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Afridi & Angell | January 2023

The importance of the UAE as a trading and consumer goods hub resulted in a protective approach of the authorities towards distributors and franchisees. The UAE Federal Law No. 18 of 1981 on Commercial Agencies (Old Law) was drafted with the intent of protecting the interests of UAE nationals (and companies wholly owned by UAE nationals), and was protective towards the interests of registered commercial agencies ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

The UAE commercial agency regime has been a central pillar of commerce since the issuance of UAE Federal Law 18 of 1981 (the 1981 Law). While piecemeal amendments to the 1981 Law have been introduced from time to time, the UAE government has now issued UAE Federal Law 3 of 2022 concerning commercial agencies (the New Agencies Law) which repeals and replaces the 1981 Law in its entirety ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

This inBrief highlights the different aspects of venture capital, animportant source of raising money for start-up companies which donot have access to capital markets. We discuss the different types ofventure financing through which start-ups can raise money andwhich are taken into account when assessing valuations ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

What has happened?   On 27 October 2022 Sharjah Law No. 2/2022 was issued by Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah expanding the rights of ownership of real estate within the Emirate to foreigners.In this inBrief, we look at the implications of this new law and what the expansion may mean for the real estate market in Sharjah ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a sought-after destination by foreign businesses for establishing their regional offices, consists of multiple jurisdictions for incorporation/establishment of entities. Each Emirate of the UAE has its own licensing authority and, additionally, there are more than 40 free zones in the UAE. Each Emirate and each free zone can be regarded as a separate jurisdiction for the incorporation and establishment of entities ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

On 2 January 2023, three pieces of federal legislation came into effect which, if implemented as envisaged, will arguably make the most significant changes to litigation in the on-shore Dubai Courts since the UAE was established ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

The UAE has introduced a new law on civil procedure (Federal Decree-Law 42/2022) which repeals Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 on civil procedure and its executive regulations issued under Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018. The new law came into force on 2 January 2022 ...

Afridi & Angell | January 2023

In September 2022, the UAE introduced an insurance scheme pursuant to Federal Decree No. 13 of 2022 concerning unemployment insurance. This law was followed by Cabinet Decision No. 97 of 2022 concerning the mechanisms and controls for implementing the unemployment insurance scheme, and Ministerial Resolution No. 604 of 2022 concerning the unemployment insurance scheme (together with the Federal Decree, theUnemployment Insurance Law) ...

Afridi & Angell | December 2022

Recently approved Cabinet Decision 85 of 2022 (the Decision) outlines the requirements and conditions for classification of persons as a “Tax Resident” of the UAE. We briefly outline below who qualifies as a UAE tax resident.   Afridi & Angell have assisted a variety of clients in procuring tax domicile certificates and are well versed in the procedures and requirements ...

Afridi & Angell | December 2022

January 2022 began with the announcement that businesses and corporations will be subject to Corporate Tax (CT) from 1 June 2023. While the UAE Ministry of Finance helpfully provided information on the basic tenets of CT, including a comprehensive white paper, the CT Law governing CT was published on 9 December 2022 providing clarity. However, there are still a number of areas that will be further clarified through the implementing regulations ...

Afridi & Angell | October 2022

What’s happened? Pursuant to a circular issued by the Dubai Land Department on 23 September 2022, the registration of all co-occupants that reside in residential properties in the Emirate of Dubai, whether owned or rented, must be completed today.   Who does this apply to? The circular issued by the Dubai Land Department applies to real estate developers, real estate leasing and management companies, real estate owners and tenants ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

In a joint statement made by the UAE Ministry of Economy and the UAE Ministry of Justice the implementation of the new Anti-Money Laundering reporting requirements, which are set out in Circular No. 5/2022 (the ‘Circular’) and which will apply to specific (cash and virtual currency related) real estate transactions that are conducted in the UAE, was announced over the summer. As outlined in the Circular, these additional reporting requirements are now in force from 1 July 2022 ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

The issue of the Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 regulating Virtual Assets in Dubai (VA Law) issued in March 2022 created a lot of buzz and further strengthened Dubai’s position as a global hub for digital assets. The VA Law also established the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) which was tasked with creating a legal framework for virtual assets sector ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

