Dutch regulator: a prop firm's instant funding was really CFD trading

The case

Ufunded, a UAE-based prop firm, was placed on the warning list of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). TradeInformer reports that the AFM said Ufunded had made over €20 million from Dutch customers. Ufunded asked to be removed from the list, arguing that it did not offer real trading and so did not provide investment services. The case was heard in January 2026.

The AFM noted that Ufunded's account sizes were always 30 times the fee paid, the same as the EU's leverage cap for retail CFDs. It argued that the fee therefore worked as margin, and that together with the user agreement and cash settlement, the service 'satisfies all the characteristics of a CFD'. Ufunded has since stopped operating in the Netherlands, according to the report.

Why it matters beyond Ufunded

Instant funding usually works the same way: you pay a fee, get a simulated account worth a multiple of it, and the drawdown limit is close to the fee. TradeInformer points out that this was also at the core of the US CFTC's argument in its case against My Forex Funds.

We have not read the court decision ourselves and rely on TradeInformer's account. The decision applies to one firm in one country, and TradeInformer found that other firms still offered instant funding to Dutch IP addresses. But if more regulators adopt this reasoning, instant-funding products could be withdrawn in some countries at short notice, as with US access in the past.

What to do

If you live in the EU and use instant funding, check whether the firm restricts your country in its terms, and avoid holding large unpaid profit. Two-step and one-step evaluations are less exposed to this argument because the fee is not tied to the account's drawdown the same way.