The United Arab Emirates does not have a single companies house. Businesses are licensed and registered at three levels: the federal وزارة الاقتصاد والسياحة (Ministry of Economy and Tourism), which keeps the federal السجل التجاري (Commercial Register) and the السجل الاقتصادي (Economic Register); the economic department of each emirate, which issues the actual trade licence for mainland business; and the free zone authorities, each of which registers companies within its own zone. Federal and emirate data is brought together in the السجل الاقتصادي الوطني (National Economic Register, NER), the federal platform for searching UAE licences and trade names.

The company registry in the United Arab Emirates

The federal framework rests on two instruments. The Federal Decree-Law No. 37 of 2021 concerning the Commercial Register, with executive regulations issued by Cabinet Resolution No. 107 of 2022 in force from 7 December 2022, governs registration in the Commercial Register, its renewal, annotation of changes, deregistration and re-registration, the use of the commercial register number, and the relationship between the Commercial Register and the Economic Register. The Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies, issued on 20 September 2021 and effective from 2 January 2022, governs the forms of companies themselves.

Registration is decentralised in practice. Under the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s own description, nine licensing authorities feed the National Economic Register: the Ministry itself, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, the economic development departments of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, and the municipalities of Fujairah and Dibba. Data held by a competent authority must be shared with the Economic Register within three working days.

Free zones sit outside this structure. Article 5 of the Commercial Companies Law provides that the Decree-Law does not apply to companies established in free zones in respect of matters for which the laws or regulations of the free zone concerned make special provision. Where free-zone legislation allows those companies to operate outside the zone and inside the State, they may establish branches or representative offices in the State, and those branches are subject to the Commercial Companies Law. The two financial free zones — the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — go further still: each has its own company law and its own registrar (the DIFC Registrar of Companies and the ADGM Registration Authority) with its own public register.

Beneficial ownership is regulated federally but not published. Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 regulating the real beneficiary procedures requires private-sector enterprises across the UAE, including those in commercial free zones, to maintain registers of their real beneficiaries, partners and nominee directors, and requires registrars to report to the Ministry of Economy; nominee board members must disclose their status within 15 days (30 days for those appointed before the decision), and changes must be notified within 15 days. Administrative penalties for breach are set by a separate Cabinet decision.

Legal forms that can be registered in the United Arab Emirates

Article 9 of the Commercial Companies Law provides that a company must take one of five forms, and that any company not adopting one of them is null and void.

  • شركة التضامن (General Partnership Company) — two or more partners, each jointly and severally liable with all their assets for the obligations of the company.
  • شركة التوصية البسيطة (Limited Partnership Company) — combines joint partners who are liable without limit and manage the business with limited partners liable only up to their contributions.
  • الشركة ذات المسؤولية المحدودة (Limited Liability Company, LLC) — the dominant mainland form; capital divided into equal shares, partners liable only to the extent of their share in the capital.
  • شركة المساهمة العامة (Public Joint Stock Company, PJSC) — capital divided into negotiable shares that may be offered to the public; subject to securities regulation and to the strictest governance rules.
  • شركة المساهمة الخاصة (Private Joint Stock Company, PrJSC) — the share company whose shares are not offered to the public; it may convert into a public joint stock company, and a public company that converts into a private one may not convert back for five audited financial years.

Alongside these company forms, emirate economic departments license structures that are not companies under the federal law:

  • المؤسسة الفردية (Sole Establishment) — a business owned by one natural person with unlimited personal liability, licensed by the emirate economic department rather than incorporated under the Commercial Companies Law.
  • الشركة المدنية (Civil Company) — the professional partnership used by doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants and similar professions, formed under civil rather than commercial legislation.
  • فرع شركة أجنبية / مكتب تمثيل (Branch or representative office of a foreign company) — not a separate legal person; a branch may carry on the licensed activity, while a representative office is limited to promotion and liaison.
  • Free zone company forms — typically the Free Zone Establishment (FZE) with a single shareholder, the Free Zone Company (FZC / FZ-LLC) with two or more, and the free zone branch of an existing company. The exact menu of forms, capital requirements and shareholder limits is set by each free zone’s own regulations.
  • DIFC and ADGM entities — companies limited by shares, limited liability partnerships, foundations, protected and incorporated cell companies and branches, incorporated under DIFC or ADGM company law and entered in the register of the DIFC Registrar of Companies or the ADGM Registration Authority.

Information available from the UAE registry

The executive regulations of the Commercial Register law set out precisely what may be published. Article 14 allows the Ministry and the competent authority to publish on their websites the commercial register number; the economic register number; the trade name in Arabic and English; the date of incorporation; the telephone number and email address; the licence number with its issue and expiry dates; the licence status, so that a user can verify whether the licence is valid, suspended, under liquidation or deregistered; the type of licence, whether commercial, industrial, professional, craft or other; the legal form; the capital, the number of shares and their nominal value; the address; the branch licence and the branch name in Arabic and English; the local licence number; the licence number of the parent establishment; the date of any change to the establishment’s data; the number and name of the economic activity; and the name of the manager or chairman of the board. The Ministry may publish further data in coordination with the competent authorities.

