Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025
We’ve personally tested and ranked the top brokers regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kenya.
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1IC Markets is a renowned forex and CFD broker recognized for its high-quality pricing, extensive range of trading tools, and superior trading technology. Established in 2007 in Australia, it operates under the oversight of ASIC, CySEC, and FSA. It has drawn in over 180,000 traders from across 200 countries.
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2Established in 2008, Exness is a respected broker known for offering over 40 account currencies, a wide choice of CFD instruments, and an intuitive web platform with features like currency converters and trading calculators.
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3Pepperstone, established in Australia in 2010, is a highly-regarded forex and CFD broker serving more than 400,000 international clients. It provides access to over 1,300 instruments through leading trading platforms such as MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView, while keeping fees relatively low and transparent. The company is regulated by known authorities including FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, offering a safe trading environment for all.
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4FP Markets, founded in 2005 in Australia, is a trading broker regulated by ASIC and CySEC, offering a wide variety of tradable assets. It provides Standard and Raw accounts suitable for all types of traders. It also offers comprehensive trading tools, including the MetaTrader suite and TradingView along with useful trading suggestions from Trading Central and AutoChartist.
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5Admirals is a regulated broker that allows trading in a variety of leveraged instruments such as forex, stocks, indices, ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. It offers the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and TradingCentral platforms. Offering both spread betting and CFDs, and with thousands of instruments to choose from, Admirals offers greater flexibility compared to other brokers.
Compare Brokers
| Broker |  |
USD Account |
Demo Account |
Minimum Deposit |
Minimum Trade |
Leverage |
Copy Trading |
Regulator |
Instruments |
Platforms |
Account Currencies |
Automated Trading |
AI |
Guaranteed Stop Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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✓ | ✓ | $200 | 0.01 Lots | 1:30 (ASIC & CySEC), 1:500 (FSA), 1:1000 (Global) | ✓ | ASIC, CySEC, FSA, CMA | CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, Futures, Crypto | MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, TradingCentral, DupliTrade, Quantower | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, cBots on cTrader, Myfxbook AutoTrade | ✗ | ✗ | |
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✓ | ✓ | $10 | 0.01 Lots | 1:Unlimited | ✓ | CySEC, FCA, FSCA, CMA, FSA, CBCS, BVIFSC, FSC, JSC | CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Crypto | Exness Trade App, Exness Terminal, MT4, MT5, TradingCentral | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, INR, JPY, ZAR, MYR, IDR, DKK, CHF, HKD, SGD, AED, SAR, HUF, BRL, NGN, THB, VND, UAH, KWD, QAR, KRW, MXN, KES, CNY | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✗ | ✗ | |
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✓ | ✓ | $0 | 0.01 Lots | 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) | ✓ | FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, CMA, BaFin, SCB | CFDs, Forex, Currency Indices, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Crypto (only Pro clients), Spread Betting | MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, AutoChartist, DupliTrade, Quantower | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✓ | ✗ | |
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✓ | ✓ | $40 | 0.01 Lots | 1:30 (UK), 1:500 (Global) | ✓ | ASIC, CySEC, FSA, CMA | CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, Crypto | Iress, MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, AutoChartist, TradingCentral | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✗ | ✗ | |
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✓ | ✓ | $100 | 0.01 Lots | 1:30 (EU), 1:500 (Global) | ✗ | FCA, CySEC, ASIC, JSC, CMA, CIRO, AFM | Forex, CFDs, indices, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, bonds, spread betting | MT4, MT5, TradingCentral | USD, EUR, GBP, SEK, CHF, CZK | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Broker | |
USD Account |
Demo Account |
Minimum Deposit |
Minimum Trade |
Leverage |
Copy Trading |
Regulator |
Instruments |
Platforms |
Account Currencies |
Automated Trading |
AI |
Guaranteed Stop Loss |
Safety Comparison
Compare how safe the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025 are.
