ICM.com Strengthens Its Presence In The Middle East With A Second UAE License
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ICM.com, a UK-based global financial service provider that offers access to a variety of trading products, made another step on the road to expansion. This time, the company managed to obtain its second United Arab Emirates (UAE) license, which will further strengthen its position in the Middle East.
The move comes only about a year after the firm decided to exit the UK, and focus on other markets. It announced earlier today that its subsidiary, ICM MENA, obtained the license from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), the financial authority of Dubai.
The license is a big win for the company, as it will allow the ICM.com brand to provide promotional and industry services across the entire UAE.
Commenting on this achievement, ICM.com’s CEO, Shoaib Abedi, stated that Dubai’s financial ecosystem is among the most attractive in the world and that receiving this regulatory approval will allow the firm to reach out to a massive client base in the area. He also noted that receiving the license was a part of the broker’s global expansion strategy.
As part of the same strategy, the firm was also regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and it secured the Seychelles license in November 2024. Other than that, the firm is also regulated and currently operates in several more jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Mauritius, and South Africa.
CFT Brokers Are Rushing To Get Dubai’s SCA License
As mentioned, the company has been making an effort to distance itself from the UK after it opted to relinquish its authorization from the UK’s FCA last year. It has already applied to cancel the license, but the cancellation has not yet been finalized as of March 2025.
In the meantime, the UK unit of the company is still onboarding new clients, although it only allows professional clients at this time.
Right now, its goal is to focus on Dubai, which has grown to become a very attractive destination for many CFD brokers, such as the Poland-based XTB. The broker opened a new Dubai office only a few months after it obtained the SCA license. Other than XTB, Plus500 is another example of a major brokerage giant that has entered the UAE market, mostly in a similar way.
These are only the top examples, with many more pursuing or securing the license recently, including INGOT Brokers, CPT Markets, STARTRADER, and others.