The UAE introduced the Economic Substance Regulations in April 2019 (later amended by Cabinet Resolution 57 of 2020 (ESR) and Ministerial Decision 100 of 2020).   The relatively new regulations have imposed a number of reporting requirements for virtually all private companies in the UAE. Despite this relative infancy, the Ministry of Finance has already started issuing heavy fines for companies which are not compliant with the regulations ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

Many are still of the belief that business income tax (also called corporate income tax (CT)) is only under discussion and its introduction uncertain. That is certainly not the case. The UAE federal government has announced the application of income tax for business activities as of 1 June 2023.   Although the law for CT has not yet been issued, we know that the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) (which also administers the VAT) is busy preparing for the introduction of CT ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

In the last few months, the UAE authorities have introduced a number of measures intended to increase the number of UAE nationals who are employed in the private sector. The Emirati Cadres Competitiveness Council (Nafis) program, originally established in 2016 with the aim of attracting UAE nationals to the private sector, has been reinvigorated ...

Afridi & Angell | September 2022

What’s happened? On 22 July 2022 Dubai Decree No. 22/2022 (the Decree) came into force with the purpose of encouraging further investment in the Dubai real estate market via the provision of various incentives and privileges aimed towards real estate investment funds ...

Afridi & Angell | August 2022

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a sought-after destination by foreign businesses for establishing their regional offices, consists of multiple jurisdictions for incorporation/establishment of entities. Each Emirate of the UAE has its own licensing authority and, additionally, there are more than 40 free zones in the UAE. Each Emirate and each free zone can be regarded as a separate jurisdiction for the incorporation and establishment of entities ...

Afridi & Angell | August 2022

All entities (free zone limited liability companies and branch offices) registered under the jurisdiction of Dubai Development Authority (DDA) are required to file their most recent audited financial statements along with a summary sheet (to be generated through their AXS portal account) on or before 31 October 2022. Entities are required to make these filings through their respective AXS portal accounts ...

Afridi & Angell | August 2022

All entities (free zone limited liability companies and branch offices) registered under the jurisdiction of Dubai Development Authority (DDA) are required to file their most recent audited financial statements along with a summary sheet (to be generated through their AXS portal account) on or before 31 October 2022. Entities are required to make these filings through their respective AXS portal accounts ...

Afridi & Angell | June 2022

By Bashir Ahmed, Saurbh Kothari and Dimple Soni 7 June 2022 Last year we had reported that the Federal Tax Authority (the FTA) has started to impose penalties on entities that have failed to submit their economic substance notifications by the set deadline of 30 June 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019, and the economic substance reports by the set deadline of 31 December 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019 ...

Afridi & Angell | March 2022

The new year, 2022, will be the year in which cryptocurrencies gain more legitimacy worldwide through government regulation, oversight and further acceptance. Indeed, in December 2021, the Dubai World Trade Centre announced that it will become a crypto zone and a regulator for cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets - including digital assets, products, operators and exchanges. In September 2021, the country of El Salvador officially recognized Bitcoin as legal tender ...

Afridi & Angell | February 2022

The new UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) came into effect on 2 February 2022. The new Labour Law replaced the previous 1980 statute (Federal Law No. 8 of 1980, as amended). The new Labour Law is generally applicable to employment relationships in the private sector in the UAE (excluding the DIFC and ADGM free zones) ...

Afridi & Angell | February 2022

As reported earlier, the new Labour Law of the UAE provides that many of the detailed rules on its implementation will be governed by Implementing Regulations. The first set of Implementing Regulations has been promulgated as Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022. This measure took effect on 2 February 2022, the same effective date as the new Labour Law ...

Afridi & Angell | February 2022

The UAE Ministry of Finance announced on 31 January 2022 the introduction of Corporate Tax (CT) commencing from June 2023. In the latest UAE initiative to diversify government income, UAE CT will build upon the tax infrastructure established following the introduction of a Value Added Tax regime in 2018.UAE CT is a Federal tax and will therefore apply across all Emirates, with the Federal Tax Authority responsible for administration and compliance of the UAE CT regime ...

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