FP Markets GCC review

Want our global review instead? Read it here.

This is a deep dive into FP (First Prudential) Markets for traders from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region. FP Markets is an Australian CFD and forex broker founded in 2005 and headquartered in Sydney. The platform is available in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with other GCC countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar being on the restricted list.

They are a part of a group of companies with 60+ global industry awards and serve clients globally, with thousands of products available in global markets.

In a nutshell, FP Markets is a solid choice for GCC traders looking for competitive spreads, fast execution, and access to popular platforms like MT4, MT5, and cTrader across 1000+ CFD products. On the downside, it does not offer real share trading for international clients, and GCC traders will be under the Seychelles (FSA) regulatory entity, which offers less statutory protection than some other regulatory entities.

In this review, we have compiled the most important things you need to know before opening an account.

Pros and cons

Who FP Markets is for (and who should skip it)

Fees

FP Markets uses two main account types (Standard and Raw), which determine your trading fees and spreads. You can find their full list of live spreads here. What’s identical for both account types is that FP Markets does not charge deposit, inactivity fees, or platform fees for GCC clients.

As you can see, for many of the trading products, the fees are already built into the spread. We will highlight some of the most common forex spreads in the following table.

For equity and ETF CFDs on the MT5 and cTrader platforms, the fees are fixed and as follows for both Standard and Raw accounts.

Withdrawal fees do exist for some of the withdrawal options, and are as follows.

Which account fits you?

• Standard – better for swing traders holding positions for days. No commission, wider spreads.
• Raw – better for scalpers and day traders. It has tight spreads and commission on each side.

Swap fees also apply to all positions held overnight at 5 pm New York time, with FP Markets tripling the rollover rates on Wednesday (or Friday) nights since it cannot charge overnight fees on weekends.

Islamic accounts replace swaps with a flat admin fee that only kicks in after a 0–5 night grace period, depending on the instrument. Example: EUR/USD and GBP/USD have 5 nights free, then $6 and $3 per lot per night, respectively. If you close inside 5 days on those pairs, you pay zero swap and zero admin fee.

How does this stack up?

Raw spreads are competitive but not class-leading. IC Markets typically shows tighter Raw EUR/USD spreads in live testing, and Fusion Markets undercuts the $2.25/side commission ($4.50 round-turn at FP Markets vs. $4.50 at Fusion on the equivalent account). FP Markets’ edge isn’t price – it’s the combination of all four major platforms, tier-1 parent regulation, and stronger support infrastructure.

Products & markets: what you can and can’t trade

FP Markets is an exclusively CFD broker, including CFDs on forex, shares, indices, commodities, metals, crypto, and ETFs. You can not, however, trade with regular shares or other asset classes such as bonds.

GCC traders have a choice of over 60+ currency pairs, offering all the major ones (USD/EUR, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, etc.), along with some minor and exotic ones, including currencies such as ZAR, MXN, SGD, TRY, or CNH.

Saudi and UAE currencies (SAR and AED) are unfortunately not on the list of tradable currency pairs or base currencies you can hold in your account.

Max leverage by instrument in GCC countries (Seychelles FSA regulatory entity)

Trading platforms

One of the biggest advantages of using FP Markets is the access to four mainstream trading platforms, including MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader, and TradingView. All of these include web, mobile, and desktop versions.

MetaTrader WebTrader is also available, making it possible to trade directly from the browser, without having to download trading software.

Forex VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting can also be used to host your MT4, MT5, or cTrader platforms. Located at the same data centers (Equinix NY4 and LD5) as their trading servers, it provides a meaningful latency advantage for 24/5 traders. Their VPS plans can be seen here.

You can access FP Markets through both web and mobile-based applications. The proprietary web platform is functional but visibly dated. The mobile app looks modern but is feature-limited (account management, transfers, basic tools). Serious trading happens on the MT4/5, cTrader, or TradingView.

Both applications offer additional security layers, such as a PIN in the web app or biometric login (fingerprint) on the mobile app.

Is FP Markets safe? The honest answer for GCC clients

This is the section most review sites skim. Here’s what actually protects you.

Your safety snapshot (Seychelles FSA entity)

If FP Markets went bust tomorrow, your GCC account would fall under the Seychelles FSA, which does not run a statutory investor compensation scheme comparable to the EU’s €20,000 ICS, the UK’s £85,000 FSCS, or Australia’s AFCA coverage. Client funds are held in segregated accounts at third-party banks, which helps, but segregation is not the same as a compensation guarantee.

Why aren’t GCC clients under ASIC? Because the ASIC-regulated Australian entity can legally only onboard Australian residents. Most CFD brokers route non-AU, non-EU retail clients to offshore subsidiaries to offer the higher leverage that Tier-1 regulators cap at 1:30.

Regulator tiers:

• Tier 1 (strongest): ASIC (AU), CySEC (EU)
• Tier 2: FSCA (South Africa) 
• Tier 3 (offshore): Seychelles FSA, CMA (Kenya), Belize FSC

You keep negative balance protection – you cannot lose more than you deposit – but you do not get the statutory compensation safety net you’d have at a Tier-1 regulated broker.

Account types

FP Markets offers two base account types: the Standard and the Raw account, with their main differences seen here. There are also managed PAMM/MAM accounts and swap-free Islamic accounts. Demo account is free to open and test for 30 days.

Islamic accounts replace overnight swap charges with a fixed administration fee, in keeping with Sharia law’s prohibition on riba (interest). To open an Islamic account with FP Markets you are required to email [email protected] with proof of faith after account opening. You can choose MT4, MT5, or cTrader inside the Islamic account wrapper. 

PAMM/MAM accounts are for experienced managers running capital for others – MAM allows different lot sizes per sub-account, PAMM splits P&L by pool allocation percentage.

Account opening

What to expect:

Singapore-based traders get SGD as both a base currency and a tradable pair – against USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CHF, NZD, plus gold (XAU/SGD) and silver (XAG/SGD). This is rare among international CFD brokers.

User reviews and support

• Trustpilot: 4.8 / 5 across 10,000+ reviews
• TradingView: 4.1 / 5 across 2,000+ reviews
• Common praise: execution speed, customer support, low spreads
• Common complaints: withdrawal friction, account terminations, occasional platform glitches

Support runs 24/7 via live chat, email, and phone in English, Arabic, and many other languages. In our testing, email response times were fast (under 2 hours during business hours), and answers were substantive rather than copy-paste.

Bottom line

FP Markets is a legitimate, well-established CFD broker with one of the strongest platform line-ups in the industry and genuinely competitive raw spreads. For an active forex or CFD trader in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates – someone who wants high leverage, professional tooling, and a broker with a Tier-1 regulated parent – it’s a real option worth shortlisting.

Go in with eyes open on three things:

1. You are a Seychelles FSA client, not an ASIC or CySEC client. Your statutory protection is limited to segregation and negative balance protection – no compensation scheme behind them.
2. No real shares, ETFs, or bonds. If you want long-term investing in underlying assets, FP Markets is the wrong door.
3. Raw spreads are competitive, not best-in-class. IC Markets and Fusion Markets can beat them on pure execution cost. FP Markets wins on the bundle – platforms + support + tier-1 parent oversight – not on any single number.

If any of those three matter more than the trade-off you’re getting, compare FP Markets against alternatives before opening an account. If the bundle fits your profile, it’s a solid pick.