The legal landscape for doing business in Iran has changed significantly in the past seven months. On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China and Russia), the European Union and Iran agreed and signed a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) contemplating the easing of certain Iran related sanctions ...
Tensions in the Middle East have continued into 2016 as conflicts among global powers and regional powers play out in the region. But 2016 is also the year of hope – the year when peace may begin in Syria and Yemen. This is also the year that the UAE has appointed a Minister of Happiness, and even more relevantly, a Minister of Tolerance ...
Federal Law No.2 of 2015 on Commercial Companies (the “New Law”) came into force on 1 July 2015, replacing Federal Law No.8 of 1984. The New Law, similar to its predecessor, contains sections relating to various forms of companies, including public and private joint stock companies (“PJSCs”) and limited liability companies (“LLCs”) ...
Recently, the Emirates Insurance Authority (the “Insurance Authority”) proposed a regulation in draft form concerning marketing of insurance policies by banks (the “Draft Regulation”). It is intended to regulate local insurance companies that market insurance policies through banks in the UAE ...
Over the summer, several European blue chips, certain Fortune 500s and major Asian corporates accelerated their entry strategy for Iran. Some are investing in Iran pursuant to the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act 2002 (“FIPPA”), which, amongst other things, provides a sovereign guarantee from the Iranian government ...
Overview The new Bankruptcy Law of the UAE was enacted on September 20, 2016 as Decree-Law No. 9 of 2016. It was published in the Federal Official Gazette on September 29, 2016, giving it an effective date of December 31, 2016. The new Bankruptcy Law replaces and repeals the previous legislation on the subject, Book 5 of the Commercial Code, which was seldom used in light of its perceived shortcomings ...
Article 257 of the UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. 3 of 1987) was recently amended by Federal Law No. 7 of 2016 to introduce the concept of criminal liability for arbitrators, experts, and translators who issue decisions and opinions ‘contrary to the duties of impartiality and honesty’ ...
In an earlier inBrief dated 9 December 2014 we wrote about Federal Law No. 4/2012 on the regulation of competition (the “Competition Law”), which introduced the means by which the United Arab Emirates could regulate anti-competitive practices ...
The election of Mr. Donald J. Trump as President of the United States has resulted in much consideration by corporates of existing strategies with respect to Iran. Mr. Trump’s lack of experience in public office and some of his election campaign statements continue to cause anxiety. Will Mr ...
Overview The new Pledge Law of the UAE was enacted on 12 December 2016 as Federal Law No. 20 of 2016. The Pledge Law was published in the Federal Official Gazette on 15 December 2016 and will become effective on 15 March 2017. The Pledge Law introduces a new regime for registering a pledge over movable assets which are pledged as security for the repayment of a debt ...
Changes to the UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. 3 of 1987) (the “Penal Code”) at the end of 2016 have (i) extended the current bribery provisions to include bribery involving a foreign public official or an official of an international organisation, (ii) increased the penalties for committing a bribery-related offence and (iii) criminalised the offering of a bribe in the private sector ...
The UAE has embarked on an ambitious undertaking by introducing new business friendly mutual funds regulations to stimulate the UAE funds industry and provide the foundation for a more developed regional funds regime in the Gulf Cooperation Council (the “GCC”) ...
Once the new Commercial Companies Law was enacted as Federal Law No. 2 it gave existing companies time to achieve compliance with its terms. Article 374 provides that a further one-year extension could be granted by Resolution of the Cabinet, and such an extension was in fact granted. Article 374 also provides that a company that fails to achieve compliance shall be deemed dissolved ...
The Decree permits the holder of granted land to mortgage such land subject to certain conditions. It is expected that the Decree will stimulate growth in Dubai by enabling developers, who hold granted land, to obtain finance for their projects by mortgaging the granted land. The Director General of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), Sultan Butti Bin Merjren, has said that the Decree is a key legislative initiative that will have a positive impact on the real estate market ...
The Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes (the “Centre”) was established by Dubai Law No. 16 of 2009 and is entrusted with the task of attempting to mediate disputes, prior to such disputes being referred to court. The Centre is affiliated with the Dubai Courts and the mediators appointed in the Centre act under the supervision of a judge. If the parties reach a settlement, such a settlement must be recorded in writing, signed by the parties and attested by a judge ...
It has already been in the public domain for a while that VAT will be applicable in the UAE (and the GCC) from the beginning of 2018. Under the VAT regime, businesses will be collecting taxes on behalf of the government and will file tax returns accordingly. Although the tax is collected at each stage of value addition, the burden of tax falls only on the end consumer. For all the other stages, one can claim a refund. For this reason VAT is called ‘consumption tax’ ...
The private joint stock company is one of the forms of company contemplated by UAE Federal Law No. 2 of 2015 concerning commercial companies (the Companies Law). The UAE Federal Ministry of Economy has now promulgated Ministerial Decision No. 539 of 2017 (the Ministerial Decision) which was issued on 29 May 2017 and is now in force, and expressly abrogates Ministerial Decision No ...
The UAE has issued substantive law on Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Tax. Federal decree law No.8 of 2017 deals with VAT. The imposition of VAT will commence in the UAE from 1 January 2018 at a rate of 5%. The VAT law provides a framework for implementation of VAT in the UAE ...
Dubai is the fastest growing healthcare market within the GCC and is becoming an increasingly attractive sector for investors. In this inBrief article we explain the key drivers behind this growth and set out the options available to investors wishing to enter the Dubai healthcare market ...
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has commenced accepting registrations for Value Added Tax (VAT) through its online portal ...
Afridi & Angell has recently successfully assisted two individuals in becoming forgotten. Put another way, we were able to convince the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the DFSA) that the names of the individuals should be removed from public documents available on the DFSA website. These included published regulatory actions (in the form of enforceable undertakings) and DFSA media releases ...
The UAE Ministry of Finance has announced the Executive Regulation for the Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2017 on Value Added Tax (UAE VAT Legislation) at a Cabinet meeting on 7 November 2017, headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai. It is expected that the Executive Regulation to UAE VAT Legislation will be released this week in draft form on both the UAE Ministry of Finance’s website (www.mof.gov ...
The term “dawn raid” refers to an unanticipated visit to commercial premises by a regulatory authority. Examples of this could include a squad of policemen entering a warehouse, a team from a financial-services regulator checking trading records at a bank, or an official from the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation entering your office to check the work permits of all employees present there (an increasingly common practice) ...
Earlier this year, Law No. (19) of 2017 was gazzetted which amends the procedures contained in Law No. (13) of 2008 on Interim Property Registration in Dubai. This law stipulates the procedures which developers must follow if a buyer breaches an off-plan sales contract. The new law is an important development in Dubai and will assist developers who are facing a difficult real estate market and increasing buyer default ...
The UAE Ministry of Finance released Cabinet decision No. 59 specifying all Designated Zones be effective the begining of 2018 for the purposes of implementing the Designated Zone provisions in Federal Decree Law No 8 on Value Added Tax. The Cabinet has the authority to amend the list of Designated Zones as required ...
