The GCC stands for the Gulf Cooperation Council, and it consists of the countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. Forex and CFD trading popularity have been growing significantly in the GCC region in recent years, as more investors and traders look for alternative investment instruments. This is particularly true within the UAE, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi being major forex and CFD trading hubs.
While there are many global brokers looking to establish offices and operations in the UAE to cater to regional traders, one broker that originates from the country is ADSS, or ADS Securities.
In this review, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the broker ADSS and its presence in the GCC region. We will also explore the products that the broker offers, the account tiers available, and the efficiency and user experience of their trading platforms. If you are looking to start trading CFDs within the region, you can consider the broker when you have read up on this review. To learn more, you can also venture to read a detailed review here about the broker.
Who is ADSS?
ADSS, or ADS Securities, is a broker that is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. Established in Abu Dhabi, the broker stands out from the investment broker landscape due to its familiarity with the local market. While it also serves English speaking users, the website is available in Arabic, as are their resources, which proves to be invaluable for locals and expats alike.
ADSS was established in 2010. Emirati born and bred, the broker is proud of their heritage and partners with the Central Bank of the UAE to be the only broker to offer UAEPGS. (UAEPGS is a fast and secure way for clients to fund their accounts, but more on this later.) The broker offers multi-asset derivatives trading via CFDs, spot forex, and provides trading experiences for institutional corporate, and retail clients.
ADSS is regulated by the SCA (Securities and Commodities Authority) in the UAE and have offices locally in the country.
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Products offered by ADSS
ADSS is regulated by the SCA to provide market access for spot forex and CFD traders. Their CFDs include forex, equities, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Taking a closer look at each one:
Spot forex and forex CFDs
ADSS offers the possibility of trading spot forex and forex CFDs. There are over 60 FX pairs available, including major, minor, and exotic currencies. Forex traders can speculate on price movements of currency pairs with leverage of up to 500:1.
Equity CFDs
CFDs on equities are also offered and available for trading with leverage of up to 20:1. It is worth noting here that ADSS, as a local broker, offers a variety of GCC stocks that can prove to be valuable diversification tools in a portfolio. With those, they also have a good selection of global stocks, which includes the most popular ones around the world (Amazon, Apple, Tesla, etc.) and some smaller stocks from exchanges around the world.
Index CFDs
Index CFD trading is standard, with leverage of up to 333:1. ADSS provides access to some of the largest global exchanges, and the indices available include the US Tech 100, the US 2000, the Nikkei 225, the Hang Seng Index, the US 30, the DAX, and more.
Commodity CFDs
A range of commodities are available for CFD trading, which includes metals, energy products, and agricultural products. Traders can use leverage of up to 200:1 when trading commodity CFDs, and they can trade commodities per whole tick. However, leverage varies quite a lot depending on the commodity, and naturally, it is advisable for CFD traders to review the exact product information before participating in trading.
Crypto CFDs
ADSS offers four cryptocurrencies for CFD trading – including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash, with leverage of up to 4:1. The selection of cryptocurrencies is a bit smaller than expected, but ADSS appears to focus on equities and forex as their main products, with their main draw being market access to GCC region equities.
Trading accounts available
ADSS offers 3 accounts: Classic, Elite, and Pro.
Classic accounts have a minimum deposit requirement of 100 USD, Elite 100,000 USD, and Pro also at 100,000. This is a good selection, and frankly, it is quite a low barrier for entry for retail traders. Institutional and professional traders may opt for the Elite account tiers, which will offer them lower spreads of 25% or more. Elite and Pro traders also access a multi-base currency account and have dedicated a senior manager and/or sales trader.
As mentioned, the good thing about using ADSS to trade in the UAE is that it has partnered with the Central Bank of the UAE and offers UAEPGS. UAEPGS is a national e-commerce platform, and it facilitates quick and secure payment from payers. As far as I know, they are the only brokerage in the UAE to offer this. They also offer UAE Pass that allows UAE traders to quickly create an account with them, which is an added benefit if you are local.
If you’re outside of the UAE or not a UAE resident, there are other easy ways for clients to fund their accounts – with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Neteller, and Skrill.
Experience of ADSS’ trading platforms
ADSS provides their traders with access to two platforms: MT4 and their proprietary solution, the ADSS platform.
While MT4 is an industry-favourite and requires little to no explanation on its user functionality, I should mention that the integration with an ADSS trading account is seamless. There are plenty of advanced charting options, including a highly customisable layout and navigational interface.
One thing I would mention is that the MT4 platform (through trading with ADSS) does not offer cryptocurrency speculation – that is available only on the ADSS platform, so it is something to take note of if you are planning to trade crypto CFDs with the broker and need to select a trading platform.
The ADSS platform is the broker’s proprietary solution, and traders can trade CFDs on FX, indices, shares, commodities, and more on it, including crypto. From my experience, there is an intuitive interface, with customisable options on where to place modules. Charting comes with multiple timeframes, and I could tap and hold or pinch and zoom to see more data, while also adding the indicators that I needed or change my charting view from line to bar and other modes.
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My verdict
Overall, I would say that ADSS offers a reliable and efficient platform, and they provide a wide range of instruments that may particularly be beneficial for GCC traders – or those within the UAE in particular. Having traded with them for more than a year, I have been enjoying my experience and their resources include market updates and educational articles and videos – which I have been accessing as well.
If you are looking for a broker that offers access to GCC equity CFD trading and more, this may be the perfect one for you.
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