XTB Might Leave Turkey Over New FX Limitations, More to Follow?
- Harsh new restrictions on forex trading are forcing brokers to reconsider their operations in Turkey.

Publicly listed Polish Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFDs trading firm X-Trade Brokers (WSE:XTB) has notified investors about the possible limitation of its operations in the Turkish market. This was done after a preliminary analysis by the brokerage on the impact of recent regulatory changes in Turkey.
To unlock the Asian market, register now to the iFX EXPO in Hong Kong. [gptAdvertisement]
As we exclusively reported on Friday, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) - the national financial regulatory and supervisory agency - announced a raft of changes to its forex regulations with immediate effect. These include a very high minimum deposit of TRY 50,000 (about $13,500) and a very low maximum Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term of 1:10.
XTB wrote to its shareholders: "Currently the Group is working on full implementation of the above requirements. As at the day of preparation of the foregoing current report, the Company is not able to estimate precisely what impact the amendment would have on clients activities on the Turkish market and on their transactions. It cannot be excluded that such significant limitations introduced by CMB could contribute to significant decrease in the number of clients, and as a result to significant limitation of the XTB Group’s operations in Turkey."

This marks the first time that an international online brokerage has made a statement on the issue, and as expected, it might lead to fewer legitimate domestic options for Turkish clients looking to trade.
The local industry is already up in arms over the issue. They have organized a petition protesting to the regulators that the limitations might push Turkish traders to unregulated offshore operations, exposing them to risks and avoiding the regulations that are meant to protect them all together.
Publicly listed Polish Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFDs trading firm X-Trade Brokers (WSE:XTB) has notified investors about the possible limitation of its operations in the Turkish market. This was done after a preliminary analysis by the brokerage on the impact of recent regulatory changes in Turkey.
To unlock the Asian market, register now to the iFX EXPO in Hong Kong. [gptAdvertisement]
As we exclusively reported on Friday, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) - the national financial regulatory and supervisory agency - announced a raft of changes to its forex regulations with immediate effect. These include a very high minimum deposit of TRY 50,000 (about $13,500) and a very low maximum Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term of 1:10.
XTB wrote to its shareholders: "Currently the Group is working on full implementation of the above requirements. As at the day of preparation of the foregoing current report, the Company is not able to estimate precisely what impact the amendment would have on clients activities on the Turkish market and on their transactions. It cannot be excluded that such significant limitations introduced by CMB could contribute to significant decrease in the number of clients, and as a result to significant limitation of the XTB Group’s operations in Turkey."

This marks the first time that an international online brokerage has made a statement on the issue, and as expected, it might lead to fewer legitimate domestic options for Turkish clients looking to trade.
The local industry is already up in arms over the issue. They have organized a petition protesting to the regulators that the limitations might push Turkish traders to unregulated offshore operations, exposing them to risks and avoiding the regulations that are meant to protect them all together.