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Forex license in Saudi Arabia: CMA Dealing licence for a Saudi company.
A forex license in Saudi Arabia is Capital Market Authority (CMA) authorisation for Dealing, because the CMA's Glossary counts CFDs as securities. Only a company established in the Kingdom in one of four forms, a joint-stock company among them, can hold it, with SAR 50 million paid-up capital; the Saudi CMA has 30 days from a complete file. Credit and margin on derivatives are barred. We file from Riyadh.
Updated · Reviewed by the Prifinance team
Forex license in Saudi Arabia: Dealing for a Saudi company, without margin on CFDs.
Saudi law treats a CFD as a security. The CMA's Glossary of Defined Terms, last amended on 2 March 2026, lists contracts for differences among both securities and derivatives. The Securities Business Regulations (SBR), made under the Capital Market Law (Royal Decree No. M/30 of 2/6/1424H), bar securities business in the Kingdom without CMA authorisation or an exemption (Art. 5), and dealing with or for a person in the Kingdom is presumed to be business there (Art. 4(b)(2)). A CFD or FX broker therefore needs Dealing, as principal or as agent, under the Capital Market Institutions Regulations (CMIR). Only a company established in the Kingdom may deal: a joint-stock company, a subsidiary of a local bank or of a Saudi joint-stock company in financial services, or a subsidiary of a foreign financial institution licensed under the Banking Control Law (Art. 6(f)). The CMIR also bars credit linked to derivative contracts and margin transactions on them (Arts. 44(a)(3), 45(j)).
Under the CMIR, last amended on 22 July 2024, paid-up capital for Dealing is SAR 50 million (Art. 6(g)), with management and head office in the Kingdom (Art. 6(h)). Once the file is complete, the CMA notifies the applicant and decides within 30 days (Art. 7(c)), and the licence it grants runs ten years (Art. 7(g)). On forex, the CMA's public record is enforcement. Its list of unlicensed websites counted 614 on 20 April 2026, and a standing committee against unlicensed forex, formed at the direction of the Royal Court and chaired by the CMA, is described in a CMA release of 29 April 2018. A consultation of 18 May 2026 proposes cutting the Dealing capital to SAR 20 million as principal and SAR 10 million as agent; until the CMA adopts a final text, SAR 50 million is the figure in force.
CFDs are securities in Saudi Arabia, so a CFD broker needs CMA authorisation for Dealing. Only a company established in the Kingdom can hold it, and the CMIR bars credit and margin on derivatives.
Paid-up capital is SAR 50 million; a May 2026 consultation proposes SAR 20 million as principal. The CMA decides within 30 days of a complete file, and its unlicensed list counted 614 websites on 20 April 2026.
Dealing as principal, and the lines the CMIR draws around it.
Dealing is one of five securities activities in the SBR, next to Arranging, Managing, Advising and Custody, and it covers a firm acting as principal or as agent. Today both sit in one capital class. Neither may carry credit or margin on a derivative contract.
Dealing as principal or agent, one class, no margin on derivatives.
The Saudi dealer as counterparty
A CFD market maker deals as principal under a CMA authorisation for Dealing. It is a company established in the Kingdom in one of the four forms of CMIR Art. 6(f), with management and head office there and SAR 50 million of paid-up capital, and its CEO, CFO, compliance officer and MLRO are registered persons who live in the Kingdom unless the CMA exempts them.
A CFD market maker deals as principal under a CMA authorisation for Dealing. It is a company established in the Kingdom in one of the four forms of CMIR Art. 6(f), with management and head office there and SAR 50 million of paid-up capital, and its CEO, CFO, compliance officer and MLRO are registered persons who live in the Kingdom unless the CMA exempts them.
- ✓Dealing as principal - SBR Art. 2
- ✓SAR 50 million paid up - CMIR Art. 6(g)
- ✓One of four company forms - Art. 6(f)
- ✓Head office in the Kingdom - Art. 6(h)
- ✓Decision within 30 days - Art. 7(c)
- ✓Ten-year term, renewed - Art. 7(g)
Credit, margin and offers from abroad
The CMIR bars lending or credit linked to derivative contracts and any margin transaction on one, a margin transaction being a loan to the client of part of the cost. A broker abroad may not deal with clients in the Kingdom without authorisation, and its online adverts count unless aimed only outside it. The May 2026 split of Dealing at SAR 20 million and SAR 10 million is still a proposal.
No credit or margin on derivatives, no unlicensed dealing in from abroad; SAR 20M / 10M only proposed.
