Forex Brokers in Turkey

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Forex trading in Turkey is popular amongst residents who are looking to buy and sell currencies to speculate on the fluctuating currency market prices. Whilst international forex brokers can accept traders in Turkey as clients, forex brokers in Turkey are required to become authorised by the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB). The Capital Markets Board is the financial regulatory body in Turkey. You do not need to use a CMB regulated broker if you are based in Turkey but they may be able to provide you with certain protection that offshore brokers cannot.

Best forex brokers Turkey

To find the best forex brokers in Turkey, we created a list of all the forex brokers that accept clients in Turkey and then ranked them based on our overall rating. You can see our list of our top forex brokers for Turkey below.

ADGM FRSA, ASIC, BVIFSC, CBI, FFAJ, FSCA, IIROC, JFSA

$100

2006

1:400

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FINMA, FMA, FSA, FSCA, JFSA, MAFF, MAS, METI, NFA

$250

1974

1:200

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, BaFin, CMA, CySEC, DFSA, FCA, SCB

$200

2010

1:400

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, IFSC

2009

1:888

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, FSA, SCB

$200

2007

1:500

Review Trade Trade

CMB forex brokers in Turkey

The CMB was formed in 1982 and is responsible for watching over the financial market, consumer protections, and supervising participants in the forex market. Forex trading is legal and permitted in Turkey. Both local and foreign forex brokers run their business in Turkey, giving the citizens convenient access to the global financial markets.

The main objectives of the Turkish regulator are ensuring the stability of the local financial market, protecting customers, and overseeing the operations of all stock market participants. Structure-wise the CMB consists of a chairman who heads a board of seven commissioners, appointed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, among several other governmental entities.

The CMB was created with the passing of the Capital Markets Law (CML) in 1981. This was followed by a number of further laws and decrees that expanded its functions and responsibilities. The most significant of these changes was Law No. 4487 which was passed in December 1999, which brought in a set of amendments to the Capital Market Law expanding the duties and the scope of authority. This included increased consumer protection and changes to allow decartelisation of stocks and other changes to make the markets more flexible and able to use information technology.

The CMB is responsible for the issuing of licenses to authorized Forex brokers who meet the regulatory requirements of the country. The agency closely scrutinizes all licensees to make sure they remain compliant with its guidelines. Companies found to be violating the rules face heavy sanctions.

How to verify CMB regulated brokers in Turkey

Forex brokers need to go through a prolonged licensing process to receive authorization from the Turkish authorities. Operating on this market without having a license from the local regulator, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB), is strictly prohibited. The country is not a member of the EU, which renders servicing Turkish traders with a license issued in another European jurisdiction impossible.

You can find an authorised broker’s license number from the disclosure text at the bottom of their homepage. You can then look up the authorisation number on the CMB website to confirm if the forex broker is regulated in Turkey to provide online forex trading products and services.

Some Turkey forex brokers are regulated in more than one jurisdiction so that they can offer a different range of trading accounts and conditions depending on the location of the trader and regulated entity that they choose to open a forex trading account with.

Is forex trading legal in Turkey?

Although forex trading is permitted in Turkey, brokers must go through a lengthy licensing procedure in order to obtain approval from Turkish authorities. It is strictly forbidden to operate on this market without a license from the regional authority, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB). Since the nation is not a member of the EU, Turkish traders with licenses from other European countries cannot be served.

The Capital Markets Law, which has undergone multiple revisions throughout the years, governs the financial industry. Since there have been a good number of Forex scams in the nation in the past, local regulators have taken a very strict regulatory posture toward brokerage firms.

To effectively stop unlicensed brokers from providing their services to Turkish people, new legislation were put into place in 2011. The more stringent regulations lessened the uncertainty that local investors had previously experienced, enabling them to actively participate in the markets without being concerned about being duped by con artists. A fund for investor protection was also established.

At the start of 2017, the country’s forex laws underwent surprise changes with the adoption of stricter restrictions. The new limitations were so severe that Turkish brokers called an urgent meeting to strategize how to combat them. Additionally, a petition against the stricter regulatory measures was prepared and posted on a specific website for market players to sign.

Although some people believe they are unfair, the limits primarily serve to shield amateur and small-scale traders from the dangers of speculative leveraged products like the infamous contracts for difference (CFDs).

The minimum deposits increased to 50,000 under the new regulations. This amounts to approximately US$8,360 at the current exchange rate, which is a big sum, especially for novice investors who frequently have a small starting money available. This high criterion is justified by the idea that clients who can’t make a commitment with a minimum investment of at least 50,000 ought to refrain from trading on the Forex markets in the first place.

On the other hand, complex derivatives like CFDs experienced huge reductions in leverage. Customers that trade on margin are now limited to a 10:1 leverage ratio. Even lower than Japan’s maximum leverage ratio of 25:1, this must be the lowest leverage cap in the entire world. In Turkey, the former caps were 50:1 for trading accounts under 20,000 and 100:1 for those with balances higher than this.

Although from the standpoint of inexperienced investors, this is not necessarily a bad thing, many regulated Turkish brokers expressed concerns that the tough measures will return the market to its pre-2011 state. The businesses stated that the limitations would push local consumers to use unlicensed offshore websites for their trading activities, resulting in a capital flight from Turkey to other nations.

Turkish traders would virtually avoid the harsh laws that were designed to serve their best interests in this way. The brokers claimed that rather than drastically limiting their leverage, the best method to safeguard small-scale investors would be to educate them on the hazards associated with specific trading activity.

Speaking of dangerous investments, Turkish buyers may not purchase binary options. The CMB has been at war with this incredibly volatile trading instrument for a very long time. Due to claims that binary options are a form of gambling rather than a financial tool, the authority has even threatened to sue binary options providers and prohibit their websites in the past. This position is similar to those of other nations that forbid binary options, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.