Article 15 adds the request route: any interested person or stakeholder may apply to the Ministry or the competent authority for an extract of the data listed in Article 14, and government entities may apply for access to, or an extract of, the registration data in the Commercial Register or the Economic Register under the applicable procedures.

In practice this is what the National Economic Register delivers: a free federal search over economic licences and economic activities, and a check on the availability of trade names, drawing on the nine licensing authorities. It is aimed at government bodies, businesspeople, researchers and investors, and licence holders can also see their own licence details.

What is not open is the ownership and financial layer. Registers of real beneficiaries, partners and nominee directors maintained under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 are filed with registrars and supervisors, not published for public search. Financial statements of mainland companies are not part of registry publicity either: a public joint stock company discloses through the securities market rather than through the Commercial Register. In the financial free zones the position differs — DIFC and ADGM operate their own public registers with their own disclosure rules — so a search of a UAE counterparty may need to be run in more than one place.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • الرخصة التجارية (Trade Licence) — the operative document issued by the emirate economic department or free zone authority, showing the legal form, the licensed activities, the owners or partners, the manager and the validity period. In the UAE this is the primary evidence that a business exists and may trade.
  • مستخرج من السجل التجاري أو السجل الاقتصادي (Extract from the Commercial Register or the Economic Register) — the extract of the published registration data that any interested person or stakeholder may apply for from the Ministry or the competent authority under Article 15 of the executive regulations.
  • شهادة التسجيل في السجل التجاري (Certificate of registration in the Commercial Register) — confirmation of registration and of the commercial register number used across federal systems.
  • عقد التأسيس والنظام الأساسي (Memorandum and Articles of Association) — the constitutional documents notarised and filed with the competent authority, showing capital, shareholdings and management powers.
  • شهادة القيد في السجل التجاري للفرع (Branch registration certificate) — the registration of a branch or representative office, whether of a foreign company or of a free-zone company operating onshore.
  • شهادة عدم ممانعة / شهادة حجز الاسم التجاري (Trade name reservation certificate) — confirmation that a proposed trade name is available and reserved, the first step of any UAE incorporation.
  • Certificates and extracts of DIFC and ADGM entities — certificates of incorporation, good standing and incumbency, and register extracts issued by the DIFC Registrar of Companies or the ADGM Registration Authority for entities in the financial free zones.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a single company register for the UAE?

No. Licensing and registration are shared between the federal Ministry of Economy and Tourism, the economic department of each emirate and the individual free zone authorities. The National Economic Register is the federal platform that brings the licence data of nine licensing authorities together in one search.

Which law governs UAE companies?

Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies, in force since 2 January 2022, together with Federal Decree-Law No. 37 of 2021 on the Commercial Register and its executive regulations in Cabinet Resolution No. 107 of 2022.

What company forms exist under UAE federal law?

Five: general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, public joint stock company and private joint stock company. Any company not adopting one of these forms is void. Sole establishments, civil companies and branches are licensed separately at emirate level.

Do the federal company rules apply in free zones?

Not where the free zone has its own special provision. Article 5 of the Commercial Companies Law disapplies the federal rules for matters regulated by the free zone’s own laws, though branches established by free zone companies inside the State are subject to the federal law.

What data can I see about a UAE company for free?

The data listed in Article 14 of the executive regulations, including the trade name in Arabic and English, the licence number and its status, the licence type, the legal form, the capital, the address, the economic activity and the name of the manager or chairman.

Are UAE beneficial owners public?

No. Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 requires enterprises to maintain and file registers of real beneficiaries, partners and nominee directors with their registrars, but these are supervisory records rather than a public search facility.

Sources

  • The Official Platform of the UAE Government — National Economic Register — u.ae
  • وزارة الاقتصاد والسياحة (Ministry of Economy and Tourism) — moet.gov.ae
  • UAE Legislation portal — Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies — uaelegislation.gov.ae
  • UAE Legislation portal — Cabinet Resolution No. 107 of 2022 promulgating the Executive Regulations of the Federal Decree-Law concerning the Commercial Register — uaelegislation.gov.ae
  • UAE Legislation portal — Cabinet Resolution regulating the Real Beneficiary Procedures (Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023) — uaelegislation.gov.ae
  • Ministry of Economy and Tourism — review of the Cabinet resolution on real beneficiary procedures — moet.gov.ae
  • The Official Platform of the UAE Government — verify business licences — u.ae

Keywords

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