Plus500 (LON: PLUS) has entered the lucrative markets in the Middle East by obtaining a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the brokerage company announced on Monday.

Plus500 Gains DFSA License

The London-listed company highlighted that the new license would offer a significant growth opportunity by allowing the broker to expand its offerings to customers in the United Arab Emirates.

“We are delighted to have received license authorization from the DFSA in the UAE, and we are excited to bring our market-leading technology capabilities to customers in the region. This is the latest realization of our strategy to enter new markets, develop new products, and deepen engagement with our customers,” said the CEO of Plus500, David Zruia.

The DFSA license is widely popular among brokers looking to tap the Middle Eastern markets. Other brokers, including Zenfinex, XTB, and MutiBank Group, have obtained DFSA approval in recent years.

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"We are really proud and excited to have obtained this new licence in the high-growth market of the UAE. The licence offers Plus500 a significant long-term commercial opportunity, as we aim to onboard a range of new customers across the UAE. Our efforts will be supported by Plus500’s unique proprietary technology, which underpins our on-going ability to attract and retain higher value customers, on a global basis, over the long-term," added Elad Even-Chen, Plus500's Group CFO.

Plus500 Focuses on Global Expansion

Headquartered in Israel, Plus500 was founded in 2008 and offers trading services with forex pairs and CFDs of popular asset classes like stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies , ETFs, and options. It is one of the few publicly listed retail FX/CFDs brokers.

In addition, it is one of the brokers heavily invested in technology and offers trading services only on its proprietary trading platform .

Over the years, Plus500 has significantly strengthened its regulatory requirements and now holds twelve licenses globally. The company has obtained licenses in the US, Japan, Estonia, and Seychelles over the past three years. It entered the US and Japan by acquiring two locally regulated companies in those markets.

The broker obtained the new DFSA license after closing the fiscal year of 2022 with a revenue of $832 million and an EBITDA of about $454 million. Both figures increased from the previous year and came in line with the company’s expectations.

It now focuses on growth in the United States and launched a US-specific proprietary futures trading platform in Q3 2022. Last October, it ended a 7-year deal with the Spanish football club, Atletico Madrid, to sign a 4-year sponsorship deal with Chicago Bulls, a US-based professional basketball team.