| Broker | Trust Rating |
Guaranteed Stop Loss |
Negative Balance Protection |
Segregated Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Broker | Trust Rating |
Guaranteed Stop Loss |
Negative Balance Protection |
Segregated Accounts |
Mobile Trading Comparison
Compare the mobile trading features of the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025.
| Broker | Mobile Apps |
iOS Rating |
Android Rating |
Smart Watch App |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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iOS & Android | ✗ | ||
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iOS & Android | ✗ | ||
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iOS & Android | ✗ | ||
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iOS & Android | ✗ | ||
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✓ | ✗ | ||
| Broker | Mobile Apps |
iOS Rating |
Android Rating |
Smart Watch App |
Comparison for Beginners
Compare how suitable the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025 are for beginners.
| Broker | Demo Account |
Minimum Deposit |
Minimum Trade |
Education Rating |
Support Rating |
Fractional Shares |
Demo Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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✓ | $200 | 0.01 Lots | ✗ | ✗ | ||
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✓ | $10 | 0.01 Lots | ✗ | ✗ | ||
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✓ | $0 | 0.01 Lots | ✗ | ✗ | ||
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✓ | $40 | 0.01 Lots | ✗ | ✗ | ||
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✓ | $100 | 0.01 Lots | ✓ | ✗ | ||
| Broker | Demo Account |
Minimum Deposit |
Minimum Trade |
Education Rating |
Support Rating |
Fractional Shares |
Demo Competitions |
Comparison for Advanced Traders
Compare how suitable the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025 are for advanced or professional traders.
| Broker | Automated Trading |
VPS |
API |
AI |
Pro Account |
Leverage |
Low Latency |
Extended Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, cBots on cTrader, Myfxbook AutoTrade | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 1:30 (ASIC & CySEC), 1:500 (FSA), 1:1000 (Global) | ✓ | ✗ |
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Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | 1:Unlimited | ✓ | ✗ |
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Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) | ✓ | ✗ |
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Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | 1:30 (UK), 1:500 (Global) | ✓ | ✗ |
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Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | 1:30 (EU), 1:500 (Global) | ✗ | ✗ |
| Broker | Automated Trading |
VPS |
API |
AI |
Pro Account |
Leverage |
Low Latency |
Extended Hours |
Accounts Comparison
Compare the trading accounts offered by Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025.
| Broker | Demo Account |
Interest on Cash |
Islamic Account |
Joint Account |
Managed Account |
PAMM |
MAM |
LAMM |
Pro Account |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
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✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
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✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
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✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
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✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Broker | Demo Account |
Interest on Cash |
Islamic Account |
Joint Account |
Managed Account |
PAMM |
MAM |
LAMM |
Pro Account |
Detailed Rating Comparison
Compare how we rated the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025 in key areas.
| Broker | Trust |
Platforms |
Assets |
Mobile |
Fees |
Accounts |
Research |
Education |
Support |
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| Broker | Trust |
Platforms |
Assets |
Mobile |
Fees |
Accounts |
Research |
Education |
Support |
Fee and Cost Comparison
Compare the cost of trading with the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025.
| Broker | Cost Rating |
Fixed Spreads |
Inactivity Fee |
CFD Stocks Spread |
EUR/USD Spread |
Crypto Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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✗ | $0 | 0.02 | 0.02 | BTC 42.036 | |
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✗ | $0 | 0.5 (Apple Inc.) | 0.0 | Floating | |
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✓ | $0 | 0.02 | 0.1 | BTC 30, ETH 0 | |
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✗ | $0 | Variable | 0.1 | 17.3 (Bitcoin) | |
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✗ | $10 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1% | |
| Broker | Cost Rating |
Fixed Spreads |
Inactivity Fee |
CFD Stocks Spread |
EUR/USD Spread |
Crypto Spread |
Broker Popularity
See how popular the Best Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Regulated Brokers 2025 are in terms of number of clients.
| Broker | Popularity |
|---|---|
| Exness |
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| Pepperstone |
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| IC Markets |
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| Admiral Markets |
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| FP Markets |
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Why Trade With IC Markets?
