Sarwa vs Bolero — which broker is better?

Pros

• Free local AED transfers from UAE banks, with Sarwa's own published conversion rates (AED 3.6823 per USD in, AED 3.6639 per USD out as of 02.11.2026; about 0.5% apart)
• No custody, inactivity, account opening or account closing fee and no withdrawal fee to UAE banks, according to Sarwa; a withdrawal from Sarwa Trade to a Saudi bank costs USD 35
• One app for self-directed trading (Sarwa Trade), managed ETF portfolios (Sarwa Invest) and money market funds (Sarwa Save)
• US stocks and ETFs almost around the clock in four sessions from Sunday evening to Friday, plus fractional shares, IPO Access and Auto Trading
• Trade assets are held in a fully disclosed account at Alpaca Securities LLC, which Sarwa names as a SIPC member (USD 500,000 including USD 250,000 cash)
• An optional Shariah Screener with compliance reports from Musaffa, plus an Islamic portfolio line and an Islamic money market option, as Sarwa describes them
• Licensed by the FSRA in the ADGM under permission 190037 since 20 February 2020, shown on the public register
• Website in English and Arabic; WhatsApp support seven days a week, on weekends from 9:00 to 18:00 UAE time

Cons

• Four FSRA penalties since 2022: three for CRS and FATCA reporting failures (AED 36,000, AED 50,000 and AED 40,000) and USD 122,500 for offering shares in its own holding company without an approved prospectus; the DFSA fined the former Dubai company USD 191,100 over the same offer
• Percentage commission with no cap: the greater of USD 1 or 0.25% per stock or ETF order, so a USD 10,000 order costs USD 25
• Options at USD 4 per contract and crypto with a 1.5% spread on every buy and sell
• Only US-listed securities on Sarwa Trade: no bonds, futures, mutual funds or listings outside the US such as UCITS ETFs
• Not a bank, and Brokaro classes its regulator, the FSRA, as tier 2; we found no ADGM investor compensation scheme, and the SIPC cover belongs to Alpaca, not to Sarwa
• Card deposits cost 2.99% + AED 1 (UAE cards) or 3.99% + AED 1 (other cards), and Sarwa Invest charges at least USD 7 a month: in Sarwa's own example, USD 7 for a month on a USD 1,000 balance

Pros

• Run by KBC Bank NV, a Belgian credit institution supervised by the ECB together with the National Bank of Belgium and by the FSMA for conduct; the KBC Group is listed on Euronext Brussels
• Small orders from EUR 2.50 (up to EUR 250) on Euronext, Germany, the other online European markets, Toronto and the 100 ETFs of the ETF Playlist, and from USD 2.50 in the US
• No custody fee, no account management fee and no minimum deposit; opening and closing the account are free
• Belgian taxes handled at source: the stock exchange tax on every contract note, and from 1 June 2026 the 10% capital gains tax withheld unless you opt out
• More than 20 markets online, plus phone orders through the Orderdesk on exchanges such as Hong Kong, Japan and Australia
• Research included at no charge: a daily newsletter running since 2006, share analyses, Reuters and ABM Financial News, screeners and the Idea Center
• Invest & Repeat: periodic orders on the ETF Playlist monthly, every two months, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly, priced from EUR 2.50
• Long phone hours: the Orderdesk takes orders every trading day from 08:00 to 22:00

Cons

• Adults domiciled in Belgium only, with a Belgian current account; residents of other countries and US persons cannot open an account
• Mid-sized orders cost more than at low-cost platforms: on Euronext an order above EUR 2,500 costs EUR 15 per EUR 10,000, up to EUR 50
• A 0.60% currency conversion margin, 2% (maximum EUR 125) for collecting foreign dividends, and no credit interest on cash at present
• No futures, short selling or securities credit; we found no CFDs, forex trading or fractional shares, and Bolero points to trackers and turbos for commodities
• Crypto is limited to Bitcoin and Ether, cannot be transferred in, can leave only to an account at a regulated EU or EEA provider and is outside the guarantee fund
• A phone order costs EUR 15 when the security can be traded online, and the administration answers only during office hours