Uae

Under the Commercial Companies law of the UAE, it is a requirement that all companies appoint a General Manager (GM), whether onshore or within a freezone. As per the law, the GM is a corporate officer who holds numerous legal duties and responsibilities. There are certain instances in the UAE whereby, to fully incorporate an entity, the GM would need to be in country and would need to hold or have previously held a UAE residence visa. However, it is not always possible that the chosen candidate for GM fulfils these requirements. In this instance, a nominee GM can be appointed to bridge the gap and allow the company incorporation process to proceed without delay. This article examines the role of the nominee General Manager and how Sovereign PPG can help. Read more

The publication of Federal Decree-Law no. (26) of 2020, in December 2020, which amended key provisions of the Federal Law No. (2) of 2015 on Commercial Companies, was brough in to relax the rules on local company ownership and pave the way towards the gradual loosening of foreign ownership restrictions in UAE. In a further update this month the UAE Ministry of Economy have now stated that the amendment to the Commercial Companies Law will come into effect from 1st June 2021, to allow 100 per cent foreign ownership of onshore companies in the UAE from that date. The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has now released a list of 1029 activities that would be eligible for 100% foreign ownership. Read more

Despite its size, Qatar is one of the most powerful economies in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Qatar ranks in the top 5 nations for GDP per capita. While the nation owes much of its historical growth to the oil and gas industry, the Qatari government has made major strides in diversifying its economy through a wide range of industries. Read more

Saudi Arabia is aiming to rapidly develop its education sector, both in size and quality. Among the G20 countries, it is set to be the first in population growth for the coming five years. These factors are contributing to opening a wide range of opportunities for foreign investors in the field of education. Education is given huge importance in Saudi Arabia and parents spend large sums of money on private tuition to ensure a high quality of education for their children, creating great scope for an e-learning business in what is a relatively new and untapped market. This article provides practical information on how to start an online tutoring business in Saudi Arabia as well as some of the key considerations. Read more

Moving your family or business to another country can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to understanding different cultural norms, laws, and government restrictions. No matter where you move, understanding a new tax code can become quite difficult. Fortunately, the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar has one of the simplest tax schemes in the world. This article is a guide to the different types of individual and corporate taxes in Qatar, the circumstances under which they are imposed and any exemptions that apply. Read more

The Executive Office for Control & Non-Proliferation announced the publication of an updated Guidance on Counter Proliferation Financing for FIs, DNFBPs, and VASPs Read more

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) along with the Ministry of Labour (MoL) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI) have announced the launch of a provisional commercial licence in Qatar which will enable prospective business investors to proceed with administrative processes around company formation while waiting for a final commercial licence to be issued. The provisional licence reinforces Qatar’s ongoing effort to encourage Foreign Direct Investment and to support the private sector by easing the requirements of doing business in the country. This article is a guide to the requirements for obtaining the provisional commercial licence as well as other key considerations. Read more

A Mission Visa is a type of permit issued for professionals who would like to come to the UAE to work with a local company for a specific short-term project. An employee is considered as a probationary worker under these types of visas. In the past, a company providing a Mission Visa to a foreign worker had to submit a bank guarantee of AED 24,000 to the Ministry of Labour however, as of October 2018, this requirement was removed to allow for a more efficient process. Read more

The UAE’s real estate sector is the biggest and fastest growing in the Middle East region. The Dubai real estate market continues to increase month on month with the value of real estate sales transactions quickly positioning the UAE as the most attractive, and flexible real estate investment destination. Transactions surrounding real estate have historically been used to help facilitate money laundering (ML) and the financing of terrorism (FT) operations and recent studies suggest that in the UAE, through the use of cash and cheques, real estate has become one of the most popular ways to launder money. Read more

ADIPEC has grown to become one of the largest oil and gas exhibitions in the world, bringing together 150,000 global energy leaders, policymakers, innovators and industry professionals to create a unique event that not only showcases thousands of products, services and solutions across the entire energy value chain, but also offers a great opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing and an ideal platform from which to launch and promote an oil and gas company in the capital. With the return of ADIPEC to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, this article examines the requirements for setting up an oil and gas company in the capital and outlines the role of ADNOC and the Supreme Petroleum Council within the process. Read more