GCC Brokers Review: Is This Dubai STP Broker Right for You?

Broker Review — August 2026

LiquidityFinder Independent Editorial Review | gccbrokers.com

By Sam Low, CEO, LiquidityFinder | 25 years in electronic trading in financial markets

Disclaimer: GCC Brokers Limited is a listed provider on LiquidityFinder. This review has been prepared independently and reflects our standard editorial assessment criteria.

1. Overview

Dubai-based forex and CFD broker GCC Brokers Limited (gccbrokers.com) has been operating since 2016, initially licensed in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines before securing its Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius licence in 2022 and its UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) Category 5 licence in 2025.

One of the most distinctive features of GCC Brokers is that this broker is a pure A-Book, straight-through processing (STP) broker with no dealing desk, aligning its interests with those of its clients. This is unusual and one of the main overriding features of this broker.

Their General Manager, Youssef Bouz @youssefb53bea is passionate about the A-book model - I interviewed Youssef in October 2015 and his passion and commitment to working with his clients to provide a superior execution service, and not against clients, is something the business is deeply committed to. As I wrote in the interview with Youssef last year, I have practical experience of how fast GCC Brokers move: "Within a few hours of our first call, his team had supplied everything needed to complete their listing on LiquidityFinder – documentation, marketing assets, the lot. To this day, GCC Brokers holds the record as the fastest broker to get onboarded on our platform."

GCC Brokers was not always an A-book/STP broker. It made the switch to being an A-book broker out of an unwillingness to be profiting from client losses, and the and Youssef is now passionate about the A-book brokerage model.

Also Youssef participated in our webinar in January 2026:

See also: Inside GCC Brokers: How Youssef Bouz Built a 100% A-Book Brokerage on Trust, Technology and Client Alignment

He has also published a series of articles on A-book brokerage which you can view here.

With its DNA originating from the Gold Souks of Dubai, and headquartered in Dubai's Business Bay district, GCC Brokers serves traders across 30+ countries with a stated monthly volume exceeding $25 billion and a registered client base of over 25,000. Its primary focus is the MENA and GCC region, reflected in its multilingual support offering that includes Arabic, English, and French. In 2025 the firm expanded into Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, with European organic traffic also growing during this period.

The broker underwent a full brand refresh and new website launch in 2026. It operates on MetaTrader 5 (MT5) exclusively and offers three account types across retail and professional trader segments.

Additional services include a liquidity provision offering for introducing brokers and institutional counterparties, copy trading via HokoCloud, and free VPS hosting via ForexVPS.net.

2. Regulation and Licensing

GCC Brokers holds two active regulatory licences. The primary licence is with the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius (FSC) with licence no. GB22200739, which requires segregated client funds, annual audited accounts, minimum capital adequacy, and AML/KYC compliance. FSC Mauritius is a recognised offshore regulator, but it sits in a different tier from major onshore bodies such as the UK's FCA, Australia's ASIC, Cyprus' CySEC, or Singapore's MAS. Investor protection provisions and compensation schemes under FSC Mauritius are materially more limited than those available under these onshore regulators, but still robust and with strict oversight.

The second licence is a UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) Category 5 licence, secured in 2025 and fully active from 2026. This is a meaningful upgrade from the firm's previous UAE representative office status. An SCA Category 5 licence covers financial analysis and consultancy, which broadens the scope of regulated activity permissible in the UAE beyond the payment-processing-only role of the representative office (licence 1202392).

GCC Brokers does not accept clients resident in the United States or jurisdictions listed on FATF and EU/UN sanctions lists. No negative balance protection is explicitly advertised, which is notable for retail clients accustomed to FCA-style protections.

3. Account Types and Fees

All three accounts run on full STP execution with no dealing desk intervention, which GCC Brokers describes as a structural commitment rather than a marketing position.

The Standard account is accessible to entry-level traders with a $25 minimum deposit and no commission structure. The Pro account narrows the spread slightly and is aimed at more active retail traders. The Zero account offers raw spreads from 0.0 pips with a commission charge, making it the choice for scalpers, algorithmic traders, and volume-sensitive strategies.

GCC Brokers states that no hidden fees apply beyond spreads and commissions. Overnight swap charges apply to positions held beyond the daily rollover. The broker offers swap-free account conditions for clients requiring Islamic account structures, though the specific terms should be confirmed directly. A demo account with $100,000 in virtual funds is available and can be opened in under two minutes.