- ✓No credit linked to derivatives - Art. 44(a)(3)
- ✓No margin on derivatives - Art. 45(j)
- ✓No unlicensed dealing into the Kingdom
- ✓Adverts made or approved by a licensee
- ✓Proposed: SAR 20M principal, SAR 10M agent
- ✓Offshore licence draft: no Saudi retail
Costs and timelines are confirmed for your case before any work begins. The CMA's application, licence and annual fees go into the quote.
Thirty days to decide, and a home market closed to unlicensed brokers.
A Saudi licence comes with a written rulebook and a home market the CMA keeps closed to unlicensed offers, and with one hard limit: no margin on derivatives.
The CMA's Glossary defines a contract for differences and counts it among securities, derivatives and contractually based securities. A CFD broker's route is therefore written down: Dealing under the CMIR, with its conduct rules.Defined in the Glossary as securities.
Once the file is complete, the CMA has 30 days to approve, approve with conditions or refuse with reasons (CMIR Art. 7(c)). Requests for information are answered within 30 days, or the CMA may decline to consider the application (Art. 7(a)(3), 7(b)).From the CMA's notice of a complete file.
A CMA licence runs for ten years and renews for the same period while the firm remains fit and proper, meets its prudential and minimum capital requirements and pays its annual fees.Automatic renewal while conditions hold.
As we read SBR Art. 13(c), a foreign counterparty can sit behind a Saudi dealer without a licence of its own. Dealing as principal in a contractually based security is excluded where a capital market institution deals in the transaction, so a group keeps its liquidity provider where it is.Art. 13(c): no licence, in our view.
The CMA counted 215 capital market institutions in the fourth quarter of 2025, more than double the 86 of 2017, in its announcement of 18 May 2026.215 institutions in Q4 2025, 86 in 2017.
A Saudi CFD offer has to work without margin lending, since the CMIR bars credit linked to derivative contracts and margin transactions on them. We test the product against Arts. 44(a)(3) and 45(j) before any capital is committed.No credit or margin on derivatives.
How Saudi Arabia differs from other routes.
Dubai's DFSA and Abu Dhabi's FSRA license a market maker at USD 2 million of base capital, and Bahrain's CBB asks BD 1,000,000 of a Category 1 firm. The CMA asks SAR 50 million of paid-up capital and has 30 days to decide once a file is complete. The sharper difference is margin: the CMA bars it on derivatives, while ADGM's retail tiers run from 30:1 to 2:1 and Volume 4 of the CBB Rulebook sets no cap.
| Feature | Saudi Arabia | Other jurisdictions |
|---|---|---|
| Market-maker capital | SAR 50 million paid-up · CMIR Art. 6(g) | USD 2M DFSA Cat 2, FSRA Cat 2 · BD 1M CBB Cat 1 |
| Margin on CFDs | Barred · Arts. 44(a)(3), 45(j) | 30:1 to 2:1 ADGM retail · no cap in CBB Volume 4 |
| Decision period | 30 days from a complete file | 60 days by law Bahrain · no statutory period ADGM |
| Corporate tax | 20% foreign share · 2.5% zakat Saudi share | 9% · 0% qualifying DIFC · 9% above AED 375,000 ADGM · none stand-alone Bahrain (2026) |
| Country | License type | Taxation | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
Saudi Arabia | CMA Dealing · capital market institution | 20% foreign share · 2.5% zakat | SAR 50M paid-up, Saudi company, no margin on CFDs |
UAE · DIFC | DFSA Cat 3A/2 | 9% · 0% qualifying | US$500k-2M, common law |
Bahrain | CBB Category 1 investment firm | No CIT if stand-alone · 2027 draft announced | BD 1M capital, regulated controller |
Abu Dhabi · ADGM | FSRA permission (FSP) · Category 2 or 3A | 9% CIT above AED 375,000 | USD 500k-2M, retail needs a track record |
Saudi Arabia
UAE · DIFC
Bahrain
Abu Dhabi · ADGMForex licences in neighbouring jurisdictions
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Forex license requirements in Saudi Arabia: what the CMA checks.Saudi Arabia forex license requirements.
The CMA's 30 days start only once it holds every document it asked for, so most of the time goes into making the file complete.
Reflects the CMIR as amended on 22 July 2024, the SBR as amended on 12 August 2020 and the Glossary as amended on 2 March 2026, as of October 2026. The draft amendments of 18 May 2026 are tracked for a final text.CMIR, SBR and Glossary, as of October 2026.
Official sources
Regulator pages, legal texts and public registers the figures on this page are based on.
