FP Markets Activates UAE License, Onboarding Traders Under the SVG Unit

FP Markets has activated its UAE Category 5 license to market contracts for differences (CFD) products. The broker is onboarding traders from the Middle Eastern country under its offshore St. Vincent & Grenadines entity.

According to the registry maintained by the UAE Capital Markets Authority (CMA), FP Markets received the local license in September last year. The Cat 5 license only allows promoting and marketing CFDs in the country, while onboarding must be done through an offshore entity. 

This license, due to its low entry barrier, has become very popular among CFD brokers, as many brands have set up shop in the country and secured it. Only a handful, such as Plus500, RoboMarkets, XTB, and Deriv, have gained a Cat 1 license, which allows local onboarding and deposit holding.The capital requirement for a Cat 5 license is around AED 500,000, while for a Cat 1 license it is at least AED 30 million. 

FP Markets said that its UAE business is headed by Managing Director Narayan Joshi, who has already set up a team of 10 staff members. Apart from the UAE, the broker operates globally with licenses from regulators in Australia, Cyprus, South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Kenya. FP Markets also appears to be focusing on product offering. 

Earlier this year, it teamed up with Acuity Trading to provide AI-driven trading signals and market research tools, resulting in the introduction of FP Markets Intelligence, a multi-tool suite covering sentiment analysis, market signals, and real-time news data.