Following its acquisition last year of a South Africa FSCA license via its purchase of Frida Asset Managers, Australia based Retail FX and CFDs broker Mitrade has announced that it has secured a Category 5 (Introduction and Promotion) license from the UAE Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

Mitrade said that the UAE represents a significant retail trading market in the region, supported by a large expatriate population and growing participation in financial markets. With the CMA license, Mitrade now provides access to CFDs on forex, commodities, indices, shares, ETFs and more within a regulated framework.

A UAE CMA (formerly SCA) license has become the most sought-after in the FX and CFDs world over the past year, as many brokers and liquidity firms are seeking to expand in the country and in the MENA region in general. Other recently granted UAE licensees include Empire Markets (FXEM), PU Prime, INFINOX, Prima Capital, Finalto, Pepperstone, XM, XS.com, Neex, Tradeview, Eightcap, EC Markets, CPT Markets, VPFX, Rostro Group, and STARTRADER.

Interestingly, the UAE regulator now includes something of a warning notice on the pages of brokers which hold a Category 5 license, and not a full Category 1 brokerage license. The notice reads as follows:

The company currently displaying its page is not licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to conduct brokerage activities in financial derivatives contracts, unregulated commodity contracts, or spot foreign exchange (Spot FX) trading.

The company holds only a Category 5 license, which may be limited to introducing services or providing financial advisory services, and possibly other permitted activities. However, this license does not in any way authorize the company to conduct trading operations, manage portfolios, or execute clients’ orders in relation to trading activities in financial derivatives contracts, unregulated commodity contracts, or spot foreign exchange (Spot FX).

Kevin Lai, Vice President of Mitrade Group said,

“CFDs let traders respond to volatility without owning the underlying asset — that flexibility matters when markets are moving this fast. Mitrade is built for speed, reliability, and the ability to trade from anywhere, which is exactly what turbulent markets demand.”

About Mitrade

Australia based Mitrade is a CFD trading platform founded in Melbourne, trusted by 6M+ traders worldwide. It operates several regulated subsidiaries including in Australia (ASIC AFSL 398528), Cyprus (CySEC CIF 438/23), UAE (CMA 20200000397), and South Africa (FSP 54842) as well as offshore entities in the Cayman Islands and Mauritius. Focusing mainly on traders in the Far East, Mitrade is controlled by Singapore based Chinese national Shifei Chen.