Pepperstone Names Two New Heads for Its Middle East Table

Pepperstone has appointed Mohammed Almadhoun as Head of Middle East and Osama Hamdan as Head of Sales to lead its Dubai-based regional operation, the broker said today. Both executives join from rival firms — Almadhoun from Equiti Group and Hamdan from XTB — as Pepperstone continues to expand after obtaining a UAE Category 5 licence and opening an onshore office in Dubai's Emaar Square in December 2025.

"The appointments are intended to support its expansion across the GCC and wider MENA region," Pepperstone said, signalling a strategic push into a market where several international brokers are seeking to grow local presence.

Context and executive backgrounds

Mohammed Almadhoun will oversee Pepperstone's regional operations and growth strategy as Head of Middle East. He joins from Equiti Group, where he served as Sales Director, and brings prior experience from an eight-year tenure at ADSS in commercial and partnership leadership roles.

Osama Hamdan takes charge of Pepperstone's regional sales strategy as Head of Sales, responsible for business development, client acquisition and partnerships. He arrives from XTB, where he most recently held the role of Director of Business Development, and has previously held senior commercial positions at Axi and ADSS.

Both executives will report to Marc Boever, Head of EMEA at Pepperstone, and their hires reflect a pattern of cross-hiring among brokers competing for staff in the UAE and broader Middle East CFD and FX market.

Regulatory footing and market positioning

Pepperstone obtained a Category 5 licence in the UAE in December 2025 from the regulator that has since been renamed the Capital Markets Authority. The licence permits onshore marketing, promotion and limited advisory and introduction activities for professional clients, while trade execution remains with an offshore Pepperstone entity. Pepperstone, founded in Melbourne in 2010, also holds approvals from ASIC, the FCA, CySEC, BaFin and the DFSA.

• Pepperstone opened an onshore office in Dubai's Emaar Square following the licence.
• The Category 5 licence is held by a growing list of brokers in the UAE, including XM, Exinity, VT Markets, Eightcap, Taurex and Vantage Markets.
• The Capital Markets Authority reported an 18 percent rise in licence applications over the first nine months of 2025 compared with the prior year.

The Middle East has become a notable source of trading volume for CFD brokers: Capital.com reported that 52 percent of its first-half 2025 trading volume came from the Middle East and North Africa, with UAE-based traders accounting for close to three quarters of that regional flow — data that helps explain the competitive recruitment and expansion activity.

Outlook

With Almadhoun and Hamdan in place, Pepperstone appears focused on translating its regulatory foothold into market share across the GCC and MENA. The appointments strengthen Pepperstone's commercial and sales leadership at a time when the UAE market is attracting multiple international brokers and when licence application activity is rising. How quickly Pepperstone converts regional demand into client growth will depend on how effectively the new leaders scale partnerships, client acquisition and local marketing under the constraints of the Category 5 licence structure.