- LawCMA - Capital Market Institutions Regulations (amended 22/07/2024, English translation)cma.gov.sa
- LawCMA - Securities Business Regulations (amended 12/08/2020, English translation)cma.gov.sa
- LawCMA - Glossary of Defined Terms (amended 02/03/2026)cma.gov.sa
- RegulatorCMA - Public consultation on developing securities business activities, 18/05/2026cma.gov.sa
- RegisterCMA - Unlicensed Companies (Count = 614, modified 20/04/2026)cma.gov.sa
From the company structure to the CMA's decision and the first trade.
We test the CFD and FX product against the CMIR's bar on credit and margin for derivatives, then choose the company form, settle the shareholders and check whether the Ministry of Investment's authorisation applies.Product tested against Arts. 44-45.
Founders or controlling shareholders may file before the company exists (Art. 6(b)). The CMA may ask them to attend and answer questions, and each request for information is answered within 30 days (Art. 7(a)).Filed; questions answered in 30 days.
With the file complete, the CMA notifies the applicant and decides within 30 days: approval in whole or in part, with or without conditions, or refusal with reasons (Art. 7(c)). Until then the firm may not trade or hold itself out as authorised (Art. 7(f)); appeals go to the Committee (Art. 8).30 days once the file is complete.
Before trading, the firm meets the Annex 3.1 conditions (Art. 7(d)): manuals, contracts, business continuity, indemnity insurance, final incorporation documents and commercial registration, systems, offices and an Arabic website.Annex 3.1 conditions met first.
Registered persons are approved one by one, and the CMA aims to process each registration within 30 days (Art. 22(b)). The licence then runs for ten years and renews automatically.Registrations, then a ten-year licence.
The CMA's 30 days run from its notice that the file is complete, and the Annex 3.1 conditions come after approval. With the company, the registered persons and the systems built alongside the file, we plan for 9-12 months from the first filing to the first trade.
Run from our Riyadh office.

One of the four Art. 6(f) forms, with management and head office in the Kingdom and SAR 50 million paid up.Art. 6(f) form, head office in the Kingdom.
CEO, CFO, compliance officer and MLRO, resident in the Kingdom, through the CMA's qualification exams and kept in-house.Resident, examined, not outsourced.
The application, an answer to each CMA request within 30 days and attendance at the CMA when it asks.Requests answered within 30 days.
Manuals, systems, indemnity insurance, offices and an Arabic website, all in place before business starts.Manuals, systems, Arabic website.






Taxation of forex brokers in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi dealer pays income tax at 20% on the share held by non-Saudi owners and zakat at 2.5% on the Saudi and GCC share, and its dividends to non-resident shareholders bear 5% withholding.
Income tax falls on a resident company's profit attributable to its non-Saudi shareholders, at 20% of the tax base under Art. 7(a) of the Income Tax Law (Royal Decree M/1 of 15/1/1425H), as the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) applies it in its guidelines of May 2026. ZATCA lists brokering among taxable business.Income Tax Law Art. 7(a).
The share held by Saudi owners, and by owners treated as GCC citizens, pays zakat at 2.5% of the zakat base for the Hijri year (Implementing Regulations for Zakat Collection, Art. 3). A broker with mixed ownership pays both.On the Saudi and GCC share.
Profits a Saudi company distributes to non-resident shareholders bear 5% withholding under ZATCA's withholding guideline of May 2026, and profits a permanent establishment remits to related parties count as dividends (Implementing Regulations, Art. 63(6)). Treaty rates are confirmed per structure.Paid to non-resident shareholders.
The same guideline sets 20% on management fees, 15% on royalties and 5% on technical and consulting services paid to non-residents. A group that charges its Saudi dealer for services prices those rates in.20% on management fees abroad.
The standard VAT rate is 15%. How VAT treats dealing spreads and brokerage fees is confirmed per structure.Spreads and fees confirmed per structure.
Dividends a resident company receives from a resident or foreign company are exempt where it holds at least 10% for at least a year (ZATCA Simplified Guideline). A Saudi holding company above the dealer can use it.10% held for a year.
*As of 2026 per ZATCA's guidelines of May 2026 on income tax, withholding tax and regional headquarters, and its income tax page updated on 22 September 2026. Group and founder-level outcomes are modelled per structure.
Experienced lawyers and international consultants.
We provide end-to-end support, from company registration and the application file to regulatory interaction and compliance oversight - with an individualized approach to each client.
Builds the application itself: Saudi joint-stock company, AML/KYC policy pack, capital structure and tax registrations. His document sets are the reason reviews finish in months, not years.
First point of contact for international founders. Runs the whole setup remotely, across time zones and languages - from the first call to a live, licensed broker.
Active across our channels.
Get your forex license in Saudi Arabia with expert support.
