ADS Securities review

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 where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

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.

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.

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.

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

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

ADS Securities lists its regulation as UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), Category 1 No. 305027; Category 5 No. 20200000217.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Regulated banking institutions. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

There is no negative balance protection. In a fast market a position can gap straight through your stop, and without this the resulting debt is legally yours - you can lose more than you deposited.

Covered by No statutory investor compensation scheme, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

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

ADS Securities runs 5 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: USD, AED. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

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

Withdrawals are stated at Typically processed within 1 business day; settlement varies by payment method, against Instant for cards/e-wallets; bank transfer typically 1-3 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank transfer, credit/debit card, skrill, neteller and supported electronic payment methods. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is $50 - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/5

Contact channels

Phone, email, WhatsApp, contact form

Languages

English, Arabic and multilingual support

Telephone

+971 2 657 2414

Email

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

Support runs 24/5. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by phone, email, whatsapp, contact form. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: English, Arabic and multilingual support. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: educational articles, trading guides, webinars, seminars, platform tutorials and market education. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

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

ADS Securities has been trading for around 16 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

The contracting entity is ADS Securities L.L.C - S.P.C. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of ADS Holding LLC. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.