iVestor Margin Trading Regulation

Permits Dubai Financial Market to finance investors’ margin trading through its iVestor platform, subject to a tripartite agreement with the member and client, conflict-of-interest safeguards and controls approved by the CMA.

Summary

Decision No. 7/Chairman of 2026 lets Dubai Financial Market (DFM) itself lend money to investors for margin trading through its iVestor platform, on conditions set by the Capital Market Authority (CMA). It was issued on 9 March 2026 under Federal Decree-Laws No. 32 and 33 of 2025 and came into force the day after issue, 10 March 2026 (Article 4). Article 3 makes it a time-limited measure: it runs for six months from its effective date, DFM must report on its results one month before expiry, and the CMA Board may then continue, amend or revoke it. On its own terms the six months ended in September 2026; the published text does not show whether the Board extended it, so its current status should be checked with the CMA before relying on it.

Article 2 sets seventeen conditions. DFM must sign a tripartite agreement with the trading member and the member's client, finance DFM clients only, and may not finance purchases of its own shares. It must lend from its own accounts, never from profits of listed companies or from investor, trader or company funds held in the market. It must apply the conduct of business, capital adequacy and AML/CFT parts of the CMA's Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities, disclose and manage conflicts of interest, and put an employee independent of its surveillance and operations staff in charge of the financing, with information barriers between teams.

DFM needs CMA approval before setting or changing financing limits, must run information security and cybersecurity controls on the platform and report any breach immediately, and must publish criteria for selecting both investors and the listed shares eligible for margin financing. It must assess each client's suitability (financial position, experience and risk tolerance), review it periodically and keep records. Disputes and complaints about the financing go to the CMA, not to DFM, and are dealt with under the penalties in the Regulations Manual. The CMA may inspect all iVestor margin data at any time.

Who it applies to

Dubai Financial Market as lender through the iVestor platform, its trading members who sign the tripartite agreement, and DFM clients who borrow to trade DFM-listed shares on margin.

Contents

English official text in 16 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:

1. Article 1 — Enter into a tripartite agreement with the member and the
2. Article 2 — Refrain from taking any action against the parties to the agreement
3. Article 3 — Limit financing operations exclusively to Dubai Financial Market
4. Article 4 — The shares of Dubai Financial Market are not eligible for investors’
5. Article 5 — Apply the obligations set out in the Regulations Manual of the
6. Article 6 — Disclose to the Authority any conflicts of interest and manage them
7. Article 7 — Allocate the financing amount from the Market’s own accounts, and
8. Article 8 — Allocate an independent employee from the Market or from Dubai
9. Article 9 — Obtain the necessary approvals from the Authority prior to
10. Article 10 — Establish technical and technological systems for “iVestor” platform
11. Article 11 — Establish internal controls, policies, and procedures governing
12. Article 12 — Establish standards, controls, and policies for the risks of using
13. Article 14 — Provide the Authority with reports, data, and documents related to
14. Article 15 — Refrain from adjudicating any dispute or complaint related to
15. Article 16 — Establish and implement a documented policy and procedures to
16. Article 17 — Perform the function of financing investors for margin trading with

Key provisions

Obligations and deadlines

• DFM must obtain CMA approval before setting or amending margin financing limits.
• DFM must assess each client's suitability before financing and review it periodically, keeping records.
• DFM must report any cybersecurity breach on the iVestor platform to the CMA immediately.
• DFM must submit an evaluation report one month before the six-month period expires.

Penalties

The resolution sets no penalties of its own. Disputes and complaints about iVestor margin financing are referred to the CMA, which applies the procedures and penalties in the Regulations Manual of the Financial Activities (Decision No. 13/Chairman of 2021).

History and citations

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