Doing business in the UAE is about to get a whole lot easier, as revamps in the Federal Law on Commercial Companies will now allow organizations to be completely fully-owned.
Under this new decree issued by UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, companies no longer require an Emirati sponsor or a shareholder, meaning expatriates and foreigners can fully own a business.
Until now, businesses were required to have an Emirati sponsor with 51% of shareholding rights.
Talks of 100% foreign business ownership started in 2018 after a UAE Cabinet meeting announced works on regulating ownership in a bid to boost the economy. Last May, the UAE revealed a line-up of industries. These include:
Construction;
Healthcare;
Transport and storage;
Hospitality and food services;
Certain types of retail;
Information and communications;
Science and technology;
Education;
Agriculture.
Photograph credit: Dubai Media Office
Meanwhile, the decree also allows public companies to sell 70% of their shares in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), raised from its previous limit of 30%.
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(Featured photograph credit: Dubai Media Office)
