Get the hottest Fintech Middle East News once a month in your Inbox
Personal finance and investment platform Sarwa has officially launched Sarwa Trade. The platform allows users to trade stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) without commissions, international transfer fees or a minimum account balance, according to a statement.
The solution provides users with unlimited access to over 4,000 publicly traded stocks and ETFs on major U.S. exchanges. Buy and sell orders have no dealing fee, management fee, commission fee, or administration fee.
Users can buy in bulk or opt from fractionalised investments through the newly launched self-directed trading service.
Mark Chahwan
“The options for stock trading in the MENA region are few and far between — traditional brokerages have high fees, the technology is dated, and the experience isn’t exactly user-friendly. We saw an opportunity to take the simple, human approach we’re known for and apply it to the trading experience.
We always have our clients and community at the center of what we do, and that’s why our product is localised for transfers. This way, UAE residents with a local account can avoid the high international transfer fees,”
Mark Chahwan, CEO and co-founder of Sarwa, explained.
The launch of Sarwa Trade comes after a US$15 million funding round
Sarwa is regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at the ADGM financial free zone. It is one of the many entrants to have emerged more recently in the UAE’s retail trading space, alongside Baraka and Stashaway to name a few.
The company picked up US$15 million in a Series B in August this year, to expand its market presence and launch new products. The round saw some of the most prominent investors in the Middle East take part (including Mubadala, 500 Global, KIPCO, Shorooq Partners, MEVP, and DIFC).
Earlier in the year, Sarwa had also publicly announced that the launch of Sarwa Trade was in the pipeline. The solution was made available on a waitlist basis for a while, and exclusively available to Sarwa Invest (its flagship offering) customers.
