Featured Insights Overview

One Open Finance Licence covers two options, and the applicant picks Data Sharing, Service Initiation or both at the point of filing. This guide covers what the licence excludes, the obligations already sitting on banks and insurers, and why DIFC and ADGM permissions do not reach the mainland API hub.

Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025 tied qualifying commodity income to a published price reference, so the pricing clause is now a tax question. This guide covers title at the flange, binding inspection certificates, the demurrage time bar and letters of indemnity.

Urgent relief in a UAE arbitration comes from two forums at once. This guide covers the eight day attachment deadline, what a DIAC emergency arbitrator cannot reach, and why the default DIFC seat changes which court supervises the case.

The EDE activated a mechanism in February 2026 requiring more than one authorised agent per medical product. Registered commercial agents still hold statutory exclusivity, and this guide sets out the three routes to adding a second agent and what each one costs.

Bridge facilities in the UAE fail on licensing, security registration and enforceable interest. This guide sets out who may lend under the 2025 Central Bank law, how each type of security is perfected, and what UAE courts allow on default.

A SAFE carries no repayment obligation or maturity date, unlike a convertible loan note. Which instrument protects founders best in the UAE depends on jurisdiction, since mainland, DIFC, and ADGM treat conversion mechanics differently.

Vesting and exercising an option gives an employee shares, but moving those shares to a buyer is a separate legal transaction governed by pre-emption rights, drag-along clauses, and jurisdiction-specific transfer rules. This guide covers how a secondary sale actually runs in a mainland LLC versus a DIFC or ADGM company, from pre-emption notice to registration.

In the UAE, the trademark register decides who owns a brand name, and filing first beats prior use in almost every dispute. This guide covers the five-year rule, bad faith registration by agents and distributors, and how founders should structure ownership before a conflict forces the question.

Law No. 14 of 2025 replaced Dubai's thirty year old rules for engineering consultancy offices. Existing offices and engineers must regularise their status by April 2027, or risk fines up to AED 100,000 and suspension.

An earn-out holds back part of the purchase price and pays it only if the business meets agreed targets after completion. It is not deferred consideration, which is fixed and does not depend on performance. In the UAE, enforceability turns on where the deal is governed: a clear formula is determinable under the Civil Code, while onshore a vague mechanism risks being an unenforceable agreement to agree, and DIFC or ADGM give common law certainty. This guide covers the distinction, enforceability, the covenants that protect the seller once the buyer controls the business, and how earn-out disputes are settled.

A development agreement is not a construction contract. A developer shares the project profit and controls the sale of units, which changes who carries the risk. UAE projects run through three models: a land sale, a profit-share development, or a development management arrangement. The profit-share model causes most disputes, because the landowner keeps title while the developer holds the RERA registration and the escrow. This guide covers the models, the registered-developer and escrow position, why profit cannot leave escrow early, and how a landowner protects itself.

Incorporated or unincorporated, joint venture or consortium: how UAE construction partners split the work, and why members can stay jointly liable to the employer for the whole project.

Convertible notes and SAFEs are common law instruments, and whether they work for a UAE startup depends on where the company is incorporated. In DIFC and ADGM both are enforceable. In mainland UAE a SAFE is not recognised, so founders lean on convertible notes or convertible preference shares. This guide covers the instruments, the DIFC or ADGM holding structure that makes a round enforceable, and the filings needed on conversion.

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.

A DIFC foundation gives family wealth a separate legal owner, with private governance through its charter and by-laws. This article explains the Article 17 corporate tax election, transparency requirements for underlying companies, the DIFC firewall against certain foreign succession and creditor claims, and the migration of foreign foundations into the DIFC.

Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 restructured agency from 1 June 2026, so a general power of attorney no longer covers sales, mortgages, or settlements. This guide explains what corporate authority documents must now specify, who can sign one, the Article 58(2) special authority rule for arbitration and settlement, and how a foreign parent legalises an instrument for use in the UAE.

Dubai Customs can audit any declaration for five years after clearance. This guide covers audit selection, the process, penalty exposure, and the voluntary disclosure route under Customs Policy No. 58/2024 that waives fines for errors disclosed before customs finds them.

A quarterly-updated reference listing the federal and Dubai instruments governing construction projects, their status at July 2026, and the transition deadlines running through January and April 2027.