Licensed investment firms and brokers in Bahrain

Who supervises trading in Bahrain

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is the single regulator for Bahrain's financial sector: banks, insurance, investment business firms and capital markets. Its licensing directory lists each licensee by category.

Investment Business Firms are licensed in categories. Category 1 and Category 2 are the categories for firms that deal in or broker investments; Category 3 and 4 firms are mainly advisory and arranging firms and are not listed here. A licence is not an endorsement of the firm or its products.

What the CBB directory shows

For each firm the directory shows the legal name, country of incorporation, date of establishment, remarks such as Islamic principles or under liquidation, and contact details. It does not publish a licence number on the directory, and it does not show a separate forex or CFD label.

CFI Financial (Bahrain) appears in Category 2; the same group's UAE licences are on its Invvex broker page.

How to check a firm yourself, in two steps

1. Open the regulator's own register (cbb.gov.bh, link in the source column) and search for the exact legal name of the firm, not its brand or app name. Confirm the activity you need appears against that name and the status is not suspended, cancelled or under liquidation.

2. Compare that legal name with the one on the account-opening documents, the client agreement and the bank account you are asked to pay into. If the website, the contract and the register do not show the same legal entity, do not deposit.

The risks of unlicensed firms

An unlicensed firm is outside the regulator's supervision: there is no check on how it holds your money, no obligation to execute your orders fairly, and usually no complaint route that can force it to pay you back. Common signs are promises of guaranteed or fixed returns, pressure to deposit quickly, "account managers" who trade for you, requests to pay a personal or third-country bank account, and withdrawal "fees" demanded before you can take money out.

The regulator publishes a list of entities it has warned about or that are not licensed; check it as well (cbb.gov.bh, Unlicensed Financial Services).

Licensed firms in the official register

36 firms. Taken from the official register as published on 2026-11-05, in the register's order, with no preference implied. Always re-check the register itself before opening an account.

Regulator's list of unlicensed entities ↗

What to check before opening an account

Which legal entity will hold your account, and in which country it is licensed. A group can have a licensed company in one country and serve you from another entity elsewhere, under different rules and different protections.

What you are actually trading: listed shares, or leveraged products such as CFDs and forex. Ask which licensed activity covers that product. Check the full cost (spread, commission, overnight swap), the leverage, how margin calls and stop-outs work, how client money is held, and how withdrawals are processed and how long they take.

Where complaints go. Note the regulator's complaints channel before you need it.

Frequently asked questions

Risk warning: CFDs and leveraged trading are high-risk. This content is educational, not investment advice.