Background Just when creditors in the UAE got used to Law No. 20 of 2016 concerning the Pledge of Moveable Assets as Security (“Old Pledge Law”), and the amendment that was introduced in 2019, the winds slightly changed course when Law No. 4 of 2020 on the Pledge of Rights in Moveable Assets (“New Pledge Law”) was introduced in May 2020. Since then, creditors were not so sure in what direction the new breeze was…
On 31 January 2021, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Central Bank (CBUAE) publicly announced that it had sanctioned 11 banks in the UAE a total of AED 45.76 million (approx. USD 12.46 million) for failures to achieve appropriate levels of compliance with regards to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and local UAE sanctions compliance. The sanctions, imposed on 24 January, were imposed pursuant to Article 14 of the Federal Decree Law…
In brief In addition to the comprehensive economic support and stimulus program launched by the UAE Central Bank to curb the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE has introduced radical amendments to the UAE Bankruptcy Law, offering distressed debtors with some level of leniency during these times of economic uncertainty and market disruption caused by circumstances outside of their control. Key changes include: adding new provisions to the law related to “emergencies” such…
In February 2020, the Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has issued Board Resolution No. (03/R.M) of 2020 which adopts the new Corporate Governance Guide for Public Joint-Stock Companies (the Resolution). The Resolution will come into force on 28 April 2020 and will repeal the previous SCA Chairman Resolution No. (7 R.M) of 2016 on the Standards of Institutional Discipline and Governance of Public Joint-Stock Companies. The Resolution introduces new corporate governance rules…
On 19 March 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned five companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), pursuant to Executive Order 13846 (EO 13846), for their alleged involvement in purchasing hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for delivery to the UAE. The following UAE-based companies were added to the US Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List): (1) Alam Althrwa…