres of commercial real estate, which houses hundreds of financial institutions, that operate under a tax and business-friendly regime.

More than 25,000 finance professionals work within the DIFC for over 2500 companies, details about those companies can be checked on the DIFC public register which can be found on their website.

The DFSA oversees the special economic zone and the businesses within it, including asset managers, insurers, banks and credit service providers, brokers, fund managers and custodians.

The DFSA enforces anti-money laundering regulations and has the power to investigate the activities of companies on the DIFC register.

Can I trade as a professional client in the UAE?

It’s also possible to be classified as a professional client of a Dubai based broker.

Though to qualify for that designation you will need to meet some quite stringent criteria, including having a portfolio with an unencumbered value of US $1.0 million or greater.

You should be able to demonstrate that you have made 40 or more significant leveraged trades over the last year.
Each of these trades should have had a minimum notional value of US $50,000.

Alternatively, you will need to have worked in a relevant professional position in a DFSA regulated firm, within the DIFC. Or, at an overseas firm regulated by an equivalent body, such as the FCA or ESMA etc, and have done so within the last two years.

Professional clients in Dubai are not subject to the DFSA margin restrictions however and they can receive volume-related rebates on their trading activities.

What is the principal Stock Exchange in the region?

The principal stock exchange in the UAE is the ADX which is based in Abu Dhabi, the Emirates capital.

ADX was founded in November 2000 and is now the second-largest stock market in the Arab region, and offers trading in stocks, bonds, ETFs, and other instruments approved by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority.

The exchange operates a main market for blue-chip stocks, alongside a growth section and a newly established derivatives market, that currently trades equity futures.
Index futures and other derivatives are due to be introduced as this section of the ADX exchange expands.

FAQs:

Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions by people searching for the best CFD brokers in Dubai and UAE.

No. DFSA regulated brokers can no longer offer volume-based rebates to their retail customers.

Yes. The regulator has also introduced negative balance protection for the retail clients, of the CFD brokers it regulates, limiting a client’s maximum loss to the balance of funds on their account
And at the same time, the DFSA has imposed an automatic close out rule whereby open positions are closed if a client’s equity falls below 50% of their margin requirement.

In December 2021 the DFSA introduced new rules for retail clients who trade CFDs through brokers under its oversight. In common with other regulators, the DFSA has mandated the maximum, margin levels that can be applied to retail CFD trading accounts. As a result, margin rates have more than doubled for retail clients trading vai Dubai based brokers. However, these new margin restrictions are still more generous than those allowed by either the UK’s FCA or the European Union’s ESMA. Under the DFSA rules, clients can access margins of 50:1 on Indices and FX majors, and some commodities such as gold and oil, whilst other commodities are margined at 20 to 1. CFDs on individual shares are leveraged at 10 to 1, whilst cryptocurrencies can be traded on margins of 20% or a ratio of 5 to 1. Nor can retail customers offset margins for long and short positions in the same asset, instead, they must now margin each position separately. Client money is held in a segregated client bank account under the DFSA’s client money rules.

CFD trading is very popular in Dubai.  The UAE has been trying to establish itself as a financial trading centre for much of the last decade, it is now generating some traction, as the collective of small middle eastern states evolves into more than just a holiday destination or long haul stopover.

The UAE or the United Arab Emirates is composed of seven emirates, the two largest and most well-known being Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

There are approximately 1.40 million emiratees and some 7.80 million ex-pats, spread across the seven micro-states, which occupy an area of 32,300 square miles.

City Index and XTB have the lowest spreads for trading Oil whilst IG and CMC Markets have the lowest spreads for trading Gold.

IG offers the most markets to UAE traders, with over 17,000 tradable instruments. Followed closely by City Index’s 12,000, although City Index also has some excellent added value trader tools like SMART signals and performance analytics.

Saxo Markets offers the most account types for trading in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including direct market access futures and options.

Yes. We have extensively tested each of the brokers in this list, interviewed the CEOs and analysed the key data points that make trading platforms stand out. You ca see what others think of them and read our full reviews of the individual trading platforms here

If you would like to see what we think of each trading platform for specific products you can read our CFD broker reviews, or our forex trading platform reviews.

Richard Berry

Richard Berry

Richard founded the Good Money Guide (previously Good Broker Guide) in 2015 and has been a broker for 20 years most recently at Investors Intelligence and previously a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial). Richard started his career working as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson) after interning on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 & 2000.

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