Lawyers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Cabinet Decision 98 of 2024 cancelled UAE Economic Substance notifications and reports for financial years ending after 31 December 2022. The regime still governs the historical period from 2019 to 2022, where unfiled returns and penalties remain live. The substance test itself now sits inside corporate tax, where a Qualifying Free Zone Person must show adequate UAE substance for the 0 per cent rate.

An ADGM special purpose vehicle holds assets and ring-fences risk inside a common law free zone. Every application turns on the nexus to ADGM, the UAE, or the GCC. This guide sets out the vehicle's limits, the exempt and non-exempt setup routes, cost, corporate tax, and how it compares with a DIFC Prescribed Company.

An asset-referenced virtual asset falls into VARA's Category 1, which requires a licence and per-token approval before issuance. This article sets out what VARA asks on capital, reserves, custody and redemption, and shows when a token instead falls to the Securities and Commodities Authority or the Central Bank.