SCA Brokerage Licensing
UAE Mainland

The Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) is the federal regulator of onshore (mainland) UAE securities and commodities markets, supervising the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) under the federal civil-law system. The SCA was renamed and succeeded by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) effective 1 January 2026; references to the SCA should now be read as the CMA. The DIFC and ADGM free zones sit outside this jurisdiction.

The onshore regime licenses discrete activities, each requiring its own licence: dealing in securities (trading broker), dealing as principal, keeping/clearing/registration (custody and clearing), and arrangement and advice. For brokerage, the relevant types include Trading Broker, Trading and Clearing Broker, Dealing as Principal, custody, clearing, management of investments, and advisory activities.

Capital varies significantly by activity and should be confirmed with the CMA, as figures differ across advisers. Indicative published SCA figures include roughly AED 5,000,000 for dealing as principal, AED 2,000,000 for dealing as broker, AED 10,000,000 for clearing, AED 3,000,000 for custody, and AED 500,000 for advisory/arrangement activities. Bank-guarantee obligations may also apply — treat these as indicative and verify the current requirement.

A licensee needs a physical registered office in the UAE with appropriate infrastructure and must appoint a Compliance Officer at management level plus a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) under UAE AML law. Key roles are subject to fit-and-proper assessment and regulator approval, and licensees must submit periodic AML/CFT compliance reports.

Realistically a minimum of around six months, varying by activity category. The process covers document preparation, submission, fee payment, compliance implementation (office, key staff, capital) and post-licensing obligations. Because the onshore regime is less transparent than the DFSA and FSRA rulebooks, budget extra time during the transition to the new CMA framework.

The decisive advantage is direct access to the onshore UAE markets — the DFM and ADX — and the ability to serve UAE local and retail clients directly, which free-zone licences do not provide. The trade-off is the federal civil-law system rather than the common-law frameworks and independent courts of the DIFC and ADGM, and a less transparent published-requirements regime. Choose the mainland when onshore-market access and a domestic client base are the priority.