Is forex trading legal in the United Arab Emirates?
Not legal advice. Below are the regulators’ own words, quoted from their official pages on the dates shown. Laws and rules change: check the regulator’s site before you open an account.
By Wealth.cat editorial team Facts verified on October 14, 2026
In the UAE, the federal Capital Market Authority (formerly the Securities and Commodities Authority, SCA) licenses financial activities, including trading brokers of OTC derivatives and currencies in the spot market. In the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the financial services regulator.
The quotes below come from Section 2 (Licensing) of the Capital Market Authority’s Rulebook of Financial Activities and from the DFSA’s page on how to avoid being scammed. They cover the licence or approval needed to practise a financial activity, the activities the Authority licenses, the DFSA’s action against scammers who target the DIFC, and cold calling by unlicensed firms.
Before you open an account, check the firm in the register of the authority that licenses it: the Capital Market Authority’s list of licensed companies or the DFSA’s public register.
What the regulator says
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No financial activity may be practiced unless after obtaining a license and /or approval on practicing the financial activity from the Authority.
Capital Market Authority (UAE) (CMA (UAE)) · October 14, 2026 · Source -
First: The Authority shall be competent to license the following financial activities: 1- Trading broker. 2- Trading and clearing broker. 3- Trading broker in the international markets. 4- Trading Broker of OTC Derivatives, OTC Commodities contracts and Currencies in the Spot market (Forex).
Capital Market Authority (UAE) (CMA (UAE)) · October 14, 2026 · Source -
The DFSA, as the financial services regulator of the DIFC, will take action wherever possible to stop scammers who target the DIFC or use the DIFC to promote their scams.
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) · October 14, 2026 · Source -
Cold calling about financial products or services by unlicensed firms claiming to be from the DIFC is illegal.
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) · October 14, 2026 · Source
Regulators and registers
- Capital Market Authority (UAE) (CMA (UAE)) · Register of licensed firms
- Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) · Register of licensed firms
What this means on Wealth.cat
- We show offers from forex and CFD brokers to visitors from the United Arab Emirates only when the broker holds a licence from a local regulator.
- We show prop firm offers to visitors from the United Arab Emirates.
This is our own advertising policy, not a statement about what the law allows.
Other countries
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