Full-service assistance - from testing your product against the CMA's margin rules and choosing the company form to the CMA file, the registered persons and the conditions to meet before the first trade - run through our Riyadh office.
Get a consultation →Is Saudi Arabia the right fit for your project?
Our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.
Founders' questions on the CMA, Dealing and margin.
Does Saudi Arabia license forex brokers?+
On paper, yes, as securities business. CFDs are securities and derivatives in the CMA's Glossary, so dealing in them with or for anyone in the Kingdom needs CMA authorisation for Dealing, granted only to a company established in the Kingdom. The CMA's public line on forex is enforcement, and the CMIR bars credit and margin transactions on derivatives.
Can a Saudi dealer offer CFDs on margin?+
Not with credit or a margin loan. The CMIR bars lending or credit linked to derivative contracts (Art. 44(a)(3)) and any margin transaction on one (Art. 45(j)), that is, a loan the firm makes to the client for part of the cost. In our view that rules out leveraged CFDs; we confirm each product with the CMA before launch.
Can a foreign broker serve clients in Saudi Arabia from abroad?+
Not without CMA authorisation. Dealing with or for a person in the Kingdom is presumed to be securities business there (SBR Art. 4(b)(2)), internet adverts available in the Kingdom count unless aimed only at people outside it (Art. 19), and unlicensed business or advertising is an offence under Art. 60 of the Capital Market Law.
How long does a forex license in Saudi Arabia take?+
Saudi Arabia's CMA decides within 30 days of notifying the applicant that its file is complete (CMIR Art. 7(c)), and each request for information gets a 30-day answer. The Annex 3.1 conditions for starting business follow approval, so we plan for 9-12 months from the first filing to the first trade.
What does a forex license in Saudi Arabia cost?+
In Saudi Arabia the CMA asks for SAR 50 million of paid-up capital for Dealing (CMIR Art. 6(g)), though a consultation of 18 May 2026 proposes SAR 20 million as principal and SAR 10 million as agent. The CMA's application, licence and annual fees, indemnity cover and our fees are confirmed in the quote.
Who may own a Saudi dealer?+
The CMIR sets no nationality cap on shareholders; how far foreign owners can go turns on the Ministry of Investment's rules, which we confirm per case. The dealer must take one of four company forms established in the Kingdom, and no founder or controller may have been bankrupt in the past ten years.
Who counts as a retail client in Saudi Arabia?+
Any client who is neither qualified nor institutional (CMIR Art. 36). A natural person qualifies through tests such as net assets of at least SAR 5 million, three years in a securities-related role, or ten trades a quarter over twelve months totalling at least SAR 40 million; companies with net assets above SAR 50 million are institutional.
What is the CMA's stance on unlicensed forex?+
Enforcement. The CMA's list of unlicensed websites counted 614 on 20 April 2026, many of them forex brokers. A standing committee formed at the Royal Court's direction and chaired by the CMA set out in 2018 to curb unlicensed forex by not licensing the websites or companies working in it and by barring their advertising and sponsorship in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia or Bahrain for a Gulf CFD market maker?+
Bahrain, if the product needs margin: CBB Rulebook Volume 4 sets no leverage cap, a Category 1 firm needs BD 1,000,000 and a regulated financial institution among its controllers, and a stand-alone broker's 2026 profits go untaxed. Saudi Arabia is the licence for clients in the Kingdom, at SAR 50 million and without margin on derivatives.
Why Prifinance for Saudi Arabia?+
Because the CMIR bars credit and margin on derivatives, your product decides whether a Saudi dealer makes sense, and our Riyadh office tests it against Arts. 44(a)(3) and 45(j) before the company is formed. Once it passes, we build the CMA file and the registered persons around SAR 50 million of paid-up capital, with our Dubai office alongside.
A forex licence?+
CMA Dealing; CFDs are securities.
CFDs on margin?+
No; CMIR Arts. 44 and 45.
From abroad?+
Not without CMA authorisation.
How long?+
30 days at the CMA; 9-12 months planned.
Cost?+
SAR 50M capital; fees in the quote.
Foreign owners?+
No nationality cap in the CMIR.
Retail clients?+
Anyone not qualified or institutional.
CMA on forex?+
614 unlicensed websites listed.
Or Bahrain?+
Bahrain for margin; Saudi for the Kingdom.
Why you?+
Riyadh office, product tested first.
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One message away from your Saudi Arabia forex licence.
Get a free legal opinion on your project - our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.Free legal opinion: whether your product fits a CMA Dealing licence without margin on derivatives, and what it will cost.
Prifinance is an independent law and advisory firm. We are not a regulator and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) of Saudi Arabia or any other public authority. Authorisations are granted by, and obtained directly from, the competent authorities.