Find CBI-regulated forex brokers serving Irish traders. Every broker on this page is authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland or accepts Irish clients under EU passporting, ensuring full compliance with MiFID II investor protections, ESMA leverage limits, and the Irish Investor Compensation Scheme.
A globally recognized multi-asset broker offering access to over 1,000 instruments with ultra-fast execution and multi-tier regulatory oversight across four jurisdictions.
| Broker | Risk % | Popularity | Min Deposit | ECN Deposit | Leverage | Platforms | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 AvaTrade An award-winning CFD broker regulated on five continents, known for its proprietary AvaTradeGO app and extensive educational resources tailored to newer traders. CBI ASIC FSCA +2 | 76% | | $100 | — | 1:400 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 3 XTB A publicly listed European broker offering commission-free stock investing alongside leveraged CFD trading, powered by its proprietary xStation 5 platform with advanced analytics. FCA CySEC KNF +1 | 74% | | No min | — | 1:500 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 4 Pepperstone An Australian-born execution specialist trusted by active traders for razor-thin spreads, institutional-grade liquidity, and support for all major third-party platforms. FCA ASIC CySEC +2 | 75.5% | | No min | $200 | 1:500 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 5 Plus500 A publicly traded fintech firm (LSE: PLUS) providing a streamlined CFD-only experience with guaranteed stop-loss orders and a clean, intuitive proprietary interface. FCA CySEC ASIC +2 | 82% | | $100 | — | 1:300 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 6 ActivTrades A London-headquartered broker with over two decades of operation, offering up to £1M in additional insurance coverage and consistently tight spreads on major pairs. FCA CSSF CMVM +1 | 68% | | No min | $1000 | 1:400 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 7 Libertex A veteran CFD platform with over 25 years of market presence, distinctive for its zero-spread model where traders pay only a transparent commission per trade. CySEC CNMV | 77.7% | | $10 | — | 1:500 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
| 8 Admirals Formerly Admiral Markets, a multi-regulated European broker offering an expansive product range of 8,000+ instruments with transparent pricing and strong educational content. FCA CySEC ASIC +1 | 73% | | $25 | $100 | 1:500 | MT4 MT5 cTrader TV | Visit |
An award-winning CFD broker regulated on five continents, known for its proprietary AvaTradeGO app and extensive educational resources tailored to newer traders.
A publicly listed European broker offering commission-free stock investing alongside leveraged CFD trading, powered by its proprietary xStation 5 platform with advanced analytics.
An Australian-born execution specialist trusted by active traders for razor-thin spreads, institutional-grade liquidity, and support for all major third-party platforms.
A publicly traded fintech firm (LSE: PLUS) providing a streamlined CFD-only experience with guaranteed stop-loss orders and a clean, intuitive proprietary interface.
A London-headquartered broker with over two decades of operation, offering up to £1M in additional insurance coverage and consistently tight spreads on major pairs.
A veteran CFD platform with over 25 years of market presence, distinctive for its zero-spread model where traders pay only a transparent commission per trade.
Formerly Admiral Markets, a multi-regulated European broker offering an expansive product range of 8,000+ instruments with transparent pricing and strong educational content.
Ireland has established itself as a significant hub for international financial services within the European Union, and this extends firmly into the retail forex and CFD brokerage sector. Dublin is home to the European headquarters of several major global brokers, most notably AvaTrade, which was founded in the city in 2006 and has grown into one of the world's most recognized multi-asset trading platforms. Ireland's appeal as a base for financial services firms is driven by its English-speaking workforce, favorable corporate tax environment, membership of the European Union and the Eurozone, and a well-regarded regulatory authority in the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
For Irish retail traders, the regulatory landscape is shaped by both national and EU-level rules. The Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for authorizing and supervising all financial services firms operating in the country, and it enforces the full suite of EU financial regulations including MiFID II, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), and the various ESMA product intervention measures. This means that Irish traders benefit from the same standardized protections available to traders across the EU, including leverage caps, negative balance protection, mandatory risk warnings, and restrictions on marketing incentives.
