A guide to trading with top brokers in Lebanon

Officially known as the Lebanese Republic, Lebanon is a small country located in the Levant region of Western Asia and the Middle East. The country’s strategic location at the crossroads of the Arabian hinterland and Mediterranean Basin has played an imperative role in shaping its rich culture and history.

The country enjoys ethnic and religious diversity, and, despite its small size, its cultural heritage has had a strong influence on the entire region of the Middle East and Arabic Peninsula. To this day, Lebanese cuisine, vibrant customs and traditions, philosophy, literature, ancient history, and art continue to awe people from all over the world.

With an overall territory of 10, 452 square kilometers and a population of a little over 5.5 million people, Lebanon is a country with one of the highest public debts. This means that the country relies heavily on external finances to maintain the national economy afloat. Moreover, the Lebanese national economy is highly vulnerable to political crises.

The country was recently subjected to a number of shocks – civil war in 2006, followed by the civil war in neighboring Syria in 2016, and the very recent currency crisis. Forex trading is relatively new in Lebanon, and the country is yet to discover the best way to regulate the local market. On the other hand, Forex and CFD (Contract for Difference) trading can highly benefit the residents of Lebanon by creating an income source that is not tied to the local economy.

In the guide below, we will take a closer look at the most popular online trading platforms in Lebanon, as well as examine the country’s regulatory mechanisms and give you recommendations on how to find the best broker to open an account with.

A complete list of the best Forex brokers in Lebanon

Most professional traders can agree that finding a reliable brokerage to join is the single most important step when starting a trading journey. Regardless of your level of experience and trading background, finding a broker that best suits one’s trading needs, is by no means an easy task. There are generally two main reasons: firstly, the market is full of brokerages, and it’s really difficult to compare all of them to one another, and secondly, every trader has different needs:

• If you are a trader that trades frequently, you need a broker with low spreads
• Passive traders prefer low commissions to low spreads
• You need to make sure that your broker offers the tradable instruments that you are looking for, and that you will have access to professional trading platforms. Moreover, don’t forget that having a license from reputable regulatory body is essential for safety

In order to make decision-making process easier for you, we have reviewed multiple brokers and came up with a top brokers list that accept traders from Lebanon.

Forex market regulations in Lebanon

The main regulatory body of the Lebanese Forex market is the country’s central bank – the Bank of Lebanon, or the Banque Du Liban (BDL). Established in 1963, this institution has been in charge of a variety of sectors ever since.

The BDL is currently responsible for the country’s overall economic and monetary stability, as well as the smooth functioning of the banking sector (which now consists of more than 100 banks). Moreover, the BDL is taking care of the money transfer operations, payment methods, and other finance-related fields.

The BDL determines the exchange rate policy within the country, issues license documentations to financial companies, carries out anti-money laundering policies and supervised brokers to make sure that the rules are being followed. The rules and regulations are in place to protect the interests of investors and make Lebanese financial market transparent, fair, and attractive. On the other hand, there is a very limited number of Forex and CFD brokers that offer financial services to their clients. Which is why we recommend considering reputable international brokers instead of local ones.

National currency in Lebanon

The national currency of Lebanon is the Lebanese pound, coded as LBP. Since 1997, the LBP has been fixed at 1515,02 USD. However, since August 2020, the pressure on the peg has increased, and coupled with the weakening of the central bank’s reserves has resulted in the bank’s inability to defend the currency rate, and, consequently, a creation of the parallel rate in the market. The recent devaluation of the Lebanese pound has contributed to high inflation rates in the country. The rise in prices of goods and services has damaged the purchasing power of Lebanese residents, leading to increased economic hardships. Lebanese pound is not available for trading in the Forex market.

Popular payment methods in the country

There are various payment options available in the country. The most popular ones are bank wire transfers and credit/debit cards, such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. In addition, mobile and online banking options are also available. One more payment option that is increasing popularity due to the unstable nature of the local currency is payments made in cryptocurrencies.

Most popular trading platforms in Lebanon

The importance of the reliable trading platform cannot be overlooked, as trading platforms help analyze markets and trade at the same time. Some Forex and CFD brokers offer home-built trading platforms to their clients, while others offer third party pieces of software. The most popular third party platforms are: cTrader, MetaTrader 4 (MT4), and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The MetaTraders have gained a huge popularity among brokers all over the world, ever since they were first introduced by the Russia-based MetaQuotes company. MT4 was released in 2005, and MT5 – in 2010. Both platforms are highly reliable and practical. It should be mentioned that MT4 was designed for trading solely currencies, while MT5 is best known for being a multi-asset platform. cTrader is less popular than MetaTraders, however this doesn’t mean it’s low quality. The platform has a lot to offer. cTrader offers slick design, enhanced trading tools, level 2 pricing, and trade automation capabilities. While MetaTraders use Expert Advisors (EAs) for trade automation, cTrader uses cBots.

What are the pros and cons of FX trading in Lebanon?

There are various benefits and drawbacks that are associated with trading financial assets, especially with trading highly leveraged instruments such as Forex and CFDs. Let’s take a closer look at them before starting a trading journey.

Pros:

• The local economy of Lebanon is struggling, which means that finding an income source that is not tied to the country’s economic conditions is a great idea
• Starting a trading journey in Lebanon is easy. There are low barriers for entry and many brokers are accepting traders from that part of the world
• Quality information on currency pairs and educational material is freely available on the internet

Cons:

• An unprepared trader can lose money. Profitable trading requires having a profitable trading system, and managing risks and emotions from traders
• The financial situation in the country is quite unstable, and this can make it difficult for you to find a trading career opportunities within the country

Summary

Overall, while the currency trading is regulated by the central bank of Lebanon within the country, there is very limited number of brokers that have BDL’s license, which is why is our list of top brokers for Lebanese traders, we have included reputable international brokerages. These global companies offer much better trading conditions than local ones, as they have to compete at the international level.

FAQs on trading with top brokers in Lebanon