Licensed trading companies and brokers in Kuwait

Who supervises trading in Kuwait

Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority (CMA) licenses and supervises securities activities: brokerage, portfolio and fund management, custody, investment advice and related activities. Its list of licensed companies shows each firm and the activities it is licensed for.

A licence means the firm may carry out the activities listed against its name under CMA rules. It is not an endorsement of the firm or its products.

What the CMA list shows

The CMA list has 75 licensed companies. Below are the 36 that hold a securities broker activity, either registered with the exchange (Boursa Kuwait) or not registered with it, together with their other listed activities. The list is published in Arabic, so firm names appear as the CMA writes them. It does not publish licence numbers, and it does not show a separate forex or CFD activity.

How to check a firm yourself, in two steps

1. Open the regulator's own register (cma.gov.kw, 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 (cma.gov.kw, Local and Gulf Unlicensed Entities).

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.