In brief The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently issued Cabinet Resolution No. 58 of 2020 on the Regulation of the Procedures of the Real Beneficiary (the Resolution), which came into effect on 28 August 2020 and replaced Cabinet Resolution No. 34 of 2020 issued earlier this year. The Resolution aims to introduce the requirement for a beneficial ownership register in the UAE mainland and unify the minimum disclosure requirements for corporate entities incorporated in the…
In brief The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made significant changes to its Economic Substance regime, with the UAE Cabinet of Ministers recently issuing Cabinet Decision No. (57) of 2020 (the new ESR Resolution). The new ESR Resolution repeals and replaces Cabinet Resolution No. (31) of 2019, as amended, and Cabinet Resolution No. (58) of 2019, which was published in June 2019. The Ministry of Finance also updated its Guidance via Ministerial Decision No. (100)…
In brief The UAE Federal Law No. 18 of 1981 regulating Commercial Agencies (Law) was amended for the fourth time on 28 May 2020 by Federal Law No. 11 of 2020 (the Amendment). The last amendment had taken place in 2010. The Amendment granted, for the first time, the right for companies incorporated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that are not 100% owned by UAE nationals, namely public joint-stock companies with at least 51%…
Recap Licensees with a financial year-end (“FYE”) of 31 December 2019 were required to submit the economic substance notification pursuant to the Economic Substance Regulations (Cabinet Resolution No. 31 of 2019 or “ESR”) before 30 June 2020[1]. The submission of the economic substance notification is only the first step in complying with the ESR. The next, and most comprehensive, step is the submission of the economic substance report. This needs to be done by 31 December…
Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) were introduced in the UAE in March 2019 by virtue of Cabinet Resolution No. 31 of 2019 (Cabinet Resolution). The ESR apply to all companies based in the UAE (onshore and free zones), including branches and apply to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2019. The UAE government has delegated the responsibility to regulate and administer the ESR to the various onshore and free zone authorities (such as the…