4. Trading Instruments

The instrument range covers six asset classes and over 100 instruments in total. The forex offering of 60+ currency pairs is solid for a retail-oriented broker and includes exposure to emerging market and GCC-relevant currency pairs alongside the standard majors and minors. The metals offering now includes platinum and palladium alongside gold and silver, which is particularly relevant to GCC-region traders for whom precious metals trading carries cultural and economic significance.

Crypto CFDs are available, though instrument availability may vary by jurisdiction and account type. The futures offering covers oil, gold, and equity index futures executed as CFDs with exchange-aligned pricing.

GCC Broker's London LBMA Fix Service

GCC Brokers has another major differentiator with its London Fix service, targetted at institutional corporate clients allowing clients to execute gold and silver orders at the official LBMA benchmark price rather than at the live market price.

The gold fix is set twice each London business day, at 10:30 (AM) and 15:00 (PM), and the silver fix is set at 12:00 London time. Unlike spot trading where prices move continuously, a fix locks in a price at a specific point in time. GCC Brokers offers this service to corporate clients with large-volume transactions, inventory valuation and contract settlement.

Clients submit gold or silver fix orders through an agreed communication channel. Orders must be received 45 minutes before the relevant fix, which means 09:45 for the gold AM fix, 14:15 for the gold PM fix and 11:15 for the silver fix. Orders are executed at the official London Fix price for the relevant metal, and the resulting trades are reflected in the client's account with documentation.

GCC Brokers says some brokers describe trades as AM or PM fixing while executing at spot prices around the fix window. It says its orders are filled at the published London Fix price, with each fill documented against the official benchmark to give clients an audit trail for compliance and reporting.

The service is aimed at four groups:

• Refineries and jewellers pricing physical gold and silver inventory against the daily benchmark

• Mining companies and producers hedging future production at a fixed price

• Institutional portfolios that need benchmark execution for compliance

• Corporate treasuries settling contracts denominated in precious metals

Once an order is executed, the position opens at the fix price. From that point exposure moves with the live spot market, and clients can hold, hedge or close the position like any other trade on their account. GCC Brokers says there are no lock-in periods or forced close-outs.

Commission is fixed per lot: $0.30 for a gold buy, $0.20 for a gold sell and $0.015 for silver. GCC Brokers says pricing is communicated in advance, with no post-fix re-pricing. Clients can request access through the GCC Brokers website.

5. Platform and Technology

GCC Brokers operates exclusively on MetaTrader 5. MT5 offers multi-asset execution, advanced charting with 80+ technical indicators across 21 time frames, a built-in strategy tester, and full support for automated trading via Expert Advisors (EAs). In fact GCC Brokers are explicit about their welcoming approach to EA trading “We support all forms of automated trading through MT5's Expert Advisor (EA) framework. There are no restrictions on strategy type, trade frequency, or holding time. Scalping EAs, grid strategies, news-based algorithms, and high-frequency approaches are all permitted...GCC Brokers operates a full STP model with no manual intervention. We do not restrict scalping, high-frequency trading, news trading, hedging, or any algorithmic strategy. Orders are routed directly to our liquidity providers - there is no commercial reason for us to restrict how you trade.”

Mobile applications are available for iOS and Android, alongside a browser-based web terminal.

Free VPS hosting is provided via ForexVPS.net, covering 22 global locations with 99.99% uptime - this is a meaningful specification for algorithmic traders who require uninterrupted EA operation. Copy trading is supported through HokoCloud, allowing clients to mirror strategies from top traders on a fully automated basis. The platform also includes a pip calculator, margin calculator, position size tool, and swap rate reference.

The London FIX service is a notable and somewhat unusual offering for a retail-oriented broker. It is not an FX fixing service. GCC Brokers provides execution at the official LBMA Gold AM, Gold PM, and Silver fix prices for clients who need benchmark certainty rather than live spot exposure. Orders must be submitted at least 45 minutes before the relevant fix window.

Commission rates are published in advance ($0.30 per lot to buy, $0.20 to sell on gold) with no post-fix repricing. The service is aimed at clients with physical gold or silver exposure who need to price inventory, hedge production, or settle metal-denominated contracts at a verifiable benchmark price. It is not a product most retail brokers offer at all.

6. Deposits and Withdrawals

GCC Brokers supports a broad range of funding methods including card payments, bank wire, e-wallets, and cryptocurrency deposits. The firm states that no deposit or withdrawal fees are charged on its side, though third-party processing fees from banks or payment providers may apply. Processing times should be confirmed with the broker directly.

