Is Exness Legal in Pakistan? (2025)

Paul Titus
Barry Edwards
Last Updated on November 6, 2025
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Exness is a popular CFD trading app in Pakistan because it offers one of the lowest spreads in the market, access to global assets, very high leverage and instant withdrawals. But Pakistani trading laws are pretty strict, so you are wondering: Is Exness legal in Pakistan?

The short answer is:

👉 Exness is not explicitly banned, but is not considered legal in Pakistan because it is not licensed by the SECP, it offers unauthorized international assets, and depositing money to the broker violates the SBP's foreign exchange laws (FERA).

In this article, we’ll break down exactly why Exness is not allowed to operate in Pakistan despite CFD trading being legal in the country, and how you, as a trader, are breaking the law if you deposit money to the platform.

Online Trading Laws in Pakistan

Before we explain why Exness is illegal in Pakistan, it’s important to understand the laws on how online trading is regulated in the country.

The legal status of any online trading platform in Pakistan depends on two main entities:

  • SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan): licenses and regulates financial services.
  • SBP (State Bank of Pakistan): controls all foreign exchange and remittance activities.

Here are relevant laws that apply to contract for differences (CFD) trading:

  • Only SECP-licensed brokers can operate legally in Pakistan, and they have to follow SBP’s foreign exchange rules and legal frameworks (e.g., Securities Act, 2015).
  • You can only trade in securities that are officially listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), including sharia-compliant stocks, Sukuk bonds, mutual funds, and government securities.
  • Under FERA 1947, Sections 4 and 5, Pakistani residents are not allowed to send money abroad for unauthorized, illegal, or speculative purposes.
  • Banks in Pakistan must verify the purpose of international payments and block invalid reasons, like funding offshore brokers.
  • Derivatives trading, including CFD, is only allowed through locally regulated exchanges like the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), and only for approved assets. These include commodities like gold or oil and select PKR-denominated currency futures, but not over-the-counter (OTC) contracts or foreign-denominated instruments like Tesla stock, Bitcoin, or EUR/USD.

Why is Exness Considered Illegal in Pakistan?

Here are three reasons why Exness is illegal and how the broker fits into the current regulatory framework of online trading in Pakistan:

1. The Assets Offered are Not Permitted

Exness is an offshore CFD trading broker, and while SECP-regulated brokers can offer CFDs, Exness offers international assets, OTC assets, and forex pairs that are not listed on authorized exchanges like PMEX. So the products Exness offers are not permitted because of two key factors:

  1. The assets are not listed on Pakistani exchanges, so local regulators cannot supervise the market data or price feeds, and Pakistani retail traders are not permitted to access international CFDs or spot forex through offshore platforms.
  2. The instruments are quoted and settled in foreign currencies, often USD or EUR, putting them outside the legal boundary for PKR-based brokers.

Exness may be fully legal in countries like the UK or South Africa, but its products remain unauthorized in Pakistan, making them legally off-limits for domestic retail traders.

2. Exness is not Licensed by SECP

Under Pakistani law, only brokers licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) can legally offer trading services. While Exness is strongly regulated by tier-1 international regulators like CySEC (in Europe), FCA (in UK) or the FSCA (in South Africa), it does not have an SECP license, so it remains an unauthorized trading platform in Pakistan.

The SECP has not directly banned Exness, but because it is not licensed domestically, the broker is not permitted to advertise or offer its services to Pakistani citizens legally. Even though we trust Exness, because of its strong regulation, the great features of the Exness mobile app and the low spreads, you have no local legal protection, get compensated, or file a complaint to SECP or SBP in case you have any issues with the broker.

3. Sending Money to Unregulated Brokers is a FERA Violation

Finally, and most importantly for you as a trader, sending money to Exness is a direct violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) prohibits sending money abroad for trading activities with high leverage, significant risks, or often associated with "black market operations." So you are legally allowed to try the Exness demo account, but when you deposit funds to your Exness account, you are breaching Sections 4 and 5 of FERA, as you can read below:

“4. Restrictions on dealing in Foreign Exchange.

Except with the previous general or special permission of the State Bank, no person other than an authorised dealer shall in Pakistan, and no person resident in Pakistan other than an authorised dealer shall outside Pakistan, buy or borrow from, or sell or lend to, or exchange with, any person not being an authorised dealer, any foreign exchange.”

SBP circulars, such as EPD Circular Letter No. 08 of 2022, explicitly instruct banks to monitor and report payments made to unauthorized or speculative online trading platforms, so if you send money to Exness, you risk having your bank account flagged or frozen, in addition to facing potential legal penalties.

Exness unregulated international broker

In practice, enforcement is selective but real: many traders from Pakistan report blocked debit cards, reversed transactions, or frozen bank accounts after attempting to fund their unauthorized trading accounts from their local bank accounts.

Does Depositing Crypto to Exness Bypass FERA Restrictions?

No, using cryptocurrency to fund your Exness account does not make the transaction legal because Pakistan's foreign exchange laws (FERA) prohibit the transfer of value abroad for unauthorized trading activities, regardless of the currency used.

Furthermore, crypto exchanges in Pakistan are required to monitor and report suspicious activity under anti-money laundering laws, so transactions to offshore brokers can be tracked and flagged by authorities the same way as with Pakistani banks.

What are the Legal Trading Alternatives in Pakistan?

If you are looking for a legal Exness alternative, only SECP-licensed brokers are your fully legal options under Pakistani law. However, these SECP-regulated brokers are complex, require large minimum deposits, and do not offer high-leverage forex or CFD on global stocks, commodities, or crypto. Your trading is also restricted almost entirely to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) or PMEX, which is probably not what you are looking for.

If you are interested in Exness because of its customizable leverage, access to international markets, or its instant withdrawal feature, SECP-registered brokers won’t meet your expectations, because they are designed for conservative traders who prioritize long-term investing in the regulated Pakistani market.

Conclusion

Exness is illegal in Pakistan because it does not have an SECP license, the CFD and OTC forex it offers are not authorized in Pakistan, and funding your Exness account is an unauthorized cross-border payment, which is a violation of the State Bank’s foreign exchange laws.

Pakistani traders must understand that the above-discussed SECP and FERA restrictions are not just about Exness, as no offshore broker is currently authorized to operate in the country. There is no legal workaround for trading international CFDs from Pakistan, and if you decide to deposit money to your Exness account, your funds are not protected by the SECP, and you are directly violating FERA.

If you want to trade online legally, the only fully compliant path is to use an SECP-registered broker, even if it is not beginner-friendly and doesn’t offer the features that got you interested in Exness in the first place.


» If you are looking for a safe and reliable trading platform, we suggest you check out our list of recommended brokers.

Online trading regulation differs by region, so explore our country-specific legality guides below to see how Exness is regulated in your country:

table of contents
1)
Online Trading Laws in Pakistan
2)
Why is Exness Considered Illegal in Pakistan?
3)
What are the Legal Trading Alternatives in Pakistan?
4)
Conclusion