Not legal advice. We are a measurement tool — not a broker, not a
financial adviser, not a legal authority. What follows is general
information about the regulators and what they publish, with links to
their own sites. Rules change, and this page is not enough to judge the
legality of a specific case or product. For your own situation, ask the
regulator directly or a qualified lawyer in Saudi Arabia.
Scope of this page: trading currencies through a broker (spot forex or CFDs on currencies). Which authority applies depends on the actual product and activity: securities business sits with the Capital Market Authority; banking, money-changing and transfers with the central bank.
The short answer
The published Saudi rules address whoever offers the trading service and receives your money far more than the individual trader: the Banking Control Law prohibits conducting banking business without a licence, and the Capital Market Authority licenses securities business — and that is the question the authorities actually answer.
Three things are published: the CMA's register of authorised capital market institutions, the CMA's list of unlicensed companies (hundreds of names, many of them forex firms), and central-bank circulars instructing banks to halt transfers to unlicensed forex companies and inform the customer — with a later circular exempting specific companies registered with international regulators, listed in a table attached to it.
So the practical question is not "is forex legal?" but: is the firm offering you trading in the official register, for the activity it is offering? If you cannot find it, you have nothing that proves its licence — and the next step is to ask the authority, not to deposit.
The authorities in Saudi Arabia — and what each one publishes
Securities
Capital Market Authority (CMA)
Licenses securities business in the Kingdom. Publishes the official register of authorised capital market institutions, a warning list of unlicensed companies, and chairs the standing committee that warns against unlicensed forex activity.
🔑 A rule the CMA publishes itself: every official Saudi government site ends in gov.sa. An "official site" on any other domain deserves suspicion.
Banking
Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)
Regulates banks, money changers and transfers. Has issued specific circulars on non-resident forex companies: the 2017 circular instructs banks to halt transfers to them; the 2019 circular exempts specific companies registered with international regulators, listed in a table attached to it.
What the official documents say, in summary — each card links its source
2017 circular
SAMA circular No. 381000088793 — 22/8/1438 AH (18 May 2017)
Cites Article 2 of the Banking Control Law, which prohibits conducting banking activities in the Kingdom without a licence, and refers to the joint public warning issued by SAMA and the Capital Market Authority on 19 December 2016 about unlicensed forex companies.
Source: SAMA Rulebook — circular text
Violations
What the circular treats as violations
Forex companies without contracts with licensed banks promoting or marketing their activity by any means; unlicensed individuals acting as direct or indirect intermediaries for them; and individuals or entities making direct transfers to forex companies outside the Kingdom.
Source: SAMA Rulebook — circular text
Banks
What banks are told to do with a transfer to a forex company
If a transfer is determined to be intended for a forex company it is halted, the customer is informed, the relationship is reassessed and due diligence applied; an inbound transfer found to relate to dealings with such companies is returned to the sender.
Source: SAMA Rulebook — circular text
2019 circular
Circular No. 41027772 — 21/4/1441 AH (18 December 2019)
Given that a number of international investment companies conducting forex activity are registered with international regulators, SAMA attached a table of those companies and their foreign licensing authorities, and a list of regulator websites on which their licensed companies can be looked up — to exclude the companies in that table from the halt. The circular addresses banks about transfers and does not deal with the CMA register.
Source: SAMA Rulebook — circular page (points to the Arabic text)
The list
The CMA's list of unlicensed companies
The CMA publishes each company's name, website and location, stating that these sites are not licensed to conduct securities business. It is a warning list that is updated — not an exhaustive one: a name missing from it is not thereby licensed.
Source: cma.gov.sa — unlicensed companies
Committee
The standing committee for awareness and warning against unlicensed forex
Chaired by the Capital Market Authority with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Media, the Ministry of Commerce and the Saudi Central Bank. Its statement of 13 December 2023 warns of fraud methods that impersonate influential figures and well-known companies and promise assistance and quick profit through fake analysis.
Source: cma.gov.sa — committee statement
How to check in five minutes — the Saudi Arabia steps
1
Start from the register, not the broker's site
Open the CMA register and search the full legal name — not the brand name in the advert. A "licensed" badge on a broker's site is text the broker wrote.