7. Client Support

Not many brokers are as transparent about their contact details as GCC Brokers (trust me, I have tried to contact a few!). Their office addresses, phone numbers and email addresses are all visible on the Contact Us page. I take this as a real sign of confidence and not trying to hide anything (or not needing to, unlike many other brokers!).

Support is available 24 hours a day, five days a week, delivered in multiple languages including English, Arabic, and French. The Dubai office (Office 302, Business Bay) provides local relationship management and onboarding assistance for MENA-region clients. Contact is available by phone and email.

GCC Brokers has 41 Trustpilot reviews with a score of 4.8 at the time of writing. The sample is small relative to the broker's stated 25,000+ client base, and prospective clients should treat this score accordingly. Reviewers note responsiveness and the availability of a dedicated personal agent as positives.

8. Awards, Recognition, and Partner Programme

GCC Brokers received three industry awards in 2025, which can be viewed as independent signals of the firm's market positioning:

Best Innovative Broker: Smart Vision Traders Summit 2025. This award reflects the firm's technology and product development direction, including its STP execution model, VPS infrastructure, and the expansion of its copy trading and algo trading offering.

Top 100 Trusted Financial Institutions: ME Financial Markets Awards 2025. A regional recognition relevant to the MENA market the firm primarily serves.

Affiliate Innovation in Client Engagement: Affiliate Summit 2025. Recognises the firm's IB and affiliate programme, which operates on a multi-tier commission structure. For introducing brokers seeking a MENA-focused retail execution partner, the programme is worth reviewing directly with the partnerships team.

9. Who Is GCC Brokers Suitable For?

10. How Does GCC Brokers Compare?

The table below compares GCC Brokers against three brokers that occupy overlapping or adjacent market positions: TMGM (an ECN/STP broker with strong ASIC regulation and institutional platform depth), Mitrade (an ASIC-regulated market maker with a proprietary platform popular with mobile-first retail traders), and Plus500 (a listed, tier-1-regulated market maker with the broadest instrument range and the strongest regulatory footprint of the four).

The clearest differentiator for GCC Brokers is its MENA/GCC regional focus and its LBMA London Fix service for gold and silver, which none of the other three offer. For algorithmic and EA-based traders, both GCC Brokers and TMGM support MT5; Mitrade and Plus500 do not. On minimum deposit, GCC Brokers' $25 Standard entry point is the lowest of the four.

11. Final Verdict

GCC Brokers has built a strong proposition around a specific geography and client type. For MENA-region traders, particularly those operating in the UAE and broader Gulf, the combination of a Dubai presence, an active UAE SCA Category 5 licence, Arabic-language support, MT5, a genuine STP execution model, and a competitive Zero account with raw spreads is a compelling offering.

In addition to servicing retail clients, GCC Brokers are actively looking to service more sophisticated client segments (Asset Managers and traders with AI trading strategies). If you have tried with these strategies with another broker running a B-book, and it hasn;t worked out, it may be worth speaking to GCC Brokers. (This is based on Youssef’s series of articles which you can view here).

The UAE SCA Category 5 licence adds a layer of UAE regulatory recognition that was previously absent. FSC Mauritius remains the primary licence, and the investor protection provisions it offers are still materially below those of tier-1 onshore regulators. Clients outside the MENA region, particularly those based in jurisdictions with their own robust regulatory frameworks, could find better-protected alternatives.

GCC Brokers is a maturing broker with a clear regional identity, improving infrastructure, three industry awards in 2025, and a transparent cost structure. The philosophy at GCC Brokers is to nurture clients that actively trade, and not to take risk against them.

Overall Risk Rating: MEDIUM | The addition of an active UAE SCA Category 5 licence has improved the regulatory picture for GCC-region clients. FSC Mauritius remains the primary licence and carries inherently lower investor protection than onshore tier-1 alternatives. The A-book / STP execution model removes any conflict-of-interest risk. High leverage availability (up to 1:500) adds execution risk for unprepared retail clients.

Disclaimer: GCC Brokers Limited is a listed provider on LiquidityFinder. This review has been prepared independently and reflects our standard editorial assessment criteria.

Sam Low ( @sam_low ) is the founder and CEO of LiquidityFinder. He has 25 years in electronic trading in financial markets, including time at Bloomberg and Integral.