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TRADING

FOREX & CFD BROKERS IN SAUDI ARABIA: WHICH FX TRADING PLATFORMS ARE THE BEST AND WHY?

Best Forex and CFD Brokers in Saudi Arabia

While the Forex markets are anything but certain, our team has placed innumerable trades on testing the available platforms and helping you choose the best FX broker available traders in Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the four Brokers that we have presented at the beginning of the article, following you may find comments that will help you choose the right one for you. Whilst other comparison sites will say "Best Forex Brokers in Saudi Arabia" and provide you with 100 options to choose from, we have only chosen what we believe are the best 4, aiming to facilitate the broker picking task for you. There are differences between them, but they are not so substantial at the top of the rank. We will now provide you with crucial points on the top 4 FX brokers in Saudi Arabia, and we will then mention a few aspects to take into account when picking the best match for your trading needs.



Best FX Trading Accounts in Saudi Arabia


  • AvaTrade is one of the oldest online brokerages. It's one of the Brokers with an extraordinarily high and solid level of regulation, so it's fair to say that it's one of the safest Brokers you can trade Forex with. 


  • Plus500 is one of the highest-rated CFD trading apps as it is simple to use yet powerful in its many advanced features.


  • With more than 15 years of experience, XTB is one of the largest stock exchange-listed FX & CFD brokers worldwide. They have offices in over 13 countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Poland and Chile.


  • Founded in Switzerland in 2012, BDSwiss currently has over 1 million active trading accounts worldwide and services over 11 billion euros in trading volume per month. With 200+ personnel, BDSwiss Group’s holding company is headquartered in the Swiss city of Zug (close to Zürich) and maintains its operating offices in Berlin, Germany and Limassol, Cyprus. BDSwiss has upped its expansion efforts by inaugurating five new offices in regions including South East Asia and Latin America to accommodate the notable influx in active traders from these regions.



Am I allowed to Trade Forex if I'm Muslim?


An Islamic Forex account is a halal trading account available to clients who respect the Quran and wish to invest while following the principles of Islamic finance. Islamic trading accounts differ in several ways from regular Forex accounts. 


As Sharia law prohibits the accumulation of interest, traders with Islamic accounts do not pay or receive interest rates. Also, transactions in Islamic accounts have to be completed without delays, so currencies must be transferred from one account to another immediately, and transaction costs must also be paid at the same time. Islamic accounts are also known as swap-free accounts because of this and they follow four basic principles to be considered Halal:


  • Prohibition of payment and receipt of any interest rate (Riba)

  • Immediate exchanges in the context of trading operations

  • Prohibition of gambling

  • Distribution of risks and benefits



Is Forex Trading legal in Saudi Arabia?


Saudi Arabia recently opened its FX market to retail clients and allowed regulated brokers to conduct trading on behalf of clients. In other words, and to answer the question, yes, forex trading is legal in Saudi Arabia. Also, unlike some other countries, there are no legal limitations on the amount of profit you can withdraw.


Some international brokers have local offices and adhere to Saudi regulators (the Capital Market Authority) and Islamic principles. However, a minority of the good ones have a local base due to the local market's complexity (Most of the ones with a local presence in the Middle East choose Dubai or Abu Dhabi as their regional HQ base). If you decide to open an Islamic FX Account, remember to inform your assigned account manager when registering with a Forex broker. Saudis have been able to trade Forex with global brands without their physical presence in the country nevertheless. Long story short, if you reside in Saudi Arabia, you can trade currencies legally.

MT4 is the most popular Forex tool among professional traders. If you wish to try a free demo, try one of the top brokers presented before.

MT4 is the most popular Forex tool among professional traders. If you wish to try a free demo, try one of the top brokers presented before.

Criteria to test the best FX Broker in Saudi Arabia


Here is a look at just some of the criteria we test all the best Forex Brokers against.


  • First things first; Does the Broker accept clients from Saudi Arabia?: As we have mentioned previously, there are so many websites offering Brokers to local clients when they have not even fact-checked if the broker accepts locals. We have confirmed with the Brokers we present here that they do open FX accounts to Saudi Arabia clients.

  • Second, but no less important: Does the Broker offer Islamic accounts? Those who wish to respect the Quran and want to invest while following Islamic finance principles.

  • A reliable, secure, and mobile-optimized platform: We live in the 21st century, which means we need an FX broker to offer an equally (if not more) high-quality mobile device experience. You never know if the following major FX alert will catch you while having a pizza or while at the toilette.

  • Spreads, Commissions, and other fees: Currency pairs are priced through the interbank market, a communications system used by big banks and financial institutions but without a central exchange like a Stock Exchange. Forex brokers make their revenues with their fees and spreads that arise from your trading transactions. And, they are not required to offer you the best interbank bid or ask prices, so they may intentionally display wider spreads with less favourable prices, adding to profits when they complete those trades through the system. So, spreads and commissions are a top priority that we consider when choosing the best brokers.

  • A great FX Pair selection: We are looking for the major pairs and minors, and crosses. In general terms, the more diverse the brokers offering is, the better the trading conditions they offer overall (although this is not an exact science).

  • Brokerage licenses: We only recommend licensed brokers to ensure our readers and fellow traders' safety. If a new broker has not got their paperwork filed and approved yet, you won't find them here on our site.

  • An efficient customer support team: As much as we would like to hope you will never need it, a customer support team is a crucial portion of a great trading experience. When things go wrong, you desire that your questions are to answered quickly, in a fair way, and accurately.



How to choose the right FX Broker for you?


Choosing a forex broker requires you to decide what type of trader you are, your goals, and how will you use the trading platform when investing in Forex.


When looking for a reliable forex broker, take your time to check for the one that will appropriately handle your trades and funds. The safety of your capital and private information is more important than any other consideration when you open a forex account because brokers can get hacked or go bankrupt. Unlike stockbrokers, where clients' funds have (usually) a higher level of protection, some dodgy brokers provide no account protection at all.


Also, before you give a broker any money, review its funding and withdrawal procedures. Some require long waiting periods until you can trade when you fund through checks or wire transfers, while others will charge hefty fees when you withdraw funds or close the account.


And, of course, most importantly, check that the broker offers the best trading conditions for the instruments that you will trade. It won't matter if they offer the tightest spread on the EURUSD pair if your most traded pair is the Australian Dollar against the Yen.



The new Forex Trader process


As a new Trader at any broker, you will need to go through a strict process before the ride begins. Forex Brokers are becoming increasingly concerned about things like responsible trading and anti-money laundering, and they’ll want to make sure they know a bit more about you before you get started.


It’s simply a matter of answering a few questions and possibly supplying a couple of easy-to-find documents. Here’s a look at what to expect:


  • Opening your account: This is the easy part, and it just requires details like your name, age, address, email, and phone number. It should only take a few minutes.

  • Identifying information: The broker will ask you to prove your identity by supplying them with a copy of a recent utility bill with your name and address (issued within three months), a copy of your passport or ID, and proof that you own the debit card you’re operating with.

  • KYC (Know Your Customer): This process involves providing information to prove your source of funds or wealth. You may fulfil this task easily using payslips or bank statements. It is not as difficult as it sounds since it’s just for the broker to ensure that you use legal funds to trade.

  • Responsible Trading: Make sure you are not trading above your means (leverage instruments are risky, and losses may exceed your deposit). Some brokers may check in with you from time to time if your trading habits shift (Although this is quite unusual).



Forex Risk Disclaimer


There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. Concerning margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives like Forex, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection, and market volatility that may substantially affect the price or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. You should not expect that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable or that they will not result in losses.

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