DIFC

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a separate jurisdiction within Dubai with its own legal system based on English common law, its own judicial system, its own financial regulator, and its own corporate legislation.

A Family Foundation in the UAE is not a distinct legal entity type — it is a tax status. Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (the Corporate Tax Law) allows a foundation, trust, or similar entity to obtain Unincorporated Partnership status — fiscal transparency under which income is taxed in the hands of the beneficiaries rather than at the level of the structure itself. Trusts without separate legal personality (such as DIFC/ADGM trusts) are automatically transparent. Foundations with separate legal personality (DIFC Foundation, ADGM Foundation, RAK ICC Foundation) must apply to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) and obtain approval. For individual beneficiaries, personal investment and real estate income is generally outside Corporate Tax regardless of the foundation’s own transparency status.

Without a registered will, the UAE-based assets of a non-Muslim non-resident (bank accounts, real estate, shares in a company) are distributed under Article 11 of Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status: 50% to the spouse, 50% split equally among the children. Bank accounts are frozen immediately on notification of death until a court establishes the heirs — a process that can take anywhere from a few months to over a year. Three main registrars allow proactive registration: DIFC Wills Service (AED 10,000, English only), ADJD in Abu Dhabi (AED 950, bilingual), and ADGM (registration at ADGM, probate handled through ADJD). UAE residency is not required for any of the three.

The UAE financial market is one of the most complex regulatory architectures in the world. Unlike most countries that have a single financial regulator, the UAE operates a multi-tier system: federal regulators, emirate-level regulators, and independent financial centre regulators. Selecting the wrong regulator means a licence that does not cover where you operate. A DFSA licence does not authorise dealing with UAE mainland clients. A VARA registration does not permit activities outside Dubai. CBUAE authorisation does not apply within DIFC or ADGM.

A foreign judgment is enforced in the UAE under article 222 of the Civil Procedure Code — by petition to the execution judge, who issues an order within five working days and verifies six conditions without reopening the merits. Two zone routes run alongside it: the DIFC Courts, historically used as a conduit jurisdiction, and the ADGM Courts, which are expressly barred from being used that way. The route you choose determines not how fast you recover, but whether you reach the assets at all.

A regulatory sandbox is a restricted licence allowing a fintech company to test an innovative financial product with real customers in a controlled environment, without meeting every requirement of a full licence from day one.

Redomiciliation (also known as continuance or delocalisation) is the legal process by which a company transfers its jurisdiction of incorporation from one country to another while preserving its legal personality, corporate history, existing contracts, and all rights and obligations. The company does not cease to exist and is not re-incorporated: it continues to operate as the same legal entity — simply in a new jurisdiction.