How to buy US stocks and ETFs from the United Arab Emirates

This page lists the investment platforms whose own pages say they accept residents of the United Arab Emirates, with their licences, fees and the deposit methods available here. We only count platforms that publish a list of the countries they accept: a company that does not say whom it accepts is left out, even if it might open an account for you. Being on the list is not a recommendation.

Some verified points for the UAE:

• Baraka is run by Baraka Financial Limited in the DIFC, which its home page says is regulated by the DFSA (licence number F006586). It says it is only available to residents of the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Its US partner, DriveWealth LLC, executes the US trades and holds client money. UAE cards pay a gateway fee of 0.50–1.65% per deposit, and its plan table lists a 0.75% fee on UAE transfers on the Standard plan.
• Interactive Brokers takes dirham bank transfers; after two free withdrawals a calendar month it charges AED 18 per bank transfer. Its stock commission page lists the ADX and the DFM among its exchanges. Its pages do not say which of its companies opens accounts for UAE residents, so check the company named in your client agreement.

The UAE Capital Market Authority’s rulebook states: “No financial activity may be practiced unless after obtaining a license and /or approval on practicing the financial activity from the Authority.” In the DIFC, the DFSA warns that “Cold calling about financial products or services by unlicensed firms claiming to be from the DIFC is illegal.”

For US shares, the platform will ask you for Form W-8BEN. The IRS says most US-source income of a foreign person, dividends included, is taxed at 30% through a withholding tax unless a tax treaty or the tax code sets a lower rate; the UAE was not on its list of US income tax treaties when we checked. And an investor compensation scheme such as SIPC pays when a broker fails and client assets are missing, never for falling prices.