Pepperstone Dubai Office still in the Works
Pepperstone, who many know as one of the very early adopters of the cTrader platform is in the process of launching a branch in Dubai. Pepperstone already has an office and licenses in Australia and the UK. This move comes at a time of regulatory uncertainty as authorities are flexing product intervention powers. Many of the largest brokers in the industry are heavily reliant on the European and Australian market, both of which are looking like a dead end. This is causing many brokers to take a proactive and strategic approach to where they will operate their companies, subsidiaries and representative offices from. The plan to launch a Pepperstone Dubai subsidiary pans out, the group will boast yet another high profile license.
Pepperstone Dubai Awaiting Authorization
The subsidiary Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited has been registered. However, the registration status of the regulatory application is ‘Pending DFSA Authorization.’ If the license is approved by the Dubai Financial Services Authority it will allow the company to provide forex and CFD trading products to clients not just to the UAE market, but also to expand the offering to the other GCC states. This means Pepperstone can onboard clients from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and North Africa. Usually brokers onboard clients from countries outside of their regulator’s jurisdiction. This is not ideal, but neither is getting authorization in each individual teritory.
Why is Pepperstone Getting a Dubai Forex License?
Naturally, many brokers are naturally interested in getting a license from the DFSA in order to offer forex trading in the UAE and other GCC countries. The European, Australian and Chinese markets are under threat from government interference. Africa and South America are underdeveloped. The USA is pretty much off-limits. The Gulf is pretty much the only market that can result in a payday for brokers. Dubai and other regions in the Gulf are highly populated by high net worth individuals. It’s rumoured that getting a license from the DFSA is quite a difficult task. This is probably why so few brokers are regulated there. You would expect that for a well-reputed and well-managed forex broker like Pepperstone the license would be easy to acquire. We will see in the near future if Pepperstone is able to get the license and how long it takes them.