IC Markets provides excellent prices, quick execution, and smooth deposits. The utilization of sophisticated charting platforms such as TradingView and the Raw Trader Plus account makes it a preferred choice for intermediate to advanced traders.
Pros
- You can trade more than 2,250 CFDs in various markets, such as forex, commodities, indices, stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. This range enables varied trading strategies.
- IC Markets provides reliable 24/5 support, especially for account and funding matters, based on direct experience.
- IC Markets, a well-regulated and respected broker, emphasizes client security and transparency for a trustworthy global trading experience.
Cons
- Some withdrawal methods require fees such as a $20 wire charge. This can reduce profits, particularly for traders who withdraw frequently.
- The range and quality of educational materials, such as tutorials and webinars, require improvement. This lag falls behind competitors like CMC Markets and reduces its suitability for novice traders.
- Despite having four top-tier third-party platforms, there is no in-house software or trading app specifically designed for new traders.
Why Trade With Exness?
Exness is an excellent choice for active forex traders aiming to reduce costs after lowering spreads, enhancing execution speeds, and offering trading on over 100 currency pairs with more than 40 account currencies.
Pros
- Fast and reliable 24/7 multilingual customer support through phone, email, and live chat, validated by practical tests.
- Exness was the first brokerage to reach monthly trading volumes of $1 trillion and $2 trillion, demonstrating its credibility.
- Exness Terminal provides an easy experience for beginners with interactive charts, and creating watchlists is simple.
Cons
- Retail trading services are not available in some areas, such as the US and UK, which limits access compared to leading brokers like Interactive Brokers.
- Besides a mediocre blog, educational resources are lacking, especially compared to category leaders like IG, which offer a more comprehensive trading journey for new traders.
- MetaTrader 4 and 5 are supported, but TradingView and cTrader are not available yet, despite increasing demand from traders and their integration with other platforms like Pepperstone.
Why Trade With Pepperstone?
Pepperstone is a leading choice for trading with low spreads, quick execution, and advanced charting for experienced traders. New traders benefit from no minimum deposit, a wealth of educational resources, and 24/7 support. Operating under ASIC regulation, Pepperstone is a top option for Australian traders and won DayTrading.com's 'Best Aus Broker' award for 2025.
Pros
- Pepperstone has won several annual DayTrading.com awards, including 'Best Overall Broker' in 2025 and 'Best Forex Broker' runner-up in 2025.
- Pepperstone is a low-cost broker, ideal for serious traders. The Razor account offers spreads from 0.0, with rebates up to 30% for indices and commodities, and $3 per lot for forex through the Active Trader program.
- Support for numerous top-charting platforms such as MT4, MT5, TradingView, and cTrader. These cater to different short-term trading styles, including algorithmic trading.
Cons
- Pepperstone's demo accounts last for 30 days. This might be insufficient for learning the various platforms and testing trading strategies.
- Pepperstone does not support cTrader Copy, a popular feature in the cTrader platform available at alternatives like IC Markets, though it has launched an intuitive copy trading app.
- Despite market improvements, the crypto options provided are fewer compared to other brokers like eToro, with no chance to buy actual coins.
Why Trade With FP Markets?
FP Markets offers a great combination of reasonable pricing and quality services for traders. They maintain affordable trading costs, along with growing their investment options, analytical tools, and research capabilities. Additionally, they provide top-notch support for urgent trading concerns.
Pros
- FP Markets uses advanced tools from Trading Central and Autochartist. These tools assist traders in spotting short-term trading possibilities using patterns, indicators, and other technical elements on charts.
- FP Markets offers a smooth sign-up process, notable for accepting cryptocurrency and more than 10 base currencies. It is suitable for traders worldwide.
- FP Markets provides an excellent range of assets for trading, including a variety of commodities and more than 10,000 stocks.
Cons
- FP Markets, with 130 available trading options in their MT4 Trader's Toolbox, doesn't match the top MetaTrader brokers, particularly when compared to Pepperstone's 1,300 assets. This may limit opportunities for dedicated traders.
