Safety first
ADS Securities review
Who regulates ADS Securities, under which licence, and what that means for your money.
Last checked
ADS Securities offers some protection if it fails and not all of it, which is the ordinary offshore trade-off: you gain leverage and lose the safety net. Regulated by UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), Category 1 No. 305027; Category 5 No. 20200000217, offering ADSS Platform, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5.
Our rating
- Regulation8.7
- Costs7.8
- Platforms8.2
- Markets7.6
- Support5.3
- Education4.4
One rating, identical across our sites - only the way it is shown changes. It averages six assessments: regulation, trading costs, platforms, markets, support and education.
Regulation and safety
- Regulated by
- UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), Category 1 No. 305027; Category 5 No. 20200000217
- Regulator tier
- Tier 2
- Register entry
- UAE Capital Market Authority register, No. 305027
- Client money segregated
- Yes
- Held at
- Regulated banking institutions
- Negative balance protection
- No
- Compensation scheme
- No statutory investor compensation scheme
- Audited by
- Independent external auditors
- Not available to
- Countries where distribution or use of ADSS services would be contrary to local law or regulation
The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.
ADS Securities lists its regulation as UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), Category 1 No. 305027; Category 5 No. 20200000217.
The company behind the brand
- Legal entity
- ADS Securities L.L.C - S.P.C
- Company number
- Commercial Licence No. 1190047
- Headquarters
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Founded
- 2010
- Publicly listed
- No
- Parent company
- ADS Holding LLC
- Employees
- 200+
- Also trades as
- ADSS; ADS Securities
What it costs to trade
- Spread from
- 0.0 pips
- EUR/USD spread
- Approx. 0.7 pips
- GBP/USD spread
- Approx. 0.9 pips
- Commission
- $0
- All-in cost, EUR/USD
- Approx. 0.7 pips
- Spread type
- Variable
- Overnight swap
- Both: overnight financing charges/credits apply; swap-free accounts available
- Inactivity fee
- Yes
- Currency conversion
- Currency conversion at applicable exchange rate
Cost is the last thing to weigh here, and never the thing that should decide it.
A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.
Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.
ADS Securities lists a minimum deposit of $100. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.
Platforms and tools
- Platforms
- ADSS Platform, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
- Own platform
- Yes, ADSS Platform
- Mobile app
- Both proprietary and third-party
- Browser trading
- Yes
- Automated trading
- Yes, through MT4 and MT5
- Copy trading
- No
- Indicators
- 68 ADSS Platform; 30 MT4; 38 MT5
- Third-party tools
- MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Autochartist
- API access
- Yes, institutional connectivity
MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.
MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.
Markets and execution
- Markets
- Forex, Equities, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Bonds
- Currency pairs
- 70+
- Total instruments
- 3,000+
- Crypto CFDs
- Yes
- Maximum leverage
- 1:500
- Execution model
- Market maker / principal
- Execution speed
- Under 100ms
- Order types
- Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop
- Servers
- UAE and global financial data-centre infrastructure
Leverage up to 1:500 is available on this entity. High leverage does not increase your expected return - it increases position size for the same deposit, and shortens the move needed to close you out.
ADS Securities covers forex, equities, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, bonds. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.
Funding options: bank wire transfer, credit/debit card, online bank transfer, skrill, neteller, cashu. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.
Accounts
- Minimum deposit
- $100
- Account types
- Classic, Elite, Pro, Islamic/Swap-Free, Demo
- Account currencies
- USD, AED
- Islamic account
- Yes
- Demo account
- Yes
- Professional account
- Yes, Pro
- Minimum trade size
- 0.01 lots
- Time to open
- Typically within 1 business day
Deposits and withdrawals
- Deposit methods
- Bank wire transfer, credit/debit card, online bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, CashU
- Withdrawal methods
- Bank transfer, credit/debit card, Skrill, Neteller and supported electronic payment methods
- Deposit time
- Instant for cards/e-wallets; bank transfer typically 1-3 business days
- Withdrawal time
- Typically processed within 1 business day; settlement varies by payment method
- Minimum withdrawal
- $50
- Local payment methods
- UAE online banking; CashU and regional payment methods
Support and education
- Support hours
- 24/5
- Contact channels
- Phone, email, WhatsApp, contact form
- Languages
- English, Arabic and multilingual support
- Telephone
- +971 2 657 2414
- ts@adss.com
- Live chat response
- Typically under 2 minutes
- Education
- Extensive: educational articles, trading guides, webinars, seminars, platform tutorials and market education
- Research
- Daily market analysis, technical/fundamental commentary, Autochartist, market outlooks and news
Questions people ask about ADS Securities
What happens to my money if ADS Securities goes bust?
ADS Securities sits behind No statutory investor compensation scheme. A scheme covers eligible clients of the entity that holds the licence, so the entity you were onboarded to decides whether it covers you.
Is my money kept separate from ADS Securities' own?
Yes. ADS Securities holds client money in accounts kept apart from the firm's own. Segregation is what stops a broker's creditors reaching your balance if the firm fails, which is why it matters more than any headline spread. We do not hold the name of the bank it uses.
Can I lose more than I deposit with ADS Securities?
ADS Securities records negative balance protection as no. Without it, a market that gaps past your stop can leave a debt rather than an empty account, and the broker can pursue it.