Ireland's position as an EU member state also means that brokers authorized in other EU or EEA countries can offer their services to Irish residents through the MiFID II passporting mechanism, without needing a separate CBI authorization. This gives Irish traders access to a wide range of brokers beyond those directly licensed by the CBI, including firms regulated by CySEC, BaFin, and other European authorities. However, while passported brokers are subject to their home regulator's supervision, the CBI retains certain conduct-of-business powers over services provided to Irish clients and can intervene if it identifies practices that are harmful to local consumers.
The Central Bank of Ireland operates as both the country's central bank and its financial regulatory authority, a dual role that gives it comprehensive oversight of the entire financial system. For forex and CFD brokers, CBI authorization requires firms to meet stringent conditions relating to capital adequacy, corporate governance, risk management, and consumer protection. The CBI's authorization process is thorough and demanding, typically taking several months and involving detailed scrutiny of the applicant's business plan, financial projections, key personnel, IT systems, and compliance arrangements. This high bar for entry helps ensure that only well-resourced and properly managed firms receive authorization.
Once authorized, CBI-regulated firms are subject to ongoing supervisory engagement that includes routine reporting requirements, on-site inspections, and thematic reviews of specific areas of concern. The CBI has been particularly active in recent years in examining how brokers market their products to retail clients, the quality of information provided during the onboarding process, and the effectiveness of firms' complaint handling procedures. The regulator has not hesitated to take enforcement action where necessary, including imposing significant fines on firms that have failed to meet their regulatory obligations. The CBI also operates an authorized firms register on its website where traders can verify the status of any firm claiming to be CBI-regulated.
Ireland's Investor Compensation Scheme (ICS) provides an additional layer of protection for clients of CBI-authorized investment firms. If a firm becomes insolvent and is unable to return client assets, eligible clients can claim compensation of up to EUR 20,000 per person from the ICS. While this limit is lower than the UK's FSCS coverage, it is consistent with the standard across most EU member states and provides a meaningful safety net. The ICS is funded by levies on authorized firms and is administered by the Investor Compensation Company DAC under the oversight of the CBI. Traders should note that ICS coverage only applies to firms directly authorized by the CBI, not to firms operating in Ireland under a passport from another EU regulator, as those firms' clients would be covered by the compensation scheme of the home member state.
As a member of the European Union, Ireland fully implements the ESMA product intervention measures that have shaped the retail forex and CFD trading environment across the continent since 2018. These measures include standardized leverage limits that cap the maximum leverage available to retail traders at 1:30 for major currency pairs, 1:20 for minor pairs, non-major indices, and gold, 1:10 for other commodities, 1:5 for individual equities, and 1:2 for cryptocurrency CFDs. These limits apply to all retail accounts held with CBI-authorized brokers as well as accounts held with brokers operating in Ireland under EU passporting arrangements.
Negative balance protection is another critical safeguard for Irish retail traders. Under ESMA rules, brokers must ensure that retail clients can never lose more than the total funds in their trading account, even during periods of extreme market volatility or gap events. This protection was introduced in response to incidents like the Swiss Franc crisis of January 2015, when the Swiss National Bank's sudden removal of the EUR/CHF floor caused massive and instantaneous price dislocations that left many traders with negative account balances and owing money to their brokers. With negative balance protection in place, the broker must absorb any losses beyond the client's deposited funds.
Irish traders also benefit from standardized risk warnings that must be prominently displayed by all brokers offering CFDs and forex to retail clients within the EU. These warnings must include the specific percentage of retail accounts that lose money when trading with that particular broker, based on actual data from the previous twelve months. This requirement ensures that potential clients have a realistic understanding of the risks before opening an account. Additionally, EU rules prohibit brokers from offering bonuses, rebates, or other financial incentives designed to encourage retail clients to trade, a restriction that eliminates a common tactic previously used to attract inexperienced traders with promises of "free money" that invariably came with restrictive conditions.