- The Iress platform from FP Markets is exclusively for Australian clients. It mainly focuses on stock trading more than forex trading. Data costs can quickly add up if you're not an active trader or if you don't have a high-end account.
- Traders Hub offers comprehensive research including Daily Report, Technical Report, Market Insights, and Fundamental Analysis. However, it needs to broaden its daily content and keep its forex news up to date to rival top platforms like IG.
Why Trade With Admiral Markets?
Admirals is a suitable choice for beginner to intermediate traders seeking a reliable, regulated broker. It offers a broad variety of markets, tight spreads, and no commission.
Pros
- Low minimum deposit from $100
- Integration of MetaTrader 4 platform and app for traders.
- Beginners may find the low initial deposit, partial shares, and simple three-step sign-up procedure for trading appealing.
Cons
- Monthly inactivity fee
- The demo account is valid for 30 days.
- US traders not accepted
Filters
Understanding the Role of Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA)
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kenya was created in 1989 to keep the financial markets fair, safe, and efficient. They work under the National Treasury and aim to protect traders by overseeing various trading brokers and ensuring they follow the rules.
Recently, more brokers, like IC Markets and Pepperstone, are being authorized by the CMA as Kenya becomes a key spot for forex and CFD trading in Africa. We classify the CMA as providing “strong investor protection,” but it’s not as strong as the top regulators globally.
Choosing a CMA-Regulated Broker
To find the best brokers regulated by the CMA, our team followed a rigorous process:
– We looked at a directory of brokers claiming CMA regulation.
– We verified their credentials against the CMA’s official list.
– We ranked them by combining over 100 data points and feedback from our testers.
How to Verify a CMA-Regulated Broker
It’s easy to see if a broker is approved by the CMA:
- Visit the CMA’s List of Licensees online.
- Drop down the section titled ‘NON-DEALING ONLINE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BROKER.’
- Find details of regulated brokers, including their official and trading names, address, and license number.
For example, checking the information for Pepperstone shows they’re authorized for trading in Kenya.
Regulations Brokers Must Follow
To operate legally in Kenya, brokers must get a license from the CMA, which is not easy to obtain. The process ensures brokers are financially stable, honest, and skilled.
The CMA looks over a broker’s financial background, how they run their operations, and checks the qualifications and experiences of key staff members.
Currently, there are 10 licensed non-dealing forex brokers in Kenya, with big names like Pepperstone, HF Markets, and FP Markets included. This list can change as new licenses are given and non-compliant ones are revoked.
CMA-regulated brokers must meet specific requirements:
- They need at least 30 million Kenya shillings in capital to operate securely.
- Brokers must have a physical office in Kenya for supervision, with most having premises in Nairobi.
- Brokers should have knowledgeable leaders with solid financial backgrounds to safely manage client funds.
- Obtaining a CMA license can take several months due to their detailed evaluation process.
- All transactions in Kenya must use the local currency, the Kenyan shilling.
Though the CMA offers solid protections, more established regulators like the FCA in the UK or ASIC in Australia are more robust. The CMA faces challenges like limited resources, occasional slow penalties, and Kenya’s developing financial markets.
CMA’s Authority
The CMA plays a crucial role in protecting Kenyan traders by encouraging them to stick with CMA-licensed brokers. They oversee brokers operating in Kenya to ensure they comply with the rules.
In cases where brokers operate without proper licenses, the CMA can take actions such as fines or penalties. For instance, in 2018, the CMA ordered Pesos Capital Markets Limited to stop operations as it was unlicensed.
The CMA regularly informs the public about unlicensed brokers and potential scams and highlighted its activities in the 2022 report, noting fines of 10 million KES (around $100,000) and resolving 200 investor complaints.
Conclusion
The CMA is the watchdog of Kenya’s capital markets, promoting fair practice and market growth. They ensure only qualified firms are licensed and continually monitor these brokerages.
By choosing a CMA-licensed broker, traders are benefiting from the protections offered by the CMA regulations. Using an unlicensed broker means losing these protections and having fewer options to resolve disputes or seek compensation.