Regulator profile · BH
CBB — Central Bank of Bahrain
Tracked byBrokerlist Editorial · Independent review teamUpdated
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is the kingdom's single integrated financial regulator, covering banking, insurance, capital markets and investment business. CBB issues Investment Firm licences across four categories, of which Category 1 covers FX and derivatives dealing as principal.
Brokers in Bahrain accepting residents under CBB- Jurisdiction
- Kingdom of Bahrain.
- Founded
- 2006
- Mandate
- Established by the CBB and Financial Institutions Law 2006, replacing the prior Bahrain Monetary Agency. CBB administers the CBB Rulebook (six volumes covering conventional banks, Islamic banks, insurance, investment business, capital markets and specialised licensees). Supervises around 400 licensed financial institutions.
- Consumer protection
- Deposit Protection Scheme covers up to BHD 20,000 per depositor at retail-bank failure. Client-money rules require segregation in CBB-approved trust accounts. Consumer Protection Unit at CBB handles formal complaints; no statutory investor-compensation fund for investment-firm failures.
- Retail leverage caps
- For CBB-licensed Investment Firm Category 1 holders, leverage and product rules follow Volume 4 of the CBB Rulebook (Investment Business module). No GCC-wide harmonised retail leverage cap; offshore brokers serving Bahraini residents operate outside CBB scope and self-set limits.
- Public register
- CBB publishes its register of licensees by category. The Consumer Protection Unit also publishes warnings against unlicensed entities soliciting Bahraini residents — coordinated with regional GCC peer regulators. Open register ↗
- Dispute resolution
- Consumer Protection Unit at CBB receives and adjudicates complaints against licensed entities; decisions are binding on the firm. The Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR) handles larger commercial financial disputes. Bahraini courts for unresolved matters.
- Editor notes
- Bahrain hosts a meaningful cluster of CBB-licensed branches and subsidiaries of international financial firms — partly a function of historical positioning as the GCC's onshore banking hub before Dubai's DFSA emergence. Retail FX/CFD activity by Bahraini residents through unlicensed offshore brokers is technically outside CBB scope but increasingly screened at the payment-rail layer.
Brokers we track with a CBB licence
No brokersNo tracked broker currently holds a CBB licence in our database.