DUBAI, Nov 24 (NNN-WAM) – Beginning Dec 1, expats and foreign investors can have 100 percent ownership of businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, yesterday issued a decree, to scrap the need to have UAE nationals as business sponsors, and amend Law No. 2 of 2015, on commercial companies in the UAE.
The new decree is a step towards improving the position of the UAE regionally and globally, as an attractive destination for investments, as foreign investors can now fully own companies or open branches in the UAE without an Emirati sponsor.
In recent months, the UAE made several legislative amendments to maintain its progressive growth and boost the country’s competitive advantage, in attracting foreign capital to Arab world’s second largest economy.
Among the amendments is the abolition of a requirement for companies to have a major UAE shareholder, which gives companies more flexibility, as they can now operate anywhere in the country.
The UAE also removed the provision, requiring a UAE national or a UAE-owned company as an agent, as well as, the stipulation requiring a company’s board of directors to be an Emirati majority.
The new law, however, will not apply to some companies that are excluded, based on decisions by the Cabinet and those that are either wholly-owned by federal or local governments or their subsidiaries.– NNN-WAM