2
Search the unlicensed-companies list
By company name and by website address, both; brand names change and so do domains. Treat a match as a reason to stop and verify with the authority before any further step.
3
Match the activity, not just the name
The register is classified by licensed securities activity. A firm licensed to manage investments or give advice is not necessarily licensed for what you are being offered.
4
Check the domain
Saudi government sites end in gov.sa. An "authority" page on another domain, or a "copy" of the register on the broker's site, is not the register.
5
Match the entity in the client agreement
Large groups hold entities in different countries under different licences. The name that matters is the one on the agreement you will sign and the account you will transfer to.
6
Understand why your bank may halt a transfer
Halting a transfer to a forex company and informing you is the bank applying the SAMA circular, not a fault. The later circular exempts specific companies listed in a table attached to it — not every company holding a foreign licence.
Things people confuse
Mix-up
A foreign licence is a licence in its own country; it does not put the firm in the Saudi register
A licence from a foreign regulator means that regulator supervises the firm at home. SAMA's 2019 circular exempts specific companies listed in a table attached to it from the transfer halt — which concerns how the bank treats the transfer, and no more. The CMA register is a separate question.
Mix-up
A commercial registration is not a financial licence
A trade licence or free-zone registration in any country proves the company exists, not that it is licensed to conduct securities business. A financial licence is an entry in a regulator's register.
Mix-up
Absence from the unlicensed list does not mean licensed
The CMA's list is a warning list, updated as firms are spotted, not an inventory of everything unlicensed. The answer to rely on is presence in the register of authorised institutions, for the activity you want — not absence from the warning list.
A licence is not a guarantee of profit. A licence says who may
offer a particular activity and under what supervision. It has nothing
to do with whether you make or lose money. Trading currencies with
leverage risks your capital, at a licensed broker and an unlicensed one
alike.
Where we stand in this
BasketGo is not a broker. It opens no accounts, holds no money,
recommends no broker and takes no commission from any. It is a
measurement tool: we compute the strength of the eight majors from 28
pairs and publish the numbers as they are — measurement, not advice.
Choosing a broker and checking its licence is your decision; this page
exists to make that easier, not to steer it.
Frequently asked questions
Is forex trading legal in Saudi Arabia?
The published rules regulate the provider more than the individual trader: the Banking Control Law prohibits banking business without a licence, the Capital Market Authority licenses securities business and publishes a list of unlicensed companies, and the central bank has issued circulars on non-resident forex companies. The practical answer is to search those registers for the specific firm you are dealing with; this page is not enough to judge a specific case or product. General information, not legal advice.
Can my bank halt a transfer to a forex company?
Yes — that is what SAMA's 2017 circular says: a transfer found to be intended for a forex company is halted and the customer informed, and inbound transfers found to relate to such companies are returned to the sender. The 2019 circular exempts specific companies registered with international regulators, listed in a table attached to it.
The broker is licensed by a foreign regulator such as the UK's FCA or Cyprus's CySEC — is that enough?
A foreign licence means a foreign authority supervises the firm in its own country. In Saudi Arabia, the 2019 circular exempts specific companies listed in a table attached to it from the transfer halt — not every foreign-licensed firm — and it addresses banks. A foreign licence does not put the firm in the CMA register. The Saudi question is answered from the Saudi register and the circular text, not from a badge on a website.
How do I know the authority site I am searching is the real one?
The CMA publishes the rule itself: every official Saudi government site ends in gov.sa. The register and the unlicensed list are both on cma.gov.sa, and the central bank's circulars are on rulebook.sama.gov.sa.
I cannot find the company on either list. What does that mean?
Absence from the register of authorised institutions does not prove a licence. Search again by the full legal name and the activity you want, then ask the authority itself if in doubt. The unlicensed list is a warning list updated as firms are spotted, not an exhaustive one, so a company missing from it is not thereby licensed.
Does a licence mean trading is safe or profitable?
No. A licence says who may offer a particular activity and under what supervision. It has nothing to do with whether you make or lose money. Trading currencies with leverage risks your capital, at a licensed broker and an unlicensed one alike.
Where does BasketGo stand in this?
We are not a broker. We open no accounts, hold no money, recommend no broker and take no commission from any. We publish measurements of currency movement, which is why this page points at official registers rather than at a list of firms.
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