Opening an IC Markets Account From Kenya: Which of Two Companies Gets Your Signature
Registration takes minutes and the form is the same one the whole world fills in. The two decisions that are actually Kenyan - which entity the agreement names, and which currency the account settles in - are made for you unless you ask.
Open IC Markets Account →What you need to open an account
Nothing on the list below is unusual, and that is the point: the account-opening flow treats a Kenyan applicant exactly as it treats anyone else. Two things are decided in the process that a Kenyan applicant should decide deliberately rather than by default - which legal entity ends up on the client agreement, and which of ten base currencies the account settles in, none of which is the shilling.
- Proof of identity and proof of address (standard KYC); the exact document list is not published in the material we checked
- A funding method in your own name - the broker does not accept third-party payments
- An account base currency from USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD or CAD; KES is not offered
How long: Not published in the material we checked (checked 2 September 2026) - ask the broker in writing before relying on a timescale
Eligibility: A resident of Kenya is onboarded, by default, to Raw Trading Ltd (Seychelles, FSA Securities Dealer licence SD018) - branch 3 on the broker's own registration feed, the same default used worldwide, checked 2 September 2026. The same feed separately lists a CMA-labelled branch for Kenya, and IC Markets (KE) Limited is listed in the Capital Markets Authority's own register as a Non-Dealing Online Forex Broker, licence No. 199. Confirm in writing which of these entities is named on your own client agreement before funding an account; the two are not interchangeable, and only one of them answers to the CMA.
Registration, verification, funding - and the two questions to ask in between
The mechanical steps are quick. Read them alongside the two checks that are specific to opening from Kenya: confirm the entity before you sign, and price the currency conversion before you fund, because no broker page quantifies either for you.
- Click the ‘Open Account’ button on this page to start your registration.
- Enter your email and create a secure password.
- Complete the registration form with your Kenyan residential details.
- Verify your identity (KYC) — upload a government ID and proof of address.
- Choose your account type and base currency (a range of currencies is available).
- Fund your account — minimum deposit USD 0 on Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread and Standard; USD 5,000 on the early-access Raw Pro account and USD 100,000 on Raw Pro+ (broker's own site, checked 2 September 2026).
- Download your platform of choice and start trading (or practise on the demo first).
The two doors, and why the default one is not the Kenyan company
The Capital Markets Authority maintains a public register of licensees at licensees.cma.or.ke. IC Markets (KE) Limited appears on it as a Non-Dealing Online Forex Broker holding licence number 199. That is a Kenyan company, checkable by anyone, answerable to a Kenyan authority.
The broker's own registration feed tells a different story about where a new applicant lands. Its default branch, number 3, is Raw Trading Ltd - a Seychelles company holding Financial Services Authority Securities Dealer licence SD018 - and that default applies worldwide, Kenya included. The same feed separately carries a CMA-labelled branch and a Mauritius-labelled one, so more than one door exists; the ordinary sign-up flow simply picks one without asking. The consequence is specific and worth stating plainly: an account opened without asking is most likely a contract with a Seychelles company, while the Kenyan licence sits on a different entity. Neither fact is hidden and neither is misconduct. They are just not interchangeable, and only one of the two answers to the CMA. Ask, in writing, which entity your client agreement names, and keep the reply.
Choosing a base currency when yours is not on the list
An IC Markets account can be denominated in USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD or CAD. Ten options, and the Kenyan shilling is not one of them. That is not an oversight to work around; it is a cost line to plan for, because a shilling balance has to be converted into the base currency on the way in, and converted back on the way out, since withdrawals must return to the source of the deposit.
The route matters as much as the currency. IC Markets publishes fifteen funding methods and exactly two of them are country-specific - Thai internet banking and Vietnamese internet banking. There is no Kenyan entry. M-Pesa, Airtel Money and PesaLink are not IC Markets funding methods, and any page telling you otherwise is describing something that does not exist on the broker's funding page. What remains for a Kenyan applicant is a card, an e-wallet or a bank wire, all of which convert currency at a rate your bank sets and the broker never quotes. The broker itself charges no deposit or withdrawal fee, so the conversion is the cost, and on modest position sizes it can exceed the USD 3.50 per lot per side that a Raw Spread account charges to trade.
Two hard constraints to design around before you pick a method. Third-party payments are not accepted, so the card or bank account must be in your own name, though a joint account you are a party to is allowed. And the exit route is bound to the entry route: card withdrawals are capped at the amount deposited by card, e-wallet withdrawals return to the same wallet, and anything left over leaves by another method you have already used or by international wire, which can take up to 14 days and may pick up intermediary bank fees.
What the account will look like once it is open
| Decision | What the default gives you | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Raw Trading Ltd, Seychelles, FSA SD018 - branch 3, the worldwide default | Whether the CMA-licensed Kenyan entity is available to you instead, in writing |
| Account type | Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread or Standard, all opening from USD 0 | Whether a visible USD 3.50 per side suits you better than a cost buried in the spread |
| Platform | Fixed at registration and not changeable later | MetaTrader is served from New York, cTrader from London - 7 to 8 hours and 2 to 3 hours from Nairobi respectively |
| Base currency | One of ten; the shilling is not offered | What your bank charges to convert, both directions |
| Swap Free | An option on Raw Spread and Standard, on 90+ instruments | That it is not free: a flat per-lot night fee replaces swap - USD 62 on gold, USD 11 on EUR/USD |
| Verification | Standard identity and address documents | The broker publishes no turnaround time in the material we checked; ask before relying on one |
Kenya is not among the countries IC Markets declines to serve - that list names the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Iran and North Korea. Read on 2 September 2026; confirm current terms with the broker before you fund anything. CFD trading carries a high risk of losing money.
Before you deposit
It is worth starting with a free demo account to get comfortable with the platform and test your strategy with virtual funds first.